Of the five Civil War generals buried in Montgomery Cemetery, Matthew Robert McClennan is perhaps the least known. Born in 1834, McClennan worked as a printer before the war, opening his own shop on Main St. in Norristown.
The advertisement shown here is from a local newspaper called The National Defender dated August 15, 1871. The Historical Society of Montgomery County is the only repository holding a near complete run of this paper which was publishing in Norristown from 1856 until about 1900.
The paper also ran an obituary for McClennan upon his death in June 1872. The men who served under him in the 138th Regiment, erected a monument to his memory in Montgomery Cemetery.
You can read more about McClennan’s life and military career in Ed Ziegler’s article in this winter’s newsletter.