William McKinlay
William McKinlay was a prosperous tailor and state legislator in Charleston, South Carolina.[1]
Early life[edit]
McKinlay was a free man of color from Charleston.[2] He also had Scottish ancestry.[3]
Career[edit]
He and his brothers Archibald and George owned a tailoring business.[3] He and Archibald owned the McKinlay Building on Market Street and other properties.[4] He was also a director of Enterprise Railroad.[5]
He was elected a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention in Charleston.[2] He was appointed to the Charleston City Council in 1868 then elected to the council in November of the same year. He was also elected to the council in 1873.[6]
He was elected to serve in the state legislature during the 1868 term.
Personal life[edit]
McKinlay was a member of the Brown Fellowship Society.[1] He purchased slaves to allow them to live freely even as the law recognized them as his property. At one point the city posted the sale a girl that was his property to satisfy taxes owed. A response was soon after posted that she was free and would not be sold.[7]
He was married to Sarah Jane McKinlay.[8] He died intestate in 1872.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Johnson, Michael; Roark, James L. (February 1, 2001). No Chariot Let Down: Charleston's Free People on the Eve of the Civil War. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9780807849439 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Representatives, USA House of (June 9, 1868). "House Documents". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Bellows, Barbara L. (21 February 2018). Two Charlestonians at War: The Civil War Odysseys of a Lowcountry Aristocrat and a Black Abolitionist. ISBN 9780807169117. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ "Property File - 139 South Market Street (McKinlay Building)".
- ^ "Enterprise Railroad".
- ^ "African American Council Members City of Charleston, South Carolina" (PDF). www.charleston-sc.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
- ^ Koger, Larry (November 18, 2011). Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860. McFarland. ISBN 9780786469314 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b McKinlay family legal papers, 1885-1889. WorldCat. OCLC 847981093. Retrieved January 6, 2021.