McClure Name Study

Date: 3 Apr 2023 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: McClure MacClure

Category Page and Index of Profiles - Click here.

Contents 1 Goals 2 How to Join 3 Origins of the Name 3.1 Surname Variants 4 How You Can Help 5 McClure Immigrants from Europe 5.1 Links to Family Groups 5.2 Free space page for documenting research progress 6 List of Project Members 7 Links to McClure Family Research 8 Research Notes

Goals

This is a One Name Study to collect information about the surname McClure and it's variants. The hope is that the study will become a valuable reference point for people tracking McClure family lines and trying to break down brick walls. See the list of surname variants.

How to Join

Please post an introduction in the comments below and add your Wiki Id on the List of Project Members. When you join as a project member, feel free to add the project member sticker to your profile as follows: {{Member|ONS|name=McClure}}. The sticker will display as

If you have any questions, contact the Study Coordinator: Katherine Wood for assistance. Thanks!

Origins of the Name

The following information regarding the origins of the McClure name was taken directly from "The McClure Family" by James Alexander McClure.

"THE ORIGIN of the name McClure has been frequently discussed in the genealogical literature of Great Britain. The following theories have been advanced:

1. The name (variously spelt McClure, McCluer, McClewer, Madure, McLewer, McLure, and McLuir), comes from the Gaelic word MacLobhair, pronounced MacLour, and means "son of the leper.''

2. That it comes from the Gkielic MacGioUa-odhar (which in the genitive is uidhar and pronounced ure), contracted to Macllure and hence McLure or McClure, and means "son of the pale one." This theory is advocated by Rev. Edmund McGlure, M. A., London Secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.

3. That it is a derivation of the Gaelic MacLeabhaLr, (pronounced MacLour) and means "of the book," they were the teachers in the Clan McLeod, just as the Mc- McBimmons (or McCrimmons) were the dan pii>eis. They were MacLeabhair McLeods, McLeabhair (McLour, McLure, McClure), eventually becoming the sir-name. Several Gaelic scholars deny this derivation of the name, tho' admitting the very ancient tradition of the McGlure tutorship in the Clan McLeod.

4. That the name is identical with MacLir (or MacLur) the seagod of Ireland and the Isle of Man. This theory is advanced in an article published in the Dublin University Magazine on the late Sir Bobert McClure, the navigator.

5. The McClures were originally a Manx family, the first legendary king of the Island being a Manannan McClure, is the tradition inherited by the McClures of Manchester, England, to which family belong the late Sir John W. McClure, M. P., and the Very Rev. Edward C. McClure, D. D., Dean of Manchester. Held also by Sir Edward Stanley MoOuTe.

6. That the name means "great bruiser. An ancient king of Scotland was attacked by highwaymen. One of his attendants so distinguished himself by his prowess that he was called MacClure; "Mac" signifying "great" as well as "son of." A blow from the fist is still known in Scotland as a dure.

7. That it originated in the ancient sport of Falconry, in which the lure was used to recall the falcon. The crest of this family of McLures is a hand in armour holding a falconer's lure.

8. A soldier from the ancient town of Lure in Normandy crossed over with William the Conquerer. He was rewarded for his service by a grant of land in the Island of Skye and was known as DeLure, Mac being later substituted for De, to harmonize with the Gaelic custom.

9. The theory advocated by Rev. J. Campbell McOure, Minister of Marykirk, Kincardinshire, Scotland, is that the McClures are a sept of the Clan McLeod. In addition to extant records in Galloway of the McClure family, showing it to be of McLeod origin, Mr. McGlure states that the family tradition handed down to him through a long line of long-lived ancestors is, "In early times a sept of the MacLeods left the Island of Skye for Ulster, where the northem Irish slurred the 'd' of MacLuide (as it was then pronounced) into 'r,' hence, MacLure. Later many of the name passed over from the northeast of Ireland to Galloway, thus to Wigtonshire and so on to Ayrshire. These districts to day contain many McClures."

It is certain that McClures are in some way connected with the Clan McLeod, evidenced by the fact that the oldest traditions of the family in Scotland take them back to the Isle of Skye; the traditions of Skye link together the McClures and the McLeods; McClures have always had the same motto, crest and tartan as the McLeods, and their right to them has never been called in question."

Surname Variants

• MacCLure
• MacLure
• MacCloor
• McLeur
• McCloor
• McClewer

How You Can Help

1. Add the Category to Profiles

As a project member, please add the McClure Name Study category to each profile which is a McClure or any of the variants of McClure by adding the following to those profiles: [[Category:McClure Name Study]]

Do not place the category on the spouse of a McClure, but do place it on the children of McClures who are born with that name or any of its variants.

Also place the category for where the person is born as follows: [[Category:State, McClure Name Study]] See the list of place sub-categories below. If you need help adding a place category, contact the profile manager.

The One Name Study template is reserved for profiles of the Emigrant Settlers who came from Europe to the New World as described in #2.

2. European Emigrant Ancestors

Please add the template for the McClure One Name Study to profiles for each emigrant/settler arriving in the New World from Europe, above the Biography heading as follows: {{One Name Study|name=McClure}}.

Their name should also be added to the Subsection "Emigrant/Settler Ancestors" with their dates and places of birth and death. A family group will then be created. Please send the profile manager a message requesting that a family group be created. Then the family group sub-category can be added to each descendant of the Emigrant.

3. African-American / Black McClure Profiles

Document and connect African-American / Black McClure families in the United States using US Black Heritage Project standards.

4. Improve Profiles

Improve McClure profiles by fleshing out their biographies and adding sources with online links when possible.

5. McClure Cemeteries

Add McClure cemeteries to the sub-category on the Category:McClure page.

6. Cemeteries on McClure Profiles

Add a category to all McClure profiles for the cemeteries that they are buried in. These will then be listed in the Cemetery Project for further linking.

7. Online McClure History

Create a list of links to online research articles regarding McClure history and genealogy to enhance our knowledge and ability to make connections.

8. McClure DNA

Discover and document any DNA relationships in and between McClure families.

9. McClure Adoptions

Document and connect any adoptions in the McClure families.

Please contact the project leader if you'd like any assistance setting up new linked pages, etcetera!

McClure Immigrants from Europe

Links to Family Groups

McClure Family Groups

1. FG1 - Hugh McClure - Born 1769 in Ireland; died 26 Mar 1828 in Clarksville, Montgomery, Tennessee.

Free space page for documenting research progress

McClure U.S. Settlers in the 18th Century

List of Project Members

If you want to become a project member, please click on "edit" above and post your name here with the pound sign in front of it, then click "save changes". Add the tag mcclure_name_study to your tags in order to follow discussion in G2G regarding this study. You may add the following sticker to your profile page below the biography heading: {{Member|ONS|name=McClure}}

As a project member, you may edit and add information to this free space page. In order to encourage collaboration, please list any tasks you will be working on after your name.

1. Katherine Wood - I'll be working on creating pages for Family Groups that descend from an Immigrant/Settler.

Links to McClure Family Research

Online books/documents

• "The McClure Family" by James Alexander McClure, Presses of Frank A. Owen, Petersburg, VA, 1914. https://archive.org/stream/mcclurefamily00mcclgoog/mcclurefamily00mcclgoog_djvu.txt
• "Following McCluer Ancestors" by Leon McCluer.
• "The McClure Story" by Jerry Duane Duncan.

Websites

• FTDNA McClure DNA Project - Y-DNA Classic Chart https://www.familytreedna.com/public/mcclure?iframe=yresults
• "The Associated Clan MacLeod Societies: MacLeod Septs" https://web.archive.org/web/20090828165351/http://www.clanmacleod.org/about-macleods/macleod-septs.html
• https://staff.washington.edu/jhannah/HannahBook/Ch12%20McClureFamily.pdf

Research Notes

Feel free to use the Research Notes space for information that you or others might want to explore further. Then delete the information after it is incorporated into profiles or free space pages.

* Probate: "Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900"
Will Books, 1745-1871; Index to Wills, 1745-1903; Author: Virginia. County Court (Augusta County); Probate Place: Augusta, Virginia
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62347 #1639409 (accessed 15 May 2023)
James McClure probate on 3 Sep 1756 in Augusta, Virginia, USA. Will of James McClure dated 23 Sep 1756, Residence South Carolina Probate 18 Aug 1761 in Augusta, Virginia

• Agnes - Wife
• James McClure - Son
• Samuel McClure- Son
• John McClure - Son (eldest)
• Andrew McClure - Son
• Elenar McClure -Daughter
• Esther McClure - Daughter
• Jean McClure - Daughter
• William McClure - Executor (died before probate)

1761 - James, Andrew & Hugh McClure bound to make inventory

• Probate: "Pennsylvania, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993"
  Wills, 1750-1908, and Administrator's Books, 1750-1906; Author: Cumberland County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Cumberland, Pennsylvania
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8802 #1656985 (accessed 20 May 2023)
  Robert McClure probate on 20 Sep 1792 in Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1656985:8802?tid=171127696&pid=282482366389&queryId=7fc9215e7194d28dec09d7f7a41b9b4d&_phsrc=ea51194984&_phstart=successSource

Will of William McClure, dated Sep 20 1792, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Probate - Oct 16 1792, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

• William - eldest son
• Sarah - d-in-law, widow of son Alexander
• Robert - son
• William McClure - brother, of Lack Township, Miffin County
• Jane - daughter
• Margaret - daughter
• Agnes - daughter (presumed)
• Mary - daughter (presumed)
• Elisabeth - youngest daughter
• James Laird - son-in-law