McClure

“ Samuel McClure was born in Augusta County, Virginia, 16th May, 1748, and died at the residence of his grandson, Samuel McClure, Esq., in Clark County, Ill., the 18th December, 1845. He was a soldier of the Revolution, a brave and good man. Shortly after the close of the war he removed with his family to Kentucky. On his way they were overtaken by a party of Indians, his wife taken prisoner and his four childen butchered. He made his escape, obtained help, overtook and severely punished the Indians and secured his wife. ”

“ That man was Joseph McClure, the father of the deceased. When they became older, he sent one of them to reside with the deceased. These boys are now old men. One resides in this township, an honest, sober and industrious citizen. The other lives in the west, a Methodist Minister. According to the records of the Brandywine Manor Church Session, Joseph McClure was an elder there in 1814, but for how long a time preceding that date we are unable to say, as the minute of 1814 is the oldest we could find. ”

“ J. Campbell McClure, Minister of Marykirk, Kincardinshire, Scotland, is that the McClures are a sept of the Clan McLeod. In addition to extant records in Galloway of the McClure family, showing it to be of McLeod origin, Mr. McClure states that the family tradition handed down to him through a long line of long-lived ancestors is, "In early times a sept of the MacLeods left the Island of Skye for Ulster, where the northern Irish slurred the 'd' of MacLuide (as it was then pronounced) into 'r,' hence, MacLure. ”

“ Several of the Ireland McClures claim a coat of arms as do those of Scotland, generally similar to that of the late Sir Thomas McClure, of Belfast, namely, a domed tower and pennant, but while his motto was Spectemur agendo, theirs is Paratus sum, which is also the motto of the McClures of Lancashire, though their coat of arms and crest are different. ”

“ McClures have always had the same motto, crest and tartan as the McLeods, and their right to them has never been called in question.
McClure history, then, properly begins with the McLeods.
Some authorities aver that they are of Irish descent. In an old volume of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology there is given a long pedigree of the McLeods, deducing them from various Scottish chieftains and princes, back to one Fergus Mor MacEarcha. ”

“ Robert McClure, for sixty-three years pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Annahilt, ordained and installed April 29, 1760. His great grandson, Prof. John Robinson Leebody, M. A., D. Sc. of Magee College, Londonderry, furnishes the following:
"My great-grandfather, the Rev. Robert McClure, was minister of Annahilt from 1760 to 1823. His family resided near Belfast where they owned some property. From this Mr. McClure derived income sufficient to live in easy circumstances. His staff of servants included a butler—not a usual luxury for a Presbyterian minister either then or now. ”

“ When McClure arrived off Honolulu on 1 July, he found that the Enterprise had gone on at once ahead of him, fearful of losing the short remains of the summer. Sailing for the north on 4 July, the Investigator joined the Plover in Kotzebue Sound, 29 July. The Enterprise had then got into a streak of contrary winds, and was a fortnight behind. McClure had but faint hope of meeting her at the next rendezvous, off Cape Lisburne; and on departing from Kotzebue Sound he left a letter for the admiralty, explaining the course he proposed to follow in the event of not falling in with the Enterprise. ”

“ In Munsey's Magazine, February, 1911, in an article on Robert Burns, illustrated with a photograph of old Alloway Kirkyard, the name George McClure appears on one of the stones. Many of the family are buried here. Rev. J. Campbell McClure, Kincardineshire, Scotland, belongs to this family. There is a family tradition that one of his ancestors, an ecclesiastical reformer, suffered persecution under Charles II in those well known days when the heroic and faithful Covenanters were subjected to such unholy treatment. ”

“ His motto was "Good fences make good neighbors," and consequently keep his in excellent repair.
In personal appearance he was large and muscular, with the characteristic McClure voice that could be heard across his farm. In politics he was a Jackson Democrat; in religion both he and his wife were "blue stocking" Presbyterians, and tho' in his latter years he rarely ever attended services, having become totally deaf, he saw that his family went in the "carry all" to Rogersville every Sabbath. ”

“ Some times I wish there was no men. Pheby says that the children is learning very fast I am glad to hear it, don't forget Sally she is my favorite child among all. Tell Sis to learn to right fast and rite to me, take my love to yourself. No more but remain your effectionate sister until death,
BETSY M. McCLURE. John and Jane McClure.
Dear Ant:
I rite you a few lines to let you know that I have not forgot you yet. I have had my health very well since I left home, I got very lean in the summer but I am like the rabits begining to faten when the white frost comes. ”

“ G. I. Colbron
“The Belgian invasion and atrocities have left Mr McClure under no illusion as to German procedure, and his most interesting comment bears upon the hypnotic national illustration of that people. This is perhaps the striking contribution which Mr McClure gives us in all his 500 pages.” B. K.
“Mr McClure has many faults. He is an incurable gossip. He writes with astonishing carelessness. He continually obtrudes his own personality into events where it has no place. ”

“ As I rose to leave him, McClure stood in the door of the bedroom and beckoned to me.
'Springfield and Buller are downstairs,' he whispered to me; 'they have come to lunch. Can you manage to get a chat with the fellow? It seems horrible to have such suspicions, but——'
'Yes, I understand,' I replied, noting his hesitation.
'If what is in both our minds has any foundation in fact,' he went on, 'Edgecumbe should be warned. ”

“ Jerry replied. “I reckon I wouldn’t either, if I were you.”
“Never mind, old fellow,” Rock went on, “you’ll be twice the man for it. I tell you when a fellow shows what he is willing to do and that he isn’t going to shirk, it goes a great way. John McClure told father about your insisting upon doing something to pay for that little measly geranium you got for Cassy, and ever since then father’s been keen to see to this business of your mother’s. John McClure is a fine man. Father says he is one of the most intelligent fellows he knows. ”

“ My family originated in Scotland, from whence a Presbyterian minister and his two sons emigrated to Ireland. There is a tradition that they were weavers by trade. Coming to America they settled in Virginia, where my grandfather, Thomas McClure, was born about 1775. He had a brother, John, an Indian fighter, who went to Kentucky. Also a sister, Matilda, who married a Skidmore and went to Kentucky. Her grandson, Peyton Skidmore, died in Aztec, N. M., in 1902, and left an only daughter, Mrs. Lucy Hoyle, one-eigth Cherokee Indian. She is now a widow, wealthy and beautiful. ”

“ As is usual when a man stifles the inner voice, Rob McClure swung instantly to the opposite extreme. "Here," he mused, "is this daughter of mine, browbeating me rather than giving me dutiful obedience." He was about to lash her with scandalous insinuation when the ulterior object recurred to him. He forthwith tempered his rage with a wise craftiness.
"You have given a strange reason," said he judicially. "I will not give my consent to your friendship with such a hound. Why not consider a red-blooded man like Chesley Sykes? He is intelligent, educated, wealthy and delightfully congenial. ”

“ As it proved, that autumn he did come with all his men, except those whom he had sent home before, and those who had died. When Pim found them, all the crew but thirty were under orders for marching, some to Baffin's Bay, some to the Mackenzie River, on their return to England. McClure was going to stay with the rest, and come home with the ship, if they could; if not, by sledges to Port Leopold, and so by a steam-launch which he had seen left there for Franklin in 1849. ”

“ I would be glad if he could go. We are all well.
Yours respectfully,
A. ALEXANDER. Mr. John McClure, Greenville, Va."
John Beaty was a friend and neighbor. The Beaty farm joining Old Providence Church, now owned by Samuel Finley McClure, was bought from the estate of John McClure.
"Dublin, Wayne County, Ia., Janr. 7th, 1832. Dear Friend.
At my father's request I write you a few lines. We all landed in Ia. the 19th Oct. The old man had to stop in Richmond, about four miles in the State, partly on account of bad health and partly on account of bad roads and shackling teem. ”

“ The time is coming—is already at hand—when history shall present to the living the actions of these venerable dead, and posterity will glory in deriving their descent from the settlers of the Valley of Virginia."
LINE OF JOHN McCLURE.
James and Agnes McClure left seven children.
A. John McClure, the oldest, was born in 1717, as shown in Chalkley, vol. II, p. 5; came to Augusta county with his father 1738, and settled on South River, near Lyndhurst, six miles south of Waynesboro. His farm joined Edward Hall and John Coulter. ”

“ John McClure (1725-1777) , founder of the family in Botetourt county, was a son of Halbert and Agnes McClure of p. 135, and not a son of Arthur as stated on p. 142.
Besides the three sons, Samuel, Malcolm and Nathaniel, of whom sketches are given on p. 149; he had nine children, viz: Alexander, Mary, Agnes, Jennet, Hannah, Rebecca, Halbert, Moses and John.
John is said to have been born 1775, and was therefore the youngest. Married Isabella McCorkle. Nine children, viz: Samuel, Andrew, James, Capt. John A. who m. a Wilson, parents of Mrs. N. J. Baker, of Nace, Va.; William, Catherine who m. ”

“ Mother's health is very poor this spring. Sister Sarah Trimble is living with us and keeping the house.
We should be glad to hear from you often. We would be pleased to have our relatives visit us, hoping that our beautiful and fertile country might tempt them to settle with us.
Mother joins me in expressing the highest regards to yourself and family. Hoping you will favor us with an early reply, I remain your
Affectionate nephew,
F. A. McCLURE." "Thomas McClure.—Brother Thomas McClure was born in Augusta County, Virginia, August 11th, 1795 ”

“ V. John McClure, son of Andrew McClure and Eleanor Wright, was born in Augusta Co. about 1750. Is mentioned in his father's will, 1789, and administered on his estate. He was also a Revolutionary soldier, serving as shown by Virginia records extant, in Capt. Robt. Barnel's Company, Col. John Logan's Regiment May 3, 1781, to May 25, 1781.
Also in Lincoln Militia 1782, John McClure, Lieut, to Capt. John Boyle, Col. Benjamin Logan.
He received by patent from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Dec. 24, 1787, 1,000 acres of land in Jessamine Co., Ky. ”

“ Sykes' face was a picture of blank dismay; McClure's of rage.
"Where is the squealer?" cried Bob McClure as he stalked among the men.
Blasphemous and resentful protestations quite evidently sincere came from all parts of the room.
"No, Rob!" said Snoopy Bill deliberately. "You are a liar if you say it. There isn't a squealer in the gang. Not a man laid down. Any squealing that may have taken place was let out by the gents who stayed behind." ”

“ By finding the strait connecting the continental channel with Melville Sound, McClure became the discoverer of the north-west passage, and was the first navigator to pass from Bering Strait to Baffin Bay. [XXXIV-5] 690 Yet he gave to Captain Crozier, second in command of Franklin's expedition, the credit of prior discovery. 691 McClure with the Investigator was shut in during the winters of 1851-2, and 1852-3. In the spring of 1853 he resolved to abandon the ship and seek Mackenzie River and Lancaster Sound in two parties, a journey which would have been disastrous. ”

“ April 14, 1859, and was named by his grandfather McClure for Chief Justice John Marshall whom he greatly admired. True to the best family tradition he also is a prosperous farmer and lives about three miles north of Old Providence Church.
As a ruling Elder, he has for a number of years been prominent and useful in the large Bethel congregation.
He married November 6, 1890, Linda Sproul, daughter of Archibald Alexander Sproul and Eugenia Bumgarder, a great granddaughter of Rev. Archibald Scott, the Revolutionary War pastor of Bethel congregation. She died after a few years. ”

“ Of the Rockbridge family,
Halbert McClure came to the county about 1740. As there is no record of his importation it is probable that he first settled in Pennsylvania. The earliest mention of his name is 1742, on the list of Capt. McDowell's militia company. His deed is recorded in Book I, p. 203, dated March 19, 1746. "Benjamin Borden to Halbert McClure, 230 acres on North branch of James River, corner of Samuel McClure." This was in the bounds of Timber Ridge congregation, where, in 1753, he signed the call for Rev. John Brown. ”

“ Ruth McClure, of this city, died this morning at 4 o'clock, her age being seventy-six years. She was born in Scott County, Virginia, from which place she moved to Indiana. With her husband and family she came to this county twenty-seven years ago, since which time she has remained here. She was a model woman and a noble mother. Four sons, Frank and Hosea of this city, Thomas of White Oak township, and A. H. of Missouri. They are all respected citizens, giving evidence of a wholesome and Christian raising. Mrs. McClure also leaves two worthy daughters, Mrs. ”