Samuel Maclay and Elizabeth Plunket
Husband Samuel Maclay 1 2 3 4
Born: 17 Jun 1741 - Lurgan Twp, Franklin Co, PA 3 4 Christened: Died: 5 Oct 1811 - Buffalo Valley, Northumberland Co, PA 3 5 Buried:
Father: Charles Maclay (1703-1753) 4 6 7 8 Mother: Eleanor Query (1707-1789) 6 7 8
Marriage: 10 Nov 1773 9 10
Wife Elizabeth Plunket 1 2 5 9 11
Born: 1755 - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA 9 Christened: Died: 1823 9 Buried:
Father: Dr. William Plunket (Abt 1720-1791) 9 12 13 Mother: Esther Harris (Abt 1722/1724-1768) 13 14
Children
1 M William Plunket Maclay 5 9 15
Born: 23 Aug 1774 9 Christened: Died: 2 Sep 1842 - Milroy, Mifflin Co, PA 5 9 Buried:Spouse: Sallie Brown (1783-1810) 5 9 15 16 Marr: 1 Dec 1802 5 9Spouse: Jane Holmes ( - ) 9 15 17
2 F Eleanor Maclay 1 9
Born: 4 Oct 1777 18 Christened: Died: 4 Apr 1802 18 Buried:Spouse: David Maclay (1762-1839) 1 19 Marr: 8 Sep 1795 18 20
3 M Charles Maclay 9 15
Born: 1779 9 Christened: Died: 1807 - Wayne Co, NY 9 Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
4 F Esther Maclay 9 15
Born: 1782 9 Christened: Died: - Wayne Co, NY Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
5 F Jane E. Maclay 9 15 21
Born: 1786 9 Christened: Died: Jan 1848 9 Buried:Spouse: Dr. Joseph Henderson (1791-1863) 9 15 21 22 23
6 M John Maclay 9 15
AKA: John McClay 24 Born: 1789 9 Christened: Died: 25 Jun 1855 9 Buried:Spouse: Anne Dale (1783-1851) 15 24 Marr: 11 Feb 1812 9
7 M Samuel Maclay 15 18
Born: 1792 18 Christened: Died: 17 Feb 1836 18 Buried:Spouse: Margaret Johnston ( - ) 15 18Spouse: Elizabeth Johnston ( - ) 18
8 M David Maclay 15 18
Born: 1794 or 1797 15 18 Christened: Died: 1818 18 Buried:Spouse: Isabella Patterson ( - ) 15 18
9 M Robert Plunket Maclay 9 15
Born: 19 Apr 1799 18 Christened: Died: 16 Aug 1884 18 Buried:Spouse: Margaret C. Lashells ( - ) 15 18 Marr: 6 May 1825 18
General Notes: Husband - Samuel Maclay
He was educated at the classical school of Rev. Dr. Francis Alison, at New London, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He became assistant to his brother William in surveying the officers' tracts in Buffalo Valley, and subsequently took up a large quantity of land and settled there. During the Revolution he served as Lieutenant-Colonel of a marching regiment of the Northumberland county militia. He was an Associate Judge of Northumberland county, 1792-5, and a member of Congress, 1795-7. He was a State Senator, 1797-1803, and Speaker of the Senate, 1802-3. While serving as Speaker he was elected to the United States Senate, and signed his own certificate. He presided at the impeachment trial of Judge Addison, in January, 1803, and continued to act as Speaker until March 16, much to the dissatisfaction of the opposition, because his term in the Senate began on the 3d. He resigned his seat in the United States Senate, Jan. 4, 1809, ostensibly because of ill health, but in reality at the dictation of the Democratic "boss" of that time, Michael Leib, who became his successor. He was a man of popular manners, a good scholar, an effective writer and an able statesman.
He was educated at the classical academy presided over by the Rev. Dr. Allison. He had acquired a knowledge of surveying, and when the Buffalo Valley was opened for settlement by the heirs of William Penn he and his brother William were the surveyors chosen for the work of laying out that territory. When they surveyed the "Officers' Tract" in the Buffalo Valley they secured good land there and in the Cumberland and Kishacoquillas valleys, and on his tract in the Buffalo Valley, Samuel settled in 1769, that farm remaining his home until his death in 1811. When the trouble with England began he warmly espoused the cause of the colonies, joining his neighbors in organizing and arming for defense. He became lieutenant-colonel of the Northumberland County (Pennsylvania) Associators, and used his means freely for the cause. He entered actively into the politics of the state, and in 1789 had the great satisfaction of seeing his brother William elected United States senator, Pennsylvania's first United States Senator, also first Republican senator. He was in the Senate during Washington's first term of office. In 1792 Samuel Maclay was appointed one of the associate judges of Northumberland county, which post of responsibility he held until December 17, 1795, when he resigned to accept the office of congressman, serving for the session of 1795-96. In 1797 he was elected a member of the senate of Pennsylvania, an office which he retained until 1803. December 2, 1801, he was chosen speaker of the state senate and was reelected December 7, 1802. December 14, of that year, he was elected United States senator from Pennsylvania and, being speaker of the state senate at the time, signed his own certificate.
He was a member of the Buffalo Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, and in 1787 was one of those who signed a call to the Rev. Mr. Morrison. Political feeling ran very high, and in 1796, Samuel Maclay, not being in accord with his pastor, stopped paying his pew rent. In 1799 these differences resulted in a suit for slander, Morrison versus Maclay, which, Linn says, was regularly continued until 1817, long after both clients and most of the lawyers interested had died. He was residing on his farm in the Buffalo Valley in 1803 when he was chosen by the Pennsylvania legislature for United States senator. On account of ill health he did not serve the full term of six years, but resigned on January 4, 1809, dying October 5, 1811.
Linn says of him that he was a very popular man, a good scholar and a clear and forceful writer, having an extensive library containing many valuable works. The following anecdote well illustrates his democratic spirit. While a member of congress he once, on his way home, purchased a fine carriage and the next Sunday the family rode in it to church. The neighbors cast at it and them, looks of disapproval, and on their return home the carriage was placed in the carriage-house and never again taken out during the senator's lifetime.
He had a black servant, Titus, who was a character in his way, always wearing a ruffled shirt, and on holidays sporting a "coat of many colors". Titus had hair as white as snow and was of very striking appearance, resembling a typical African king. He was devoted to his master who was extremely fond of him, and local tradition says that this slave, the senator's war horse and his dog were all buried with him in the family burial plot on the farm. Senator Maclay was a large man, in personal appearance resembling Henry Clay, although stouter in the latter years of his life.
On October 16, 1908, the remains of Senator Samuel Maclay were removed from the burial ground on his farm in Buffalo county [sic], where they had reposed for ninety-seven years, and carefully deposited in the Dreisbach Cemetery, near Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where an imposing monument had been erected by the state. The monument stands within sight of the house he built in 1795 and bears the inscription: "Samuel Maclay, United States Senator, born June 17, 1741, died October 5, 1811. Surveyor, Farmer, Soldier, Legislator, Statesman, erected by the State of Pennsylvania. Maclay." The monument was unveiled by Helen Argyll Maclay, a great-great-granddaughter of Senator Maclay, and an address was made by Captain Samuel R. Maclay, of Mineral Point, Missouri, a grandson. [CRFP, 1469]
He was a marksman of great local celebrity, and excelled all in the western part of Pennsylvania, having won several prizes from Logan, the Mingo chief, hitting off-hand a mark the size of a Spanish dollar at the distance of 100 yards.
1 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 822.
2 —, Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: J. M. Runk & Company, Publishers, 1896), Pg 78.
3 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 148.
4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1469.
5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1470.
6 William Henry Egle, History of the County of Dauphin in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 518.
7 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 821.
8 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 145.
9 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 149.
10 William Henry Egle, Historical Register: Notes and Queries, Historical and Genealogical (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1894), Pg 162.
11 —, History of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys (Philadelphia, PA: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), Pg 1226.
12 —, Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: J. M. Runk & Company, Publishers, 1896), Pg 78, 352.
13 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1473.
14 —, Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: J. M. Runk & Company, Publishers, 1896), Pg 77, 352.
15 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 824.
16 —, History of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys (Philadelphia, PA: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), Pg 643.
17 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1471.
18 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 150.
19 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 146.
20 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 825.
21 —, History of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys (Philadelphia, PA: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), Pg 476.
22 John Blair Linn, History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1883), Pg 200.
23 John W. Jordan, LL.D., A History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913), Pg 1284.
24
John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 508.
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