William McClelland
William McClelland, now deceased, was a well known representative of Sugarcreek township, who in a high measure enjoyed the esteem of his fellow men because his life was upright and honorable. He was born Januarv 3, 1825, on the farm in Sugarcreek township, which is now the home of his widow. His parents were Captain Robert and Martha (McConneil) McClelland. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was very prominent in political circles. He came to Greene county in 1802 and in 1806 purchased the old home farm comprising nearly three hundred acres of rich land, which he developed and improved until it was a very valuable farm. His death occurred in the year 1846.
William McClelland, whose name introduces this review, assisted his father in the work of the home farm during the period of his youth, also pursued his education in the district schools and enjoyed the pleasures such as were common to boys of that period. When he was twenty-one years of age he married Miss Jane Watt, of Beavercreek township. She died about 1881, and on the 3d of July. 1883, Mr. McClelland was again married, his second union being with Miss Hannah M. Naughton, of Xenia. She was born in Hamilton county near Cincinnati, and was a daughter of James and Mary (Welch) Naughton. Her mother died during the infancy of Mrs. McClelland, who was then reared by a family living in Greene county, near Jamestown. After his marriage Mr. McClelland devoted his energiesto agricultural pursuits and his fields were always well tilled, showing his careful supervision and his thorough knowledge of farming methods.
At the time of the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to the Union cause by becoming a member of a company known as the Squirrel Hunters. He afterward joined Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. When the regiment took part in the battle of New Creek, his company was engaged in guarding Piedmont and thus was not in the engagement. Mr. McClelland remained at the front for about four months and during the service was ill with the measles. He never afterward fully recovered his health and died on the 10th of March, 1901, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He voted with the Republican party, and although never a politician in the sense of office seeking, he kept well informed on the issues and questions of the day. In 1890 he was land appraiser and also school director. For eight years he was director of the Greene county agricultural board and then resigned because the board determined to have horse racing at the county fairs. He did not object to speeding horses, in fact was very fond of a good horse and loved to test its speed, his objection to the racing at the fairs being on the ground of the gambling which was connected with it. Mr. McClelland long held membership in the Second United Presbyterian church and for thirty years served as elder, doing everything in his power to advance the cause of Christianity and promote the growth of the church. His life was one that was in harmonv with principles of upright manhood and in which he had due regard for all his obligations to his fellow men. He was honorable, courteous, kindly and possessed a genial and friendly disposition, and thus his death was sincerely and deeply mourned throughout the community. Mrs. McClelland has long been identified with the United Presbyterian church.
From History of Greene County, Ohio, by George F. Robinson (S. J. Clarke Publishing Co, 1902)
The late William McClelland, a soldier of the Civil War, former land appraiser, for years an elder in the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia and for years a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Agricultural Association, was a native of Greene county and all his life was spent here. He was born on a pioneer farm in Sugarcreek township, January 3, 1825, a son of Capt. Robert and Martha (McConnell) McClelland, pioneers of the Sugar Creek neighborhood, about four miles west of Xenia. Capt. Robert McClelland was a son of a soldier of the Revolutionary War and was a native of the state of Pennsylvania, born at the forks of the Yough. In 1802, the year before Greene county was definitely organized as a county, he came to Ohio and settled on a tract of land on Sugar creek, about four miles west of where Xenia, the county seat, later was established. There he established his home and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occuring there in 1847. Captain McClelland was commissioned commander of a company for service under General Harrison during the Black Hawk war and was also in command of a company during the War of 1812, at one time during that period of service being in command of Ft. McArthur. in what is now Hardin county, this state. Upon the completion of that term of service Captain McClelland was ordered to report to St. Mary's, where he was stationed for a time. Captain McClelland was a stern defender of the faith of the Scotch Seceders, the communion which later came to be merged into what for many years has been known as the United Presbyterian church, and for years served as an elder of the pioneer church. He was twice married and was the father of twenty-four children, each of his wives having borne him twelve children.
Reared on the farm on which he was born, William McClelland grew up a farmer. He was but twenty-two years of age when his father died and thereafter the responsibility of management of the farm was assumed by him. During the Civil War he became a member of the organization known as the "Squirrel Hunters" and later enlisted for service as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with the same until his honorable discharge. Upon the formation of the Republican party he became affiliated with the same and in 1890 was appointed land appraiser of his home township, which he also had served in the capacity of supervisor, and he also served for some time as director of schools in his local district. Mr. McClelland was for eight years a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Agricultural Association, but when the race-track privileges began to include concessions to the gambling element he withdrew from the association, declining to sanction by his presence on the board any such method of stimulating the "sport of kings," although himself a great lover of good horses and an admirer of an honest contest in the speed ring. He was for thirty years a member of the session of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia, for years superintendent of the Sabbath school of the same and also for years conducted a class in the Sabbath school. He died on March 10, 1910, then being in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
The late William McClelland was twice married. In 1846, at the age of twenty-one years, he was united in marriage to Jane Watt, of Beavercreektownship, this county, a member of one of the pioneer families of that neighborhood, and who died on March 30, 1883, without issue. On July 3, 1883, Mr. McCIelland married Hannah M. Naughton, of Xenia, who survives him and who is making her home at Xenia. Mrs. McClelland also is a native of Ohio, born in Hamilton county, daughter of James and Mary (Welch) Naughton, both of whom were born in Ireland. Bereaved of her mother when but a child, Mrs. McClelland was reared in the household of David Brown, one of the early settlers of the Jamestown neighborhood in this county and her schooling was received here. Mrs. McClelland is a member of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia and is an active member of Woman's Relief Corps No. 29, of Xenia, her late husband having also been an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918