Maclennan, James

Maclennan, James, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, a native of Scotland, came to the United States In early manhood, furnished with a good classical education. He had been brought up in the bosom of the Established Church of Scotland, and fully believed all its doctrines, but, owing to his Calvinistic views, had given himself no personal concern about his salvation. He was, however, awakened and converted during a revival of religion in Pontotoc, Miss., joined the Methodists, and, feeling it to be his duty to preach the Gospel, entered the Mississippi Conference Dec. 3, 1840. He took position at once in the Conference on account of his educational advantages. His first appointment was Jackson Station, then he preached in Lake Washington country, on the Mississippi River, and in 1849 was elected secretary of the Conference. For several years following he located; from 1863 to 1867 he was presiding elder of the Granville District, and in 1865 was elected a delegate to the General Conference held in New Orleans in 1866. At the time of his death, in 1870, he was supernumerary on the Lake Lee and Leota Circuit. "Brother Maclennan was a man of strong character,... a simple-hearted Christian, dearly loved the Church of his choice, and literally laid his life a 'living sacrifice upon her altars.'" — Minutes of the I. E. Church South, 1870.