James McKay Sr.

James McKay Sr. (May 17, 1808 - November 11, 1876) was a cattleman, ship captain, and the sixth mayor of Tampa, Florida from February 12, 1859 – February 1, 1860. He is buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery.

McKay will be memorialized with a bronze bust on the Tampa Riverwalk, along with other historical figures prominent in the History of Tampa.

James McKay was born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, May 17, 1808. He left to become a mariner and spent many years at sea, returning home for brief family visits.

He came to America in 1836 and located in St. Louis, Mo, where in 1837 he met Matilda Alexander Cail, a native of Scotland, born in Edinburgh, May 19, 1816,the daughter of widowed Sarah Alexander. (Some historians claim that James met Matilda in Scotland but her mother refused the marriage due to her young age, so she left with Matilda to St. Louis, Only to have James pursue her there. Two notable Tampa historians specifically state they never met before St. Louis.)

Matilda’s mother, a wealthy widow, disapproved at first of the match because of McKay’s hazardous occupation and because Matilda was young of age. In St. Louis, Sarah Alexander married a Mr. Cail, an Englishman who had large investments in western lands. Mr. Cail disappeared while exploring the western wilderness, and left Madam Sarah Alexander Cail a widow once again, but much richer.

In St. Louis, the tall, broad-shouldered and persuasive young Scot continued his courtship of Matilda. Finally, the mother consented to their marriage. McKay was 27 years old and the bride 17.

In 1838 James and Matilda, along with her mother, moved to Mobile, Ala, where the couple had their first four children: George, Sarah I., James Jr. and John Angus.

In Mobile, Captain McKay met the Rev. Daniel Simmons, the Baptist minister who had established a mission in Hillsborough County in 1828 and had lived there until the Seminole War started, when he went to Alabama. Reverend Simmons was an ardent Florida booster and never ceased singing the praises of the Tampa Bay region. Captain McKay did not need much selling on the future prospects of the bay section. He knew that because of its geographical location, Tampa Bay was destined to become one of the leading ports of the nation. So in the early fall of 1846 he decided to go to Tampa.

Chartering a schooner, Captain McKay left Mobile with his family in September, 1846. Reverend and Mrs. Simmons went with him, and so did Madame Cail and Mitchell McCarty and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Simmonses.

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