Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904, pp 429-431 [Henderson] WILLIAM POLLITT McCLAIN is a native of Henderson county, Kentucky, and makes his home in the city of Henderson. His father, William McClain, of Scotch ancestry, was an agriculturist, who located in Maryland in colonial days. The first of the name to come to Kentucky sought a home in Henderson county during the pioneer epoch in the history of the state. Here the family acquired extensive real estate holdings and owned large numbers of slaves to cultivate their lands; but when the Civil war liberated the negroes, the owners were left in an impoverished condition. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Virginia McClain, was a daughter of James B. and Elizabeth (Cabell) Pollitt, the former a merchant and one of the most enterprising business men of Henderson. The Cabells were a leading family of Buckingham county, Virginia, and removed from the Old Dominion to central Kentucky. They were also related to the Bolling family of Virginia. Mr. McClain, of this sketch, began his education in the schools of Henderson ad afterward entered the Notre Dame University of South Bend, Indiana, where he was graduated with honor in the class of 1870, receiving the degree of A. B. He then entered the law department of the University of Virginia, and on the completion of the prescribed course was graduated at that institution in 1873. He took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court and engaged in practice there until 1875, when he returned to Henderson, where he has since been actively engaged in the active prosecution of his chosen profession. In 1880 Mr. McClain was elected city attorney and served until 1881 when he resigned to accept the office of county attorney, to which he was called by the vote of the people. For fourteen consecutive years he acted in that capacity, with the approval and unqualified approbation of a constantly increasing constituency. He so upheld the majesty of the law and administered the criminal code that he gained the respect and confidence of the people, as is well indicated by his long retention in office. He has been an active factor in the campaigns of the Democracy and is an ardent and consistent adherent of its principles and a fearless and able advocate of his belief before the people. In 1894 he was urged by his friends to enter the race for Democratic nomination for congress and made a brilliant canvass. He defeated his home opponent, a lawyer of acknowledged ability and experience, but lost the nomination in the convention in a triangular contest. His law practice is large and lucrative, and he has a distinctly valuable clientage [sic]. His practice has been general and he is a forceful and successful advocate and a safe and judicious counselor, equally able in civil or criminal practice. Mr. McClain was married in 1882 to Miss Mary Maury Garland, daughter of Dr. Richard Garland, a native of Virginia and a practitioner of medicine in Henderson. He was reared in the Presbyterian church but with his wife attends the Episcopal church, of which she is a member. Mr. McClain belongs to no societies; he is a man of domestic tastes and finds his greatest pleasure at his own fireside, dispensing the hospitality for which the southern homes are so justly noted. His scholarly attainments and his culture, combined with a courteous, genial manner, make him a favorite with many friends. He is a man of broad scholarship, recognized as a ripe student, not alone in the law but also in general lines of thought and investigation. In personal appearance he is of fine physique, has a musical and harmonious voice and possesses a personal magnetism which on the platform or in the court room attracts his hearers, while his logical arguments and earnest utterances never fail to carry conviction. McClain Cabell Pollitt Bolling Garland = MD Buckingham-VA MO http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/henderson/mcclain.wp.txt