Albert Sidney McLemore, Colonel and Assistant Adjutant and
Inspector, U. S. Marine Corps, died at the U. S. Naval Hospital, Mare Island, California, at 8 p.m., Wednesday, July 13, 1921. He was born in Franklin, Tennessee, May 23, 1869, was appointed to the Naval Academy September 7, 1885 and upon graduation from the academy he was transferred to the U. S. Marine Corps and commissioned a second lieutenant therein July 1, 1893. His participation in the defense of Camp McCalla, Guantanamo, Cuba, June 11, 1898, won for him the appointment of captain by brevet, for distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy. He was appointed Assistant Adjutant and Inspector of the Marine Corps, with the rank of Major, from December 15, 1904; was commissioned lieutenant colonel from August 19, 1916, and was commissioned colonel to rank from the same date. Colonel McLemore gave twenty-eight years of his life to the service of the Marine Corps. (The Recruiter's Bulletin, Recruiting Service of the U. S. Marine Corps, Volume 7, Number 6, August 1921)

Amos McLemore was a native of Jones County, Mississippi, born August 23, 1823. Before the Civil War, McLemore had been a school teacher and a Methodist-Episcopal minister. In 1858, McLemore went into the dry goods business with Dr. J. M. Bayliss. During the same period he also engaged in the buying and selling of real estate in Jones and Perry counties. When the Civil War began, McLemore was among the first to raise a company in defense of the Confederacy. His company, the "Rosin Heels," was drawn from Jones and Perry counties and was mustered into Confederate service in Ellisville on September 10, 1861. McLemore was commissioned Captain on the same day. On March 16, 1863, Capt. McLemore was promoted to Major and third in command of the 27th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. On Oct. 5, 1863, while visiting in the home of State Rep. Amos Deason in Ellisville, Maj. Amos McLemore was shot and killed by a deserter. If he had survived in good health for another seven months, Maj. McLemore would almost certainly have succeeded to the command of the 27th Mississippi Regiment. (Dr. Rudy Leverett, The Clarion Ledger "Perspective", Wednesday, November 29-30,1977, p. 9, 11a)

Amos McLemore was a planter of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, born in Chickasaw County, December 3, 1829. His parents, William and Martha (Joiners) McLemore, were born in North Carolina and Tennessee in 1800, respectively, moved to Covington County when he was but a child, and in 1838 they moved to Lauderdale County and settled near where Meridian is now situated. Amos was married in 1855 to Miss Mary Jane McShan, of Lauderdale County, by whom he had nine children: William Andrew, Virginia, Fannie, Acquila, Laura, Kirkland, and a son who lived only a month. At the opening of the Civil War, Mr. McLemore enlisted in the Confederate Army and upon the return of peace, he turned his attention to planting, notwithstanding the fact that, during the war, his plantation had been rifled of all valuables, and had grown up to weeds. He turned his attention to the culture of cotton, in which he was quite successful and made money. He owned one thousand acres of land, three miles northeast of Meridian, MS. He was considered a self-made man, well posted on general topics of the day, benevolent, charitable, and generous, but not active in politics. (Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Volume 2 (1891).

Andrew Jackson McLemore was born in Monroe County, East Tennessee, September 10, 1829. When fifteen years old, he came to Greene County, Missouri, and after a short stay at Springfield, went to Dade County. In 1851, he, with other adventurers, took the gold fever and went to California. Here he remained some five years, and accumulated a considerable sum of money. Returning to Dade County, Missouri, in 1857, accompanied by his wife (Dialtha Alexander) to whom he had been married February 5, 1857. After returning to Missouri, Mr. McLemore bought the old Alexander homestead near Ozark, on which he remained till the civil war. He then sold out and made a trip to Texas, but returned almost immediately, and located again just north of Ozark and then to Walnut Grove. He has one of the best improved farms in the northwest part of Greene county, his residence being elegant and well located. Seven children were born to the couple: Cornelius A, Ida F., John S., Detroit M., Maggie M., Greeley N. and Myrtle O. (History of Greene County Missouri, Western Historical Company: St. Louis, 1883, p. 618, sumbitted by Tom Heseltine, May 1995).

Atkins Jefferson McLemore, called "Jeff", was born March 13, 1857 in Spring Hill, Maury County, Tennessee. Like so many McLemores, he migrated early to the state of Texas as a cowboy. Later, in 1915, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and sponsored a "McLemore Resolution" regarding American citizens as passengers on enemy ships. In the 1900 census, McLemore resided alone at 507 Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. He died March 4, 1929 and is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery, Austin. Among other things, Jeff McLemore enjoyed poetry and published a volumn of his poems entitled: "Indianola and Other Poems" (1904).

Augustus McLemore, know as "Uncle Gus", was born near Meridian, Mississippi. As a very young child, his father migrated with the family from Mississippi into Union Parish, Louisiana, and settled on a farm at the edge of Litroe. In true pioneer fashion, this couple cleared a farm and built a home in the woods about three or four miles from his father's home [John McLemore c1831]. There in the old log cabin all of their children were born. Occasionally a job of public work would be available. At one time, he took a contract to cut a railroad right-of-way from Felsenthal, Arkansas, to Monroe, Louisiana. About the year 1888, this family moved to Monroe but the following year the moved back to the Litroe farm. At one time he operated a boat landing on the Ouachita River near his home near Litroe. In the year 1913, Augustus sold this property and purchased a farm in the extreme northern part of Franklin Parish in what is known as Hominy Bend Community. For a while, he operated a small grocery store at this location. In the year 1924, he sold this property and moved to Rayville, Louisiana, where he lived until his death, April 5, 1925. (A. W. Bridges, 2920 Resior Road, Shreveport, LA, August 1963)

Benjamin Franklin McLemore, was born May 3, 1839, the son of James and Martha M. (Barkley) McLemore of southwestern Southampton County. He was apparently one of at least six children born of this union. After completion of his studies, he probably farmed for a while, perhaps with his father, and apparently clerked in a store as well, until the spring of 1861 erupted into this nation's bloodiest conflict, the American Civil War. He survived the entire war with only two slight wounds, was apparently taken with other surrendered southern soldiers to Richmond where he took the amnesty oath on May 18, 1865, and was paroled. He walked home to Southampton County where, by the end of the year he felt secure enough about his future to marry, taking as his wife, Rosa Ann Westbrook, daughter of James David Westbrook and Nancy Lewis (Turner) Westbrook on December 20, 1865, at the bride's home in Drewryville. His wife Rosa, after giving birth to nine children of whom seven survived infancy and six survived to marry and have issue, died on May 26, 1896. B. F. McLemore thereafter married, secondly, Lelia G. Adams, daughter of William T. and Martha P. ("Pullie") Adams of Adams Grove west of Drewryville. This marriage took place on August 3, 1898, in the town of Suffolk in neighboring Nansemond County. Benjamin Franklin McLemore died on January 29, 1911, and was buried between his two wives in the family plot in the cemetery behind the Episcopal Church in Courtland. (B. F. McLemore His Ancestors and Descendants, James L. McLemore, 1991, pp. 337-349)

Burwell Maclemore and his wife, Amy, had a large family: eleven children in all have been identified, but only two had their births recorded in the Albermarle Parish Register. The first was Sally, born June 2, 1754, and baptized August 25, 1754. Sponsors or godparents included her aunt and uncle, Robert and Lydia Magee, as well as a Gilliam. A second daughter "Molly" (Mary) was shown in the Register as being born July 24, and baptized September 14, 1760. There was a sufficient interval in between these two for the birth of at least one other child (probably Howell), and the others followed along thereafter: John, Lucy, Lydia, Ann or Anna, Burwell Jr., Gilliam, Charles and James, probably in something close to that order, with their births running right up nearly to the outbreak of the American Revolution, when Burwell would have been 55, and Amy in her early to mid 40's. By the time his family had grown this large, it became obvious that his original 190 acre patented plantation was too small (or worn out) to support such a family. Therefore, he arranged in 1775 to exchange this plantation with John Tyler (father of President John Tyler) for a larger tract. Both deeds were dated January 17, 1775, and recorded February 16, 1775. Burwell Maclemore survived all his brothers (including Joel, who was considerably younger), and he apparently survived at least one child and his wife Amy as well. Neither his first born daughter Sally nor his wife is mentioned in his will, which was dated September 21, 1793, and admitted to probate October 4, 1798. (B. F. McLemore His Ancestors and Descendants, James L. McLemore III (c. 1991) pp. 81-82).

Caleb Hill McLemore was born in Covington, MS, in January, 1829, and is the fourth of a family of nine children. His father, Richard McLemore, was a native of North Carolina, and removed from that state to Tennessee with his parents when but a boy. He remained at home, assisting in the care of his family until he was twenty-one years of age. He then came to Mississippi and was married in Covington County, in August 1821, to Nancy P. Hill. They had born to them two sons and seven daughters. Capt. McLemore was twenty-one years of age when he began to till the soil and raise livestock. He located in Lauderdale county, and there were few older residents than he. He was married in his twenty-fourth year to Mrs. L. C. Brown, widow of John Brown, of Clarke county, MS. Seven children were born of this union. In 1802, he enlisted in Company I, Thirty-seventh Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, and was in the arm of the Tennessee. When his captain was killed, he was promoted to the position, which he held during the remainder of the war. After the declaration of peace, he returned to his home in Lauderdale county and resumed the pursuit of agriculture on the place where he now lives. Captain McLemore was a member of the Masonic fraternity for nearly thirty years, and a Knight of Honor. He also belonged to the Farmers' Alliance. (Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Volume II, 1891).
 
 
Charles McLemore, merchant, was born in Jasper Couty, Ga., and died in 1858, near Memphis, Tenn. He was educated as a physician, came to Alabama in 1833, and settled on the river in Tallapoosa County. Soon after he came to Lafayette in Chambers County, where he establishd himself as a merchant. He was elected to the State Legislature from Chambers County in 1836, and between that time and 1844, was re-elected five times to that body. He was sent to the State senate in the latter year, and served two years. He was again elected to the senate in 1849, was unanimously elected president of that body in 1851, and served in the upper house until 1855, when he was defeated by Dr. H. W. Bacon. He died while on a visit to Arkansas, to look after lands in which he was interested. He was a Whig. Mr. McLemore was married three times, the last time to a Miss McCoy, daughter of Neal McCoy of Chambers County. One of his sons, Col. J. J. McLemomre, an officer in the militia, was was debarred form active service in the Ward of Secession because of physical disabilities, drilled many soldiers for the C. S. Army, and conducted a flour mill, which was thrown open to the families of soldiers during the war; he served in the State legislature and offered a series of joint resolutions for the state to care for the soldiers' families, which later became a law. His youngest son was Col. Owen Kenan McLemore. (History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Thomas McAdory Owen, LL.D. Vol IV, S. J. Clarke Publishing).

Chesley Bostick McLemore was born around 1813 in South Carolina. He married Elizabeth Thigpen around 1849 and they settled in Toombs County, Georgia, in 1850. After clearing land [near Vidalia, Georgia] to farm they built the frontier cabin in 1864 of hand-hewn logs with pegs and boards of great width and length. The logs are heart pine from southern yellow pine trees that were logged from the timber on the land. On the front porch is the travelers room. The door to this room was always open to anyone traveling the Old Savannah Road which passes near the cabin. During the frontier period cotton was the leading crop. It was hauled by oxen and cart to Savannah. The large McLemore farm was prime farmland. The couple had seven children. He died in 1899.

Ephraim Hester McLemore was born December 20, 1903 on the farm of his father, Tilghman Richard McLemore, west of Meadville, Mississippi. When he graduated from High School, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. He graduated on June 9, 1928 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. "Mac", as he was known by his army friends, soon arrived in the San Antonio area serving with the Field Artillery School at Fort Sam Houston. Here, he met Edith Adeline "Peggy" Pearman and they married November 10, 1931. June 1, 1937, Mac and Peggy moved to West Point, New York, where he became an Instructor in Mathematics at the United States Military Academy. It was here that their three children were born: William Pearman, Ann Schindler, and Tilghman Richard, October 21, 1940. During World War II, McLemore fought in the Pacific as an artillery officer for which he received several commendations including the Bronze Star Award. In July of 1948, he became the Assistant G-4 for the United States Armed Forces in Japan under General Douglas MacArthur. His military career ended with a medical retirement at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1955. His first wife had died and he remarried a Betty Sue Lindsay. After years of retirement in Front Royal, Virginia, he died November 19, 1973 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Garrah Amelia McLemore was born December 23, 1905 to Tilghman Richard and Zula Higdon McLemore. She married Clyde Aldridge on November 30, 1933 and after his death, Carl P. Neville in 1957. She never had any children. After struggling to achieve an education, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she became a chief Financial Officer at Fort McPherson. She died September 23, 1988 and is buried next to her second husband at Greenwood Cemetery, Atlanta.

George Ammie McLemore, Sr., was the son of David Alderman and Margaret (Hall) McLemore and was born on November 12, 1878, in McDaniels Township, Sampson County, North Carolina. He gained his early education in the county school and was among the first to enter Wake Forest's medical School where he studied for two years. He was awarded the M.D. degree in 1906 after four years of study at the University of North Carolina. In December of 1908, he married Nellie Emily Johnson of Cleveland Township in Johnston County, North Carolina, who died in April of 1934. Dr. and Mrs. McLemore had five children: Robert A., George A. Jr., Margaret, Lucille, and Eloise. Dr. McLemore created a cartoon and quip series for The Smithfield Herald from November 1925 through March of 1930 under the title, "Aunt Roxie says." George McLemore had a deep love of the land instilled in him by his parents and he farmed as a side-line. He also gave generously of himself and his talents to the poor and needy. His political affiliation was Democratic. A member of the Presbyterian Church, he served as Ruling Elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Smithfield, North Carolina. Dr. McLemore died on April 14, 1961, after a long period of service in the medical profession and as a great humanitarian. (North Carolina Lives, William S. Powell, Hopkinsville, Kentucky (1962) p. 810).

Henry Toliver McLemore was born December 2, 1906 in Macon, Georgia, the son of a Baptist preacher, Rev. James Stacker. Mr. McLemore worked in a sandwich shop in New York before joining the International News Service. A sports columnist for United Press from 1930-40, he accented the personalities, took less than passing interest in statistics. In his column, syndicated since 1940, he avoided politics and stressed the lighter side. McLemore once wrote, "They say they turn from disaster and the atom bomb--to me, at breakfast, to get a laugh." He was married to the former Mary Jean Heg and they had one daughter. Jean was a great help to him in his columns. He said of her, "She happens to be a well-educated woman, who knows where to put commas." McLemore died June 23, 1968 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Jerry Justin McLemore. Justin was born September 16, 1971, the son of Jerry Don McLemore (1945), in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas. He excelled in football in High School and became a member of the University of Texas football team. In 1995, he was noted as a "Six Year Senior" for the Texas Longhorns.

John C. McLemore, was born in Forest Hill, Tenn., August 20, 1862, the son of John C. and Sarah Lane McLemore. He attended the county public schools and worked on the farm until he was eighteen years old and then worked as a clerk in a country store at Bailey, Tennessee, until 1887 when he moved to Memphis. After several years as a local businessman of great reputation, accepted the position of deputy clerk with Joe H. Creath, county trustee, and handled the front foot assessment books. Auditors made a report to the mayor which highly complimented his work. He was elected Shelby County Court Clerk in 1914 and re-elected in the election of 1918. He was chairman of the Democratic executive committee in 1905 and 1906. He married to Miss Elizabeth Pope, October 9, 1895. The had two children, John C. IV, and Sarah Elizabeth McLemore. (Who's Who in Tennessee, p. 611 ).

Matthew Preston McLemore was born in 1842 and was nicknamed "Brooks" by his family. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on December 15, 1861 and served with South Carolina and Georgia units as an elisted man. He married Catherine E. Piconet of Augusta, Georgia on April 14, 1874 and they had three children, Annie, Lucian Winter, and John Ouidas. Brooks and Catherine were among the leading families in Augusta. He died May 9, 1884, and is buried in Augusta, Georgia.

Moses McLemore was a prominent planter of Montgomery County (Alabama} and was born in this county on March 21, 1857. He was the son of Andrew J. and Sarah C.(Smith) McLemore. Moses was educated at the county schools and at Montgomery, and at the age of seventeen began life for himself as a farmer. He married, Annie Benom Tanner, November 5, 1890. Mr. McLemore was one of the leading farmers of the county, owning 2,900 acres of fine farming land. He followed farming all his life, and for some years he also carried on merchandising, and ran a cotton gin. When he started in life he had but a few hundred dollars, inherited from his father's estate, but soon projected this into many thousands of dollars, all of which, with the exception just mentioned he acquired by his own industry and economy. Moses McLemore died April 17, 1920 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama. (The Memorial Record of Alabama, "Personal Memoirs--Montgomery County" p. 712-713)

Richard Aubrey McLemore was born June 6, 1903 in Perry County, Mississippi, the son of Hezekiah McLemore. Very early, Richard excelled in the field of education and rose to the rank of administrator in several schools. He married Nannie Pitts in 1927 and they had one son, Harry Kimbrell. In 1937, Mr. McLemore accepted a position with Judson College in Marion, Alabama. One year later, he was elected head of the Department of History at Mississipi State Teacher's College. In 1956, he was named curator of the History Department at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. In 1957 Dr. Richard Aubrey McLemore left a position as professor of history and Dean of the University of Mississippi Southern to become President of Mississippi College. Dr. McLemore undertook a decentralization of top administration by setting up the positions of Dean of the College, Business Manager, and Dean of Students. Many libraries contain the definitive History of Mississippi written by Dr. McLemore. He died August 31, 1976 and is buried in Clinton, Mississippi.

Owen Kenan McLemore, Confedrate soldier, was born October 21, 1838 in Lafayette, and died September 30, 1862, at Winchester, Ga.; son of Charles McLemore. He graduated with honor from the United State Military Academy on July 1, 1856 and served with distinction in the Civil War. Rising to the rank of Lt. Col, he fought at second Manassas and in all the ensuing engagements until he was fatally wounded while commanding his regiment, at the battle of Sharpbburg, September 17, 1862, and was buried in N. May Cemetery, Winchester, with military honors, the regiment and division band marching several miles to perform the last rites. Last residence: Lafayette. (History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography) Thomas McAdory Owen (Vol IV) S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., Chicago 1921 (p. 1128-1131)

Rebecca Campbell McLemore, or "Aunt Becky" as she was affectionately known, was born in 1862 and died in 1943. She lived all of her life in Perry County, Kentucky, first married at 16 to her double first cousin, Lewis Campbell, and they had 9 children. After he died, she married her present husband, Robert "George" McLemore and they had six children. When asked in 1941, by a reporter from the Louisville Courier-Journal, the secret of her aging, Aunt Becky replied, "midwifery, plenty of exercise, and corn liquor." Indeed, she began helping women deliver their babies when she was 27 and is reputed to have brought over a thousand new persons into the world. (The Kentucky Explorer, Volumbe 13, Number 2, June 1998, pp. 29-32; contributed by Tom Heseltine.)

Tilghman Richard McLemore was born October 21, 1940 at West Point, New York, the son of Ephraim Hester and Edith Pearman McLemore. After graduating from Manatee County High School in 1958, he joined the United States Army as an enlisted man and found early duty with the Airborne Infantry in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was here that he met Clara Anne Chavis where they were married on January 6, 1960. Their first son, Tilghman Richard III was born May 20, 1960 and their last child, William Terry, was born December 6, 1961. Tim graduated from Florida State University in June 1966, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and soon transferred back into the Airborne Infantry where he promptly left for Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to continue his training. He immediately went to Vietnam and was killed by enemy fire in Hue, South Vietnam, May 6, 1968. He was buried from Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Southern Pines, and laid to rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery of the same community.

William Pearman McLemore was born October 14, 1937, the son of Ephraim Hester and Edith Pearman McLemore. He grew up in an Army family and joined the Army after graduating from Manatee County High School in 1955. He received an honorable discharge in 1958. McLemore was educated at Florida State University (1962) and received his Masters in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary (1965). He married the former Jacqueline Ruth Spinks on December 14, 1963 and they had three children: Mary Kathryn, William Tomlin, and Christopher Michael. In addition to serving as an Episcopal priest in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama; McLemore is well-known for his cartoons which are published regularly. He has been a Rotarian since 1969 and is currently in line to become District Governor of the south Alabama district in 1998-99.

William Sugars McLemore was born February 1, 1830, the son of Atkins J. McLemore of Williamson County, Tennessee. He married Annie Louise Wharton on May 15, 1856 and they had five children: Annie Lou, Bethenia, Albert Sydney, William Wharton, and Lizzie Minor. He studied law but left the practice to accept a commission in the Confederate Army. After the death of Col. Starnes in 1863, Col. McLemore commanded the Fourth Tennessee Calvary until six months before the surrender, when he commanded Dibbrell's Brigade, and had the honor of escorting President Davis from Raleigh, N.C., to Washington, GA., where the brigade surrendered. After the war, McLemore was elected Circuit Judge of the Ninth Tennessee Circuit, and in honor of his worth to his countrymen served fourteen years. When he left the bench he came from Franklin to Murfreesboro, and as one of the law firm of McLemore and Richardson has been in full practice. William Sugars died August 7, 1908 and is buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Williamson County, Tennessee.

NOTE: To contribute other McLemores to this list, please send a brief biography to: William P. McLemore, McLemore Archives, 1907 Carriage Drive, Phenix City, AL 36867.