William McClure, one of the old settlers of what is now Lawrence County, came from Giles County, Virginia, where he married Lucretia Chapman, and settled on the Sandy, about five miles above the Forks, where, or near where, he continued to reside until his death in 1861. His faithful wife died the same year. From this pair have descended a large family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Among the first and second generations, from William McClure and wife, are found some of the prominent people of the valley. Some are well to do farmers, while others are teachers and professional men and women. One grandson is a noted doctor in the interior of Kentucky; another high school teacher; another a professor in a deaf and dumb asylum; and still another is at the head of the educational department of his native county. A granddaughter was, for several years, a teacher in a noted college of the State.

The McClure family has always maintained a respectable standing among the people of Lawrence and the adjoining country. They were Methodists from the beginning, and most of them are now in communion with the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are Republicans in politics; and have contributed to the material, moral, and intellectual wealth of the valley.

William Ely, The Big Sandy Valley (Catlettsburg, KY: n.p., 1887), pp.245-246.