Alexander Murdoch Mackay: Missionary to Uganda; born at Rhymie (31 miles northwest of
Aberdeen, [Scotland]) October 13, 1849; died at Uganda February 4, 1890. He
studied at the Free Church Training School for Teachers at Edinburgh, at Edinburgh
University, and in Berlin. He displayed a great aptitude for mechanics, and
spent several years as a draftsman in Germany. In 1875 he offered his services
as a missionary to the Church Missionary Society, was accepted, reached Zanzibar
on his way to his field May 30, 1876, and Uganda in November, 1878. There,
largely through his knowledge of practical mechanics, he enjoyed the protection
of Mutesa; but when Mwanga came to the throne in 1884, Mackay's position became
difficult because of the king's opposition, and there was little change when
Kiwewa succeeded to the throne in 1888. Mackay still held on, however, and
it is largely due to his courage, energy, and devotion that the mission in
Uganda [continued]. He fell a victim to malarial fever, and succumbed after
four days of illness, having spent fourteen years in Africa without once having
visited his native country.
Bibliography: Alexander M. Mackay, Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary Society in Uganda; by his Sister, new ed., London, 1899; Alexander Mackay, Missionary Hero of Uganda, ib. 1893.
From The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge... New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1910.
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