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Samuel McClellan
American, 1730 - 1807
BiographySamuel McClellan was born 1730, in Worcester, Massachusetts to Jeanne Callihoun and William McClellan, both of whom were from Scotland.
He served as an Ensign and a Lieutenant in the French and Indian War, in which he was wounded. After the war, he bought a farm in Woodstock, Connecticut where he settled in 1757. Later, he would enter the mercantile business importing English and West Indian goods.
He married three times: Jemima Chandler (1734-1764) in 1757, Rachel Abbe (1739-1795) -- a descendant of Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford – in 1766, and Eunice Stearns Follansbee (1750-1839) in 1798. With Jemima he had four children, and with Rachel, another eight.
Samuel also fought in the Revolutionary War. He trained and equipped the county militia, becoming commander of a troop in 1773; soldiers in it came from the towns of Killingly, Pomfret, and Woodstock. When the Lexington Alarm was announced in 1775, Samuel’s wife, Rachel, brought four elm saplings from her family’s property in North Windham and planted them on the South Woodstock Common by their home to commemorate Capt. McClellan’s departure for Cambridge. The last of these stately elms was taken by Dutch elm disease in 1969, though after removal from the green by Stone Bridge Road, planks and at least one plaque were made from them.
Samuel led 184 soldiers at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, served at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and continued moving up in military rank. Although ranking colonel in 1778, he reportedly spent most of his time working on his farm; however, when there was no money with which to pay soldiers, he paid them 1,000 pounds of his own money; that is the equivalent of approximately $208,300 in 2025. After the Battle of Groton Heights, Gen. Sam, as he was known, worked as commissary. In 1784 he became Brigadier General of the 5th Brigade, Connecticut Militia.
Samuel was one of the founding members and the first president of the Theft Detecting Society created in 1793 which met in Williams Tavern in Woodstock Hill and Silas May’s Tavern in East Woodstock. Samuel was also an original trustee of Woodstock Academy, a school founded by two of his sons.
He died in 1807 in Woodstock, Connecticut and was buried in the Woodstock Hill Cemetery. (Sources: Hale Collection; Hartford Courant; Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce; Telegram & Gazette)
He served as an Ensign and a Lieutenant in the French and Indian War, in which he was wounded. After the war, he bought a farm in Woodstock, Connecticut where he settled in 1757. Later, he would enter the mercantile business importing English and West Indian goods.
He married three times: Jemima Chandler (1734-1764) in 1757, Rachel Abbe (1739-1795) -- a descendant of Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford – in 1766, and Eunice Stearns Follansbee (1750-1839) in 1798. With Jemima he had four children, and with Rachel, another eight.
Samuel also fought in the Revolutionary War. He trained and equipped the county militia, becoming commander of a troop in 1773; soldiers in it came from the towns of Killingly, Pomfret, and Woodstock. When the Lexington Alarm was announced in 1775, Samuel’s wife, Rachel, brought four elm saplings from her family’s property in North Windham and planted them on the South Woodstock Common by their home to commemorate Capt. McClellan’s departure for Cambridge. The last of these stately elms was taken by Dutch elm disease in 1969, though after removal from the green by Stone Bridge Road, planks and at least one plaque were made from them.
Samuel led 184 soldiers at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, served at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and continued moving up in military rank. Although ranking colonel in 1778, he reportedly spent most of his time working on his farm; however, when there was no money with which to pay soldiers, he paid them 1,000 pounds of his own money; that is the equivalent of approximately $208,300 in 2025. After the Battle of Groton Heights, Gen. Sam, as he was known, worked as commissary. In 1784 he became Brigadier General of the 5th Brigade, Connecticut Militia.
Samuel was one of the founding members and the first president of the Theft Detecting Society created in 1793 which met in Williams Tavern in Woodstock Hill and Silas May’s Tavern in East Woodstock. Samuel was also an original trustee of Woodstock Academy, a school founded by two of his sons.
He died in 1807 in Woodstock, Connecticut and was buried in the Woodstock Hill Cemetery. (Sources: Hale Collection; Hartford Courant; Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce; Telegram & Gazette)
Person TypeIndividual
Anglo-American, 1721 - 1805
