in 1852. After spending one year on the mission in New York as assistant to his brother John, he was appointed to a chair at St. Mary's college, and became professor of moral theology and sacred scripture in 1857. In December, 1859, Pope Pius IX. made him the first president of the American college in Rome, which had just been founded by that pontiff. Here he presided with great success for several years, until he was appointed to the see of Louisville, Ky., in 1868. He has given much attention to the advancement of education in his diocese, and has been instrumental in establishing various convents and parochial schools.
McCLUNEY, William J., naval officer, b. about
1796 : d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 11 Feb., 1864. He was
appointed midshipman in the U. S. navy, 1 .Jan.,
1812, and was in the action between the " Wasp "
and the " Frolic " on 18 Oct. of that year. He was
commissioned lieutenant, 1 April, 1818, command-
er, 9 Dec, 1839, and captain, VS Oct., 1851, and
placed on the retired list, 21 Dec, 1861. He took
part in the Mexican war, and in 1853 was ordered
to command the " Powhatan," of Com. Perry's Ja-
pan expedition. He returned to the United States
in February, 1856, and after a brief respite was or-
dered to New York on duty as general supervisor
of the construction of the Stevens battery. In
1858 he was placed in command of the Atlantic
squadron, which office he held until May, 1860.
He was commissioned commodore, 16 July, 1862.
McCLUNG, John Alexander, clergyman, b. in
Washington, Mason co., Ky., 25 Sept.. 1804 ; d. in
Niagara river, 7 Aug., 1859. He was a son of
Judge William McClung, and a nephew of Chief-
Justice Marshall. In 1823 he entered Prince-
ton theological seminary, where he remained be-
tween one and two years. He was licensed to
preach in 1828, but he abandoned the pulpit, stud-
ied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1835, prac-
tising until 1849. He was again licensed to preach
in 1851, and was pastor of a Presbyterian church in
Indianapolis in 1851-7, and then of one in Mays-
ville, Ky., until his death by drowning. During his
career at the bar he frequently contributed to the
press, and wrote "Sketches of Western Adventures "
(Philadelphia, 1832). See " Additional Sketches of
Adventure, Compiled by the Publishers, and a Bi-
ography of McClung, by Henry Waller " (Coving-
ton, Ky., 1872). — His brother, Alexander K., law-
yer, b. in Mason county, Ky., about 1812 : d. in
Jackson, Miss., 23 March, 1855, enlisted in the
navy as midshipman, 1 April, 1828, but resigned, 29
Aug., 1829. He then studied law, was admitted to
the bar, and practised in Mississippi. He subse-
quently served as a volunteer in the army during
the Mexican war, attaining the rank of lieutenant-
colonel, and being dangerously wounded at Monte-
rey. He was appointed charge d'affaires in Bolivia
by President Taylor, but resigned about two years
before his death.- Col. McClung left behind him a
brilliant reputation as an orator, but none of his
addresses were published save a eulogy on Henry
Clay, delivered at Jackson, Miss., in 1852.
McCLURE, Alexander Kelly, journalist, b.
in Sherman's Valley, Perry co.. Pa., 9 Jan., 1828.
In the earlier years of his life he divided his time
between his father's farm and the village school,
and at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to
the tanner's trade. In 1846, on the urgent advice
of his friend, the editor of the " Perry Freeman,'"
to whose paper he had contributed, he began the
publication of a Whig journal, the "Sentinel," at
Mifflin, Pa. At the close of the first year he set
up the type, and did the press-work, besides editing
the paper, with the aid of a single apprentice. He
sold the " Sentinel " in 1850, purchased an interest
in the " Chambersburg Repository," became its
editor, and made it one of the most noted anti-
slavery journals in the state. In 1853 he was the
Whig candidate for auditor-general, being the
youngest man ever nominated for a state office in
Pennsylvania. In 1855 he was a member of the
convention that met at Pittsburg, Pa., and organ-
ized the Republican party, and in the following
year was a delegate to the National convention that
nominated Fremont for the presidency. In 1856
he sold the " Repository,", quitted journalism, and
shortly thereafter was admitted to the bar. In
1857-'8 he was chosen to the legislature, and in
1859 to the senate of Pennsylvania, over a Demo-
cratic opponent from a strong Democratic district.
He was a delegate to the National Republican con-
ventions of 1860 and 1864, and in the former played
a conspicuous part in inducing the delegation from
his state to disregard their instructions for Simon
Cameron and vote for Abraham Lincoln. He was
chosen chairman of the Republican state committee,
and organized and led his party in the canvass of
that year. In 1862 he repurchased the " Cham-
bersburg Repository," but in the burning of Cham-
bersburg, in 1864, almost his entire property was
destroyed. In 1868 he settled in Philadelphia,
where he resumed the practice of the law. In 1872
he was chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation
to the National convention that nominated Horace
Greeley for the presidency, was chosen chairman
of the state committee that supported his election,
and was elected as an Independent Republican to
the state senate. In the following year he was an
independent candidate for the mayoralty of Phila-
delphia, and came within nine hundred votes of
being elected. During this year, with Frank Mc-
Laughlin, he established the " Times," a daily
newspaper, and since its foundation he has been
its editor-in-chief. He has opposed machine power
in party management and official incompetency
and dishonesty in Philadelphia.
McCLURE, Alexander Wilson, clergyman, b.
in Boston, Mass., 8 May, 1808 ; d. in Canonsburg,
Pa., 20 Sept., 1865. He was graduated at Andierst
in 1827. and at Andover theological seminary in
1830, and after preaching at Maiden, Mass., two
years, he was ordained there in 1832. He subse-
quently was stationed at St. Augustine, Fla., where
he labored successfully among the soldiers that
were on duty there. In 1846 he returned to Bos-
ton, and soon after began the publication of the
"Christian Observatory," which he edited more
than three years. He also assisted Dr. Parsons
Cooke in conducting the " Puritan Recorder." In
1855 he became secretary of the American and for-
eign Christian union, and labored for some time
abroad. In 1859 he was disabled by illness. Dr.
McClure was a prolific writer for the religious
press, and puV)]ished, among other works, a tract
called the " Life-Boat," which had a wide circula-
tion ; another entitled " Four Lectures on Ultra
Universalism" ; " A Series of Letters upon the Bible
in the Public Schools," written in controversy with
a Roman Catholic priest in Jersey City ; two vol-
umes of the " Lives of the Chief Fathers of New
England,'" in the series published by the Massa-
chusetts Sunday-school society ; and " Translators
Reviewed," giving a biographical sketch of each
translator concerned in King .James's version (New
York, 1853). This has been adopted by the board
of publication of the Reformed Dutch church.
McCLURE, David, clergyman, b. in Newport, R. I., 18 Nov., 1748; d. in East Windsor, Conn., 25 June, 1820. He was graduated at Yale in 1769.
