By Rev. Nash Odom, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Dublin, N. C. and President of the Bladen County Historic Society.)

     James Iver McKay of Bladen County represented District 5 in the United States Congress from 1831 to 1849. He served as the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 1843 to 1849. He was given the nickname of "Watch Dog of the Treasury." He was a Philantropist, Statesman, Lawyer, Planter and one of the most beloved men who ever came from Bladen County. He was highly respected by the people of North Carolina and across the United States. In 1848, his name was presented as a candidate for Vice-President of the United States. That year, however, he retired. The story of his life is an interesting story and the history of Bladen County would be in complete without it.

     Much of the information of this article has come from biographical sketches written by Mrs. E. F. McCullouch and Mr. W. D. Maultsby with revisions made and additions added.

          [Line missing]McKay, came to Bladen County from Scotland. We are told that they had four sons and one daughter. One son, John McKay, was born on January 5, 1768, and died on February 1, 1821. His wife, Mary Salter McKay, was born on May 4, 1768, and died on July 6, 1805. Both are buried in a lonely, forsaken family cemetery near Turnbull Creek near where the old Bethel Methodist Church once was located. Mary Salter McKay was the daughter of William Salter II and Sarah Lloyd Salter, and the granddaughter of William Salter I and Mary Locke Salter. The old Salter Family Cemetery is located near Salters Lake and the wooden markers have now decayed and almost disappeared. The Salter name has been most prominant in Bladen County history.

     John and Mary Salter McKay had two sons: Archibald Salter McKay was born on November 11, 1794, and died on November 10, 1823, aged 29 years. He had one child, Emeline McKay, who married in 1833 William Nash Whitted of Hillsboro, N. C. James Iver McKay, was born on July 17, 1792, and died September 14, 1853. He married Eliza Ann Harvey on December 3, 1818. She was the daughter of Travis Harvey. Travis Harvey was the grandson of Colonel Thomas Robeson. James Iver and Eliza Ann Harvey McKay had only one child, James Travis McKay, who died as an infant. They reared and educated several of his nieces and other kinsmen. Mrs. McKay died in 1847.

     Young James Iver McKay received his early education at the Raleigh Academy. He delivered an address there on July 4, 1809. James and his first cousin, William J. Cowan of Bladen County, entered the University of North Carolina. It seems that he did not graduate from that institution though. No doubt he entered law school before the end of the four year period, instead of studying in the regu lar academic school. He was early admitted to the bar.

     James Iver McKay was well educated and possessed ability as well as a strong character. At the age of twenty-three, he was elected to the State Senate. He served for four terms. John Owen of Bladen County succeeded him.

     Meanwhile, McKay had served as United States District Attorney and had won a fine reputation as a brilliant lawyer. In his profession, he was skillful, and very earnest in performing every duty given to him. In 1831, Edward B. Dudley declined to be a candidate for Congress. The friends of McKay brought him forward to represent the district.

          [Line missing] he served the people of the Cape Fear area in Congress of the United States. The years 1830 to 1860 are among the most exciting years in American politics. Such great subjects as tariff, nullification, states' rights, and slavery were being discussed at that time. During that period, no other section was more favorably represented in Congress than Bladen County.

     Year by year General McKay gained the confidence of his party. He was noted for his loyalty to the administration. In 1843, he was made Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. He drew up a tariff bill, but it failed to pass. It was widely circulated, however, and was received as an excellent expression of Democratic thought. Robert J. Walker was the Secretary of the Treasury in 1846. He favored a larger tariff reduction. The Tariff Act of 1846 was prepared in conference with Secretary Walker and was introduced by General James Iver McKay, the Chairman of the Committee in the House. The House passed on the bill but there was doubt about the Senate vote.

     Two years earlier, William H. Haywood had been elected to the Senate with instructions to vote for tariff reform. He, however, considered this tariff bill to be too far-reaching for him to support. Even though he felt hat he could not vote for the bill, he didn't want to embarrass the administration by helping to defeat it. He was on good terms with President Polk and the Democratic Party. If he didn't cast his vote, there would be a tie in the Senate. Vice-President Dallas' vote would pass the bill. Haywood decided not to vote. He decided to resign instead. At the last minute, while the vote was being taken in the Senate Chamber, he announced his resignation and withdrew from the body.

     Since the tariff bill was the lowest one that had been passed in many years, it was considered the best ever passed by Congress. For fifteen years no effort was made to change it. What had once been the great tariff issue had been solved by the McKay Act of 1846.

     In 1848, General McKay's name was presented as a candidate for Vice-President of the United States. That year, however, he retired. He was succeeded in the Congress by his friend William S. Ashe.

     It was while General McKay was in Congress that he helped secure appropriations for the construction of the Arsenal at Fayetteville and for building Fort Caswell at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

     James Iver McKay was thought very well of by President Polk.      [Possible line missing????] The Honorable Archibald Arrington told an anecdote which was very characteristic of the General. As the story goes, a party of friends called on the President. After the introductions had been made, General McKay wandered around the room. Suddenly he called over his shoulder, "Oh, Mr. Polk, there is a vacancy in the Navy and I want it." "Ah," said the President, "Is there? I hadn't heard of it, but I suppose you may have it." "But, Mr. President, I don't want any supposing; I want it now." He got it.

     Mr. Arrington said that the General was called the "Watch Dog" of the United States Treasury and also "Old Money Bags" because he was so careful about how the country's money was spent.

     He was offered $27,000 for his plantation, "Bellefont," (sic) but he declined the offer. Item 7 of his will reads as follows: "I give, bequeath, and devise after the termination of my wife's widowhood my above named Bellefont Plantation to William J. Cowan and my executors hereinafter named and their heirs in trust for the County of Bladen on the express condition that the said plantation shall be used as an experimental farm and that the poor of the county and the indigent orphans who are directed by law to be bound out shall be kept, maintained, and employed on said plantation under such rules and regulations as the county court of said county may prescribe."

     In like manner he provided for his slaves. Item 10 of his will reads: "It is my will and desire that the slaves hereinbefore excepted be hired out by my executors for two or three years in order to raise funds for their transportation to the Colony of Liberia, and as soon as that object can be affected, my executors are hereby strictly enjoined to take the necessary means for the transportation of said slaves to Liberia under the direction and patronage of the Colonization Society." When the Negroes left Elizabethtown for Wilmington where they were to board the ship, they cried and were very unhappy because they had to leave their old home and go to a strange land. Some years later, however, one of the Negro women came back from Africa. It seemed that she had done very well over there. She reported that the McKay Negroes had prospered in their new home, and that her grandfather had become an outstanding man in the Colony of Liberia. Her purpose for returning to Elizabethtown was to persuade other Negroes to go back with her.

     General McKay died suddenly in Goldsboro, N. C., Thursday, September 14, 1853, at a quarter before eight o'clock in the evening. He was returning from Tarboro, N. C. where he had been a witness in a trial. After the train arrived at Goldsboro, he suddenly became ill. His traveling companions, Colonel John McDowell and Benjamin Fitz Randolph, rushed to him and took him to Mrs. Borden's Hotel where he died. It was said that he had billious or cramp colic, now known as appendicitis.

     At Wilmington his body was met by the militia. There was a great public demonstration as his body was carried through the city. Bells were tolled. A group of the first citizens of Wilmington accompanied his body to the home plantation in Bladen County where he was buried. The steamboat which carried the dead General from Wilmington to the plantation was decked in
black.

     General McKay was a fine conversationalist and was a great favorite among his associates. Colonel Wheeler who knew him well and who was well acquainted with many prominent men of the United States had this to say about General McKay: "As a statesmen (sic) he was of unquestioned ability, of stern integrity, capable of great labor and patient investigation. He was in public as well as in private life a radical economist and belonged to that school of which Mr. Macon was the father."

     His burial place is marked by a North Carolina Historical Marker on Highway 87.

     No greater tribute could be made than that made by Elizabeth Ellis Robeson in her diary bearing the date, "September 15, 1853. I heard this morning that Genl. J. I. McKay died at Goldsboro after a few hours illness. He was a wealthy, intelligent man. He will be missed greatly by his friends and relatives and his country men (sic) generally but their loss will His infinite gain. Peace to his ashes for his superiors for intellect is not left in the country."

     (Editor's Note:)

     This was copied from a newspaper article, which as usual, had a justified right margin. It was difficult to tell if a single or double space had been entended at the end of a sentence. In typing this up, this editor put a single space at the end of each sentence.

     This was typed from a Xerox copy. In a few instances, it seemed that the top line of a column had been left off. These possible missing lines have been indicated in the text. Also, some of the extreme right margin is unclear in places. This editor made the best guess possible. The original can be consulted later and corrections made.