William Henry McClellan (1844 - 1924)

Born 10 Oct 1844 in Springfield, Clark, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Died 10 Feb 1924 at age 79 in Clackamas, Clackamas, Oregon, United States

Biography

William Henry MCCLELLAN was born 10 Oct 1844 in Springfield, Clark, Ohio, United States.

William died 10 Feb 1924 in Clackamas, Clackamas, Oregon, United States.

William Henry MCCLELLAN was the son of Hannah HOGE/HOGUE and William MCCLELLAND of PA, OH, and KS. As the 9th of their 10 or 11 children, he was born in OH after his parents moved there from Fayette Co, PA between 1831 - 1835.

WHM probably enlisted in response to Pres.Lincoln's appeal for "100 day men"; men, mostly in their teens when the war started, who had not previously seen service. Rather than train them longer periods of time for combat, it was Lincoln's intention that they quickly take over non-combat roles such as guarding arms depots, bridges, POW camps, garrisons, etc. and free up the experienced soldiers for the remainder of the fighting.

William Henry MCCLELLAN joined the Union army as a member of the Ohio Volunteer National Guard, Co. G, 141st. Regiment. This regiment was composed of remnants of 4 battalions, the 36th from Athens Co., the 16th from Gallia Co., the 84th from Adams Co., and the 20th from Scioto Co. He mustered in at age 19 as a corporal in Gallipolis, OH between 11-14 May, 1864. The unit traveled to Charleston, WVA for garrison guard duty and mustered out on 3 Sept 1864. They fought on 20 June at Barboursville, WVA but took no combat casualties, losing a total of 4 enlisted men to disease. ^[1] He was a fifer for his unit and as a veteran joined the Meade Post #2 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Oregon City, OR in 1890, for which he played as part of the fife and drum band. He remained a member until his death in 1924.

After War service he joined his parents in Doniphan Co, KS where they had moved during the conflict. There he married Martha Jane CURTIS, the daughter of staunch abolitionists Mary A (WARREN) and John M. CURTIS. They wed in Troy, Doniphan Co, KS 0n 24 February 1870. Martha Jane was 19, William was 25. They had 4 daughters and 2 sons. Martha Jane died in Doniphan Co. on 14 March 1881, just 9 days after giving birth to her son Milton. At the time her parents were both very ill. It is not known if she died of complications of childbirth or from disease.

William's older sister Elizabeth BRAY had been widowed a few years before Martha's death and had moved onto the McClellan farm with her sons. It was probably her maternal influence that helped raise the MCCLELLAN children until William moved the family to the Oregon City, OR area, as it may have been his paternal influence that helped raise her three sons. Sister Elizabeth BRAY followed her only married son to Brighton, CO around the time William Henry and his children left for OR.

Children:

• Mary Isabelle "Mollie" McClellan Dodge (5 Aug 1871 - 10 Dec 1961)
• Lenora Maud "Nora" Shrum (1872 - 30 April 1959)
• Nella McClellan Alldredge (6 Jul 1873 - 4 Mar 1937)
• Jessie Grace McClellan Woodworth (1876 - 11 Oct 1912)
• William J. McClellan (1877 - ____)*
• Lenora Maud McClellan Shrum (1879 - 1959)*
• Milton Oliver McClellan (5 Mar 1881 - ____)

Mollie DODGE is buried in San Diego Cemetery, CA, Jessie WOODWORTH is buried in Idlewilde, Hood River, OR, Nella ALLDREDGE is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Oregon City, OR. Nora SHRUM'S burial site is unknown at this time, as are those of the two brothers William J. and Milton Oliver MCCLELLAN. William J. probably died in KS. The last known record for Willliam J. is at age 8 on the 1885 KS state census. His mother Martha Jane is buried in the Masonic cemetery in Doniphan Co, KS, now called the Doniphan cemetery south of Troy.

Last-born child Milton Oliver MCCLELLAN also came west and moved to Tenino, WA where he worked as a coal miner. He married but deserted his wife and child in Kennett, CA around 1914/15, later signing a draft registration card in Plymouth, CA in the year 1918. His life after that is a mystery.

WHM's obituaries mention only one son, a Norman, or N.C., who enlisted in WW I at Farr, CO and disappeared, presumably in the fighting overseas. No one now living remembers such a person and it seems likely these are misspellings of Milton Oliver McClellan's first initials. WHM never remarried, but lived at various times with each of his daughters and their families in OR, helping them with all his resources. The last years of his life he lived with Nella and her husband Reuben R. "Dube" Alldredge in Oregon City. His grave is 5 rows west of Tucker Rd./12th. St in Hood River. His grandson, Gilford D. Woodworth, age 16 days, is buried next to him. Another Woodworth grandson was given the name Gilford P. some years later.

William Henry smoked a pipe and played the fife. He belonged to his G.A.R. post's fife and drum corp throughout his last 30+ years of life. His Civil War service records no longer exist with the NARA, other than date of mustering in and date of mustering out with the 141st. One family story tells of the "scrape" he got into during the Civil War, when he disobeyed an order. Details have been lost to time, but the story claims he did so because he believed the order to be illegal, immoral, or both. Supposedly he was nearly court-martialed, but there is no record of such an event.

"History never looks like history when you are living through it."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ "The Union Army", Vol.2
2. ↑ John W. Gardner (1912 - 2002), quoted by Bill Moyers.

See also:

• Sources: Federal census, family lore, newspaper obituaries, OR death index, NARA archives, "The Union Army" Vol. 2, Weekly Kansas Chief newspaper, 24 March 1881.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 19229856

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Greg Rose for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Greg and others.