McLean Countys Memorial 
 
 To 
 
 Hon, John McLean, 
 
 December 6, 1898 
 
 Taken from Volume II of 
 McLean County Historical 
 Society Transactions 
 
 ARRANGED BV 
 
 ]. H. BURNHAM, Bloomington, Illinois 
 

THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 December 6, 1898. 
 
 PROGRAM. 
 
 Prayer, by Richard Edwards. 
 
 Introductory, by George Perrin Davis. 
 
 Address, on behalf of Board of Supervisors, by LaFayette Funk. 
 
 Public Services of John McLean, a memorial on behalf of the Historical 
 Society, by John H. Burnham. 
 
 Address: “Reminiscences of John McLean,” by Gen. John A. Mc- 
 Clernand. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 President of the Day, George Perrin Davis, president of the Historical 
 Society. 
 
 Vice-presidents: H. D. Ledgerwood, chairman Board of Supervisors; 
 Sylvester Peasley, Peter Whitmer, Charles C. Rowell, William J. Baldridge, 
 Duncan M. Funk, Arthur J. Scrogin, James Smith, William T. Bradbury, 
 James Thompson, ex-chairmen of Board of Supervisors. 
 
 Committee of Arrangements: Marion McCormick, William C. Jones, 
 John G. Welch, on behalf of Board of Supervisors; George P. Davis, John 
 H. Burnham, Ezra M. Prince, on behalf of the Historical Society. 
 
 ) 
 
 From the Bloomington Bnlletin, December 6, 1898: 
 
 McLean county paid a tribute to her namesake today. The His¬ 
 torical Society, voicing the sentiment of tfie whole people, recalled the 
 days of Senator John McLean, one of the brightest minds of the early 
 territorial days of the great state of Illinois. McLean has been dead 
 nearly 70 years, but his memory lives on and will be forever perpetuated 
 by the great county of central Illinois which bears his name. The idea 
 of a memorial to the memory of this great Illinoisan was a happy one, 
 and from its inception widespread interest has been taken in carrying 
 the event to a successful consummation. Captain J. H. Burnham, Hon. 
 E. M. Prince, and others have been untiring in their efforts to secure data 
 of the illustrious politician and statesman but have been baffled by a re¬ 
 markable lack of information in the newspapers and records of those days. 
 For instance, the Vandalia paper, published at the time of McLean’s 
 death, does not refer to it. The Congressional Record has but little 
 relative to his life, and there is a singular lack of matter relative to the 
 life of the county’s namesake. The tablet erected by the Society in the 
 
 p 1i" 872 
 
 [24l\ 
 
242 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 court house to the memory of McLean has been described in previous 
 issues. Captain Burnham has been most active in the search for data. 
 He has visited Shawneetown, the home of McLean, and interviewed old 
 citizens. He has pored over the newspaper files, county records, and every 
 other avenue that might furnish the coveted information. His efforts are 
 embodied in the able paper which he delivered at the meeting this after¬ 
 noon and which we present in full. It was hoped to have General John A. 
 IMcClernand present at the meeting but the infirmities of age prevented 
 him leaving his home in Springfield. He had been asked to furnish some 
 reminiscences of McLean and his remarks would have been most interest¬ 
 ing. The Society succeeded in securing the consent of Hon. J. S. Ewing 
 to read the notes of General McClernand and also to add observations of 
 his own. 
 
 The meeting this afternoon was held in the circuit court room, which 
 was turned over to the Society by Judge Myers. The capacity of the 
 room was tested and many citizens from out of the county outside of 
 the city were interested auditors. Mr. George P. Davis, president of the 
 Historical Society, presided over the meeting and opened the proceedings by 
 introducing Dr. Richard Edwards who delivered an eloquent invocation. 
 Mr. Davis then delivered the introductory address, speaking as follows: 
 
 THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 
 
 This day marks the turning of a new leaf in the history of this 
 county. 
 
 In the first settlement of a new country the struggle for ex¬ 
 istence is so great with the people that they have no time or thought 
 for reverence of the beauties of nature or the remains of a former 
 race. 
 
 So much of such remains as can be utilized in the construction 
 of their dwellings are so used, and the earthworks are leveled bv the 
 plow. The grand old trees are cut down for buildings or firewood. 
 The nearest being taken first. 
 
 Perhaps some elm‘ that is worthless for either purpose and is 
 not in the way of civilization is forgotten and left. 
 
 The articles of war and chase and household use of the former 
 inhabitants that may be acquired are given to the children 
 for toys. The history of their great men and of their own lives which 
 would be so valuable to us are either not written at all or so scantily 
 recorded as to be a great trial to the accurate historian of this 
 day. 
 
 After the country is settled and fully improved the people 
 have more time to devote to things other than a struggle for a 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 243 
 
 livelihood. Then their minds revert to the duty and pleasure of 
 honoring the memory of their ancestors, and of preserving the re- 
 luains of such monuments or natural curiosities as may still remain 
 among them. 
 
 Then memorials are erected to their early great men. The 
 lines of the old earthworks are traced in the cornfields and by 
 statute they are preserved from further spoliation, and the forgot¬ 
 ten elm becomes the pride of the community and when in the full¬ 
 ness of time it falls to the ground, everyone feels the loss of a 
 personal friend and the remains are reverently divided among them 
 for keepsakes. 
 
 As was said, this day marks the turning of a new leaf in the 
 history of this county. 
 
 This great and wealthy county, almost an empire of itself, now 
 turns its thoughts backward to its origin and feels it but just and 
 right that it should remember its early beginnings. 
 
 I am the more proud of the fact because this county is one of 
 the first, if not the first, in this state to assist the Historical Society 
 iu their labors. 
 
 Of the forthcoming volume of the McLean County Historical 
 Society, w'hich is mainly a war volume, together with a roster of 
 county officers and a synopsis of the proceedings of the board of 
 supervisors during the rebellion, the board has ordered one volume 
 put in each school district. And we have no doubt but that other 
 appropriate volumes will be so placed. In many of the eastern 
 states, especially Massachusetts, the towns, which in that section of 
 the country are the political units, have been authorized and 
 directed to copy, edit, and publish their old town meeting records, 
 many of them going back for more than 270 years. The expense 
 to some of the towns has been as much as $40,000 to $50,000. 
 
 This great expense is voluntarily and cheerfully borne and the 
 pride of the towns is to publish the most accurate and fully edited 
 volumes. 
 
 Mr. Davis then introduced Hon. LaFayette Funk, who was 
 chosen to represent the board of supervisors. Mr. Davis said: 
 
 Of the early settlers, one whose business extended over the 
 greater territory and who was the most successful in accumulating 
 land, and who has left a permanent impression on this community. 
 
244 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 was Isaac Funk, an early member of the board of supervisors and 
 for whom the township of Funk’s Grove was named. 
 
 The board of supervisors thought it but fitting to select one of 
 his most distinguished sons, a state senator, and a member of the 
 state board of agriculture for some years, and now a member of 
 their board, to make the address for them, the Hon. LaFayette 
 Funk, of Funk’s Grove, who will now address you on behalf of the 
 board of supervisors. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. LA FAYETTE FUNK. 
 
 Mr. President, Piojteers, and Friends: We have met 
 here today, prompted by motives which seldom occur to the people 
 of a county nearly three-quarters of a century after its admission 
 as such by dedicating in public its name to posterity. 
 
 During the proceedings of the board of supervisors at its last 
 September meeting some action was taken relative to a communica¬ 
 tion received from the McLean County Historical Society, making 
 a request that a joint meeting be held with the board at some 
 future time. A special committee was appointed by the chairman 
 of the board to meet with some member or members of the His¬ 
 torical Society and ascertain the object of the meeting and their • 
 wishes in the matter, and report back the result of the conference 
 to the board. 
 
 The committee’s report of the findings at the meeting with the 
 members of the Historical society, was favorable to the joint 
 meeting of the two bodies to take place at this time; and coupled 
 with the report were the suggestions from the committee that the 
 chairman of the board appoint some one of its members to prepare 
 an address on behalf of its members to be read during the proceed¬ 
 ings of this occasion. 
 
 From some cause, perhaps best known only to himself, the 
 honorable chairman saw fit to appoint the writer to perform that 
 most arduous task, and I am frank to say I believe our chairman 
 made a mistake in the selection of his man, as there are other 
 members of this board, who, for a long number of years, have served 
 iheir constituents at home and their country at large with ability 
 and distinctive honors, and who, from their long term of public 
 service in the county’s interest could have prepared and performed 
 this work more appropriately to this occasion. i 
 
I 
 
 The Court House of McLean County Destroyed by Fire June 19, 1900. The 
 Mcl ean Memorial Tablet Was Originally Placed in This Building. 
 
4 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 245 
 
 To arrive at something of a definite idea of the subject or 
 theme to be treated of on this occasion, history may have to be re¬ 
 peated to some extent. Through the various and many transitory 
 stages of the county’s territorial existence to the present boundary 
 lines, many changes have taken place. 
 
 This county, with its present and original territory, has per¬ 
 haps belonged to and gone under more different names than any 
 other one of the counties of the state. 
 
 Our Jocal history tells us that before the organization of 
 McLean county, its territory and inhabitants remained in Fayette 
 county until 1837, though as above stated, prior to this date the 
 names of the several other counties are mentioned as covering this 
 county’s present territory. 
 
 Tazewell county was organized in 1837, with its county seat 
 at Mackinaw, only twenty miles from Blooming Grove and for 
 four years longer its inhabitants gave their allegiance to Tazewell 
 county. 
 
 In 1837 the boundaries of Tazewell county were adjusted 
 and its first election was held at Blooming Grove, at the house 
 of one of the leading inhabitants, William Orendorff, and of the five 
 or six county officers then elected. Blooming Grove secured three. 
 What is now McLean remained as before, divided between Tazewell 
 and Vermilion. > 
 
 This not only shows that settlers were quite plentiful around 
 the Grove, but that their descendents have come honestly by their 
 willingness to fill all the offices that came handy. Our local history, 
 too familiar to need repetition, shows that soon after Tazewell 
 county had taken a good start, it was thought best to divide the 
 immense territory and after scheming and planning for the organi¬ 
 zation of new counties, the outcome of the agreement of those 
 it interested, to organize a county out of the following described 
 magnificent district: The south boundary line to be that of the 
 township running east and west four miles south of the present 
 line dividing the counties of DeWitt and McLean, thence north 
 forty-eight miles and a reference to the map will show well toward 
 the north line of the present county of Woodford. The west line to 
 be that of the range line six miles west of the third principal merid¬ 
 ian, and that of the east line thirty-six miles, being that of the 
 sixth range line east of the third principal meridian. This terri- 
 
246 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 lory lay wholly within the counties of Tazewell and Vermilion, the 
 latter not within the county proper, but lands attached for county 
 purposes. 
 
 The original boundaries, as will be seen by the above descrip¬ 
 tion, comprised eight townships north and south, and seven ranges 
 east and west, being in extent forty-two by forty-eight miles, in 
 regular form, a perfect rectangle, containing fifty-six townships, 
 each six miles square, or a little over 1,290,000 acres of land in 
 round numbers. This immense extent of territory included the 
 present site of Atlanta, in Logan county, Waynesville and Farmer 
 City, in DeWitt county, considerably over'half of the present 
 county of Woodford, almost one-half of the county of Livingston, 
 including the present site of Pontiac, and almost a township of the 
 present countv of Piatt. It will be seen bv careful examination 
 that the present territory of McLean county, reduced by the later 
 organization of Piatt, DeWitt, Logan, Woodford, and Livingston 
 counties, is approximately four-sevenths of its original territory. 
 
 With all due respect to our neighbors and citizens of those coun¬ 
 ties, which have in their make-up received such a large proportion 
 of McLean county’s original tract of land set off or ceded to 
 them, and in the absence of any attempt at the disparagement of 
 tlieir possessions, we still say the average values per acre of the land 
 left within this county’s boundary lines were enhanced rather than 
 diminished. 
 
 This broad assertion may sound a little egotistical, especially 
 to the residents of our neighboring counties, to impute to them 
 the misfortune that in the divide McLean county, to use a homely 
 phrase, received the cream and they the skimmed milk; but to those 
 of the audience who are well acquainted with the facts it will not be 
 taken with any great amount of surprise. 
 
 May we not, at this time—it, if I am not mistaken, being the 
 first attempt to commemorate the county’s natal day—look back with 
 profound admiration to the wisdom, forethought, and good work 
 of our honorable committee, Thomas Orendorft and James Latta, 
 who were sent to the state capital, then at Vandalia,in the year 1830, 
 with the requisite number of names petitioning the legislature, then 
 in regular session, that a new county be laid out, and in giving the 
 boundary lines, they did far better than they knew, as the passing 
 of time and subsequent events have shown. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 247 
 
 May we not wonder, therefore, that when Blooming Grove’s 
 delegation arrived in Vandalia in December, 1830, bearing the 
 petition of onr first families for the organization of a new county, 
 embracing such a magnificent collection of well timbered groves, 
 and so many square miles of the richest prairie in the world, it 
 Avas seen at once that the district in question had immense possi¬ 
 bilities and that a large county would some day be found within 
 its new boundary? 
 
 At this juncture of the proceedings in the legislature an episode 
 occurred involving the committee and the speaker of the house of 
 representatives, the temper of which may be considered of no small 
 degree of interest incident to the exercises we are holding here 
 today. 
 
 The Hon. William L. D. Ewing, the speaker of the house of 
 representatives, a relative and an intimate friend of the late Senator 
 McLean, interested himself actively in influencing our Blooming 
 Grove committee to accord and permit the legislature the privilege 
 of naming the new district in honor of the man whose memory we 
 are commemorating today. Mr. Ewing stated that it was the 
 desire of Mr. McLean’s closest and most intimate friends that his 
 name should be given to a large and important county, and at 
 this point in the proceedings, my friends, this great county, which 
 its people feel so justly proud of, was christened with the name it 
 now bears, and we trust will continue to hold till the end of 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Ewing Avas perhaps the best informed as to the value of 
 this region of any man in the legislature, as he had been one of the 
 commissioners appointed in the legislature in 1827 for the organi¬ 
 zation of TazcAvell county, at which time he must have been quite 
 familiar Avith all the local conditions of this district, besides he had 
 helped to organize other counties in Central Illinois. 
 
 If time permitted, Ave might refer to the services of many of 
 the pioneers of that and later generations Avho served in thAvarting 
 the various attempts to appropriate our territory to the building up 
 of rival counties, but with this passing reference and with our 
 blessing to their memory, we must hasten forward. 
 
 The land comprising McLean county, taken as a Avhole, per¬ 
 haps cannot for an equal number of acres in one continuous body, 
 be equaled in any country for its fertility of soil, yielding with 
 
248 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 comparatively small, or not excessive expense at least, to the hus¬ 
 bandman's mode and manner of producing all the cereals, subject 
 to the climatic conditions of this latitude, giving him an abundant 
 remuneration for his time and labor. No better country can be 
 found, all things considered, than right here in Central Illinois 
 for the rearing and maturing to the highest points of finish, all the 
 meat producing animals known to and consumed by man on this 
 continent. 
 
 Water, to the rearing and management of live stock of what¬ 
 ever kind or nature, is one of the essential elements, and of this 
 we have an abundant supply, in the way of permanent springs, and 
 streams of pure, clear, running water. The last few years have 
 developed another source of this much needed and indispensable 
 article, by the drilling of tubular wells. This can be done by ma¬ 
 chinery specially manufactured for the purpose, and underground 
 streams can be reached at no very great amount of expense, that 
 in most instances have proven inexhaustible, of the very best quality 
 of water for domestic and general purposes. 
 
 Most excellent groves of fine timber land have by an all-wise 
 Creator been distributed throughout the central and western por¬ 
 tions of the county ; something unusual too for a prairie country. 
 Some of these groves, too, were made up of the very best of the 
 hard-wood varieties valuable for merchandise and mechanical pur¬ 
 poses, and were things of beauty and comfort in their primitive 
 days, but not so with many of them now, for the woodman's ax has 
 made havoc and despoiled them of their beauty until they may al¬ 
 most be considered a barren waste, something we, as ardent ad¬ 
 mirers and true lovers of good timber, dislike very much to see. 
 
 The early pioneers would vie wdth each other the right to se¬ 
 cure for themselves all the timber land they could gobble up, as it was 
 not then known that this entire country was underlaid with vast 
 fields of coal. 
 
 In all civilized nations of the world, government and laws of 
 some kind have been established. In our own United States we 
 are governed by the people and for the people by electing to office 
 all our law-making and governing powers from the very highest to 
 the lowest by a vote of the people. 
 
 No particular reference to any of them is necessary at this 
 time, though we have arrived at the point in these exercises where 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 249 
 
 my honorable colleagues may be considered a part and parcel of 
 these ceremonies. 
 
 McLean county was organized for the transaction of business 
 May 16, 1831, by the election or appointment of three county com¬ 
 missioners, viz: Timothy B. Hoblit, Jonathan Cheney, and Jesse 
 Havens, all of whom have long since passed from the stage of an 
 active pioneer life to the other shore. 
 
 This manner of conducting the county affairs and county busi¬ 
 ness was kept up from year to year by the appointment or election 
 of the commissioners, until November, 1849, when they were super¬ 
 seded by the county court, consisting of the county judge and two 
 associate justices. At the November election of 1857, the question 
 of the system of township organization was voted on. This was a 
 general election, and it was decided "the people of the county were 
 willing to adopt the new plan. 
 
 In the spring of 1858 the voters of the several newly-organized 
 townships, only twenty-two in number then, now thirty, met and 
 elected a supervisor to represent them at the county seat for the 
 transaction of county business, which system has continued to exist 
 ever since. 
 
 Bloomington, by her number of inhabitants, was entitled to 
 one assistant supervisor. It is quite different now. 
 
 On the 16th day of May, 1858, the newly elected board of 
 supervisors met in Bloomington and proceeded to organize for the 
 transaction of business, by the election of the Hon. John E. Mc- 
 Clun as chairman, and the board proceeded to business. 
 
 It may not seem out of place nor inappropriate to make honor¬ 
 able mention of the gentlemen who composed that memorable 
 bcdy, and with your permission I will give their names and the 
 township represented by each of the members. 
 
 Mount Hope, Daniel Windsor; Danvers, James Wilson; Dale, Kichard 
 Rowell; White Oak, Benjamin F. Rowell; Bloomington, David Simmons and 
 John E. McClun; Normal, William G. Thompson; Savanna, Sylvester 
 Peasley; Towanda, N. S. Sunderland; Gridley, Taylor Loving; Blue 
 Mound, James A. Doyle; Chenoa, J. B. Graham; Pleasant, Ezekiel Arrow- 
 smith; Mosquito Grove, Presley T. Brooks; Funk’s Grove, William S. 
 Allin; Dry Grove, Elias Yoder; Randolph, Alfred M. Stringfield; Hudson, 
 James H. Cox; Old Town, Scammon Rodman; Money Creek, William F. 
 Johnson; Lee, Josiah Horr; Lexington, J. C. Mahan; Kickapoo, Henry 
 West. I 
 
250 
 
 McLEAN CO UNT Y HISTORl CAL SO CIETY. 
 
 It will be seen by the above list that only twenty-two town¬ 
 ships were represented on the board, as before stated. We know 
 of only four members now living who answered the first roll-call: 
 Presley T. Brooks, Mosqnito Grove, now Allin; Sylvester Peasley, 
 Savanna, now Downs; James H. Cox, Hudson, and S. Sunder¬ 
 land, Towanda, now living in Kansas, 
 
 Bloomington and Kormal, by their increased population, are 
 entitled to several assistants, and at the present ratio of increase 
 their membership may become a dangerous element when matters 
 present themselves where the city and country members may not 
 consider the question at issue from the same standpoint. 
 
 Few of our citizens realize the magnitude^ of McLean county’s 
 agricultural productions, or its relative rank among other agricul¬ 
 tural districts of this country. The census reports of 1870, 1880, 
 and 1890 show that in each of these years, with an annual corn crop 
 amounting to about 11,000,000 bushels, its yield was equal to the 
 combined harvest of six of the Eockv Mountain states, in addition 
 to the product of the six Kew England states, while it surpassed in 
 this great staple any other single county among the leading coun¬ 
 ties of all the states of the union. In 1890 its total grain crop as 
 > 
 
 shown by the same authority, was 14,000,000 bushels, and the total 
 value of its agricultural products exceeded $5,000,000. This enor¬ 
 mous agricultural total was not exceeded by a single county in the 
 union, with the exception of two or three counties engaged in dairy¬ 
 ing and market gardening near the largest eastern cities. 
 
 McLean county was organized just at the commencement of a 
 new era in the world’s history. 
 
 In Illinois, the long contest between freedom and slavery had 
 been settled by the exciting contest of 1824, though slaves were 
 actually held in bondage in this state for several j^ears later. 
 
 The progress of any people depends largely upon the rapidity 
 of communication. It took the pioneers of McLean county as long 
 to market fifty bushels of wheat in Chicago as it does now P. D. 
 Armour to send a million bushels to Liverpool. 
 
 In 1831, this wonderful transformation was just commencing. 
 The first English railroad, only thirty-one miles long, was finished 
 in 1830. At that time there was but ninetv-five miles of railroad 
 
 4/ 
 
 in the whole United States. The first locomotive constructed in 
 this country for actual service made its first trip January 15, 1831. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 251 
 
 Henry and Morse were already experimenting with the electric 
 telegraph! Now by the press we are brought into daily communi¬ 
 cation with the whole world, and the life of the whole people is 
 immensely enriched and quickened. In 1831, Garrison commenced 
 the publication of the Liberator in Boston. Only six years later 
 the first newspaper was published in this county. 
 
 But in no department of human activity has there been greater 
 changes than in that of agriculture. The first settlers in this coun¬ 
 try did not dream this prairie country would ever be settled and be¬ 
 come the granary of the world. They supposed they would ever 
 remain great grazing lands, supporting immense herds of cattle. 
 
 But about this time they were beginning to see something of 
 the true value and use of the prairie lands, and some large farms, 
 for that period, were beginning to be improved out on the prairie, 
 getting away from the infiuence of the timber. 
 
 Then farming was a comparatively very simple affair, now it 
 has become a complex affair, which will tax the mind of the most 
 vigorous. Already, in 1831, the change had commenced. The first 
 successful mowing machine in this country was patented in 1831. 
 Patents for reaping grain came two years later, and now farm 
 machinery has become so numerous and so complicated that a man 
 must be a capitalist to buy all that is needed on an ordinary farm 
 and be a skilled machinist to care for and operate it. 
 
 Coming into being just at the beginning of this great awaken¬ 
 ing, McLean county has ever been wide awake and foremost, not 
 only in these material things, but all those higher, that go to make 
 up a great people. Its press has been alive, enterprising, and clean; 
 its schools have always borne an enviable reputation. Our com¬ 
 mon schools have received the constant attention and faithful care 
 of our best citizens, serving without fee or reward, and so honestly 
 have the people been served that I do not know of a single instance 
 where any of the people’s money has been lost by defalcation in 
 this county. 
 
 The Weslevan furnishes an admirable college education and 
 the Normal stands in the front rank of schools of that character. 
 Our politicians have been distinguished for ability and integrity 
 and perhaps I might say, for numbers. 
 
 Of our professional men, lawyers, doctors, and clergy, perhaps 
 there is no necessity for me to speak, as they are quite able 
 
252 
 
 McLean co unt y historical sogiet y. 
 
 and perhaps not too modest to magnify their own office, but truth 
 compels me to say that nowhere are there more able, faithful, and 
 devoted men than are to be found among the professional men of 
 this county. 
 
 Our charitable institutions are of the very highest character. 
 Our county farm and two hospitals are modern, and our jail re¬ 
 ceives the praise of every one who visits it. Our churches have 
 kept pace with the other civilizing instruments of the country and 
 within the past ten or fifteen years the value of the church property 
 in this county has probably doubled. When this county was organ¬ 
 ized the population was about, or perhaps less than 2,000. In 1840 
 it was 6,565; in 1850 it was 10,163; in 1860, 28,772; in 1870, 53,- 
 988; in 1880, 60,100; in 1890, 69,967. 
 
 In wealth our progress has been equally marvelous, notwith¬ 
 standing the war of the rebellion cost this county and its citizens 
 $1,000,000 in bounties paid to fill its quotas and for relief to the 
 soldiers’ families, and the enormous amounts bet and lost by our 
 people on the board of trade, mining in the west and other foolish 
 speculations, the county has progressed rapidly and steadily in the 
 accumulation of wealth and the next census will show it to be the 
 richest agricultural county in the state, or, we may say, in the 
 world. 
 
 The McLean County Historical Society in the preface to the 
 book they are about to publish, will say, ^^We doubt if there is any 
 other community of equal numbers where wealth is so equally dif¬ 
 fused, where there are so many well-to-do people, so few overly 
 rich, or where there is so little poverty, or so little vice, and so high 
 a grade of intelligence and civic and private virtue, all of which 
 is due quite as much to the early settlers of the county, as to its 
 unrivaled location and physical characteristics.” 
 
 McLean county’s patriotism during the civil war is well shown 
 by the fact that its citizens cheerfully volunteered for the war in 
 great numbers, over 4,000 in all, and its surplus above quotas was 
 the largest of any county in the state, while the brave soldiers in 
 the field were most liberally sustained by the people. 
 
 During the late war with Spain, our citizens fully maintained 
 their former patriotic prominence, as was shown by our turning out 
 the largest number of volunteers of any county in the state of Illi¬ 
 nois, in proportion to its population. Of course our young men 
 
i,' %iV.-'•Xf.U, ;'-l^V 
 
 .■.v:>5‘'’>•■.£■:» IN' MEMORY OF 'J 
 
 )>9t JOHN McLEAN . 
 
 ^ SHAWNEETOWN ILLINOIS T ^ 
 
 " FOR. w'hOM'THIS COUNTY' WAS|NAMED 
 FIRST representative; INrcONCl^ESS laia 
 U-S-SENATOR I82'4-.18E5 AND .^8^9-1830 
 
 ■ - v-i.i ■ >' erectedBY 
 
 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND 
 £ a McLEAN CO • HISTORICAL SOCIETY^. , 
 
 ; ■,' DECEMBER..6THv1898,«^^ 
 
 The McLean Memorial Tablet, Placed in the Court House of McLean County 
 
 December 6, 1898. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 253 
 
 deserve the most credit for this patriotic record, but here again 
 our agricultural prominence went hand in hand with our patriotism, 
 because it was owing to our leading position in the horse raising 
 industry that we were able to take the lead in furnishing cavalry¬ 
 men for the army. The figures are not at hand to prove it, but it 
 is asserted by some that McLean county furnished to the Spanish- 
 American war in proportion to its population, a larger proportion 
 of volunteers than any other county in the union. 
 
 The board of supervisors of this county has been organized 
 forty years, and without boasting, I think I may say that from the 
 first its members have been the representatives of such a people. 
 That in the performance of their duties they have ever been honest, 
 intelligent, and faithful. 
 
 The board recognizes the justly appropriate work being done 
 by the Historical Society in preserving the local history of this 
 people and it gives them great pleasure to unite with the Society in 
 dedicating this beautiful tablet to the memory of the noble man for 
 whom this county was named, and in behalf of the board of super¬ 
 visors I tender its thanks to the McLean County Historical Society 
 for inaugurating the movement that has led to the erection of this 
 tablet, and I also extend our sincere thanks to General McClernand, 
 distinguished alike in military and civil affairs, and whose active 
 life spans the whole history of the state of Illinois, for his share in 
 the exercises of this occasion. 
 
 The McLean memorial* tablet was placed upon the south side 
 of the east entrance to the rotunda, on the first floor of the old 
 court house. 
 
 *The memorial tablet referred to was placed on the south wall of the 
 east entrance to the first story of the court house. It was of bronze, 3 feet 
 in height and 4 feet in width. It cost $160 and of this the county 
 paid $125, and the McLean County Historical Society $35. It is con¬ 
 sidered highly artistic, and the placing of this tablet has given great satis¬ 
 faction to the public. The tablet was not injured in the great fire of June 
 19, 1900, and will be given a conspicuous place in the new court house 
 now being erected. It has already become one of the county’s most 
 cherished historic memorials, and its value will greatly increase as the 
 years go by. 
 
254 
 
 THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 The Society’s Memorial. 
 
 The memorial of the McLean County Historical Society to 
 Hon. John McLean, written by Capt. J. H. Burnham,* chairman of 
 the executive committee of the Society was delivered by him as 
 follows: I 
 
 The Hon. E, B. Washburn, in a sketch prepared for the 
 Chicago Historical Society, says: , i 
 
 “Perhaps less is known at the present day of John McLean than any 
 other public man of his day, who occupied such a distinguished position. 
 His name and memory seems to have almost died out in the state, and it 
 is now practically impossible to gather much of his personal history.” 
 
 This is an effort to bring together in a reliable shape all of 
 the most important facts of his public and personal history with a 
 view to their preservation for the use of those of our future gener¬ 
 ations who may be most likely to be interested in their possession. 
 
 ' John McLean was born in North Carolina, February 4, 1791. 
 His father emigrated to Logan county, Kentucky, when his son was 
 four year old, and was able to give him but a limited education. 
 He was a blood relation to the well known Ewing family which 
 originated in Pennsylvania. The famous Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, 
 descended from this stock. A branch of the family emigrated to 
 North Carolina from Pennsylvania, and from these descended the 
 Ewings of Kentucky and of this section. John McLean was re¬ 
 lated to the Hon. Wm. Lee D. Ewing, one of the early distinguished 
 men of this state, and this gentleman was a second cousin to the 
 father of the Hon. James S. Ewing, of this city, and thus we trace 
 a local relationship to the man whose memory we are honoring 
 today. 
 
 It would be interesting could we possess a full genealogy 
 of the Mclican family and it is quite probable that future researches 
 will reveal all of the desired information. 
 
 McLean county does not carry off all the honors of the family 
 name of McLean, as is shown by the following extract from the 
 history of Hamilton county, Illinois, whose county seat is named 
 
 * Authorities consulted: Gov. Reynold’s “My Own Times,” Moses’ 
 History of Illinois, Stuves’ History of Illinois, Ford’s History of Illinois, 
 Congressional Record, Chicago Historical Society, Vol. III.; Illinois Gazette 
 of Shawneetown, 
 
McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 255 
 
 McLeansboro. ^^The first house in McLeansboro was a log one built 
 by Dr. William B. McLean^ a brother of John McLean of Shawnee- 
 town.*^ 
 
 The McLean family has been more honored in Illinois than 
 
 %/ 
 
 has generally been known in this region, as its local historians have 
 never before been informed of the fraternal relationship existing 
 
 between McLean county and McLeansboro. 
 
 «/ 
 
 When John McLean was twenty-four years old, having studied 
 law, he emigrated to Shawneetown, Illinois, settling there in 1815, 
 and there he was admitted to the bar in 1816. 
 
 Shawneetown was then the commercial and political rival of 
 Kaskaskia, and the two towns were the most important in the 
 territory of Illinois. He at once took a high position at the bar, 
 so high that in 1816, soon after his admission to the bar of the 
 territory, he was appointed to one of the judgeships of its highest 
 court, but he declined the appointment. This declination is 
 quite good evidence that the ambitious young man at that time 
 had very high aims as we find that only two years thereafter, on 
 the admission of Illinois into the union in 1818, he was a candi¬ 
 date for the honorable position of representative to congress. 
 
 History informs us that the canvass was one of the most ex¬ 
 citing ever known in this state. The great Missouri question was 
 then looming up and a far more important local question was 
 beginning to absorb public attention, which was the question of 
 slavery or freedom for the state of Illinois, and which came to a 
 head six years later in the famous convention campaign of 1824. 
 
 McLean’s opponent was the famous Daniel P. Cook. The 
 latter was not in favor of slavery in Illinois, but Mr. McLean, 
 being a native of a slave state, was conscientiously and honestly a 
 pro-slavery man. Both of these gentlemen were remarkably elo¬ 
 quent, and both were among the intellectual giants of these days. 
 
 Hon. E. B. Washburn says: 
 
 “Of all the early settlers of Illinois the names of three men will 
 always stand out pre-eminent, John McLean, Benjamin Mills, and Daniel 
 P. Cook, all dying young, but leaving memories worthy to be cherished 
 by every loyal son of our state.” 
 
 Illinois had been admitted into the union as a free state, but 
 a very large proportion of its inhabitants were of the opinion 
 that, taking everything into account, it would be to the interest 
 
256 
 
 THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 cf this state to cast its fortunes with Kentucky and the southern 
 states. The question, in one form and another, agtiated our 
 pioneers till after the famous campaign of 1824, and it was the 
 principal question before the public in the canvass between Cook 
 and McLean in 1818. Moses’ history of Illinois has this to say of 
 the contest: : 
 
 “McLean was on the side of slavery and Cook on that of freedom. Both 
 being singularly well equipped by study, experience, and inclination for 
 public debate and each of them feeling confident in the justice of his 
 respective side, joint discussions were held by them in all of the principal 
 counties. Hon. Orlando B. Ficklin, who heard these—as also, many years 
 afterwards—the debates between Lincoln and Douglas, involving the same 
 questions, ‘awarded the palm’ for oratory and interest to the former. 
 McLean, though of lighter complexion, was said to resemble the great 
 Charles Fox in person, and in his style of oratory.” 
 
 The shorthand reporter and the big blanket sheet newspaper 
 were not on hand during their great debate, and we shall never 
 be able to do more than vainly attempt to imagine how these able 
 men handled the great question, but it is entirely safe to assume 
 that its treatment was not hollow and superficial. 
 
 Mr. McLean triumphed at the election by fourteen votes. 
 His term in congress lasted only from December, 1818, to March 3, 
 1819, but during this time he cast several votes on the side of 
 slavery in the preliminary questions which were being acted 
 upon in congress, and we might also state that he was defeated 
 for congress at the next two elections by D. P. Cook, who voted 
 in congress against the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and who 
 in 1824 cast the vote of Illinois for John Quincy Adams for 
 president, by which act Cook’s popularity suffered so severely 
 that he was unable to secure another re-election. 
 
 On Mr. McLean’s return from congress, in 1819, he re¬ 
 turned to the bar of Shawneetown, but was elected to the legisla¬ 
 ture in 1820, where he served as speaker of the second general 
 assembly and from all accounts, must have been about the ablest 
 politician in the young state. 
 
 That he was more than a mere politician, and was also a 
 statesman, we have the best proof possible in the following extract 
 from Moses’ historv of Illinois: 
 
 “The most exciting subject of discussion was the law to incorporate 
 a state bank. The times were hard. Over trading and speculating in- 
 
CAPT. JOHN H. BURNHAM. 
 
 Chairman Executive Committee McLean County Historical Society 
 
TEE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 257 
 
 duced by the too abundant issue of paper currency by the banks of 
 adjoining states had brought every one in debt. To provide a way to 
 escape the existing evils, the legislature chartered the state bank. There 
 was strenuous opposition to the bill, led by Speaker McLean. By a 
 singular provision of the rules the speaker was not permitted to participate 
 in the debates, except when the house resolved itself into a committee of 
 the whole; nor, indeed, to vote on any question except when a tie occurred. 
 In order to deprive the eloquent speaker from exposing the objectionable 
 features of the proposed measure, the house, which contained an assured 
 majority in its favor, refused to go into a committee of the whole. McLean 
 indignant at such treatment, resigned his position, and upon the floor of 
 the house, made a powerful argument against the bill, in which he 
 prophetically predicted all of the evils which ultimately resulted from 
 the operations of the bank. But the bill passed nevertheless and when 
 the council of revision returned it, pointing out the objections to its 
 provisions, and showing how it was inexpedient and unconstitutional, it 
 was again enacted by the requisite majority.*’ 
 
 The references made to his debate with Daniel P. Cook and this 
 evidence of his standing in the second general assembly, suffi¬ 
 ciently prove that Mr. McLean was one of the great men of the 
 early days of Illinois and we must always lament the fact that the 
 newspapers of that day were so small as to be unable to hand 
 down to posterity the glowing words of him whose memory we wish 
 to preserve and perpetuate. 
 
 The subsequent history of the failure of this state bank and 
 of the distress it brought upon the people of Illinois is positive 
 proof of the statesmanship of Mr. McLean in his vigorous but 
 fruitless opposition to the bank. 
 
 Mr. McLean remained out of the legislature for several years, 
 but we may be sure he was no idler. He took a leading part in the 
 great slavery contest in 1821, being on the pro-slavery side, which 
 was defeated. From all that we can now learn of this historical 
 contest it was the most excited and bitter ever known in Illinois. 
 
 Governor Eeynolds in ^^My Own Times’'’ says: ■ . 
 
 “Men, women, and children entered the arena of party warfare and 
 strife; and the families and neighborhoods were so divided and furious 
 and bitter against one another, that it seemed a regular civil war might 
 be the result. IVIany personal conflicts were indulged in on the -question, 
 and the whole country seemed at times to be ready and willing to resort 
 to physical force to decide the contest.” 
 
 Xotwithstanding the bitterness engendered in the great cam¬ 
 paign of 1824, we find Mr. McLean emerged from the strife with 
 
258 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 almost the universal good will of both parties, which may be 
 taken as an evidence that the public gave him credit for favoring 
 slavery purely from what might be called honestly mistaken views 
 of its expediency. 
 
 This is fully proven by the fact that in the fall of 1824, on 
 the eve of all of this excitement, when the legislature balloted for 
 hnited States senator to fill the short term caused by the resigna¬ 
 tion of Senator, formerly Governor Edwards, McLean was chosen 
 on the third ballot. This legislature was fresh from the great 
 slavery and presidential contest of 1824, during which Mr. Mc¬ 
 Lean had been one of the most active and eloquent of the pro- 
 slavery orators, but there appears to have been but little opposi¬ 
 tion to his election. He went to Washington at once, and served 
 from December 20, 1824, to March 3, 1825. There was a senator 
 to be elected at the same time for the long term of six years, and 
 we are told tliat Senator McLean was also a candidate for that 
 position, but being absent on duty in the United States senate, his 
 iriends were not able to rail}" enough strength for his election and 
 the position was secured by Elias Kent Kane. Of Mr. McLean’s 
 senatorial career we have little report, but it was entirely satis- 
 iactory to his constituents. 
 
 1 While he was in Washington on this service, the presidential 
 election of 1824, when there was no choice of the people, came to a 
 head by the election in February, 1825, by the national house of 
 representatives of John Quincy Adams. Illinois had given one 
 electoral vote to Adams and two to Jackson. Daniel P. Cook, in 
 the House, now cast the vote of the state of Illinois for Adams, 
 thereby making it the thirteenth state to vote for Adams, exactly 
 a majority of the states, and thus electing Adams. The excitement 
 must have been tremendous and we obtain a glimpse of the indig¬ 
 nation of such an intense Jackson man as was Mr. McLean, by the 
 following brief item which he sent to the Shawneetown paper, the 
 Illinois Gazette: 
 
 “Senate Chamber, February 9, 1825. 
 
 “Sir: The votes for president are as follows: Mr. Adams, the six 
 New England States: New York, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Ala¬ 
 bama, and Kentucky. He is elected. The mail starts. I have time to 
 write no more. Great God deliver ns. John McLean.’ 
 
 It may be proper to add that the people of Illinois were too 
 fiiendly to Jackson to entirely forgive Mr. Cook for his vote, and 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 259 
 
 he was defeated at the next election. His death occurred October 
 16, 1837, while he was still a young man. 
 
 His name was given to Cook county, January 15, 1831, al¬ 
 most a year after McLean county was organized, and we thus find 
 the names of these two great political rivals attached the one to 
 the most wealthy and populous county in the state, and the other 
 tc the most fertile and the largest in territory. 
 
 On Mr. McLean’s return to Illinois in 1835, he was elected to 
 the legislature from Gallatin county for two terms in succession 
 and during both of these terms he was speaker of the house. Here 
 he was one of the most influential and valuable members, as we 
 have the most abundant testimony. Ex-Governor Reynolds, who 
 served at the same time, gives him high credit, most especially for 
 his share in the revision and adoption of the laws of 1837, which 
 all old lawyers know was a remarkable work to be performed by a 
 legislative body in the time of an ordinary session, and this volume 
 of the laws is in part one of the existing evidences of the ability of 
 John McLean. 
 
 Governor Eeynolds in “My Own Times” gives an amusing 
 incident showing evidence of McLean’s influence as follows: 
 
 “In the legislature of 1820 and 1827, a county was organized, em¬ 
 bracing the .mining district, which was called Jo Daviess county. I pro¬ 
 posed the name of Daviess in the general assembly, and John McLean, with 
 much Kentucky enthusiasm, added the name of Jo to it, and it succeeded. 
 
 It could not be severed in that legislature as we tried it often.” 
 
 The county was named in honor of Colonel Joseph Hamilton 
 Daviess, of Kentucky, who fell at the battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811. 
 
 But two men have ever been speaker of the Illinois house of 
 representatives for three terms. They are William Lee D. Ewing 
 and John McLean. 
 
 Correspondence published in the transactions of the Chicago 
 Historical Society and other sources of information too lengthy 
 for quotation, prove that Speaker McLean was actively engaged 
 in pushing his canvass for election to the position of United States • 
 senator when the next vacancy should occur. He had set his 
 heart on winning this prize and this canvass was watched with 
 deep interest by his political friends and enemies. Public senti- 
 ment had by this time become overwhelmingly in favor of General 
 Jackson and Mr. McLean’s services in behalf of his party were 
 unquestioned. i ! ! 
 
260 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 We can form a good estimate of the strength of Mr. McLean 
 at this period, the crowning point of his influence on Illinois 
 politics, by the simple announcement that Avhen the legislature 
 met in the fall of 1829, it unanimously elected him United States 
 senator for the term of six years from the 6th day of December, 
 
 1829. This unanimous election is an honor never before nor since 
 conferred on any other Illinoisan and of itself proves his high 
 standing in the public estimation. But it seems disease was wast¬ 
 ing his strength and after the close of the long session. May 31, 
 
 1830, he came home to Shawneetown, where he died October 14, 
 
 1830, in the fortieth year of his life. ^ 
 
 On the 9th day of December, 1830, his colleague in the United 
 States ^senate, Hon. Elias Kent Kane, pronounced his eulogy, in 
 the course of w^hich he said: 
 
 “In private life he was remarkable for his benevolence, frankness, 
 and independence of character. Xo one in the circle in which he moved 
 had a larger share of the confidence and affection of his fellow men. He 
 was by profession a lawyer, possessed of a vigorous mind and a rapid, 
 but easy elocution. These qualifications, added to honesty of purpose 
 universally accorded to him, raised him to the front rank of his profession 
 and there sustained him. As a statesman, the people of Illinois would 
 long remember him as the author of the most valued portions of their 
 statute books, and as the able and acute presiding officer over the most 
 numerous branch of their legislature.” 
 
 Ex-Governor Eeynolds, in his book, contended that no man in 
 Illinois before or since his day surpassed him in pure, natural 
 eloquence. 
 
 He describes him as “a man of gigantic mind, of noble and manly 
 form and a lofty, dignified bearing. His person was large and formed 
 on that natural excellence which at once attracted the attention and ad¬ 
 miration of all beholders. The vigor and compass of his mind was exceed¬ 
 ingly great and his eloquence flowed in torrents, deep, strong, and almost 
 irresistible.’* 
 
 Ko wonder that when the legislature assembled a few weeks 
 after his death, presided over by Hon. M illiam L. D. Ewing, his im¬ 
 mediate friend and relative, it was easily influenced by the speaker 
 to bestow this loved name upon the large new county to be organ¬ 
 ized in this resfion. 
 
 Tradition informs us that our pioneers had decided to name 
 this county for Judge Hendricks, of Indiana, but through Mr. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 261 
 
 Ewing’s influence and advice, they accepted the name so greatly 
 desired by the many friends of the late Senator McLean. 
 
 Much that pertains to this portion of our subject relates more 
 strictly to the history of McLean county, and little more need be 
 added in this connection. It should be stated, however, that the 
 city of Shawneetown, where Senator McLean lived, holds his mem¬ 
 ory in grateful recollection. His body is buried on the high 
 ground, about two miles from the ill-fated city, where may be 
 found the following inscription on the slab over his vault: 
 
 IN MEMORY 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN McLEAN. 
 
 Born in North Carolina, February 4, 1791. 
 He was raised and educated in Kentucky, whence 
 he emigrated to Illinois in 1815, where he held a 
 conspicuous stand at the bar, and in society, for 
 talents and a generous and amiable nature. A 
 representative and senator in the congress of the 
 United States from Illinois; he died while in the 
 latter office, October 14, 1830, lamented by all. 
 
 Death loves a shining mark, a signal blow; 
 
 A blow, which, while it executes, alarms. 
 
 And startles thousands with a single fall. 
 
 — Young. 
 
262 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 GENERAL McCLEENAND’S LETTER. 
 
 Owing to ill health and worse weather, Gen. John A. Mc- 
 Clernand* could not be present. The following extract is from his 
 letter, read by Hon. J. IS. Ewing: 
 
 “Mr. ^McLean emigrated from Kentucky to the Territory of Illinois 
 and settled in Shawneetown in 181.5, where he began the practice of his 
 profession as a lawyer, residing there for fifteen years, and until his un¬ 
 timely death in 1830. He and I were contemporary residents of Shawnee¬ 
 town for fifteen years. I often saw him in my boyhood and afterward 
 formed acquaintance with him. 
 
 “His personality interested and impressed me. The image of it still 
 lingers in my memory. Physically he was well developed, tall, strong, and 
 stately. When walking the streets his admiring observers would whisper 
 ‘there goes the great lawyer, the great orator.’ His confident step and 
 appearance denoted him a man of energy and decision. 
 
 “Socially, he was afi'able and genial; his conversation sparkled with 
 wit and humor. He married an educated and accomplished young lady in 
 Kentucky, a short time before his death. 
 
 “Mr. McLean was not an academic scholar. During his early life 
 there were no common schools in Kentucky or Illinois, and perhaps there 
 was not a college in all Illinois. His only resource for instruction was the 
 wandering pedagogue and his own assiduity. Like many others he was 
 for the most part self-educated, not a few of whom rank among the most 
 learned of the ages. 
 
 *Maj.-Gen. John A. McClernand is a very remarkable man. He was 
 born in this state and thinks he is the oldest person now living who was 
 born in Illinois. He has had a verv long life of usefulness. His first office 
 of which we have record is that of aid to General Posey, in the Black Hawk 
 War. General Posey was a general under Washington in the Bevolu- 
 tionary War, and also held a general’s commission in the Black Hawk 
 War. He was buried at Shawneetown, near the grave of John McLean. 
 
 McClernand was three times a member of the state legislature, and 
 was six times elected to congress, four times from the Shawneetown district, 
 and twice from the Springfield district. Llis last term in congress was at 
 the beginning of the war. He was alwaj^s a Democrat, and he went with 
 Stephen A. Douglas in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, during 
 which he was a general of high rank. 
 
 At the siege of ^'lcksburg he was a major-general in command of the 
 Thirteenth army corps and with his troops came very near entering the 
 city in the famous charge on the 23d of May, 18G3. He was one of the 
 twelve major-generals from the state of Illinois. 
 
 After the war he was circuit judge of the Sangamon district in 1870. 
 He was one of the United States commissioners to settle the Utah diffi¬ 
 culties under President Cleveland. The committee of arrangements were 
 very fortunate in securing a paper from General McClernand, one of the 
 last living men who had a personal acquaintance with Hon. John McLean. 
 
 Since the above was written General McClernand has died, 
 his death having taken place September 20, 1900. 
 
 ' J. H. Burnham. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 263 
 
 “As a lawyer, Mr. McLean was both analytic and logical, combining 
 argument with extraordinary eloquence. He was persuasive with the 
 judge and well nigh resistless with the jury. In his profession he was 
 eminently successful. The compensation it brought would have enriched 
 him but for his exceeding liberality towards his friends and the needy. 
 His mind was practical as well as creative and versatile. The union of 
 these qualities marks the distinction of the great leaders of human pro¬ 
 gress and amelioration. 
 
 “Mr. McLean was an actor on the public stage in Illinois for fifteen 
 years. He led a political movement in Illinois which on the wider stage 
 of the nation resulted in the reorganization of political parties and the 
 election of General Jackson to the presidency. What must have been the 
 energy and influence he contributed in the effectuation of so stupendous a 
 result? Alas; he died witn the harness of public duty upon him. He 
 died while comparatively young, realizing the fate which so often overtakes 
 the brave, the active, and inspiring. Peace to his ashes; honor to his 
 memory.” John A. McCleknand. 
 
 HON. JAMES S. EWING’S KEMARKS. 
 
 I was requested on Saturday evening by these gentlemen to 
 read to you a very short sketch of Mr. McLean, which was sent 
 here by General IMcClernand. It is exceedingly embarrassing 
 always to appear before an audience naturally disappointed by a 
 person whom they expected to hear. My embarrassment is not 
 any less than your disappointment, but I can only read to you 
 these words and without any attempt whatever to till the place in 
 your interest of the distinguished gentleman who is absent, I will 
 detain you but a very few minutes. 
 
 (Mr. Ewing then read General McClernand’s letter, given 
 above in this volume.) 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen :—I desire to voice the sentiment 
 of this assembly in thanks to the officers of the McLean Historical 
 Society in what I consider the great and important work which 
 tliey have undertaken and acconpdished. I do not know whether 
 ai first thought we realize exactly what has been done, with what 
 great labor they have unearthed the facts that have been presented 
 to you today and which have resulted in placing in this court 
 house a tablet upon which is recorded the birth, death, and some 
 historical facts of the distinguished gentleman for whom this 
 county has been named. I doubt whether 99 out of 100 people in 
 this county know the circumstances under which this county was 
 
264 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 named or an^dhing of the life of the distinguished citizen for whom 
 ii was named. I doubt wdiether any of them, or very many of 
 them, knew anything about the man himself. 
 
 Human fame is not very lasting. Professional and political 
 fame is, of all things, perhaps, the most transitory and ephemeral. 
 Here is a man who came to Illinois when perhaps 25 or 26 years 
 old; nobody ever heard of him before. In fifteen years he be¬ 
 came one of the leading lawyers of the state, eminent in his pro¬ 
 fession. He w^as elected to congress. He w^as three times a 
 member of the legislature and the speaker of the popular branch 
 of that body. He was twice elected to the United S-tates senate. 
 He died at the age of 39, a senator in congress. He was a man 
 who had taken active part in all the great questions of the day. 
 And yet but a few years have passed away and his memory has 
 passed away with the years. By such labor as has been performed 
 by these gentlemen, aided by the board of supervisors, the memory 
 of that just and honorable man, of whom I think hereafter we 
 will all be proud, has been rescued from this oblivion. We have 
 at last, after all these years, to a slight degree paid the homage 
 which his memory deserves. 
 
 The men who were prominent in the territorial history of our 
 country were. Governor Edwards, the territorial governor; Gov- 
 enor Shadrach Bond, the first governor of the state; Hon. Wm. 
 Lee D. Ewing, who was secretary of state and prominent in all 
 the public affairs of the time; Elias K. Kane, who was senator in 
 congress; Hon. Daniel P. Cook, and ^Ir. John McLean. Cook 
 county was named for one, McLean county for another, Edwards 
 * county for one and Kane county for another. These men have all 
 passed away, as I have said, and it requires just such scenes as 
 this to bring their memory back to the people. Will you permit 
 me, ladies and gentlemen, in carrying out this thought, a personal 
 reminiscence. 
 
 In the early history of this county, in the old court house 
 which stood on exactly the same spot where this court house 
 stands, two boys were attracted to the court house to hear a lawsuit 
 tried. And when they came into that court house, there were 
 eight young men assembled, not all of them engaged in the trial 
 of the case, but some of them, and all of them giving strict at¬ 
 tention to tlie proceedings. The lawsuit was not one of very great 
 importance. It was between a man who had permitted his cattle 
 
THE Me LEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 265 
 
 to stray in his neighbor’s corn field; his neighbor had set his dog 
 on them, and was sued for trespass. The suit was really between 
 the dog and the steer. But engaged or interested in that trial 
 were eight men, young lawyers. I doubt whether any of them 
 were over 26 or 27, certainly not over 30 years of age, most of them 
 much younger than that. 
 
 The court was presided over by Hon. Samuel H. Treat, and 
 I can see him in my mind’s eye today, as he occupied the bench in 
 nearly the exact position where I am now standing, a man who 
 afterwards became "Jlnited States judge and one of the most dis¬ 
 tinguished and honorable lawyers and judges in the state. 
 
 Another one was General Gridley, a man whom all of you 
 knew, who afterwards became a distinguished citizen of this state. 
 One was David Davis, who afterwards was a distinguished lawyer, 
 a circuit judge, judge of the United States supreme court, United 
 States senator, and acting vice-nresident of the United States, a 
 man of state and national fame, a citizen of this county, whom 
 all honored and loved. 
 
 Another one was John T. Stuart, a very distinguished lawyer 
 of Springfield; several times a member of congress, and one of 
 the most lovable of men. 
 
 Another one was David Campbell, the prosecuting attorney at 
 that time and afterwards a distinguished lawyer. 
 
 Another one was Edward D. Baker, who was afterwards 
 United States senator from the state of Oregon, a famous orator 
 who immortalized himself by pronouncing the eulogy over David 
 Broderick, and who was afterwards killed at Ball’s Bluff. 
 
 Another one was James McDougal, a brilliant Irishman who 
 afterwards became senator from the state of California. 
 
 Another one was Abraham Lincoln, the man who has passed 
 into the pantheon of universal history and upon whose head has 
 settled the sunshine of eternal glory. And these were the young 
 men gathered around this little bar and whose names and fame 
 have passed into history. I might add that one of those boys 
 afterwards became vice-president of this great republic and the 
 other one is your speaker.* 
 
 *Hon. James Stevenson Ewing is one of our most talented lawyers. 
 He was educated at Center College, Kentucky, studied law in Bloomington, 
 and has always resided here since he became a member of the bar which 
 was in 1859. He belongs to the well known Ewing family and is quite 
 
266 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Speaking to any anclience in the United States, or perhaps I 
 might say in the world, T doubt if an incident of snch significance 
 ccnld be truthfully related of any other gathering. We have just 
 cause to be proud of this man for whom our county is named, 
 whom none of us knew, but whom all of us honor. 
 
 If one should have gone, at that time, into the legislature of 
 cur state, we would have found the following men: 
 
 Jno. Ke 3 molds, Thos. Ford, Jno. A. McClernand, Sydney 
 Breese, Edward D. Baker, Daniel Butterworth, Usher F. Linder, 
 Orlando B. Ficklin, Cyrus Walker, Orvil H. Browning, Archibald 
 Williams, Ilobert Blackwell, Stephen A. Douglas, Augustus Koer- 
 ner, Lyman Trumbull, and Abraham Lincoln. And I undertake 
 to say that no legislature ever assembled in any commonwealth of 
 this union or anywhere, composed of abler men or of men possessed 
 of more intellectual strength than this body of men. 
 
 We are all proud, my fellow citizens, of the great common¬ 
 wealth of Illinois, and these men whom I have mentioned, and 
 this man whose memory we are here to honor especially, were men 
 who laid tlie foundation of our prosperity. They took part in the 
 great cpiestions arising during the transition period between our 
 territorial and state governments; they discussed and settled the 
 great questions of political economy and of state prosperity, the 
 question of slavery or freedom, and of our financial policy. We 
 cannot honor them too much. 
 
 A man’s political fame cannot be lasting unless it is con¬ 
 nected with some great principle. A lawyer’s fame above all 
 others, is the most ephemeral, because if he exerts his learning and 
 skill and cunning in tlie trial of a lawsuit, the lawsuit passes away 
 and nobody cares anything about it except the parties interested. 
 
 nearly related to the late Hon. Thomas Ewing, one of Ohio’s great men. 
 He is a cousin of the Hon. Adlai Ewing Stevenson, and for many years 
 they were law partners in Bloomington, and they have both been well 
 known all over the state for their activity in the politics of the Demo¬ 
 cratic party of Illinois. They are both said by family tradition to be 
 related to the Hon. Wm. Lee D. Ewing, who was responsible for giving the 
 name of John McLean to this county. The same tradition says that like 
 Mr.Wm. L. D. Ewing, they are also related to the family of John McLean, but 
 until the family genealogies are published, the exact relation cannot be 
 given. 
 
 Under the second administration of President Cleveland, Mr. James 
 S. Ewung was made minister to Belgium, with the title of Minister Pleni¬ 
 potentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary: and with his cultivated and 
 accomplished wife, who was a daughter of the Hon. Hamilton Spepcer, of 
 this city, spent four pleasant years at elegant Brussels, the capital of 
 Belgium. I 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 26T 
 
 A politician may be prominent amidst the strife of today, but his 
 fame is gone unless he links his name and casts his political for¬ 
 tune with the success or defeat of some great political principle. 
 And thus it was with those of whom I have spoken and of the dis¬ 
 tinguished citizen whose name we memorialize here today. 
 
 I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, very cordially for your 
 kind attention. ' 
 
 LETTER FROM J. B. BARGER. 
 
 SlIAWNEETOWN, MARCH, 8, 1896. 
 
 J. H. Burnham, Bloomington, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter of March 3, is at hand and read. My recol¬ 
 lection of John McLean was on his little farm when he kept his horses 
 and hounds and had a man hired to take care of his horses and hounds. 
 He did not as I ever knew hunt with a gun, it was for chasing with 
 hounds. My recollection is, he was a lawyer, hut I have no recollection of 
 his practicing law. We did not have any court house in Shawneetown, 
 the courts were held in a warehouse. Since writing you before, it came 
 to my mind that Gen. John A. McClernand, of Springfield, Illinois, was 
 raised here and knew John McLean. He is older than I am and can 
 possibly give you more information than I can. He was spoken of in the 
 best terms by everybody who knew him. He never went out of the county 
 hunting as I ever knew. President John Cook, of the University of Nor¬ 
 mal always reminded me when I met him, of John IMcLean, quick action 
 and speech, but McLean was not so fleshy. 
 
 I don’t know of any otlner person now living that knew him but General 
 McClernand. Y^ours respectfully, 
 
 J. B. Barger.* 
 
 • LETTERS FROM CAPT. JOHN M. FDD A". 
 
 ' Shawxeetown, III., June 9, 1896. 
 
 J. H. Burnham, Esq., Bloomington, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir: T herewith enclose a copy of the record of the public 
 services of .John McLean, furnished me by my uncle. Judge J. J. Hayden, 
 of Washington, which I hope will be of service to you, if you have not 
 already the same. 
 
 Also the following from the history of Hamilton county: “The first 
 house in McLeansboro was a log one built by Dr. Win. B. McLean, a brother 
 
 *Mr. Barger, who was 85 years old in 1896, spent over a year with his 
 daughter at Normal about 1895. He was acquainted with President Cook, 
 and his reference to Mr. McLean’s resemblance to Mr. Cook, has con¬ 
 siderable meaning. Mr. Barger was for a long time county clerk of 
 Gallatin county. In my visit to the old gentleman at Shawneetown, I did 
 pot learn much more than is given in the letter. J. H. Burnham. 
 
268 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 of John McLean, of Shawneetown.” As the doctor may have descendants 
 in that county who have some family records, it is quite probable that you 
 might obtain something of Judge McLean’s parentage, early youth, etc., 
 through some of them. Judge T. B. Stelle, of McLeansboro, could assist 
 you in this, as he is an old citizen and has written a history of Hamilton 
 county, extracts from which appear quite often in my book. 
 
 Copy of record of court held here in 1816. 
 
 “This court met February 20, 1816, at the house of Charles Hill in 
 Shawneetown. Present, Honorables Leonard \Yhite and John Marshall, 
 on this day John McLean was admitted to practice law.” 
 
 Yours, 
 
 John M. Eddy.* 
 
 1 ! 1 Shawneetown, III., November 19, 1896. 
 
 J. H. Burnham, Esq., Bloomington, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir: I will give you my impressions of the personality of 
 Judge McLean, which were formed by conversing with many people who 
 knew him well, while T was a youth from 10 to 15 years of age. My 
 father bought our old homestead from Judge M cLean, and moved his 
 
 *J. jM. Eddy was a son of Henry Eddy, who published a paper at 
 Shawneetown, Illinois, as early as 1817, called the Illinois Emigrant, 
 and also published other newspapers at a late day, and was a leading citi¬ 
 zen of the young state. Mr. J. M. Eddy examined the files of his father’s 
 papers for me in search of information relating to the Hon. John McLean, 
 and was of great assistance to me in several directions, and deserves the 
 thanks of the community for his efforts. In this connection it may be 
 stated that at the time Mr. McLean lived in this state, there was no 
 daily newspaper, no large town or city and no newspaper of sufficient size 
 and circulation to publish in full scarcely a single speech from any one 
 in the land. It was not the day of shorthand reporters, and the speeches 
 of public men were seldom reported in full. It was a rare thing, even in 
 the large cities, to publish speeches, but it was rarer still in Illinois. 
 
 Even the reports of congress were mere abstracts until several years 
 after McLean left congress, and it has been impossible to find anywhere a 
 single one of his speeches printed in full. In the publications of the 
 Chicago Historical Society in the “Governor Edwards Papers,” may be 
 found some letters written by John McLean, but they are largely of a per¬ 
 sonal nature, and do not give much idea of his literary style, but there 
 is enough to convince us he must have been quite well educated. 
 
 Mr. McLean’s ability must be inferred from the general statements 
 given by the authorities I have quoted, which are sufficiently definite to 
 prove that he was a man of brilliant parts, and as stated by Mr. Ewing in his 
 remarks, to have accomplished what he did at the early age of 39 years, 
 he must have been a man of most wonderful power. 
 
 The fact that the town of McLeansboro, the county seat of Hamilton 
 county, Illinois, was named for Dr. W. B. McLean, a brother of John Mc¬ 
 Lean, is one of very peculiar interest to us. It may be proper to state 
 that diligent inquiry has so far failed to obtain any further information 
 in regard to persons ^tl^ name living in either McLeansboro, or North 
 Carolina. 
 
 A 'eoitsiii,-Senior Walker, has written a letter from Arkansas, which 
 is given in this connection. J. H. Burnham 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 269 
 
 family onto it in 1832, when I was but 2 years old, and I spent the early 
 part of my life there among country people, several of whom were tenants 
 on the place and so remained for many years. 
 
 From these and others living in the neighborhood, I got the impres¬ 
 sion that he had the happy faculty of adapting himself to the ways and 
 customs of all sorts of people. For instance: When overworked or de¬ 
 pressed in spirits, he would go onto his farm where a Mr. Holly kept for 
 him a pack of hounds and spend a week or more hunting foxes, in which 
 sport the whole neighborhood joined. 
 
 He would go to all log rollings, corn huskings, house raisings, and 
 country frolics, and would make a full hand at all or any of them. I 
 have heard these people tell how he would beat all comers at running, 
 jumping, wrestling, and lifting, and he would, to use a modern phrase, 
 “just turn himself loose.’’ In fact the people almost worshipped him. 
 All this I think accounts for his great popularity among the plain people. 
 When at home though, he was an entirely different man. There, he was 
 the personification of dignity and courtesy, rarely unbending, never harsh, 
 or cruel or insulting, a perfect Chesterfield in courtly manner to all. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 John M. Eddy. 
 
 *I have always taken a great interest in whatever pertains to the his¬ 
 tory of McLean county. Long before the organization of the McLean 
 County Historical Society, and even before I wrote the history of Bloom¬ 
 ington and Normal in 1879, I had a strong desire to know more of the 
 history of our pioneers. 
 
 When it was proposed to honor the memory of the man for whom 
 this great county was named, I commenced to gather historical material 
 for the occasion, with the single idea of furnishing it to some one of our 
 leading orators to be used on the day of the public exercises, with no 
 thought of delivering it myself, being no speaker and only an ordinary 
 reader, but as the members of the Society would not unite in designating 
 any other person, I reluctantly assented to their wishes. 
 
 As stated by the Hon. E. B. Washburn, in my quotation from his 
 paper, and as mentioned in a somewhat similar manner by one of our own 
 speakers, the Hon. James S. Ewing, it has seemed surprising that history 
 gives us so little concerning such an eminent man. 
 
 But for that matter, we find history has treated in much the same 
 manner men like Jesse B. Thomas, Daniel P. Cook, and Edward Coles,, 
 except that Governor Coles like our other governors, had the good fortune 
 to have the state printer for a publisher on many occasions. 
 
 Our investigations have at least resulted in giving to the citi¬ 
 zens of this county, of whom it is probable those born here are now in the 
 majority, all that can be learned concerning the early statesman whose 
 name is forever attached to our county, and it seems to me that the 
 feeling of county pride so well developed already, is likely to grow with 
 the growth of McLean county, and -to deepen and intensify as the years 
 roll round. 
 
 If I have been at all instrumental in adding another cubit to the 
 stature of McLean county’s patriotic pride in its ancestry, its history,, 
 and itself, I shall have been amply repaid for my trouble. 
 
 1 J. H. Burnham. 
 
270 
 
 McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 The following is a portion of a letter from the Hon. Thomas 
 Eidgway, late of Shawneetown, Illinois, formerly state treasurer 
 of Illinois. Mr. Eidgway was one of the first to suggest that the 
 people of McLean county take steps to publicly honor the memory 
 of John McLean. This letter was written to J. Dickey Templeton, 
 of Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 LETTEE FEOM HOX. THOMAS S. EIDGWAY. 
 
 Shawneetown, III., January 3, 1896. 
 
 J. D. Templeton, Esq., Care First National Bank, Bloomington, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir: In regard to Senator John McLean, his residence and 
 burial place here long years ago. His remains lie buried in our cemetery, 
 “Westwood Cemetery,” on the hills two miles west of town, the family 
 burial place of all our citizens. The tomb is of brick masonry of oblong 
 shape, seven feet long by three and a half feet wide, with a single stone 
 slab covering the same, with the inscription on its face, the brick walls two 
 and a half feet high above the surface of the ground. The brick work is 
 now needing some repairs. It has been repaired time and time again 
 during the many years since he was buried there, say sixty-five years ago 
 —1830 to 1895. 
 
 He is buried among a number of noted men of southern Illinois, such 
 as General Posey, who was aid to General Washington, and was United 
 States senator of Louisiana, and governor of the Northwest Territory—Illi¬ 
 nois, Indiana, etc., etc., also Judge Hardin, John Marshall, Henry Eddy, 
 and many others. 
 
 While in Washington during his last term he married a Kentucky 
 lady and brought her home with him. Before his term was out he died 
 here during a vacation. His wife was with him. Shortly after his death 
 she went to jMissouri, where she had friends and she never returned, and 
 no one here ever heard from her afterwards. McLean left little or no 
 property. He came to Shawneetown in 1815 and commenced to practice 
 law, and soon became identified with our people, made this place his home, 
 and I do not think they would like to have his remains removed. We 
 consider it quite a distinction for our town to claim the honor of once 
 being the home of so eminent a man as John McLean, prior to and at the 
 time Illinois was born into the union—1818—and continuing to reside 
 with us while a member in congress and United States senator, until his 
 death in 1830. Your truly, 
 
 Thomas 8. Eidgway. 
 
THE McLEAN MEMORIAL. 
 
 271 
 
 LETTER FROM HON. J. D. WALKER. 
 
 Fayetteville, Ark., December 10, 1898. 
 Capt. J. H. Burnham, Bloomington, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir: I read with great pleasure a special to the St. Louis 
 Republic, of the 7th inst., a notice of the proceedings of the McLean 
 County Historical Society in reference to the memory of John McLean, and 
 extracts from your address on that occasion. 
 
 Allow me to express to you my sincere thanks and gratitude, as he 
 was my uncle, the oldest brother of my mother, who was the wife of Col. 
 J. V. Walker, late of Logan county, Kentucky. 
 
 There is a mistake in the statement that “He came to Shawneetown 
 from North Carolina in 1815.” He came from Logan county, Kentucky, to 
 Shawneetown, according to the family record. The father and mother of John 
 McLean, Ephriam McLean and Elizabeth Byert, the former of North Carolina 
 and the latter of York District, South Carolina, were married in 1788, and 
 emigrated to Kentucky in 179G, when John McLean must have been a small 
 boy, and settled about twelve miles west of Russellville, Logan county, 
 Kentucky, where in 1803 my mother, Susan Howard McLean, was born. 
 The father of John jMcLean, Rev. Ephriam McLean, according to the his¬ 
 tory of the C. P. church was its first ordained minister. The McLean 
 record further states, that “the oldest son, John, after returning from 
 Indian wars under General Jackson, studied law under the instruction of 
 Judge McLean in Greenville, Kentucky, and settled in Shawneetown to 
 practice law when Illinois was a territory.” 
 
 My grandmother fondly cherished the memory of her son and often 
 exhibited presents made by him when in congress. 
 
 Should you meet Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson, who I believe still resides in 
 your city, present my regards. I knew him when in congress. Again 
 thanking you, I am truly and respectfully, 
 
 J. D. Walker.* 
 
 P. S. It may be of interest to state that the grandfather of John 
 McLean, Charles McLean, came from Scotland to North Carolina in 1750, 
 and was a major in the American army, in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 J. D. W. 
 
 *It is with great pleasure that I have been able to add to the 
 published exercises of the dedication, a letter from the Hon. J. D. 
 Walker, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, received by me a few days after our 
 exercises took place. It gives us very important information of which 
 we were in entire ignorance. The fact that his father, the Rev. Ephriam 
 McLean, preached the first Cumberland Presbyterian sermon in Ken¬ 
 tucky shows a very honorable parentage. Mr. Walker also tells us John 
 McLean served in the Indian War under General Jackson, a fact hitherto 
 unknown. It is also exceedingly interesting to be told that his father’s 
 grandfather. Major Charles McLean was in the War of the Revolution. 
 
 John McLean, were he alive today, would be entitled to be called a 
 Son of the Church and a Son of the Revolution. i 
 
272 
 
 McLEiN COUNTY 
 
 0112 
 
 098692731 J 
 
 THE CLAN McLEAN. 
 
 Anything relating to the name McLean, will be interesting in this 
 particular connection. 
 
 We first meet with the word in Scotland, where the clan McLean was 
 once one of the most powerful clans. Its headquarters appear to have 
 been on the islands known as the Inner Hebrides, on the west coast of 
 Scotland, especially the islands of Mull and Jura, while the McLeans 
 also occupied a large part of the county of Argyle on the western coast of 
 Scotland, adjacent to the Inner Hebrides. 
 
 The powerful clan of McLeans must have been the ancestors of all 
 those of the name now found in the various parts of the world. 
 
 In “The Scotch-Irish in History” published in 1899, by Rev. James 
 Shaw, of Bloomington, Illinois, a valued member of the McLean County 
 Historical Society, we are given a list of sixty-nine of the Scotch-Clans of 
 the present times, and of these, thirty-three are Macs. Among them he 
 gives McLane, which is one of the several ways of spelling McLean. He 
 also gives a full list of names of the different Scottish clans of the past 
 and present, beginning with Mac, and we find there are, or have been, 
 137 Macs. Among these we find McLean. 
 
 Mr. Shaw shows plainly that the Scotch and Scotch-Irish, have 
 exerted vast influence for good upon the English-speaking peoples of the 
 world, and particularly upon the United States. 
 
 I regret to state that two letters written by me to Ex-Senator Walker, 
 and one by the Hon. A. E. Stevenson, lately, have all failed of drawing 
 out a reply, but we are exceedingly thankful for the very important facts 
 stated by this kinsman. Mr. Stevenson authorizes me to say that during 
 his acquaintance Avith the senator in Washington when he was United 
 States senator from March 4, 1879, to March 4, 1885, he talked with 
 Mr. Walker several times in relation to John McLean and the family 
 relationship. He adds that from the feeble health of Mr. Walker the 
 last time he heard of him, he is very doubtful if the gentleman is still 
 alive. He also told me he had an impression, almost amounting to a 
 certainty, that Ex-Senator Call, of Florida, was also a cousin of John 
 McLean and of Senator Walker. The genealogical and other facts here 
 given will enable those who are anxious to learn more, to make further 
 inquiries in Xorth Carolina and Kentucky, and perhaps to learn much 
 more of great interest concerning the McLean family. For my own part, 
 being not yet fully satisfied with my researches, I may at some future time 
 be able to learn something more in this line of investigation. 
 
 The letter which is published herewith from Hon. J. D. Walker, who 
 was United States senator from the state of Arkansas from March 4, 1879, 
 to March 4, 1885, and who was a cousin of John McLean, states that his 
 grandfather Avas Charles McLean, aaLo came from Scotland to North 
 Carolina in 1750, and seiwed as major in the American army in the 
 ReA’olutionary War. This settles the question of his ancestry A^ery satis¬ 
 factorily and prepares the AA-ay lor future inA’estigations if any are curious 
 as to going further back into the Scottish ancestry of John McLean. Mr. 
 Walker shoAVS his ancestry to haA'e been of more than ordinary intelligence 
 and high standing, and he gives A'ery A’aluable information AA’hich AA^as not 
 aA'ailable at the time the memorial AA*as prepared by me. 
 
 J. H. Burnham.