McClain Sibling Reunion, July 1938

Evidently the surviving children of Nathan and Mary McClain gathered for a reunion in July 1938. These are the group photos from that gathering.

From left: Charlie, Nellie, Clyde,Arthur, Ray, Ellery, Jim, Mae. It is a mystery why Clara is not in this photo (and I infer, did not attend this reunion). She lived in Salem at this time, I believe, so wasn’t far removed from the rest of the siblings (except Jim). I assume that something pretty significant prevented her attendance, since getting the McClains together was so important to her later. Note: Between the splotchy fading of this print over the years and the very uneven lighting when the photo was taken originally, this was the best I could do with it, though it is far from ideal.
This is by far the clearest of these three photos, at least in its current condition. Front row: Charlie, Nellie, Mae, Jim. Back row: Ray, Clyde, Arthur, Ellery.
Someone thought to take a photo of just “the boys.” From left: Charlie, Clyde, Arthur, Ray, Ellery, Jim. This is another photo with uneven original lighting and a lot of fading since. I wish it were clearer.

We’ve seen so many photos of these people, individually or collectively, as relatively young people. It is interesting to see them at the other end of life. They weren’t really that old, though, by modern standards. Charlie, the oldest of the group, was two months away from his 63rd birthday. Nevertheless, just 5½ years after this photo was taken, Charlie and Nellie passed away. I don’t know how often this group got together (I have seen no photographic evidence in the archives that this was even a regular occurrence), but this may have been the last time all these siblings were together. By ten years after this reunion, only four of the siblings were still living: Mae, Ray and Ellery, plus Clara, who is not in these photos.

3 thoughts on “McClain Sibling Reunion, July 1938”

  1. Thank you, Lloyd, for working on these photographs. These, like many of the others, I don’t remember ever seeing. Priceless treasures!

  2. Thank you for posting these. I am Jim’s granddaughter. My mom was his youngest daughter from his second marriage to my grandma.

  3. These are great photos! Raymond Boyd was my great-grandfather. Unfortunately I was not able to meet him as I was born years after he passed away. My father talks fondly of him.

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