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History has given to an Irishman, Francis Makemie of Donegal, the credit of founding Presbyterianism in America, while among noted Presbyterian divines of Irish birth were James Waddell, known as "the blind preacher of the wilderness," Thomas Smyth, John Hall, Francis Allison, William Tennant, and James McGrady, all men of great ability and influence in their day.

Many names mentioned in other sections apply equally to New York city but for lack of space they are not here again referred to. David Jamison, one of the early Colonial lawyers in New York, was born in Scotland. In 1707 he defended Francis Makemie, the Presbyterian clergyman, when he was arrested for preaching in the city without a license, and in 1710 he became Chief Justice of New Jersey.

Through his influence a church was established at Patuxent in 1704, the members of which included several prominent Fifeshire families. Many other small Scottish colonies were settled on the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia, particularly in Accomac, Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties. To minister to them the Rev. Francis Makemie and the Rev.

William Traill, another Scot, Moderator of the Presbytery of Laggan, was sent over shortly before Makemie but he confined his work to preaching. Philip's Episcopal Church. Thomas Gordon, the "fighting parson" of Bacon's Rebellion was a Scot.

Francis Makemie, often called the father of American Presbyterianism, was concerned, in his A Plain and Friendly Perswasive to the Inhabitants of Virginia and Maryland for Promoting Towns and Cohabitations, about the dearth of markets for fishery products. It was a condition brought about largely by a general lack of money in circulation.

In 1676 he went to Glasgow to attend the classes in the University there, and his name still stands in the matriculation register of the University: "Franciscus Makemius ... Scoto-Hibernus," i.e. Francis Makemie, a Scot of Ireland. In 1683 he was ordained by the Presbytery of Laggan and sent over to the American colonies, where he immediately began the organization of churches and presbyteries.