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Judge W.N. McClure, Murfreesboro, Murfreesboro, Ark. Not without justice,
Judge W.N. McClure is conceded to hold a representative position among the
prominent and successful men of Pike County, for he has rendered valuable
service in many different capacities, some of which are referred to in this
present sketch. On November 1, 1842, he was born in Lincoln County, Tenn.,
and was the elder of two children, the result of the union of Thomas W. and
Mary M. (Dickson) McClure, natives of Tennessee. The parents moved to
Arkansas in 1849, settled in Pike County, and there they still reside. The
father is not active in politics, but he and wife are worthy and much
respected members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Judge W.N. McClure
attained his growth in this county, and received a limited English education
in the common country schools. At the age of twenty-four he started out for
himself as a farmer, and this he has continued to follow. He is the owner of
315 acres of land, with seventy ares under cultivation, and this yields on
an average thirty-five bushels of corn, or one-half bale of cotton to the
acre. Judge McClure enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861, as second
sergeant in Company C, Nineteenth Arkansas Regiment, and served in this
until 1864. He was engaged in the battle of Arkansas Post, and was taken
prisoner by Gen. McClearnand. After being retained for three months, he was
exchanged and wa consolidated with the Twenty-fourth Arkansas, in which
regiment he continued until after the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary
Ridge> He was then united with the Eighth Arkansas, and was in the battle of
Resaca, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Ga.,
Jonesboro, and was also in numerous skirmishes. He was twice slightly
wounded, and after the war he returned home, where he engaged in his former
occupation. He has been twice married; first, on July 12, 1866, to Miss E.J.
Hale, a native of Tennessee, though principally reared in Arkansas, and the
daughter of William C. and Lucy A. (Parker) Hale, who resided for some time
in Tennessee, but finally moved to Arkansas. To Mr. and Mrs. McClure were
born six sons, all of whom are living: Thomas W., James R., John W., Henry
B., Robert O. and Philip L. Thomas W. was married in December 1886 to Miss
Nancy A. Crawford, a native of North Carolina. James R. at present attending
the Nazareth University at Corinth, Ark. John W. is attending school at
Murfreesboro. Mrs. McClure died on January 28, 1877, and in September 1881,
Judge McClure too for his second wife Miss Mary E. Strawn, a native of Pike
County, Ark., and the daughter of Thomas J. and Sarah A. (White) Strawn. To
this union were born two children: Samuel W. (who died in 1887) and Randell
D. In politics Judge McClure is a Republican, and takes a deep interest in
political affairs. He was appointed justice of the peace in 1867, served
four years, and was then elected to the same position and served four years
more. He was then elected to the assessor's office, served two years, and in
1880 was elected sheriff of Pike County, which position he filled in a
creditable and satisfactory manner for six years. While serving in that
capacity he made quite a number of arrest, among the most important of which
was the arrest of C.W. Wynn in 1883, who was wanted in Texas for murder. He
also made the arrest of one McDaniel, who was wanted in Louisiana for the
same offense. While filling this position he had some noted criminals in his
jail, which was twice burned during his administration, and two men
(criminals) lost their lives in the conflagration. In 1888 Mr. McClure was
elected county judge, and this position he holds at the present time. He is
a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined Pike Lodge No. 91 in 1881,
and is at present junior warden. He also belongs to the Laborer's Union. He
and wife are members of the Hope Hill Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a
liberal supporter of all laudable public enterprises, and is held in high
esteem by all who know him.
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Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas, 1890, Pike County,
pages 332-333.
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