Today in Wheeling History: November 5--Captain John McLure Jr., who operated the McLure House Hotel in Wheeling, was a pioneering Ohio River steamboat captain, builder of 20 riverboats, Lincoln presidential elector, Civil War Union naval commander, and influential figure in West Virginia statehood movement, passed away (1893).
Captain John McLure Jr. (January 22, 1816 - November 5, 1893) was a pivotal figure in Wheeling's maritime, political, and business history. Born in Zelienople, Butler County, Pennsylvania, he moved to Wheeling at just four months old with his father Andrew, a carpenter. McLure's river career began at age sixteen when he apprenticed as an engine builder from 1833-1835. His maritime journey progressed from engineer to captain by 1840, eventually building and operating between eighteen and twenty steamboats. His political career was equally significant - he served as an at-large presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln on the Virginia Republican ticket in 1860 and played a crucial role in West Virginia's statehood by attending the First Wheeling Convention in May 1861. During the Civil War, he served the Union cause as commodore of the Kanawha River steamers and commanded gunboat convoys on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. After the war, McLure expanded into real estate and in 1873 acquired the McLure House hotel. He married Elizabeth Campbell of Wheeling in 1841, having eight children before her death in 1881. His second marriage was to Eliza Jane Cecil, born in Wheeling in 1833. A dedicated Republican and Episcopal Church member, McLure died in Wheeling at age 77 and was buried in Mount Wood Cemetery.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/3w242fj9), West Virginia Encyclopedia (https://tinyurl.com/3bhbhzf3), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/5e2bz27n), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/bdhhvjca)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave
Captain John McLure Jr. (January 22, 1816 - November 5, 1893) was a pivotal figure in Wheeling's maritime, political, and business history. Born in Zelienople, Butler County, Pennsylvania, he moved to Wheeling at just four months old with his father Andrew, a carpenter. McLure's river career began at age sixteen when he apprenticed as an engine builder from 1833-1835. His maritime journey progressed from engineer to captain by 1840, eventually building and operating between eighteen and twenty steamboats. His political career was equally significant - he served as an at-large presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln on the Virginia Republican ticket in 1860 and played a crucial role in West Virginia's statehood by attending the First Wheeling Convention in May 1861. During the Civil War, he served the Union cause as commodore of the Kanawha River steamers and commanded gunboat convoys on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. After the war, McLure expanded into real estate and in 1873 acquired the McLure House hotel. He married Elizabeth Campbell of Wheeling in 1841, having eight children before her death in 1881. His second marriage was to Eliza Jane Cecil, born in Wheeling in 1833. A dedicated Republican and Episcopal Church member, McLure died in Wheeling at age 77 and was buried in Mount Wood Cemetery.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/3w242fj9), West Virginia Encyclopedia (https://tinyurl.com/3bhbhzf3), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/5e2bz27n), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/bdhhvjca)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave
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