McClelland, Robert

Born: 1807-08-01 Greencastle, Pennsylvania

Died: 1880-08-30 Detroit, Michigan

Robert McClelland graduated from Dickinson College in 1829 and began teaching and studied law. He earned admittance to the bar in Chambersburg in 1832. McClelland moved to Pittsburgh and later to Monroe, Michigan in 1833, where he practiced law. He served as a delegate at the convention called to frame a constitution for the State of Michigan in 1835 and to the Michigan constitutional conventions in 1850 and 1867. McClelland served on the board of regents of the University of Michigan in 1837 and 1850, while also serving in the State House of Representatives in 1837, 1839, and 1843, serving as speaker during 1843. He won election as mayor of Monroe in 1841. McClelland won election, as a Democrat, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1843-1849. After his time in Congress, McClelland was a delegate to the Democratic national conventions in 1848, 1852, and 1868. He was also a delegate to the Democratic State Convention in 1850. McClelland won election as governor of Michigan in 1851 and served until his resignation in 1853, when he earned appointment as secretary of the Department of the Interior under President Pierce, a position he held until 1857. He returned to Detroit to practice law until his death.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1470; Gravestone, Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, MI.