William McLean (August 10, 1794 – October 12, 1839) was a lawyer,

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

and

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

. He served three terms in 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 1823 to 1829.

Biography

William McLean was born in

Mason County, Kentucky Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Maysville. The county was created from Bourbon County, Virginia in 1788 and named for George Mason, a Virginia delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention ...

and moved in 1799 with his parents Fergus and Sophia (Blackford) McLean and his older brother

John McLean John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for t ...

(who would become a Congressman from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and a

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

) to a farm in

Warren County, Ohio Warren County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 242,337. Its county seat is Lebanon. The county is one of Ohio’s most affluent, with the county median income th ...

. There he attended the common schools, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1814. He commenced practice in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

and then was a lawyer at

Lebanon, Ohio Lebanon is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,841 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. The first European settler ...

. He removed from Lebanon to

Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington in ...

about 1820 and was the first regular professional lawyer who settled in the village. He was receiver of public moneys and through his efforts a subsidy of 500,000 acres (2000 km²) of

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

was procured for building the Ohio Canal from Cincinnati to

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

Congress

In 1822, William McLean was elected from

Ohio's 3rd congressional district Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2010 census. It is currently represent ...

, which covered nearly all Western

north of Warren County. He took his seat in the Eighteenth Congress. He was reelected to the Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses. In the Twentieth Congress, he served as chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs.

Later career and death

William McLean returned to Cincinnati where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and the practice of law. He was also interested in agricultural pursuits. When his health began to fail, he retired from business and spent several months in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

hoping to derive benefit for his

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

disease by a change of climate. His condition did not improve, and after returning to Cincinnati, he spent some time in revisiting several points in his old Congressional district. William McLean died at his home in Cincinnati and was interred in the Catharine Street Burying Ground. In 1863, he was reinterred in

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham ...

External links

William McLean
at Find A Grave

References

* * The History of Miami County, Ohio, Chicago: W.H. Beers & Co., 1880, 854 pgs. * Reis, Jim. "

Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and their two daughters in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case of 1857, popula ...

jurist had strong ties to N. Kentucky; Pieces of the Past" Cincinnati ''Post'', September 22, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, William 1794 births 1839 deaths People from Lebanon, Ohio Politicians from Cincinnati Ohio lawyers Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Ohio National Republicans 19th-century American politicians Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives People from Mason County, Kentucky 19th-century American lawyers pt:William Mclean