Month: March 2023

Our family history as passed down by word of mouth includes Major General George McClellan, leader of the Union forces against General Lee of the Confederates. Although criticized by President Lincoln for not wiping out Lee’s forces when he had the chance, the General was quite popular, becoming the 24th governor of New Jersey. and later ran against Abraham Lincoln for President. ‘Spoiler alert’… he lost.

[I (George) was not able to find a family connection, but that is not to say there is none. Welcome more research on this.]

A fun sidenote: I visited Arlington Cemetary in Washington, DC and figuring General George was likely buried there, spent an hour researching the possibility. But he was not laid to rest in Arlington (see facts below). But as we walked out of one of the cemetery lanes, I glanced up at a large archway over the road that said: ‘McClellan’.

Here are some of General George facts:

Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan, Jr. (USA)
Also Known As: “Little Mac”
Birthdate: December 03, 1826
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States
Death: October 29, 1885 (58)
City of Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States (heart attack)
Place of Burial: Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States
Immediate Family:
Son of Dr. George McClellan, Sr. and Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz McClellan
Husband of Mary Ellen McClellan
Father of Mary Desprez and Rep. George Brinton McClellan, III
Brother of Frederica Sophia English; Dr. John Hill Brinton McClellan; Walter Livingston McClellan; Mary Phillips McClellan; Maj. Arthur S. McClellan, USA and 1 other
Occupation: General — Ran for President Against Abraham Lincoln

Read more on General George McClellan

In the 1940s, Fred McClellan owned and operated a sawmill on the outskirts of Myrtle Point with his son’s George and Don. Dave Smith’s and George Allen’s fathers worked there for a time as well.

When Ada was nine years old, her oldest sister, Alice, died in childbirth at age 19 after marrying Alton Chaney in the Gold Hill area. Alton soon left to start a new life with his new son, William. The family never heard from them again.