JAMES, DAVID (1787-1856)

JAMES, DAVID, Baptist minister, North Esk parish, 1823-27; b. Wales, 5 May 1787; m. 1st, 1828, Mary Humphreys, and 2nd, 1848, Martha (Thompson) Hill; d. Galesburg, Ill., 19 Apr 1856.

David James came to the United States around 1820, and a few years later, he was sent to the Miramichi by the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts, "to preach the gospel in destitute places." He was minister of the North Esk Baptist church part-time from 1823 to 1826 and full-time in 1826-27. Although his pastorate was brief, it resulted in rapid growth in church membership.

When "Elder James" left the Miramichi in 1827, it was to go to the Welsh Baptist congregation at Cardigan Settlement, in York County. He was based in New Hampshire when he was married in 1828 and was ministering at Kennebunk, Maine, in 1829. He later had pastorates in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. "He was a man of gentle spirit, of deep and ardent piety, and of unfaltering confidence in God."