Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Nathaniel Davis McClure

Nathaniel Davis McClure, son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Sellers) McClure, was born on the farm where he now resides, Feb. 15, 1830. He was reared a farmer, receiving a limited education at the subscription schools, but by his own exertions he has acquired a liberal education. He rented land, which he sowed with wheat, and with the proceeds of the crop he was enabled to attend school at Richmond. He then attended a seminary on Green's Fork, and completed his education at the Spiceland Academy. He worked at the carpenter's trade in Richmond two years, and in 1852 began the manufacture of steel plows in Fort Wayne with Adam Reed, under the firm name of Reed & McClure, in which business he continued till 1857, when he was married to Letitia, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Devose, of Decatur, Adams Co., Ind. They have had six children — Mericus R., Nathaniel F. (deceased), Joseph M., John M. A., Emma F. and Sarah I. Soon after his marriage Mr. McClure sold his manufacturing interests and purchased a farm near Springfield, Ind., where he resided two years. He then returned to the homestead and cared for his father till his death, when he purchased the heirs' interest, and has since successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. Mr. McClure is a Republican, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife was reared in the doctrines of the Methodist church. His grandfather, Nathaniel McClure, was born in Virginia, and when nineteen years old married and settled in Kentucky. In 1808 he came to Wayne County, Ind., with his sons Thomas and Nathaniel (our subject's father, then eighteen years of age), and cleared a quarter-section of land, and in the fall of 1809 the remainder of the family moved to Wayne County. Nathaniel McClure, Sr., was one of the founders of the first Presbyterian church in this county, and was an Elder in the church. He followed farming through life; died at the age of eighty-two years. His wife died at the age of eighty-three years. Our subject's father remained with his parents till 1815, when he returned to Kentucky, where he was first married, and the same year returned with his wife to Wayne County and entered a quarter-section of land including the farm now owned by our subject. His wife died at the age of fifty-seven years, and he was again married to Jane Thompson. He had five children by his first wife, all deceased except Sarah A. and our subject. He died at the age of seventy-two years.

Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2