Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-10-30

I Highland Scotch, of martial spirit, an
espoused the desperate cause of the Pre-
tender. He fought in the disastrous BAT
tie of Culloden, and after the overthrow Q
the Prince, emigrated to this country ant
settled near Worcester, Mass. Gen. Sam
uel Mcclellan, like his father, was of
military turn, and Joined the army in tn
French War, and was lieutenant of com
pany. He was occasionally engaged il
service during the war of the Revolution
and was made Brigadier General. ii
married, first, Jemima Chandler of Wood
stock. and by her had four children. Fo
his second wife he married. March 9th
| 1866, Rachel Able Of Windham. and ha'
by her nine children, one of whom wa
Major James, the father of Doctor George
who was the father of Gen. George Brin
ton Mcclellan, the commander of ou
forces on the Potomac. (Brinton is tn
maiden name of Gen. Mcclellan mother,
Joshua Abbe, the father of Rachel, who il
still remembered by some of our aged cit
izens, is represented to have been a man o.
strong natural powers of mind, with grea
bodily vigor, which enabled him to att5iI
the extreme age of ninety-six. He resid
ed at North Windham, where he was al
one time large landed proprietor, and ex.
ercised so much influence in that vicinity
that he was called liking Able" Mary
Ripley the wife of Joshua Able, and moth.
er of Rachel, was the daughter of Joshua
Ripley, Jr., who was the son of Joshua
Ripley, Sen., one of the most respected
and influential settlers of Windham-its
first magistrate and first town clerk. The
wife of Joshua Ripley, Jr., and grandma
ther of Rachel Ab6e, was Mary. daughter
of John Backus, one of the first settlers
and -proprietors of Windham. Joshua
Ripley. Jr., at one time C73D resided at
Willimantic, and was one of the proprie-
tors and agent of the '.Iron Works" erec-
ted on the premises now owned by the Lin
en- Co. The mother of Mary Backus, wife
of this Joshua Ripley, was Mary Bing-
ham, daughter of Deacon Thomas Bing-
ham, ancestor of the Connecticut Bingham
families, an early settler of Windham, and
one of the first deacons of the church.
The mother of Mary Bingham was Mary
Rudd, daughter of Jonathan Rudd, the
common ancestor of the Norwich and Scot
land Rudd families, and the hero of the
bride Brook" marriage described by Miss
Caulkins in her History of New London.
The father of Joshua Able was Ebenezer.
and his mother was Mary, daughter of
Joshua Allen. one of the first settlers of
the Mansfield portion of Windham. The
of Joshua was Samuel Able,
one of the early settlers and proprietors Of
Windham, and his grandmother was Mary
KnowltOn of the Massachusetts, family of
that name-pcrhaps of the same race with
Col. Knowlton of the Revolution, of whom
the late lamented Gen. Lyon was a de-
The wife of Joshua Ripley,
Sen, and great grandmother of Rachel
Able, was Hannah Bradford, daughter Of
Major Bradford, deputy Governor of Ply
mouth Colony. and grand daughter of Gov
ernor Bradford of the MayfOwer. She
was remarkable woman and might very
be called the mother of the town
of Windham. For more than twenty
years from the date of settlement she was
the only physician in the town. She was
the mother of twelve children all of whom
married and had families, and among her
descendants are numbered many distin-
guished men. The mother of Joshua Rip
ley, Sen, was Elizabeth, daughter of Rev.
Peter Hobart, first minister of bingham.
His father was John, and his grandfather,
William Ripley, one of the first settlers of
bingham, and ancestor of the New Eng
land Ripleys. But L need not extend the
list of ancestors, already perhaps too long.
1t will be seen however, by what l have
given that Gen. Mcclellan is descended
from several of our old and prominent
Windham families, and through them from
some of the distinguished Puritan settlers
Of New England.