Charles Wylie McClure Family
July 4, 1866 - January 23, 1943
By: ©Ira McClure
Charles Wylie McCLURE was born July 4, 1866 in Washington County, Illinois to James Morton McCLURE and Sarah ( nee McKINLEY ) McCLURE.
James McCLURE was born in Chester, South Carolia and moved to Illinois with his parents, Alexander and Jane McCLUE around 1830.
Sarah McKINLEY was born in Northern Ireland and immigrated to Canada with her family around 1840 and a few years later Sarah and her family settled in Illinois.
Charles Wylie McCLURE who became kown as C. W. McCLURE started selling tin ware in Southern Illinois at the age of 20. In 1896 at the age of 30, Charles left Illinois and settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where he opened "The McClure Ten Cent Company".
In 1900 he married Cora B. RUTHERFORD of Baldwin, Illinois in Fulton County, Georgia on May 15, 1900. They had three children; one died early in life and their two surviving children were Sterling McCLURE and Helen McCLURE.
During his time in Atlanta, C. W. made a mark on the city and on the Ten Cent merchants of the United States. The ten cent merchants organized an association in Cincinnati and in 1910, C. W. was elected its first president, and at the second annual meeting he was once again reelected president. C. W. also organized the McClure Realty, held a large interest in the Atlanta and Carolina Railroad Company, and was the director of the Colorado Mining Company of Mexico. In 1914 C. W. ran for U. S. Senate from Georgia on the Progressive Party ticket against Hoke Smith (Dem) but was defeated.
Charles W. McClure died January 28, 1943, at the age of 76, in Dawson County, Georgia.
STEADILY GROWING
A Five-Cent Business That Amounts to Thousands a Year
[The Atlanta Constitution, September 17, 1899, Page 5] A few years ago a young man came to this town, unknown, but knowing.
A short while after his arrival a small 5 and 10-cent store was opened on lower Whitehall street. As the time passed by this little store beganto grow; ; it began to attract attention. Itwas what Atlanta had needed. "Who is the young fellow that has money to lose?" was generally the question that one heard from the wiseacres. The young fellow was sawing wood and he kept pretty close at the job. It was hard , it is true, but today he is enjoying the fruits of it. that young man that had money to lose was C. W. McClure, now the proprietor of the C. W. McClure Five and Ten-Cent Company, the largest store of its kind in the southern states, located at the corner of Whitehall and Hunter streets, and filled with everything from a toothpick to a packing trunk, is a monument to the business sagacity, perseverance and determination of this young man. A store that is a credit to the city, a boon and personal friend to every housekeeper in Atlanta. "McClure's" is a household word.
Quiet and unobtrusive, attending strictly to his own business, he has weathered the storm, and has met and defeated competition in several instances. Since starting his 5 and 10-cent store, Mr. McClure has seen several of his competitors go to the wall for lack of patronage, and in every instance he has purchased their stock and offered it to the public at lower prices, thereby saving tham money. The McClure Five and Ten-Cent Company is now working a force of about fifty people and has several men on the road. They do a large wholesale as well as retail trade and their friends are legion.
Mr.McClure's friends are congratulating him on his opening, on moving into his new quarters.
A few years ago, unknown. Today by judicious use of printers' ink in the daily newspapers he sits at the head of one of the largest enterprises in the city, and is known by everybody in Atlanta.
Marriage License Record
State of Georgia, Fulton County
Book K, page 139
Mr. Charles W. McClure
&
Miss Cora B. Rutherford
May 15, 1900
Recorded : May 24, 1900
Store Front - 1910
McClure Ten Cent Co.
Atlanta, Georgia
Excerpt from "Who Was Who In America"
Volume 4, 1916 - 1968, Page 629
McCLURE, Charles Wylie, merchant; b.Washington Co., Ill., July 4, 1866; s. James and Sarah (McKinley) M.; ed. pub. schs., and Coulterville (Ill.) Acad.; m. Cora B. Rutherford, of Baldwin, Ill. May 15, 1900; children--Helen (wife of Dr. Wm. Howard Halley, Sterling Rutherford. Entered mercantile business at 20; established 5 and 10-cent store in Atlanta, Ga., 1896; pres. McClure Co., McClure Realty & Invstment Co.; propr. McClure Realty Co. Mem. Prog. Nat. Com., 1912-16. Prof. candiate for U. S. senator, 1914. State chmn. Roosevelt Memorial Assn. Home : 343 8th Av., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Excerpt from "Men of Mark" by William Northen; A. B. Caldwell, Pub. Atlanta 1912; Volume 6 of 7 pg 295 - 298
Charles Wylie McClure
The McClure Ten Cent Company is known far and near. The great business which has grown up under this name is due to the industry, the sagacity, and the unflagging energy of C. W. McClure, a young man of forty-five, whose career is an inspiring one to every ambitious young man starting life with empty hands. Mr. McClure is of Scotch-Irish stock. he was born in Washington county, Illinois, july 4, 1866, son of James and Sarah (McKinley) McClure. His father was a native of Ches-ter, South Carolina, a farmer by occupation, who had moved West to take advantage of the rich lands of Illinois. His mother's people had moved from the North of Ireland to Can-ada, in 1840, and a few years later settled in Illinois. Young McClure was blessed with a healthy body and an alert mind. he had the advantages of the farm rearing, which is the best school of industry in the world. he received his school training in the local public schools and in a course at the Coulterville Academy, located in Randolph county, Illinois. His father's farm was remote from the great centers and the lad longed for the larger activities obtainable only in more populous sections. At the age of twenty he struck out, selling tinware and other household goods through the rural districts of Southern Illinois, and in eight months so prospered as to convince himself that his true vocation was that of a merchant. After some years of varied experience, in 1896, then a young man of thirty, after giving the careful consideration to the matter which he does to everything, Mr McClure decided to establish a Five and Ten Cent Store in Atlanta. At that time there was no such establishment in the city. He opened a small store on lower Whitehall Street; worked incessantly, and laid the foundation securely and well for the great success which he has achieved. In three years he was able to open up at the present location on the corner of Whitehall and Hunter, where the immense four story warehouse, full of attractive goods from basement to attic, is a very beehive of activity. In 1900 he organized the present corporation, and on February 15, 1907, opemed a second establishment on Mitchell Street, which was destroyed by fire May 7, 1908. Undismayed by this backset he moved steadily forward and his business has grown by leaps and bounds. The McClure Ten Cent Com-panyis now the largest establishment of its kind in the South-ern States and a monument to the business sagacity, presever-ance and determination of its founder. They operate stores in Atlanta, Macon, and Griffin, Athens, and Marietta, Georgia, and a similar establishment in Greenwood, South Carolina, Their stores are filled with everything needed in household affairs, are a credit to the cities in which they are located, and every house-keeper in their trade zones looks upon McClure's as one of the bulwarks of the family. From early morning to late evening their places are thronged with a multitude of people taking ad-vantage of the good goods offered at prices within reach of the most moderate purses, and it takes over two hundred active employees to supply the needs of his customers. From his pri-vate offices in Atlanta Mr. McClure keeps his hand upon the pulse of the large commercial syndicate which he has formed and guided to success. He keeps in close touch with his man-agers , not only by correspondence but by verbal reports, and sees that nothing is left undone which will contribute to success of the business. In addition to the large retail syndicate he has established he is now operating a wholesale house , first es-tablished in the Commerce Hall Building in the fall of 1900 which was moved in September 1910, to the corner of Broad and Hunter streets, where it occupies a frontage of one hun-dred feet on Broad and ninety feet on Hunter. Here the company carries a complete line of dry goods, notions, hardware, tinware, woodenware, enamelware, galvanized ironware, glass-ware, china, crockery, and toys; and here also Mr. McClure has his private offices. Apparently never in a hurry Mr. McClure has one of the most restless minds possessed by any business man of Atlanta, and this active mind is backed up by a strong body. Resulting from this, he has become interested in numerous other direc-tions. He is the organizer of the McClure Realty Company of Atlanta, through which he has acquired some of the most valuable real estate holdings in the city, and from which he has reaped a large profit. he is largely interested in teh Atlanta and Carolina Railway Company; is director of the Colorado Mining Company of Mexico, and in association with some other gentlemen is now organizing a State bank for West Mitchell Street, of which he will undoubtedly be one of the officers. he is also possessor of inventive genius and has secured patents on a safety pin and a water cooler, both of which are strictly in accord with the main line of his business and useful to every homekeeper. his political affliation is with the Re-publican party on national issues, while in the State and local elec-tions he supports the Democrat ticket. his religious in-clination is towards Christian Science. C. W. McClure is a public spirited man, keenly interested in everything that will contribute to the welfare of the city and the State; and though not a politician in the ordinary accep-tation of that word, is a politician in the larger sense that he is interested in the study of government and active in all measures looking toward the betterment of our governmental con-ditions. he is a strong advocate of disversification by our farmers and thinks the State should give large consideration and support to industrial education. Mr. McClure was married on May 19 1900, to Cora B. Ruth-erford, of Baldwin, Illinois. Of thsi marriage three children have been born, of whom two are living; Helen and Sterling McClure. Mr. McClure's working code is a simple one. He says : "Preserve your physical vigor; learn to do some useful thing well; do your work thoroughly and enthusiastically; aim high, work hard, and never be discouraged. Have a clear conscience honor in all things, and charity towards all men." The position which Mr. McClure has attained in the com-mercial world is best illustrated by the fact that when the Five and Ten Cent merchants of the United States organized as as-sociation at Cincinnati, in September, 1910, he had the honor of being elected its first president, and at the second annual meeting at Niagara Falls the last week in August, he was unanimously reelected president for the second term. The man who, in fifteen years, has built up a business from very small beginnings to such proportions as to make him the representa-tive man of one of the great interests of the country, has in him such qualities of leadership as to need no other eulogy.
BERNARD SUTTLER
The Atlanta Journal, November 4, 1914
DEMOCRATIC TICKET SWEEPS STATE WITH ALL 10 AMENDMENTS
Despite Small vote Cast All Progressive Candidates Are Snowed Under by Overwhelming Majority
True to expectations Senator Hoke Smith and Congressman Thomas W. Hardwick, Georgia's Democratic nominees for the United States senate, triumphed by ovewhelming majorities in Tuesday's election over their Progessive opponents, C. W. McClure and G. R. Hutchens. Although the size of the vote polled was somewhat disappointing it was the larger than that usually polled in the general elections.
Tremendous majorities were also received by Congressman William Schley Howard, Democratic nominee for Congress from the Fifth district, over Roger Dewar, his Progressive opponent, and the same was true of the Democratic nominees for the legislature from Fulton county. Judge Spencer R. Atkinson, Walter P. Andrews and R. B. Blackburn who were opposed by John T. Pugh, F. H. Peck and W. A. Hart, the Progressive candidates.
No other candidates were put out by the Progressives.
All ten of the proposed constituational amendments appear to have carried. That providing for four-year terms for county officials however, received the smallest majority.
four of these amendments create new counties - Barrow, with Windler as the county seat; Bacon with Alma as the county seat; Candler with Metter as the county seat, and Evans with Claxton as the county seat.
the addition of these four new counties gives Georgia 152 counties instead
. . . . . . . rest of article - missing . . . . . . .
The New York Times, Published June 14, 1915
SAYS ROOSEVELT SEES NEW CHANCE COMING
Georgia Leader Quotes Him as Finding New Hope for Progressives in Bryan's Course.
Special to The New York Times
ATLANTA, June 13. -- That the resignation of William Jennings Bryan as Secretary of State forecasts a split ticket in the Democratic party and that as a result the prospects for the Progressive Party have become much brighter was the opinion expressed today by former President Theodore Roosevelt, according to C. W. McClure, leader of the Georgia Progressives. The Colnel passed through Atlanta en route to Oyster Bay after a visi to Louisiana.
Colonel Roosevelt addressed some remarks on the situation to a delegation of Atlanta Progressives who were at the Terminakl Station to talk with the ex-President during his twenty-minute stop. C. W. McClure headed the delegation. He reported Colonel Roosevelt as saying he had great respect for President Wilson, but disapproved his lack of initatve and ultra-conservationism during the present European war. Colnel Roosevelt, Mr. McClure said, compared Bryan to a preacher, and remarked he had often thought he would have made a good running mate with Sam Jones the Georgia evangelist.
According to Mr. McClure, Col. Roosevelt made it plain that the resignation of the Secretary of State , in his opinion, had seriouly complicated matters for the Democratic Party, and he predicted that, with the Republican party out of power, the logical leaders in 1916 would be Progressives.
The Colonel said said he had had a most enjoyable visit to John M. Parker of Louisiana, National Committeeman of the Progressive Party, whose guest he was in Louisiana, and Mr. McClure predicted that Mr. Parker would be Roosevelt's running mate at the next national election.
With Mr. Parker as candidate for Vice President on the Progressive ticket, the Progressives here believe that Louisiana easily could be placed in their column, since Mr. Parker is one of the best known men of that State and Louisiana sugar interests have turned against the Democratic Party on account of the tariff bill.
Building - 1918
McClure Ten Cent Co.
Whitehall Street
Atlanta, Georgia
The Atlanta Constitution, March 20, 1919
M'CLURE ASKED TO HEAD NEW PARTY IN THE SOUTHEAST
C. W. McClure, proprietor of the McClure Ten-Cent company, and one of the local leaders in progressive party politics, made known Thursdaythe fact that he has been asked to act as southeastern chairman of a new national political party whose organization is to become effective within the next few months. Mr McClure has the request under consideration.
He states that he has received a copy of the call issued by the "committee of forty-eight," with headquarters at 15 East Fortieth street, New York, for a conference to be held soon.Educators, writers, economists and professional men and women from all parts of the country are among the signers of the call, states the copy.
Out of this conference, according to the call, when leaders from all over the country will be present, it is intended to obtain a flexible statement of principles and methods that will permit effective co-operation with organized labor and with agricultural workers in the task of reconstruction.
The call indicates that both of the old parties will be arraigned and a radical reconstruction platform adopted.
The Atlanta Constitution, February 3, 1921
MRS. SARAH M'CLURE DIES AT RESIDENCE
Mrs. Sarah McClure, mother of C. W. McClure, died at her residence, 6 Elizabeth street, late Wednesday afternoon. Mrs. McClure, who was eighty-eight years of age, was well-known throughout the city and her death is the occasion of deep regret.
Mrs. McClure is survived by two sons, C. W. McClure, of Atlanta, and John A. McClure, of Coulterville, Ill.; two daughters, Mrs. Ida Nixon, of Oklahoma, and Mrs. Emma Lamey, of California; a sister, Miss Nan McKinsley, of Coulterville, Ill., and two brothers, Robert McKinsley, of Tilden, Ill. and David McKinsley, of Sparta, Ill. The body is at the residence and will be sent to Coulterville this morning.
Sources :
Newspaper Article from The Atlanta Constitution of September 17, 1899
Marriage License Record -- Book K, page 139, Fulton County, Georgia marriage records
C. W. McCLURE is in the book "Men of Mark in Georgia" by William Northen
A. B. Caldwell Pub., Atlanta 1912, Vol 6 of 7, pages 295 - 298
Photograph of McClure Ten Cent Co. - Store Front - 1910
Newspaper Article from The Atlanta Journal of November 4, 1914
Newspaper Article from The New York Times of June 14, 1915
Photograph of McClure Ten Cent Co. - Building - 1918
Newspaper Article from The Atlanta Constitution of March 20, 1919
Photograph of C. W. McClure, The Atlanta Constitution of June 22, 1919, Page 10-F
Obituary of Sarah McClure from : The Atlanta Constitution of February 3, 1921
"Who Was Who in America", Vol 4, 1961 - 1968, page 629
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