Alexander Kelly McClure (January 9, 1828 – June 6, 1909) was an American politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Pennsylvania. He served as a Republican member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1858 to 1859 and 1865 to 1866 as well as a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 18th district in 1861 and the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

from 1873 to 1874. He was a prominent supporter, correspondent, and biographer of President Abraham Lincoln. He was the editor of the ''Franklin Repository'' newspaper in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and of the '' Philadelphia Times''. The borough of

McClure, Pennsylvania McClure is a borough in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 889 at the 2020 census. The town is named for the 19th century Pennsylvania politician and journalist Alexander Kelly McClure. McClure owes its origin to the ...

, and the

Alexander K. McClure School Alexander K. McClure School is a historic elementary school located in the Hunting Park neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. The building was designed by Henry deCourcy Richards and built i ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are named in his honor.

Early life and education

McClure was born on January 9, 1828, in Sherman's Valley, Perry County, Pennsylvania, to Alexander and Isabella Anderson McClure. He grew up on a farm and received little formal education. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and apprenticed as a

tanner Tanner may refer to: * Tanner (occupation), the tanning of leather and hides People * Tanner (given name), * Tanner (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *The Tanner Sisters, also referred to as "The Harbingers of Weir ...

. He traveled west as far as Iowa but returned to Pennsylvania after failing in the tannery business. He worked as a printer at the ''Perry County Freeman'' and the ''Juniata Sentinel'' in

Mifflintown, Pennsylvania Mifflintown is a borough in and the county seat of Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 842 at the 2020 census. Geography Mifflintown is located at (40.570728, -77.395488). According to the United States Census Bur ...

. He became editor and publisher of the ''Sentinel'' in 1846, and became known for his Whig political views. McClure was appointed to the staff of the first Whig governor of Pennsylvania,

William F. Johnston William Freame Johnston (November 29, 1808October 25, 1872) was the 11th governor of Pennsylvania, from 1848 to 1852. A lawyer by training, Johnston became district attorney of Westmoreland County at the age of 21 in 1829. He was elected to t ...

, with the honorary rank of colonel. In 1850, Millard Fillmore appointed McClure deputy United States Marshal for

Juniata County Juniata County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,509. Its county seat is Mifflintown. The county was created on March 2, 1831, from part of Mifflin County and named for the Juniata Riv ...

. He moved to

Chambersburg Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

in 1852 and purchased the ''Franklin Repository'' newspaper. He studied law and was admitted to the Franklin County, Pennsylvania, bar in 1856. Alexander Kelly McClure (cropped)

Career

McClure became active in the newly formed Republican Party and was an outspoken abolitionist. In 1857, he was elected to the

and re-elected in 1858 and 1859. At the

1860 Republican National Convention The 1860 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met May 16-18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The conven ...

McClure became a well-known political figure, opposing fellow Pennsylvanian Simon Cameron's bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency. McClure and

Andrew G. Curtin Andrew Gregg Curtin (April 22, 1815/1817October 7, 1894) was a U.S. lawyer and politician. He served as the Governor of Pennsylvania during the Civil War, helped defend his state during the Gettysburg Campaign, and led organization of the cr ...

helped swing the state's vote away from Cameron and William Seward to Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln's election, McClure became chairman of the Republican state committee and helped to elect Curtin governor of Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania Senate for the 18th district in 1861 and for the

in 1873. When the Civil War began, McClure rallied support for the war as Chairman of the Senate Committee of Military Affairs. He assisted Governor Curtin in planning a meeting of fourteen Northern state governors known as the "Loyal War Governors of the North", in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in order to secure their continued support of the war. McClure was commissioned by President Lincoln as an assistant adjutant general with the rank of major on September 6, 1862. He was tasked with raising seventeen Pennsylvania regiments for induction into the U.S. Army and served until he resigned his commission on February 27, 1863. During the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Confederate forces threatened McClure's home in Chambersburg several times. McClure was captured but released when General J.E.B. Stuart entered Chambersburg on his raid around McClellan's army in October 1862. The following July, Confederates under then Colonel

Eppa Hunton Eppa Hunton II (September 24, 1822October 11, 1908) was a Virginia lawyer and soldier who rose to become a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a Democrat in both the United States ...

crossed the Potomac River and destroyed railroad property in Chambersburg en route to the Battle of Gettysburg, but noted McClure's hospitality. Days before the battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Albert Jenkins was a guest at McClure's house. McClure personally met with

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

during the second occupancy of Chambersburg by the Confederate army. In 1864, during the Confederacy's third occupation of Chambersburg, when the town was unable to pay ransom demanded by General Jubal Early, Confederates burned McClure's home, ''Norland'' along with much of the rest of the town, The home was rebuilt and sold to Wilson College. The building that housed the Franklin Repository newspaper operations was also destroyed in the blaze. In 1864, McClure moved to Philadelphia, opened a law office and helped Lincoln carry Pennsylvania again in the general election. In 1865, McClure was elected again to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Union Party member. After the war, McClure traveled extensively in the Western United States to recoup personal wealth lost during the war. He became an investor and officer of the Philadelphia-based Montana Gold and Silver Mining Company and was superintendent of one of the company's mills at the Oro Cache vein in the Montana Territory. He also collaborated with former Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin as an incorporator of the McClure-Curtin Oil Company in

Venango County, Pennsylvania Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805. Venango County comprises the Oil City, ...

. He returned to Philadelphia in 1868 after supporting

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

at the Republican National Convention. By the time of Grant's reelection bid, McClure had left the Republican Party and threw his support to

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...

and the Liberal Republican Party. In 1867, McClure published ''Three Thousand Miles Through the Rocky Mountains'' and it became a resource by many interested in traveling in the West. In 1873, McClure was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate for the

. In 1874, he ran for mayor of Philadelphia but lost by only 900 votes. McClure returned to newspaper editing by founding the '' Philadelphia Times'' in 1875. He continued as ''The Philadelphia Times editor until 1901, when he sold the newspaper to

Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'' (now the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press''). Early life and career Ochs was born t ...

. He lost much of his fortune in the stock market but was able to obtain an appointment as prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He also worked to heal sectional divisions between Union and former Confederate forces, including participating at the unveiling of the monument to Confederate General George Pickett at the Hollywood Cemetery in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. In 1886 McClure wrote ''The South: Its Industrial, Financial, and Political Condition'', which included material on race relations in the South. McClure recognized that integration was necessary.

Personal life

McClure married Cora M. Gratz in 1879 after his first wife's apparent death. Together they had at least one son.

Death and legacy

McClure died on June 6, 1909, in

Wallingford, Pennsylvania Wallingford is an unincorporated community in Nether Providence Township, Pennsylvania, Nether Providence Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County in Pennsylvanias. Founded in 1687, it is named for Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Wallin ...

and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. The town of

, and the

in Philadelphia are named in his honor. File:McClure PA Library.jpg, Library in McClure, Pennsylvania File:McClure School Philly.JPG, McClure School Philadelphia

Published works

*''Three Thousand Miles Through the Rocky Mountains''. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1869. *''The Annals of the Civil War''. 1878. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. *
The South: Its Industrial, Financial, and Political Condition
'. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1886. *
Abraham Lincoln and Men of War Times: Some Personal Recollections of War and Politics during the Lincoln Administration
'' Philadelphia, The Times Publishing Company 1892 *
The Life and Services of Andrew G. Curtin
'. Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch, 1895. *
Addresses, Literary, Political, Legal & Miscellaneous, Volume 2
'. Philadelphia: The Times Publishing Company, 1895. *
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories: A Complete Collection of the Funny and Witty Anecdotes That Made Abraham Lincoln Famous as America's Greatest Story Teller
'. Philadelphia: The J.C. Winston Company, 1900. *''The Authentic Life of William McKinley Our Third Martyr President: Together with a Life Sketch of Theodore Roosevelt''. Washington, DC: W.E. Scull, 1901. *
To the Pacific & Mexico
'. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1901. *
Famous American Statesmen & Orators, Past and Present: With Biographical Sketches and Their Famous Orations
'. New York: F.F. Lovell, 1902. *
Our Presidents and How We Make Them
'. New York: Harper, 1902. *
Colonel Alexander K. McClure's Recollections of Half a Century
', The Salem Press Company, 1902. His recollections regarding the Harpers Ferry raid appeared first in a newspaper. *
Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania
'. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1905.

References

Citations Sources *

External links

* ttp://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5159&body=S Pennsylvania State Senate- Alexander Kelly McClure
The Valley of the Shadow - Alexander K. McClure's letters
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McClure, Alexander Kelly 1828 births 1909 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American legislators American abolitionists Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania Liberal Republicans Pennsylvania prothonotaries Pennsylvania Republicans Pennsylvania state senators Pennsylvania Whigs People from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania People from Perry County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War United States Marshals