McKINLEY
138
MacLAREN
having committed an assault, but
fortunately for him he received a quick
discharge when the character of the
assaulted man was verified by the
police.
He had great presence of mind, for occasionally leaving behind him his saddlebags with medicine he pretended to the patient that medicine was of no use on that day, and that dieting would be the proper treatment, thus skillfully hiding his forgetfulness.
Fifty years after graduating from Bowdoin College, he collected the few remaining members of his class at Topsham, and there re-kindled within them the youthful enthusiasm of half a century before. He had a great and a deservedly great career in medicine, and died without long illness on the day after his seventy-sixth birthday at Topsham, Maine, November 28, 1873.
A. S.
MSS. Records, Maine Medical Society. Transactions, Maine Medical Association.
McKinley, John (1721-1796).
John McKinley, first governor of Delaware, was born in the north of Ireland, February 24, 1721. Nothing is known of his parentage and family aside from the knowledge implied by his having been educated and able to begin at once the practice of medicine when he came to this country.
He was a charter member of the first Delaware Medical Society, which was the third medical society in the United States.
In 1757 he was appointed sheriff of New Castle County xmder the Colonial Government. He held this office for three years and in 1759 was chosen chief burgess of the small borough of Wilmington. Continuous re-election by his fellow townsmen kept him in this office for fifteen years. In 1777 he became the first governor of Dela- ware, or "President" of the State, as the title then was.
Dr. McKinley was prompt to take a stand against British oppression, and.
like others of his race, became an
ardent, outspoken patriot. He was
of fearless and decided character, and
greatly popular with those who opposed
taxation without representation. In
September, 1777, just after the Battle
of the Brandywine, a detachment
of British soldiers appeared in Wilming-
ton, and after looting the governor's
house, took him prisoner as a valuable
prize. After one year in close captiv-
ity he returned once more to his home
on the northwest corner of Third and
French streets and resumed his prac-
tice and other duties. The public
library at New York contains a sworn
statement by Dr. McKinley as to dam-
age done his property by British sol-
diers, but it is doubtful if the infant
Republic made good his loss.
In the First Presbyterian Church, of which he was a trustee, and which is now used as the building of the Delaware Historical Society, is a large lantern. It is of iron with glass panels, and bears the following inscription:
" The lantern of Dr. John McKinley, of Wilmington, Delaware."
"This lantern hghted the path of that devoted, able physician during his nightly visits to the sick and afflicted, born by his devoted African servant, 'Fortin' when street lamps were unknown.
"There are a few persons still living in Wilmington who bear kindly recollec- tions of master and man."
He left no children: his wife's name was Jane Richardson and they were married about the year 1764.
Dr. McKinley died at the age of seventy-five years on the thirty-first of August, 1796, in Wilmington.
A. R.
Biographical and Genealogical History of the State of Delaware.
MacLaren, Laurence (1817-1892).
Laurence MacLaren was the son of John MacLaren, architect, of Perth, Scotland, who emigrated to Prince Edward Island in 1804, where Lau-
