MCKAY, James

MCKAY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 5/31/2021 at 20:41:01

James McKay
born Oct 6, 1839, Scotland

James McKay, a farmer and one of the well-known and representative citizens of Garfield Township, Ida County, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, October 6, 1839, son of John and Elizabeth (Stathern) McKay, natives also of that country. The parents both died in Ida County, the father in 1876 and mother in 1874. They were the parents of eight children.
James McKay, our subject, moved with his parents to Lancashire, England, when he was six years of age. When he was thirty-three he engaged in the manufacture of cotton, and in 1863 embarked in the woolen business in Victoria, Australia. In 1872, he landed in New York and went to New Hampshire and Rhode Island, and in 1878 came to Ida County. He purchased eighty acres of land in Garfield Township, and now has added until he now owns 320 acres. He has a frame dwelling, 16 x 36, one and a half stories high, with an L, 12 x 14 feet, good barns, windmill, and a grove of one acre. He is a Democrat, but in 1892 he voted for the People’s party, He has also served as Secretary for the School Board. He is a member of the Masonic order, Perseverance Lodge of Battle Creek. In 1817 he married Anna Bennett, a native of England and daughter of James Bennett. To this union was born three children: John, James and Robert. Mr. Bennett was a member of the Presbyterian Church, but is now a member of the Evangelical Church.
Source: Biographical History of Crawford, Ida, and Sac Counties, Iowa, 1893, p.615