My Genealogy Hound

JAMES McCLARY, farmer; P. O. Covington; is one of the old residents of Miami Co., having been born Feb. 18, 1821, on a farm about two miles north of Covington, where he has resided almost continuously for more than a half-century. His father, John McClary, was a native of Kentucky; came to Miami Co. as early as 1812; was a soldier in the latter part of the last struggle with the red men here. Married Miss Eliza Brandon; she was a native of South Carolina; her father, Benjamin Brandon, a soldier in the Revolution, emigrated with his family to Miami Co. about 1812, and located near Piqua; Mr. McClary, Sr., located near Covington, soon after his marriage, where he remained until his decease; James remembers going to school, when a small boy, by a path his father had cut through the woods; books being scarce and money scarcer, an alphabet was pasted on a sort of paddle which served for a primer; when a little older, he was often sent to mill; mounted upon the sack of wheat, which was thrown across the back of a trusty horse, he would strike out by the bridle path for the mill, which was on the Miami, near Piqua; he usually went to the mill and got his grist the first day, returning as far as Grandpa Brandon’s, where he would stay all night, have a good time with the children, and return home with his flour the next day; such were some of the disadvantages experienced by the youth of those days; as he grew older, there was, of course, gradual improvement and increased facilities. In 1842, he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy, daughter of George Buchanan, who was among the first settlers of Newberry Township; after his marriage, he built a house on a small tract, a part of the old homestead which his father had given him; a few years later, his parents having died, he sold out and went to Piqua, where he resided about eighteen months, in the meantime purchasing several shares in his father’s estate; then returned to the old homestead, bought out the other heirs, becoming the owner of the farm upon which he was born, where his youth and early manhood were spent; his son, George D., lives on and cultivates it, Mr. McClary having removed to his residence in the north part of Covington about six years ago; Mr. McClary has grown with the county, and his associations and history are inseparably interwoven with the history of Newberry Township; he has served it as Assessor, and is now one of the Board of Trustees; he has a family of three children living, and one dead.