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Colin J. McRae (born Colin John McRae; October 22, 1812 – February 1877) was an American politician who had served as a Deputy from
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862.The Colin J. McRae Papers
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
: South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
Andrew Lambert
Colin J. McRae, Confederate Financial Agent: Blockade Running in the Trans-Mississippi South as Affected by the Confederate Government's Direct Procurement of European Goods Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalties and Illicit Trade in the North East, 1783–1820
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The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...
'', August 2009


Biography

Colin J. McRae was born on October 22, 1812, in
Anson County, North Carolina Anson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,055. Its county seat is Wadesboro. History The county was formed in 1750 from Bladen County. It was named for George Anson, ...
.The Political Graveyard
/ref> His brother, John J. McRae, served as the 21st Governor of Mississippi (1854–1857). Before the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
, McRae was a merchant from Mobile, Alabama. He co-owned a foundry in Selma, Alabama, which made
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
and iron plate for gunboats. Some of these gunboats were used during the war. McRae served as Confederate States Financial Agent in Europe from 1862 to 1865. In 1867, McRae moved to Puerto de Caballos,
British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,
(present-day
Puerto Cortés Puerto Cortés, originally known as Puerto de Caballos, is a port city and municipality on the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, right on the Laguna de Alvarado, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, with a natural bay. The present city w ...
,
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
), where he purchased land and ran a plantation and mercantile business centered on
mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Univ ...
. McRae died there in February 1877. He bequeathed the plantation and mercantile business to his sister and her husband. They leased the plantation to tenants until 1894. Donald C. Simmons, Jr., ''Confederate Settlements in British Honduras'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001, p. 9

/ref> The location of his grave, in Belize, is unknown. In October 2011, a college student at the University of New Hampshire found relics of his Belize plantation house on an archeological expedition in the middle of the Belize Valley. His records were found in Monterey Place in Mobile, Alabama. They are held at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
.


See also

*
Confederate settlements in British Honduras The Confederate Settlements in British Honduras are a cultural and ethnic sub-group in Belize, formerly known as the colony of British Honduras. They are the descendants of Confederates who fled to British Honduras with their families during and ...


References


Further reading

* Charles S. Davis, ''Colin J. McRae: Confederate Financial Agent'' (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Confederate Publishing, 1961). * Ray J. Fletcher, ''Colin J. McRae, Confederate Agent in Europe'' (Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University Press, 1956).


External links


Colin J. McRae
at ''
The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Colin J. 1812 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American politicians American emigrants to Belize American merchants Confederate expatriates Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States People from Anson County, North Carolina People of Alabama in the American Civil War Signers of the Confederate States Constitution Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States 19th-century American businesspeople