PORT GIBSON — The Rev. Dr. James N. Dorsey died Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, at the Natchez Community Hospital. He was 86.

Rev. Dorsey was a member of Mercy Seat M.B. Church and served as pastor of Jessamine Ridge M.B. Church in Fayette and Ashland M.B., Magnolia M.B. and First Baptist M.B. churches of Port Gibson.

He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and an activist in the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s, serving as the first president of the NAACP of Claiborne County. He served as president of the Claiborne County M.B. Association, board member of the Bethlehem Baptist Association of Jefferson County, on the executive committee of the General Baptist State Convention of Mississippi and as a board member of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.

Rev. Dorsey was preceded in death by his parents, James and Alma Dorsey; one brother, Isaac Dorsey; and three sisters, Laura Dorsey Moore, Ellen Dorsey McKee and Minnie Dorsey Moore.

He is survived by his wife, Bessie McGriggs-Dorsey of Port Gibson; two sons, James Dorsey of Fayette and Carl Dorsey of Fort Worth, Texas; three brothers, the Rev. Frank Dorsey, Shedrick Dorsey and Charles Dorsey, all of Jackson; two sisters, Evelyn Dorsey Perkins and Jane Alma Dorsey Walker, both of Jackson; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Magnolia M.B. Church in Port Gibson with the Revs. Hugh Johnson and Frank McGriggs officiating. Dr. Isaac Jackson, president of the General Baptist State Convention of Mississippi, will give the eulogy. Burial will be at Mercy Seat Cemetery under the direction of Thompson Funeral Home Inc. of Port Gibson. Visitation will be from 1 until 6 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Port Gibson and Saturday at the church from 10 a.m. until the service.