William McLellan (November 21, 1735 – July 28, 1815) was an American merchant

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

. He was owner and master of the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Centurian'', which was one of the vessels destroyed at the hands of the British during the

Penobscot Expedition The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The flotilla of 19 warships and 25 support vessels sailed from Boston on July 1 ...

in 1779, part of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

."William McLellan Sr., Portland, ca.1800"
– Maine Memory Network (contributed by the

Maine Historical Society The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine. It is located at 489 Congress Street in downtown Portland. The Society currently operates the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, a National Historic Landmark, Longfellow Ga ...

) After the war, McLellan became a prominent merchant in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

Early life

McLellan was born on November 21, 1735, the son of Bryce McLellan, an Irish weaver who emigrated to

Falmouth, Maine Falmouth is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, South Portland&ndas ...

(now

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

), in the early 18th century.

Rescue of Mary Means

In 1756, Native Americans attacked the Means family, who lived at Flying Point, near today's

Freeport, Maine Freeport is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,737 at the 2020 census. Once home to a prominent shipbuilding industry, timber operations, and farming, it is now known for its numerous outlet stores; Freeport ...

. The family consisted of Thomas, his wife Alice, daughters Alice and Jane, an infant son, Robert, and Molly (Mary) Finney, sister of the patriarch and aged about sixteen. The family was dragged out of their home. Thomas was shot and scalped. Mother and baby ran back into the house and barricaded the door. One of the attackers shot through a hole in the wall, killing the infant and puncturing his mother's breast. John Martin, who had been sleeping in another room, fired at them, causing them to flee. They took with them Molly, whom they made follow them through the woods to Canada. Upon her arrival in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, she was sold as a slave. A few months later, McLellan was in Quebec in charge of a group of prisoners for exchange. He had known Molly before her capture and secretly arranged for her escape. He came below her window and threw her a rope which she slid down. McLellan brought her back to Falmouth on his vessel. They married shortly afterwards, but Molly died in 1764 at the age of 23 or 24.''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchinson Rowe (1937) Another source states that McLellan knew, at the time of her kidnap, that Mary would be taken to Quebec and tracked her down when he arrived there.''

Down East Magazine ''Down East: The Magazine of Maine'' is the principal general interest monthly magazine covering the U.S. state of Maine.Ulrich's Periodical Directory It is based in Rockport, Maine with a second office in Yarmouth, Maine. ''Down East'' was founded ...

'', August 1980, p. 34

Haiti massacre

In 1791, McLellan and Asa Clapp were witnesses to the massacre of the white population of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

at the outset of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...

Personal life

McLellan married four times: firstly to Mary Means, then Mary Phinney, Jane Jameson and Betty Dilworth. One of McLellan's sons, William Jr. (1776–1844), was also a sea captain. One of his vessels was the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

HMS ''Boxer'' during its time in mercantile service.Maine Historical Society (1890-1899), 176-7 His other children included Harriet and George. Each of his three known children were borne by his third wife.

Death

McLellan died on July 28, 1815, aged 79. He is interred in Portland's

Eastern Cemetery Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site, and has more than 4,000 marked ...

, as are each of his wives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLellan, William People from Portland, Maine 1735 births 1815 deaths Sea captains Burials at Eastern Cemetery