Virginia Sanders  Mylius

<gmylius@charter.net>   ·
Birmingham, AL    



Complete notes and sources available upon request.

McCLURE FAMILY, continued (page 3)


Information about the children of John McClure and Rebecca Ewing:

William E. McClure born in 1785 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, which is just north of Belfast on the coast of the North Channel and the Firth of Clyde.  This is when the family immigrated to America.   William was a very young child, so young that once when questioned he said he thought he was 'from' Baltimore, Maryland, which is where he was raised.    In the early (?) they moved first to Bedford County, Tennessee, and then  to Giles County,TN  . Subsequently they were residents of Marshall County when that county was formed from a portion of Giles.     Notes for Marshall County say he settled in that area by 1808 or 1809.   William McClure was a prosperous farmer and civic minded man. He was the first chairman of the court of Marshall County when it was formed on 4 Oct 1836.   “The first settlers west of the Cumberland Mountains were generally, of the [Scottish] race and quality.”  He married Eleanor Ewing Purdom on 11 Nov 1813 in Greene Co, TN.   Eleanor, called “Nellie,” was born 17 Nov 1793, the daughter of Alexander E. Purdom and Margaret Purdonia Ewing.   

Marshall County was formed in 1836 from Maury, Lincoln, and Bedford counties.  In 1870, a part of Giles County was also added.  Marshall County was named in honor of John Marshall, chief justice. The southern part of the county consists of fertile valleys and hills; the northern part is mostly level.  It is drained by the Duck River.  The county seat is Lewisburg, named for Meriwether Lewis.    In the history of Marshall County, TN it states that the first County Court as organized on October 3, 1836 in the home of Abner Houston.     William McClure is listed as one of the Justices of the Peace, and was also named Chairman.   Abner Houston deeded 50 acres to the county for the town site that became Lewisburg, TN on December 16, 1837.

The first justices of the peace were William McClure, Thomas Ross, William Wilkes, Peter Williams, Thomas Wilson, David McGahey, James Adams, George Cunningham, James V. Ewing, John Fields, Adam Miller, Joseph Cleek, Ephraim Hunter, Asa Holland, James Patterson, Jason Sheffield, Sherwood Dunnigan, and Andrew Laird.  The first county officials were: John R. Hill, sheriff; Martin W. Oakley, county court clerk; John W. Record, trustee; John Elliot, register; Joseph McCord, coroner; Isaac H. Williams, ranger; and Hugh McClelland, surveyor.  (Note:  There is a McClure Road in Cornersville, TN)  

•   “The Lewisburg Male Academy was incorporated by an act of the Legislature January 18, 1838, by James C. Record, G. W. Haywood, WILLIAM McCLURE, B. G. Blackwell, William Williams, H. B. Kelsey, Stephen C. Chitwood and David McGaughey. The house was a two-story brick building and stood on the lot now owned by Richard Warner. The lot on which the academy stood was donated by the town commissioners. This was the principal school for boys until the opening of the war.”
•   “Perhaps the first effort in Tennessee for the benefit of the many made by an individual influenced by pure altruism was inaugurated by Fanny Wright at Nashoba, near Memphis, in 1825. With her own funds, alone, she bought a tract of 1,940 acres located on Wolf River northeast of Memphis, and erected on it a school for negroes whom she hoped to educate to prepare them for citizenship before setting them free. Strange as it may seem to many at the present day, she encountered little opposition, and on her list of trustees she had strong names, some even illustrious. They were: General Lafayette, WILLIAM McCLURE, Robert Owen, Cadwallader D. Colden, Richardson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flowery, Camilla Wright, and James Richardson.”  

William McClure died September 10, 1854, in Cornersville, TN;  he is buried in Beechwood Cemetery - Cornersville.    Nellie died in Cornersville on 29 Jul 1872, and is buried beside her husband.    They had the following children:

1)   Alexander Ewing MCCLURE (b.4 Sep 1814-Greenville,TN d.9 May 1870-Palestine,TX)
 | sp: Ann Elizabeth GLENN (b.9 Jul 1822-Prince Edward Co,VA m.15 Oct 1837 d.Jul 1860-Palestine,TX)
 | sp: (Mrs.) L. C. SMALL (m.16 Jan 1862)
2)   James Richard MCCLURE (b.Abt 1818 d.Bef 1896)
 | sp: Lucinda
3)   George Ewing MCCLURE (never married) (b.25 May 1822 d.20 Apr 1870)
4)   Dr. Robert Green MCCLURE C.S.A. (b.12 Apr 1824-Lewisburg,TN d.18 Jun 1881-Lewisburg,TN)
 | sp: Mary Elizabeth EWING (b.2 Oct 1828 m.5 Jan 1847 d.24 Oct 1906)
5)   Mary E. MCCLURE (b.Abt 1827)
 | sp: James L. REED/REID
6)   Susan E. MCCLURE (never married) (b.9 Apr 1828 d.16 Aug 1854)
7)   WILLIAM DICKSON MCCLURE * (b.20 Sep 1830-Cornersville,Tennessee d.29 Nov 1893-Cornersville,Tennessee (Maury Co/Marshall Co))
 | sp: MARY ORLENA * PILLOW (b.20 Sep 1836-Tennessee m.8 Apr 1852 d.23 Sep 1905-Cornersville,TN)
8)   Nancy Minerva MCCLURE (never married) (b.Cal 1833 d.29 Feb 1896-Cornersville,Marshall Co.,Tennessee)
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Ewing McClure was born ca 1786.  Ewing died Dec 1865.   He married Rachel Antoinette Slemmons, and they had 7 children:   We only know the names of five of them.   His descendants (as we know them) were:

1. Ewing MCCLURE (b.Abt 1786 d.Dec 1865)
sp: Rachel Antoinette SLEMMONS (b.Abt 1799)
 |-2. W. W. MCCLURE (b.12 Aug 1831)
 |-2. John F. MCCLURE (b.1834-Jonesborough,Washington County,TN)
 | sp: Letitia SIMPSON (m.1857 d.1862)
 |  |-3. Antoinette MCCLURE
 | sp: Julia E. SMITH
 |  |-3. Sallie MCCLURE
 |  |-3. Leila MCCLURE
 |  +-3. John (Jr.) MCCLURE
 |-2. Mary MCCLURE (b.Abt 1837)
 |-2. Ewing Graham MCCLURE (b.15 Sep 1840 d.7 Nov 1908)
 | sp: Emma Clara TELFORD (b.17 Mar 1849-Broylesville,Washington County,TN m.10 Oct 1872 d.15 Dec 1928)
 |  |-3. Walter Cowan MCCLURE (died a child) (b.1 Aug 1876 d.25 Aug 1883)
 |  |-3. John D. MCCLURE (died a child) (b.Dec 1878 d.Apr 1885-/died age 6 yrs 5mos 14 days)
 |  |-3. Bessie Lee MCCLURE (died a baby) (b.15 Sep 1882 d.18 Sep 1883)
 |  |-3. Robert J. MCCLURE (b.Jul 1884)
 |  | sp: Edith BURKE
 |  |-3. Joe C. MCCLURE (never married) (b.Sep 1886)
 |  |-3. Frank E. MCCLURE
 |  | sp: Lynn BYERS
 |  |  |-4. Margaret Emma MCCLURE
 |  |  +-4. Maude Antoinette MCCLURE
 |  |-3. Maria Antionette MCCLURE (b.Mar 1889)
 |  | sp: Charles H. SLONAKER
 |  |-3. George Graham MCCLURE (b.21 Mar 1892-Jonesborough,Washington County,TN)
 |  +-3. Grace {Marie} Antoinette MCCLURE (died a baby) (d.14 Apr 1881 age 9 mos)
 +-2. (2 Other Children) MCCLURE
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Robert Ewing McClure was born 4 Feb 1787 in Ireland.  Adonna Morgan was kind enough to give me some of her information about this line of the family.   Robert married Elizabeth Johnston 10 Sep 1800 in Knox Co., TN.    Their descendants (as I know them) were:

1. Robert Ewing MCCLURE (b.4 Feb 1787-Ireland d.18 Apr 1852)
sp: Elizabeth JOHNSTON (m.10 Sep 1800)
 |-2. Charles MCCLURE
 | sp: Effie MOON (m.17 Aug 1833)
 |-2. David MCCLURE
 | sp: Louisa MITCHELL (m.20 Jul 1833)
 |-2. Hamilton MCCLURE
 | sp: Elizabeth Jane JOHNSON
 |  |-3. Rosannah MCCLURE (b.Abt 1840-Tennessee)
 |  |-3. Isabella (dau. of Hamilton) MCCLURE (b.Abt 1848-Tennessee)
 |  +-3. John (son of Hamilton) MCCLURE (b.Abt 1850-Tennessee)
 |-2. Martha MCCLURE
 |-2. Mary MCCLURE
 |-2. Samuel MCCLURE
 | sp: Sally G. LOVE (m.24 Sep 1824)
 |-2. William MCCLURE
 | sp: Betty COX
 |-2. Isabella MCCLURE (b.6 Sep 1801-Roane County,Tennessee d.1 Dec 1880/1884-Cooke or Grayson Co.,TX)
 | sp: James Herbert GALLAHER (m.4 Nov 1820)
 +-2. Alexander MCCLURE (b.1804-Knoxville,Knox Co.,TN d.Aft 1865-Cedarville,Crawford Co.,AK)
   sp: Sarah GALLAHER (m.Abt 1826)
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James McClure was born ca 1788.     I know nothing else about James, except that he supposedly had a son named John.   
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Mary “Polly” McClure was born ca 1789.  Robert McClure said her tombstone says she was 68 when she died, but this must be wrong.   She died 4 Jan 1849.   
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Next

William E. McClure gravestone, Beechwood Cemetery, Cornersville, TN

Nelly Ewing McClure gravestone, Beechwood Cemetery, Cornersville, TN

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