William McKinlay

William McKinlay was a prosperous tailor and state legislator in Charleston, South Carolina.[1]

Early life

McKinlay was a free man of color from Charleston.[2] He also had Scottish ancestry.[3]

Career

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

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

  1. 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.
  2. Representatives, USA House of (June 9, 1868). "House Documents". U.S. Government Printing Office via Google Books.
  3. 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.
  4. "Property File - 139 South Market Street (McKinlay Building)".
  5. "Enterprise Railroad".
  6. "African American Council Members City of Charleston, South Carolina" (PDF). www.charleston-sc.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  7. Koger, Larry (November 18, 2011). Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860. McFarland. ISBN 9780786469314 via Google Books.
  8. McKinlay family legal papers, 1885-1889. WorldCat. OCLC 847981093. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
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