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From the Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- pages 565-566
JOHN McCLAIN is a well-known farmer in the town of Paris, Grant county, who has lived a long and useful life, devoted to honest industry and manly purposes, and is still alert and vigorous.
Mr. McCLAIN was born in Warren county, Tenn., Sept. 15, 1827, and is a son of Matthew and Mary (HOLLAND) McCLAIN. The father was born in South Carolina in 1797, and the mother came from North Carolina. They were married in Tennessee, and lived in that State until 1830, the time of her death, when father and son journeyed westward to Jefferson county, Ill., where they found a home for some two years, and in June, 1843, came into Wisconsin to work in the lead mines near Potosi.
In the spring of 1850 John McCLAIN crossed the Plains to seek a fortune in the gold fields of California. Four months were required to make the journey. The Indians were numerous and dangerous, and the little company in which he traveled had many close calls for their lives. John McCLAIN met with remarkable success in mining, and in three months took thirteen thousand dollars from his claim. With this he returned to Wisconsin and purchased from Nelson DOWEY a tract of wild land near Potosi, on which he made extensive improvements, clearing it up, and making a fine farm, on which he lived for some years. In 1852 he married Miss Annie RUPP, the daughter of John and Margaret (HOUFF) RUPP, both born in the Rhine country, Germany. Mr. RUPP and his family came to Pennsylvania in 1836, where he worked as a mason until 1842, when he came West to Wisconsin. Mrs. RUPP died in Pennsylvania a short time before the removal of the family to the West. Mr. RUPP died at Potosi. Mrs. McCLAIN was born in Germany in 1834, and spent the latter part of her girlhood in Wisconsin.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McCLAIN went to Kansas in 1857, with the intention of making a permanent home in that State. After a thorough inspection they were satisfied Grant county offered more attractions for a farming career, and they came back to Wisconsin. Mr. McCLAIN purchased an extensive tract of wild land in Grant county, to which he has added from time to time until he now owns a choice farm of five hundred acres, over half of which is under cultivation. In 1868 he put up fine and substantial farm buildings, and from time to time has improved and beautified his residence until this has become one of the more desirable country homes in Southwestern Wisconsin. For many years, in addition to this ordinary farming, he has carried on extensive operations in raising stock. Mr. and Mrs. John McCLAIN have had a family of twelve children: (1) John, born in Grant county in 1853, married Miss Grace THURTELL, and lives on his farm and cattle ranch in South Dakota. They have five children: John, Grace, Bertha, Glenn and Henry. (2) George, born in Grant county in 1855, married Miss Laura SHADRICK, and is a farmer in the town of Paris. They have three sons: Charles, Arthur, and Willard. (3) Mary, born in 1857, is the wife of David WILSON, and lives in the town of Paris. They have three children: George, John and Alice. (4) Margaret, born in 1859, married S. S. VANNATTA, who is a farmer in the town of Harrison. They have four children: Albert, Maggie, Hattie, and Lillian. (5) Albert, born in 1861, married Miss Alice RICHARDS, of British Hollow, and lives in South Dakota, where he does an extensive business as a horse dealer, buying for the eastern markets. They have two children, Bessie and Mabel. (6) Charles, born in April, 1864, died in 1879, in the flower of his early manhood. (7) Laura, born in May 1866, is the wife of Antone RUPP, a resident farmer in the town of Harrison. They have three children: George, Archie, and Florence. (8) Edward, born July 8, 1868, had a good education in the high school at Valparaiso, was for some eight or ten years a miner in Colorado, and now lives at Deadwood, S. Dak. (9) Henry, born at the present family home in September, 1870, went to the Alaska gold fields in 1895, making three journeys to that region, and met with a rich reward for all his privations and perils. The young man returned in 1899, and is now a resident of his father's home. (10) Thomas, born in 1872, died when fifteen years of age. (11) Annie, born in July, 1875, is now the wife of George WOODROME, of Jefferson county, Ill., and the mother of one son, George H. (12) Archie, born in April 1882, was a student in the Normal, preparing at Platteville for a teacher's career, and is now at home.
Mr. McCLAIN was formerly a Whig, but later supported the Democratic party. In 1896 he voted the Republican ticket, and is now strongly in favor of territorial expansion. For forty-one years without a break he has held the office of school district treasurer in the town of Paris, and has never been requested to give bonds. He started in life without a dollar, and by his own industry and thrift has come to be one of the most prosperous and extensive farmers and stock dealers of this part of the State. The confidence and esteem of the community are extended to him without measure, and his reputation for honesty and integrity is not questioned.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck