My Genealogy Hound

FRANK R. McLELLAN, a well-known farmer and blacksmith of Cummington, was born in Westbrook, Me., October 8, 1852, son of Samuel E. and Sarah E. (Babb) McLellan. Mr. McLellan’s grandparents, William and Mehitable (Libby) McLellan, were natives of Gorham, Me., the former of whom was a large land-owner and stock-raiser. He also engaged in lumbering, and became a prominent man. William and Mehitable McLellan died at an advanced age. Their children were: Hugh, Ishmael, Martha, William, John, Eunice, Samuel E., Alexander, and Arthur.

Samuel E. McLellan, father of Mr. McLellan, was born in Gorham, Me., and, when a young man, learned the trade of a blacksmith. He located in Westbrook, where he successfully followed his trade for a period of forty years. He owned a residence and other property in the town. He also had a farm; and, as his sons grew up, they were trained to farming as well as to the blacksmith’s trade. He became prominent in public affairs, serving as a member of the Board of Selectmen, and was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Samuel E. McLellan’s first wife, Sarah E. Babb before marriage, was a daughter of John Babb. She died at the age of thirty-three, leaving five children: Daniel, Henry, Frank R., William E., and Charles J. Samuel E. McLellan married for his second wife Rosabel Bacon; and she had one child, named Winfield.

Frank R. McLellan was educated in the schools of Westbrook, and at the age of fifteen commenced to learn the blacksmith’s trade with his father. When twenty-three years of age he came to Cummington; and, after working five years for C. D. Bartlett, he engaged in business for himself, occupying quarters in the Stevens Building, where he remained until burned out. After this he purchased the Cowen barn on Main Street, fitted it up as a shop, and has since carried on the principal blacksmith’s business of the town. Subsequently he bought the Congregational parsonage, where he now resides, and has since remodelled and otherwise improved it. He also owns the Lovell lot, a valuable piece of meadow land in Cummington, and a small farm in Chesterfield, which he uses mostly for pasturage and its hay crop. Mr. McLellan is a Republican in politics, and is highly respected by his townsmen.

On June 30, 1873, he was united in marriage to Ida S. Stevens. She is a daughter of Nathan S. and Sybil (Cowen) Stevens. Mr. and Mrs. McLellan have two children, namely: Arlin S., who was born May 20, 1875, and is now a sailor in the merchant marine service; and Leroy F., born February 23, 1877, who has charge of his father’s farming interests.