John J. McRae
John J. McRae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Confederate House of Representatives for Mississippi | |
| In office February 18, 1862 – February 17, 1864 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | John Tillman Lamkin |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 5th district | |
| In office December 7, 1858 – January 12, 1861 | |
| Preceded by | John A. Quitman |
| Succeeded by | Legrand W. Perce |
| 21st Governor of Mississippi | |
| In office January 10, 1854 – November 16, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | John J. Pettus |
| Succeeded by | William McWillie |
| United States Senator from Mississippi | |
| In office December 1, 1851 – March 17, 1852 | |
| Appointed by | James Whitfield |
| Preceded by | Jefferson Davis |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Adams |
| Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives | |
| In office 1847–1851 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Jones McRae January 10, 1815 Sneedsboro, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | May 31, 1868 (aged 53) Belize City, British Honduras |
| Party | Democratic |
John Jones McRae (January 10, 1815 – May 31, 1868) was an American politician from Mississippi. A Democrat,[1] he served in the Mississippi House of Representatives, the US House and Senate, the Confederate Congress, and as governor of Mississippi.
Biography
[edit]McRae was born in Sneedsboro, North Carolina. In 1817, he moved with his parents to Winchester, Mississippi.[2] McRae graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 1834, and the same year he founded the town of Enterprise in Clarke County.[3] McRae attempted to find a navigable path from his new town to the sea via the Chickasawhay River, and in 1842 managed to sail a steamboat from Lake Ponchartrain to Enterprise.[4]
He studied law in Pearlington and was admitted to the bar.[3] McRae was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, serving from 1847 to 1851.[1] During that time, he helped establish the University of Mississippi.[5]
McRae was selected as a Democratic US Senator from Mississippi in 1851 to fill a vacancy, serving in that office until 1852.[6] He ran for Governor of Mississippi in the November 1853 election, defeating his Whig opponent Francis M. Rogers by a sizeable margin.[6] In the 1855 election he stood again, defeating his Know Nothing opponent by a similar margin to the prior election.[6]
Prevented by term limits from running again for governor, McRae left that office in 1857 and stood for Congress, winning a seat in the US House of Representatives.[6] A staunch advocate of southern secession, McRae withdrew from Congress in January 1861 when Mississippi left the Union.[3] He then won election to the First Confederate Congress in 1861, but was defeated for reelection by John Tillman Lamkin in 1863 due to war-weariness in his home state.[3]
He died on a visit to British Honduras (now Belize), where his brother Colin J. McRae lived in exile.[5]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Colin J. McRae Collection, Columbia, South Carolina: South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
- ↑ "McRAE, John Jones, (1815 - 1868)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- 1 2 3 4 Warner, Ezra J.; Yearns, W. Buck (1975). Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress. Louisiana State University Press. p. 165. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
- ↑ Lowry, Robert; McCardle, William H. (1891). A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis. Jackson, Mississippi: R. H. Henry & Company. p. 461. ISBN 978-0-7884-4821-8.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - 1 2 Donald C. Simmons, Jr., Confederate Settlements in British Honduras, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001, p. 91
- 1 2 3 4 Rowland, Dunbar. (1908). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, Volume 2. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. pp. 148–149.
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1815 births
- 1868 deaths
- Democratic Party governors of Mississippi
- Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Mississippi
- Speakers of the Mississippi House of Representatives
- Democratic Party United States senators from Mississippi
- People of Mississippi in the American Civil War
- People from Anson County, North Carolina
- Democratic Party United States representatives from Mississippi
- Miami University alumni
- People from Clarke County, Mississippi
- 19th-century United States representatives
- 19th-century United States senators
- 19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature
