By John Mallo

A Civil War Soldier

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 John McClay

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY GRANT John McClay in his Civil War uniform.

John McClay, son of James and Mary Jane, married Mary “Jane” Gamble on Dec. 31, 1860, in Eden Prairie. Jane was born in 1841 in Ireland and was the daughter of James and Sarah Gamble of Eden Prairie. John and Jane had two children born in Eden Prairie: James Samuel McClay on July 25, 1862, and John William McClay born Feb. 1, 1864. With one tiny son James and another child John on the way, John McClay volunteered for the Civil War and received a $300 bounty for enlisting. His brother Samuel McClay was already a second lieutenant in the service.

After the Battle of Gettysburg the Minnesota 1st Regiment received a special unit “thank you” at the

U.S. Capitol and the whole regiment was sent back to Minnesota to muster out, arriving Feb. 15, 1864. The 1st Minnesota then reestablished at Fort Snelling with volunteers from the original 1st Regiment and new recruits. John McClay became part of that regiment.

He was mustered into service at the age of 24 and became a private in Company I. On May 5, 1864, John and the other recruits were transferred to the newly formed First Battalion to serve out their three-year terms. There were slightly more than 150 who signed up with the Minnesota 1st however, there were not enough volunteers to form a Regiment so they mustered out of the Minnesota 1st and the 1st Battalion was created.

Here John served in Company B. In May 1864, the 1st Battalion went back to the east coast to fight along with Gen. Grant’s troops. They also fought a number of secondary actions (skirmishes) near Petersburg, Va., and one of those was at Deep Bottom, Va. During the battle John was seen to fall mortally wounded in the abdomen in the first charge in Deep Bottom on Aug. 14, 1864. Men who saw him fall wounded were told that he had been placed on a boat for removal to a hospital in Washington, D.C. It is believed he died on the transport boat and was probably buried on the shores of the Potomac, or thrown overboard.

By December 1864 the 150-plus soldiers of the 1st Minnesota Battalion were now only 30 men. The others had been killed, wounded or died from sickness. There is a Civil War memorial at the Pioneers Cemetery on 104th and Lyndale in Bloomington, which bears the names of John McClay and other Civil War veterans and states John McClay “died in the service.” John William McClay

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SUBMITTED PHOTO John William McClay and his wife Anne Curle McClay

John McClay was reported wounded or killed in the Civil War. The family was never told what happened. It was reported Andrew Glenn wanted to marry Mary Jane McClay, but she always hoped that her husband would return. Andrew promised her if she married him and John returned he would give her up.

On Aug. 6, 1969, Andrew Glenn married Mary Jane McClay. They had one child, Ellen, who married William Nesbitt. The 1870 U.S. Census finds Jane Mooney McClay, John McClay’s mother and Mary McClay Glenn, John’s wife, and James Samuel McClay, 8, and John William McClay, 5, all living with Andrew Glenn. They were all living on John McClay’s farm.

Glenn Home

A photo taken summer 1893, shows Mary Jane Gamble McClay Glenn and Andrew Glenn, their daughters Ellen Jane Glenn and Nelli (believed to be a niece) with John William McClay and James Samuel McClay, sons of Jane and John McClay. This land and home were later passed on to James McClay son of John and Mary Jane; James lived in the house and owned the property through 1913.

Mary Jane Mooney McClay, mother of John McClay, died Feb. 4, 1873, and is buried in Bloomington Cemetery. Her son Lt. Samuel McClay is buried next to her. Mary Jane Gamble McClay Glenn died June 4, 1925 and is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Eden Prairie.

John William McClay, son of John and Mary Jane, married Anne L. Curle; they made their home in Eden Prairie, raising four children Daisy Pearl, Gladys E., Myrtle I., and Everett Raymond all born in Eden Prairie.

John William McClay died in Dec. 12, 1904, and is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Eden Prairie with his wife Anne, who died Feb. 15, 1951.

A World War I Soldier

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Everett McClay

SUBMITTED PHOTO Everett Raymond McClay

Everett Raymond McClay, son of John William and Anne McClay, grandson of John McClay who was killed in the Civil War, married Elsie Ringle from Eau Claire, Wis. They moved to Minneapolis where Everett worked as a mechanic. On April 27, 1918, Everett, 21, enlisted in the Army.

He trained at Camp Dodge, Camp Trairs and Camp Mills. Records show he was tall, slender, blue eyes and brown hair. He was sent to Europe and served in Company E, 357th Infantry.

Everett became part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was the greatest American battle of the First World War. In six weeks the American Forces lost 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded. It was a complex operation involving a majority of the American ground forces fighting through rough, hilly terrain the German Army had spent four years fortifying. Its objective was the capture of the railroad hub at Sedan, which would break the rail net supporting the German Army in France and Flanders and force the enemy’s withdrawal from the occupied territories.

On Nov. 4, 1918, Everett McClay was killed in the battles of Meuse-Argonne, an area of eastern France just west of Luxembourg. He was buried in the Argonne American Cemetery at Romage, Mease, France. Everett McClay’s remains were later returned to this country and were interred in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Eden Prairie.

After Everett entered the service, his wife Anne moved back home to Eau Claire and lived with her parents. There, less than one month after Everett was killed, Anne gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth “Betty” McClay. Betty was born Dec. 3, 1918. Anne later married Albert Evenson and together raised Betty in Eau Claire.

Betty, Wilton and girls

Betty McClay Burr and Wilton Burr with their daughters. In 1940, Betty married Wilton Burr. They had two children, Barbara Jean and Kathleen. Betty died in 1996 in Eau Claire and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Altoona, Wis. Barbara Jean married LaVerne Larson she died in 2005 leaving two daughters. Wilton and Kathleen still live in Eau Claire.

John Mallo of Eden Prairie is chair of the Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial Commission.