John McLane

Who was John McLane?

John McLane was a furniture maker and politician from Milford, New Hampshire. He was Governor of New Hampshire from 1905 to 1907.

He was born in Lennoxtown, in Scotland, the son of Alexander McLane and his wife Mary, née Hay, and was brought to America with his family in 1853, when he was one year old. They settled in Manchester, and moved to Milford in 1869. Upon completion of his schooling, he became a cabinetmaker's apprentice, and opened his own shop in 1876. The business's success secured other business opportunities for him: he became a director of the Milford Granite Company, the Souheagan National Bank and the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company.

On 10 March 1880 he married Ellen Luetta Tuck. They had four children, Clinton Averill McLane, Hazel Ellen McLane, John Roy McLane, and Charles Malcolm McLane. His great-granddaughter, Ann McLane Kuster, is the New Hampshire Representative in the 2nd District in the House of Representatives.

McLane was elected, as a Republican, to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1885, and to the New Hampshire Senate in 1891, representing the 16th District 1891-92 and the 15th District 1893-94.