Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/201

 MACLAY

McLean

quet's marcli to Fort Pitt and engagement at Bushy Run in 1759. He was admitted to the bar in 1760, and was a surveyor of the land on the Susquehanna granted to officers of the army, and acquired a considerable grant. He visited the proprietors in England, and entered the serv- ice of the Penn family as deputy surveyor of Bucks county. He was married in 1769 to Mary, daughter of John Harris, the proprietor of Har- risburg. In 1772, upon the organization of Northumberland county, he was made prothono- tary and clerk of the courts, and assisted in laying out the town of Sunbury, Pa. He was active in raising and equipping troops for the Conti- nental service, participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and served as commis- sary. He was elected a member of the provin- cial assembly in 1781; was Indian commissioner, judge of common pleas, and a member of the executive council. He was elected in Janu- ary, 1789, with Robert Morris, to the U.S. senate, •and in determining his term of service drew the short term ending March 3, 1791. He was a leader of the opposition to the administration of Washington, to the funding of the national debt and to the establishing of a U.S. bank, and w^as prominent in the movement that terminated in the establishment of the Anti-Federal party. At the expiration of his term he retired to his farm at Daupliin, Pa.; was a representative in the state legislature in 1795; a presidential elector for Thomas Jefferson in 1796; county judge, 1801-03, and a representative in the state legisla- ture, 1803-04. He wrote: Sketches of Debate in the First Senate of the United States, 1789-91. His Journal was publislied by Edgar S. Maclay in 1889. He died in Dauphin, Pa., April 16, 1804.

MACLAY, WiHiam, representative, was born in Lurgan township, Franklin county, Pa., March 22, 1765; son of John and Jane (Dickson) Maclay, and grandson of Charles and Eleanor (Query) Maclay and of David and Catherine (Greenlee) Dickson. He was married, Dec. 22, 1789, to Margaret, daughter of Alexander Cul- bertson. He was a member of the Pennsylvania assembly in 1807 and 1808; a representative in the 14th and 15th congresses, 1815-19, and was an associate judge for the district composed of Adams, Cumberland and Franklin counties. He died in Franklin county, Pa., Jan. 4, 1825.

MACLAY, William Brown, representative, was born in New York city, March 20, 1812; son of the Rev. Archibald and Mary (Brown) Maclay. He was graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1836 and became acting professor of the Latin language and literature as substi- tute for Prof. John Proudfit. He was a member of the council of the university, 1838-81, and served as secretary of the board, 1838-56. He was

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married, Aug. 22, 1838, to Antoinette, daughter of Mark Walton of New Orleans, La. He prac- tised law in New York city, 1838-81; was a Democratic member of the state assembly, 1840-42, and as chairman of the committee of schools and colleges he introduced the general act in relation to common schools passed April 11, 1842, which was the found- ation of the public school system of the state. He was also chairman of the lit- erature committee and was instrumental in causing the un published journals ol the provincial con- gress of New York for the season of

1775 and 1776 to be printed. He was a repre- sentative from New York in the 28th, 29th and 30th congresses, 1843-49, where he advocated the annexation of Texas, the admission of Oregon, the claims of the heirs of John Paul Jones and advocated free homesteads on all public lands to actual settlers. He was one of the original trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, and a member of the American Geographical society of New York, and of various social clubs. He died in New York city, Feb. 19, 1882.

MACLAY, William Plunkett, representative, was born in Northumberland county. Pa., Aug. 23, 1774; son of Samuel Maclay (q.v.). He was prothonotary of Mifflin county, 1808-16; filled the unexpired term of Thomas Burnside in the 14th congress and was a representative in the 15th and 16th congresses, 1817-21. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention but declined to sign the constitution as it did not extend the right of suffrage to negroes. He died in Milroy, Mifflin county. Pa., Sept. 2, 1842.

McLEAN, Alney, representative, was born in Burke county, N.C., Sept. 5, 1779. He settled in the practice of law at Greenville, Ky., about 1805; represented Muhlenburg county in the legislature, 1812-13, and commanded a company of Kentucky volunteer riflemen in the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815, where he distinguished himself. He was a representative in the 14th and 16th congresses, 1815-17 and 1819-21. He was appointed by President Monroe U.S. circuit judge for Kentucky in 1821, and held the office until his death. He was a district elector on the Clay ticket in 1824, and from the state at large on the Clay ticket in 1832. He died at Green- ville, Ky.