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James McKay Sr. | |
---|---|
6th Mayor of Tampa | |
In office February 12, 1859 –February 1, 1860 | |
Preceded by | Madison Post |
Succeeded by | John P. Crichton |
Personal details | |
Born | Thurso,Scotland | May 17,1808
Died | November 11,1876 68) Tampa,Florida | (aged
Political party | Democratic |
Relations | James McKay Jr. (son), Donald Brenham McKay (grandson) |
Occupation | Cattleman,ship captain |
James McKay Sr. (May 17,1808 – November 11,1876) was a cattleman,ship captain,and the sixth mayor of Tampa,Florida. McKay is memorialized with a bronze bust on the Tampa Riverwalk,along with other historical figures prominent in the History of Tampa. [1]
James McKay was born on May 17,1808,in Thurso,Caithness,Scotland. He left to become a mariner and spent many years at sea,returning home for brief family visits. [2]
He came to America in 1836 and located in St. Louis,Missouri,where in 1837 he met Matilda Alexander Cail,a native of Scotland,born in Edinburgh,May 19,1816,the daughter of widowed Sarah Alexander. [3] Some historians claim that James met Matilda in Scotland but her mother refused the marriage due to her young age,so she left with Matilda to St. Louis,only to have James pursue her there. Two notable Tampa historians specifically state they never met before St. Louis.[ citation needed ]
Matilda's mother,a wealthy widow,disapproved at first of the match because of McKay's hazardous occupation and because Matilda was young of age. In St. Louis,Sarah Alexander married a Mr. Cail,an Englishman who had large investments in western lands. Mr. Cail disappeared while exploring the western wilderness,and left Madam Sarah Alexander Cail a widow once again,but much richer.
In St. Louis,Mckay continued his courtship of Matilda. [2] Finally,the mother consented to their marriage. McKay was 27 years old and the bride 17.
In 1838,the couple,along with her mother,moved to Mobile,Alabama,where they had their first four children.
In Mobile,McKay met the Rev. Daniel Simmons,the Baptist minister who had established a mission in Hillsborough County in 1828 and had lived there until the Seminole War started,when he went to Alabama. Reverend Simmons was an ardent Florida booster and never ceased singing the praises of the Tampa Bay region. Captain McKay did not need much selling on the future prospects of the bay section. He knew that because of its geographical location,Tampa Bay was destined to become one of the leading ports of the nation. So in the early fall of 1846 he decided to go to Tampa.
Chartering a schooner,McKay left Mobile with his family in September,1846. Reverend and Mrs. Simmons went with him,and so did Madame Cail and Mitchell McCarty and his wife,Elizabeth,daughter of the Simmonses.
As the McKay schooner sailed south along the Florida coast,a violent storm drove the vessel upon a reef near the mouth of the Chassahowitzka River. Captain McKay repeatedly swam through the rough surf to carry his wife,the children,and Madam Cail ashore. The slaves also survived the shipwreck,but the entire cargo was lost. They tarried at Chassahowitzka for a time where Donald S.,their fourth son,was born August 8,1846. The Simmons and McCarty families went on to Brooksville but the McKays soon afterward made their way to Tampa,arriving in November. Madame Cail came with them. [4]
On Oct. 13,1846,the McKays entered the little village of Tampa which numbered less than two hundred inhabitants,exclusive of the soldiers in Fort Brooke. The village consisted of a few crude log huts thatched with palmetto fronds,with wooden shutters to keep out the cold and rain. The cottages were scattered over a sea of white sand. Cattle and pigs roamed at will. [5] [6]
Upon moving to Tampa,McKay opened a general store on Franklin Street (Tampa),invested in real estate,and operated a sawmill on the Hillsborough River. He also owned and operated two schooners for cargo transport cargo from Tampa to Cuba,Central America and South America. From 1858 McKay built a successful business purchasing and transporting large herds of cattle. [7]
During the 1850s,McKay was awarded the contract to be the sutler for Fort Myers,which was then only a small U.S. fortification built during the Seminole Wars. [8] [9]
He and his wife had five more children in Tampa (Donald,Marion,Almeria,Matilda and Charles). [10]
McKay was elected mayor on February 12,1859,serving until February 1,1860. [11] His accomplishments include the establishment of standard procedures and forms for licenses,ordinances and legal notices;regulation of the Jackson Street ferry service,and a rental agreement for the Fort Brooke military reservation after purchase attempts failed. The rental deal lasted 18 months until April 1861 when Confederate troops occupied the fort and declared martial law.
McKay was a citizen of the United Kingdom throughout his life and is the only non-U.S. citizen to serve as Mayor of Tampa.
In 1858 McKay made a contract with the Morgan Line allowing him to use USS Magnolia (1854) twice a month at a price of $1,500 each run in order to ship cattle to Cuba. This established the Magnolia as the first of many ships to be used in the same way,and the introduction of Spanish doubloons to Florida can be traced back to the trading trips made by Magnolia.
Sometime around mid-April 1861 McKay made a deal with Lieutenant Henry Benson,with whom he had met and become friends with while serving as the sutler in Fort Myers. The deal stipulated that he would provide beef at a bargain price to the Federal troops at Fort Jefferson and,in return,the Union Navy would not interfere with McKay's Cuban cattle trade. He returned to Tampa to find the city was very much pro-secession and offered to sell his ship,the Salvor to the Confederacy,who declined the offer. Despite this,by the time McKay returned with cattle to Key West,the Union officials had caught word of the deal between McKay and the Rebels.
McKay appealed and was eventually allowed to return to Tampa thanks to two other acquaintances from his time at Fort Myers,Colonel Harvey Brown and Colonel William H. French. He returned to Tampa only to be put on trial for treason against the Confederacy. Despite the best efforts of his prosecutor and political rival Senator James T. Magbee,McKay's trial was suspended and he immediately made plans to leave for Key West. Whether it was a genuine offer or simply an excuse to leave,McKay asked local Confederate officials for permission to run cattle to Havana. [12]
On October 14,1861,McKay and his 450-ton steamer,the Salvor,along with six cannons,21,000 "stand of arms," 100 boxes of revolvers,and ammunition,were seized by the Union Navy. [13]
In 1863,McKay was appointed Commissary Agent for the 5th District of Florida by Confederate Major Pleasant W. White. He was frustrated with the difficulties in running cattle for the Confederacy and hired additional men to protect his herds from Union troops,pro-Union Floridians,and Confederate deserters. In March 1864,McKay wrote a letter to the Secretary of War James Seddon proposing the formation of a unit specifically designated to protect the Florida cattle trade. By the end of spring 1864,this unit,which would become known as the 1st Florida Special Cavalry Battalion was being organized. [14]
McKay's son,James McKay Jr.,would fight for the Confederacy,first as a captain in the 4th Florida Infantry and eventually rising to the rank of Major in the 1st Florida Special Cavalry Battalion. [15]
After the Civil War,McKay resumed his cattle and shipping business. He is buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery. [16] James McKay Jr. was the 34th Mayor of Tampa from June,1902 –June,1904. McKay Sr.'s grandson,Donald Brenhan McKay,was also a Mayor of Tampa. He served 3 terms from June 1910 to Jun 1920 and a 4th term from January 1928 to October 1931 [17]
McKay Bay,the portion of Tampa Bay adjoining the port,is named in his honor.
Fort Myers is a city in and the county seat of Lee County,Florida,United States. As of the 2020 census,the population was 86,395;it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022,making it the 25th-most populous city in Florida. Together with the larger and more residential city of Cape Coral,it anchors the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area,which encompasses Lee County and has a population of 834,573 as of 2023.
Punta Rassa is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County,Florida,United States. The population was 1,620 at the 2020 census,down from 1,750 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers,Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Battle of Tampa,also known as the "Yankee Outrage at Tampa",was a minor engagement of the American Civil War fought June 30 –July 1,1862,between the United States Navy and a Confederate artillery company charged with "protecting" the village of Tampa,Florida. Although small,Tampa's port was a key hub of trade for Central Florida,and several blockade runners from Tampa regularly slipped past the Union naval blockade that extended down the Atlantic coast around to Florida's west coast.
Francis Asbury "Berry" Hendry was an American cattle rancher,politician in Florida,and served during the Third Seminole War,and the American Civil War in the Confederate States Army. Hendry was also a state senator for parts of Lee County,and Monroe County,as well as serving as a state representative for Lee County for six terms from 1893 to 1904. He was known by the nickname "Berry" and in later life as "Captain Hendry."
Ballast Point is a neighborhood located in the city of Tampa,county of Hillsborough,and the U.S. state of Florida. It is bordered by Hillsborough Bay,a section of the larger Tampa Bay. The ZIP code serving the area is 33611. The boundaries are Gandy Blvd. to the north,MacDill Air Force Base to the south,Hillsborough Bay to the east and S. MacDill Ave. to the west. Also included are the homes and businesses on the west side of the street of S. MacDill Ave.,Gadsden Park on S. MacDill Ave. and the adjacent ELAPP Property which is part of the South Tampa Greenway.
Port Tampa Bay,known as the Port of Tampa until January 2014,is the largest port in the state of Florida and is overseen by the Tampa Port Authority,a Hillsborough County agency. The port is located in Tampa,Florida near downtown Tampa's Channel District. The port directly accesses Tampa Bay on the western coast of the Florida Suncoast,and is approximately 25 sea miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The port district includes parts of Tampa Bay,Hillsborough Bay,McKay Bay,Old Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough River. The port serves container ships,tank ships,and cruise lines.
The modern history of Tampa,Florida,can be traced to the founding of Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in today's downtown in 1824,soon after the United States had taken possession of Florida from Spain. The outpost brought a small population of civilians to the area,and the town of Tampa was first incorporated in 1855.
Florida participated in the American Civil War as a member of the Confederate States of America. It had been admitted to the United States as a slave state in 1845. In January 1861,Florida became the third Southern state to secede from the Union after the November 1860 presidential election victory of Abraham Lincoln. It was one of the initial seven slave states which formed the Confederacy on February 8,1861,in advance of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Fort Brooke was a minor engagement fought October 16–18,1863 in and around Tampa,Florida during the American Civil War. The most important outcome of the action was the destruction of two Confederate blockade runners which had been hidden upstream on the Hillsborough River.
USS Ariel was a captured Confederate schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War. She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
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Charles McKay Wall was an American businessman,mobster,and political figure who was a rival to reputed mobsters Santo Trafficante Sr. and Santo Trafficante Jr. His parents were John Perry Wall and Matilda McKay,daughter of former Tampa Mayor. Wall rapidly gained status within the criminal underworld from his early endeavors in the operation of several gambling,prostitution,and illegal numbers rackets. He was beaten with a baseball bat,his throat slit and killed,on April 18,1955. He was buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery.
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John Perry Wall was an American physician,and mayor of Tampa,Florida from 1878 to 1880.
Augustus Steele was a Florida entrepreneur,a Florida state legislator,and helped found Hillsborough County.
James Gettis was a lawyer and judge in Tampa,Florida. He was the second lawyer in Tampa. Gettis was also a city councilman,and state representative,and the first town clerk.
William Benton Henderson was a cattleman,merchant,and prominent figure in the history of Tampa,Florida. He is the namesake of Henderson Boulevard and Henderson Avenue as well as the former W. B. Henderson Elementary School.
The 1st Florida Battalion Special Cavalry,nicknamed the "Cow Cavalry",was a Confederate States Army cavalry unit from Florida during the American Civil War. Commanded by Charles James Munnerlyn;it was organized to protect herds of cattle from Union raiders. The hides and meat from Florida cattle were a critical supply item for the Confederacy.
Donald Brenham McKay was the owner and editor of the Daily Times newspaper in Tampa,Florida and served several terms as Mayor of Tampa from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1931.