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SAMUEL DURHAM McCLELEN
BIOGRAPHY and GENEALOGY
(1820-1887)
Captain, 58th Regiment, Alabama Infantry
Samuel Durham McClelen of Piedmont (Calhoun County, Alabama) enlisted in Company F, 9th Battalion, Alabama Volunteers and was appointed Captain on Feb. 11, 1862. The 9th Battalion was consolidated with other units into the 58th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, and was mustered into Confederate service March 1, 1862, for the duration of the war.
Capt. McClelen was in command on Sept. 19, 1863, at the Confederate victory at Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. He also is recorded as serving at Dalton, Georgia, on Dec. 8, 1863, following another Confederate victory at the nearby Battle of Ringgold Gap. Captain McClelen (aka McClellan) resigned his post on Jan. 8, 1864, and returned to his family in Piedmont.
Capt. McClelen was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, on Aug. 5, 1820. In 1834, he joined his parents, siblings, and eleven slaves in their move to Calhoun County, Alabama. Their home was located on the eastern shore of what is now known as Logan Martin Lake. In 1839, he married nineteen-year-old Sarah Hill and their son Bailey George was born one year later. When their son was only four years old, Sarah died. In 1846, he married Deborah Price. Their son Elisha Durham McClelen, was born the following year. Elisha served as a private in Company B, 2nd Alabama Cavalry.
Prior to the war, Samuel, as the youngest of eight children of Francis and Samuel McClelen, was a captain in the Alabama Militia. He also served as a justice of the peace, county commissioner, and as Alabama state legislator from 1861 – 1863. He was one of the 46 signers of the Dec. 1, 1861, Alabama Call to Arms. Following the Civil War, he was a sheriff during the difficult Reconstruction times. In 1866, he was the owner of a hotel in Jacksonville, Alabama, part owner of McClelen-Hill Store, and later with Elisha, owned McClelen and Son in Piedmont. He died in Piedmont on Dec. 11, 1887, after a very full and distinguished life.
SOURCE
- Submitted by Elizabeth Gregory St. Jean (Gr-Gr-Granddaughter)
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