Joseph T. McCluer

Joseph T. McCluer was a dedicated farmer in Ryan Township, known for his impressive work ethic and commitment to his family. Arriving in 1878 with only seventy-five cents, he transformed raw land into a productive farm. He served in the Civil War, achieving the rank of Sergeant in the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and participated in numerous battles. After his service, he continued farming, raising livestock and crops successfully. He married Margaret Obarr, and together they had six children, leaving behind a legacy of hard work and community involvement.

JOSEPH T. McCLUER is the owner and occupant of an excellent farm in Ryan Township, and is one of the best farmers in all the section roundabout. His industry has been unremitting, his energy unfailing, and all who know him rejoice in the success which is crowning his efforts to secure a competence. He came to this locality in the spring of 1878, pre-empted a tract of raw land, and with but seventy-five cents in his pocket, began a struggle which only his love for his family, his self-respect, and his conscientious determination to do his best in the battle of life, made endurable. He was not able to bring his family here until late in the fall, after his own arrival, but he is now comfortably situated, with stock and all necessary farm tools and appliances, and freed from all but a slight encumbrance upon his property.

The father of our subject was born in Rockbridge County, Va., near the Natural Bridge. He was christened Samuel, and adopted the occupation of a farmer. He was married in Ohio in 1832, to Miss Hannah Sharp, who died in 1849, after having borne eleven children, five of whom are living. After the death of his wife Samuel McCluer removed to Illinois, settling in Peoria County, where he died August 16, 1859.

The subject of this sketch was the eighth in order of birth in the parental family, and first opened his eyes to the light in Adams County, Ohio, January 29, 1841. He received a common-school education, partly in his native State and partly in Illinois, and at the early age of thirteen began life for himself. He worked in the coal mines in Peoria and Fulton Counties, Ill., until his twenty-first year, when the breaking out of the Civil War aroused all the patriotic fervor and loyal devotion of his young heart, and he determined to devote the opening years of his manhood to his country’s cause.

Enlisting in Company C, Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, August 18, 1861, young McCluer was sent with his comrades to St. Louis to acquire his first instruction in army discipline and tactics in the barracks there. Thence they went to Otterville, Mo., thence to Island No. 10, to Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Iuka, thence back to Corinth, on to Vicksburg, next entering the Red River expedition under Gen. Banks, and subsequently going to Mobile, Ala. Mr. McCluer participated in all these battles except that of Pittsburg Landing, where his command arrived the day after the contest. He also took part in the battle of Nashville under Gen. Thomas. At Corinth he was struck on the left arm by a minie ball, but was not disabled, and at Pleasant Hill, on the Red River, he had a very narrow escape from death, being knocked down by a ball which grazed the back of his neck. He enlisted as a private, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. At the expiration of his term of enlistment, when at Black River Bridge, Miss., he re-enlisted and served until February 22, 1865.

The short list of heavy engagements in which Mr. McCluer took part makes up a very small portion indeed of his army record, but all who are familiar with the history of the “irrepressible conflict,” can readily fill in the details of experience spreading over a period of nearly four years. Especially can those who have witnessed the life in camp, who know the drill which is necessary in preparing for active campaigns, and the watchfulness and care that are ever required, appreciate the service rendered by those gallant men who, like our subject, were conscientious, brave and painstaking in every detail of a soldier’s life.

When mustered out of the service Mr. McCluer returned to Peoria County, Ill., spending the summers in farming and the winters in working in the mines for a few years. The farm which he pre-empted in this county comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land, all improved and one hundred and ten acres under the plow. He has put on all the improvements, raises all the stock the farm will support, and now has thirty head of cattle, thirty of hogs and six horses. During the season of 1889 he raised thirty-five hundred bushels of corn on eighty-four acres, eleven hundred bushels of wheat on eighty acres, and eleven hundred bushels of oats on forty acres. With the grain he has raised and the sale of his soldier’s claim in Garfield Township, he has paid off $1,200 indebtedness, and is now feeling quite comfortable in regard to the claims upon him. The dwelling in which the family resides was built in 1885. The next year he went to Garfield County, where he remained two years, securing his soldier’s homestead.

In Illinois, August 16, 1866, Mr. McCluer was united in marriage with Mrs. Margaret Obarr, née Bradley. She is a daughter of Thomas D. and Mary A. (Jordan) Bradley, natives of Mississippi, who removed to Tennessee, where the father died in 1861. Mrs. Bradley removed to Illinois two years later and settled in Fulton County, whence she came to Kansas in 1881. She is now living with our subject, and has reached the advanced age of seventy-five years. She is the mother of six children, the wife of our subject being the second in order of birth, and her natal day April 2, 1842. Mrs. McCluer was the recipient of a common-school education, is a lady of estimable character, and of many domestic virtues. She has borne her husband six children, five of whom are now living, named respectively: Lucy A., George W., Samuel D., and Oscar and Ernest (twins). The eldest daughter is a member of the Christian Church and Sunday-school, the parents also being active in the Sunday-school work, and members of the Church of Christ at Milan.

Mr. McCluer is a member of the Southern branch of the Farmers’ Alliance. He is Treasurer of School District No. 23, and has been a member of the board since the district was organized. He has served as Road Overseer. He keeps himself posted in political matters, and now votes the Union Labor ticket; he was previously a Greenbacker. It is needless to state that he is highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens, among whom his character is above reproach.