My Genealogy Hound

D. F. McClay, one of Brashear’s most substantial citizens, was born in Woodstock, Vt., in 1824, and is a grandson of William McClay, who was born in the parish of Tleppen, county of Sterling, Scotland, in 1743, and who, when about twenty-seven years old, immigrated to America, settling at Charleston, N. H. Here he married Mary Farnsworth, and located at Woodstock, Vt., about 1780. From a copy of a Woodstock paper published after his death, we learn that he was a good, honest, old-fashioned Scotchman, and a thrifty farmer, kept fine stocks, raised good crops, and accumulated considerable land and money. He died September 22, 1829. His family consisted of three sons and five daughters. One of the latter married a Scotchman named John Fisher, who was a schoolmate of Robert Burns. Stephen, the father of our immediate subject, a prosperous farmer, of sterling integrity and strict morality, was born at Woodstock in 1784, married Margaret Hill, and died at the above mentioned place in 1838, his widow following him some years later. D. F. McClay was the third son, having three brothers and five sisters, all of whom lived to maturity. Until of age he spent his life at the place of his birth, and then immigrated to DuPage County, Ill., where he remained about three years, then moved to Will County, Ill., and while there was united in marriage to J. M. Rowe. He spent a portion of the year of 1853 in California, and in 1856 located near the present site of Brashear, Adair County, Mo., where he devoted his time to farming until 1883, when he moved to the village, and has since been engaged in looking after his investments in land, as he owns nearly 2,000 acres. His wife is a native of Vermont, and they have two sons and one daughter.