Moses McClean (June 17, 1804 – September 30, 1870) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Moses McClean was born on his father William McLean's farm in Carroll's Tract ( near

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

). He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1825, and commenced practice in Gettysburg. McClean was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress and supported the declaration of war against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. After his term expired, he resumed the practice of law in Gettysburg. He returned to politics briefly as a conservative member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1855, representing the Know Nothing political movement. He continued the practice of law until his death in Gettysburg in 1870. During the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

in July 1863, his brick home on Baltimore Street was struck by an errant

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

shell, but McClean and his family were unharmed.

References

The Political Graveyard
* ''History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania''. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. 1804 births 1870 deaths Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives People from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Know Nothings Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania) Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub