James A. McKenzie Papers

Clergyman, of Rhode Island

Papers, 1818-1855

Size: 0.25 linear feet

Catalog number: MSS 547

Processed by: Cindy Bendroth, June 1989

©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

Historical note:

James Alexander McKenzie was born in Newport on December 3, 1812. In 1822 he was affiliated with the Minister's Conference of the Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting of Freewill Baptists and helped with the Third Baptist Church in Newport. On August 12, 1838 he became an ordained minister and the pastor of the new fourth Baptist Church in Newport. He went to Portsmouth, NH for a brief time and later served as pastor at the Roger Williams Church in Providence. He left Providence to serve in Tiverton. Presumably he also served in Smithfield and perhaps Swansea, MA.

Bibliography:

Williams, A.D. The Rhode Island Freewill Baptist Pulpit. Boston: Gould and Lincoln, l852.

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Scope and content:

These are probably the papers of James A. McKenzie, however, because there are many undated, unsigned sermons, it is difficult to determine. The collection dates from l8l8 to l855 but contains undated materials. Journal entries, sermons and a navigation workbook make up the collection. Topics include religious discussions, the church's response to the Dorr Rebellion, Martin Cheney and the RI Quarterly Meeting of the Freewill Baptist Churches.

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Provenance:

The papers were received from Rev. Nelson K. Elliot of Sanford Maine in 1988.

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Inventory:

Box 1

Navigation and ciphering book, 1818

Journal and Sermon, 1832-1833, undated

Sermon, 1833-1836

Journal, circa 1842

Letters to RI Quarterly Meeting, May 21, 1843 and May 17, 1855

"On the Life and Character of Rev. Martin Cheney," 1852