The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-10-27

paper tnAt lhlb aReu nuu well known
citizen passed from our midst yesler.
day forenoon. He was truly one or
The ancient landmarks OF our comma.
nifty, having been, we may soy, prom.
iuent and influential resident OF Wheel.
Ing for nearly two whole generations.
Mr.. Mcclure was! born In shIppens-
burg, Pa, on the 7th Of July, I77o,
and was consequently In his DIST year
at his death. HIS fathers family came
to Allegheny county, near PIt.sbureh,
In l7s4, Of time when that region was
In The west and this river Of curs was
the frontier OF civilized population.
In 1904 Mr.. MeLure came TO WASH
lngton, Pa, where he lived with Thos.
Acheson andAlliSon Reed, and from that
(then) village came 10 the small town Of
Wheeling In the fall OF 1907 and soon
after embarked In business for himself
as dry goods merchant he brought
goods to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia
BY wagon and thence by keel.b boat to
Wheeling, and al times paid as high as
ten dollars per hundred pounds for
transportation. At that day there were
no steamboats, on the Ohio river, nor
elsewhere throughout the world. The
application OF steam 10 water cratt was
then only being experimental upon by
Robert Fulton In New York harbor.
Mr.. Mcclure built the house In North
Wheeling In which he died, as long ago
AZ 1910, and has lived In, Il ever aimee.
For many years he occupied the 'front.'
rooms a. u store, and al that Time II
was the centre OF business In Wheeling,
albeit 90 Tar removed now from the
hustle and stir Of active life. All teams
crossing the river drove down, by his
door, to the rough flRt.boat ut the land.
Ing and as many as dozen ofthem used
10 stand there al one time waiting upon
the snEils pace OF the old boat az abe
was poled back and forth across the
water.
Mr.. MeLurC was Q successful mer.
chant, for he was q temperate, indus,
trlous, perseverlng and clear.h headed
man, and when the great Cumberland
road [the National pike) began to take
practical shape In Congress he became
not only an influential agent in seCur.
Ing Its terminus on the Ohio river at
this point, bot also contractor, and In
this latter capacity built the causeway
known as Fulton Hill, work Of no
uncomfortable magnitude at that time.
His contemporaries then were such
people as Noah Zane, Moses Shepherd,
Peter Yarnall, Samuel sprlgg, the
Woodses, Beginners, Chspllnes, Alex.
Armstrong. Judge Caldwell, VIM.
Harkins, John Duty and Geo. White.
In all, the population OF Wheeling was
then perhaps hye hundred, and yet II
was the principal point Of business be-
low Pittsburgh for q vast scope Of
thinly settled country In Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Ohio. 1t was In
1916 that Captain Henry N. shreve,
long since gathered 10 his fathers, built
here the hull OF the fourth steamboat
on Western waters-that OF the Wash
ington-the first two decker OF the
Ohio; and 1t was away back In that dim
vista period, that Mr.. M'Lure and q
o number OF others, inaugurated man.
ufactures In our midst by starting the
engine shops now owned by the Swe-
neys. - .....
Mr.. M'Lure, although never poll.
tician, came before the people on sever
al occasions as public character; once
or twice as representative In the VIr~
ginia legislature, and twice, we think,
as Mayor Of the. city. Limited IS was
our voting population In those days
Of Virginia fsudallsm, the elections
were remarkably partisan, and often
exceedingly bitter. We have perhaps
had nothing to compare with them for
many years past.
The Mcclure House, the largest hotel
In our midst, owes Its name 10 the en-
terprise Of the venerable man Just de.
ceased. he was Its largest capitalist,
and when 1t was built there were few
more imposing specimens Of hotel en-
terprise In the West. For o city OF our
size 1t was truly great building, and
II required nerve as we'll as cash to
place 1t where 1t stands to-day. Like
many smother pioneer movement how
ever II failed to reward It's public
spirited prpprlstors, and was an abso.
Lutte peCuniAry misfortune to more than
one Of them-Mr. McLure among the
number. JIM N'iH a.#r
AS long ago as 1878 Mr.. Mcclure mar.
rled Mary Mcclure, IA name not quite
identical with his own, at West Liberty,
In this county; and bis groomsman was
Noah Lindsey, man who len behind
him a name prominently Identified
with The educational Interests OF our
midst. s., -1--rrasHr---r- .- ~.
IN this brief memoir we can not even
allude. to,a great deal that comes up
from the early history OF our city In
connection with the death OF 30 vsner-
able and prominent q citizen as Mr..
McLure. The ninety years OF his life
and the sIxiy-flve years OF his citizen.
ship In this community, embrace pc.
Rod In the history OF mankind the like
OF which the world never saw before
He was older than our nationality.
His four acore years and ten carry us
back to an age In this country al
most harbarous; TO o time when there
was scarce pIked road and not foot
OF canal; to u timewhen Geo. Stephen
sou had never dreamed Of q locomotiye
on rails, and back beyond even the
birth OF Morse and his electric tcle.
graph. Uf-.Irr
Peace and respect TO his memory.
A Good Word for Women.