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William P. McLean

American politician (1836-1925)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ1419199 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Pinckney McLean (August 9, 1836 – March 13, 1925) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge. He represented Texas's 2nd congressional district in the 43rd United States Congress, from 1873 to 1875. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives during the American Civil War and resigned his seat to fight for the Confederacy.

Biography

Born in Copiah County, Mississippi, McLean moved with his mother to Marshall, Texas, in 1839.

He attended private schools and graduated from the law department of the University of North Carolina, where he was a member and for some time the secretary pro tempore of the Philanthropic Society, in 1857 and was admitted to the bar the next year. McLean commenced the practice of his profession at Jefferson, Texas.

He became a member of the Texas House of Representatives in 1861. McLean resigned to enter the Confederate States Army as a private of the 19th Texas Infantry Regiment, in the third brigade of Walker's Texas Division.

He was promoted to captain and then major, and served throughout the Civil War.

In 1869, he was elected again as a state representative.

Editorial summary

“William P. McLean” enters the record as american politician (1836-1925). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what William, McLean and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1836, 1925, 1873, 1875—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1836-08-09. Its strongest next move is a source search built around William, McLean and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“William P. McLean” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, William, McLean and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1419199. VIAF identifies the subject as 101559840. The Library of Congress control number is no2009170937. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1836, 1925, 1873 and 1875.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “William P. McLean”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow William P. McLean primary sources, William P. McLean archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “William P. McLean”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William P. McLean” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.