Clay MacCauley served as a soldier and was a prisoner of war in the Civil War, then attended seminary and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. He studied in Europe and developed an interest in Karl C.F. Krause. In 1868, he entered the Unitarian ministry, serving several churches. He was sent to Japan, 1889, to establish a Unitarian mission, serving there for 25 years.

Clay MacCauley was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1843. He was of Scottish - Irish ancestry. MacCauley became a minister of the Presbyterian church in 1859. In 1862 he became a soldier in the Civil War. He was captured at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and was confined to Libby prison, Richmond, Virginia. MacCauley graduated from MacCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1867. His first pastorate was at the Presbyterian church of De Pere, Wisconsin. He gradually changed his thinking on Calvinism and became a "liberal Congregationalist". In 1868 he entered the Unitarian ministry. In 1867 MacCauley married Miss Annie Cleveland. She died in 1887. Clay MacCauley was appointed by the American Unitarian Association to establish a mission in Japan in 1889. Here he worked for the next 25 years.The exact date of Clay MacCauley's death is not certain, but probably occurred in 1925, in Berkeley, California.

8 linear feet (19 5" and 2" boxes)

Collection is open to the public.