JOHN FLEMING MCCLAIN, Vice-President
and Director of Foreign Business of the Remington Typewriter Company, is
one of the most enterprising and energetic Scots in New York City. He
entered this large concern in his youth and his promotion from the lowest
step to his present position has been due to close application to business
and sheer ability.
Mr. McClain was born near Toronto,
Canada, in 1865, the son of Robert and Catherine (Turreff) McClain. He is
a descendant in the male line from the Clan Maclaine (spelled variously
MacLean, MacClam, MacLane, etc.) of Lochbuie. Mr. McClain ‘s paternal
grandmother was a Fleming, his maternal grandmother a Watson. His mother
was a lineal descendant of the Colquhouns. Her father was William Turreff,
a prominent iron manufacturer of Glasgow.
The Clan Maclaine, of Lochbuie,
sprang from Hector Reganach, brother of Lauchlan Lubanach, from whom
descend the Macleans of Duart. They were the sons of Eoin Dubh, or Black
John, who was settled in the Island of Mull. Which of the brothers was the
elder has never been properly authenticated, although the Maclaines of
Lochbuie have always claimed the
seniority of Hector, who is believed
to have married a lady of the Clan MaeLeod. The nominal possessions of the
family were vast, viz., the lands of Lochiel, Duror, Morven, Glencoe,
Tiree, Jura, Scarba and Mull. The Castle Lochbuie, including the dungeon,
is in a good state of preservation. The present Chief of the Clan is
Kenneth Douglass Lorne Maclaine of Lochbuie, a Major in the British Army.
Mr. John Fleming McClain came to New
York City in 1884. His long connection with the writing machine industry
has been a brilliant one and his steady advance therein is shown by the
following epitome: In 1884 he entered the Remington service a
stenographer; 1885, Manager New York City business; 1898, Director for
Southern Europe, headquarters in Paris; 1900, General Superintendent of
Sales, headquarters in New York; 1901, Secretary and General Manager;
1906, Vice-President; 1912, Vice-President and Director of Foreign
Business.
Mr. McClain in 1892 was united in
marriage with Miss Carrie Helene Bell, daughter of Clark and Helene S.
Bell, of New York. Bruce McClain, their only living child, was born in
1901. Mr. McClain resides in Montclair, N. .J. He is a member of
the St. Andrew’s Society and is widely esteemed by a wide circle of
friends and acquaintances as well as by his business associates and
employees for his genial and attractive personality.
