| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | McClure, John W. Family |
| Title: | John W. McClure Family Papers |
| Dates: | 1855-1896 |
| Extent: | 0.40 linear feet (1 container) |
| Abstract: | John W. McClure was a businessman and writer in New York City, served in the American Civil War, and later became United States consul in France from 1867-early 1870s. He maintained an active correspondence with his brothers and sisters living in various sections of the country. Included are letters from Marcus A. Hanna and Chester C. Bolton regarding politics. The collection consists of a diary, travel journal, newspaper clippings, and family correspondence written and received by John W. McClure, his sister Belle McClure Wilson, brothers David T. McClure and William H. McClure, and John McClure's friends and business associates in the United States and France, as well as invitations, menus, theater programs, and printed poems. |
| MS Number | MS 4549 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
The John W. McClure Family included John W. McClure, his sisters Isabelle (Belle) McClure Wilson and Emily McClure Young, and brothers David, William, and Samuel McClure. They were the children of William and Margaret Beaver McClure and settled in the northeastern Ohio area, New York, and Alabama. From these distances, the siblings, especially John W. McClure, his older sister Belle, and his brothers David and William, continued a steady stream of correspondence between 1855 and 1877.
John Wilson McClure (1831-1877) led an active and varied lifestyle, from his work as a businessman and writer in New York City, to Civil War captain, and later United States Counsul in France. Before the Civil War, he was employed at the banking house of Samual Hallett and Company in New York City. While in the city, he also wrote newspaper articles on the theatre and the activities of members of New York society. Business, and later, the Civil War sent him to New Orleans, where he served as a captain in the United States Army, Department of the Gulf, under General Nathaniel P. Banks. After the war, he accepted the title of Colonel and a position as United States Consul to France from 1867 through the early 1870s. Throughout his years in New York, New Orleans, and Paris, and during his travels, he was a conscientious correspondent, especially with his sister Belle and brother David.
The John W. McClure Family Papers, 1855-1896, consist of a diary, travel journal, newspaper clippings, and family correspondence written and received by John W. McClure, his sister Belle McClure Wilson, brothers David T. McClure, and William H. McClure, and John McClure's friends and business associates in the United States and France, as well as invitations, menus, theatre programs, and printed poems. A number of letters from John McClure's Paris correspondence and several newspaper clippings are in French.
This collection is valuable to those scholars studying antebellum travel in the American Midwest and South, researching the Civil War, or studying social lifestyles in New York City and in France from the 1850s to the 1870s. Several letters portray social and political attitudes in the North and South throughout the Civil War period and describe the administrative duties of the Union Army in occupied New Orleans. The collection also includes several letters from Marcus A. Hanna and Chester C. Bolton to Mr. W.W. Castle of Boston, concerning 1890s political campaigns, which may interest researchers of the M.A. Hanna Company or politics of that period. The collection is valuable to anyone studying family history, as various letters reveal personal relationships between members of the family.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4549 John W. McClure Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Mrs. Julia B. Dempsey, 1990.
Processed by Rebecca M. Johnson in 1991.
John W. McClure Family Papers 1855-1896 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Travel journal, John W. McClure 1855 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Travel journal and memoirs, John W. McClure 1866 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Diary, John W. McClure 1860 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, family, most of it relating to John McClure's life in New York City 1855-1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, relating to family and business 1862-1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence, Civil War, relating to John McClure's service in New Orleans 1864-1865 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence, relating to family and business, relating to John McClure's foreign service in France 1866-1877 1892 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence, Chester C. Bolton and Marcus A. Hanna 1896 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Accounting journal sheets 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Newspaper clippings 1855-1859 1867 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Miscellaneous, including invitations, menus, printed poems and programs undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Family history (Bible sheets) undated | |||||||||