Family Histories: The Thomas McLellan Family

Rog1io Marquez, heir to the Marquez Land Grant, which occupied what is now Santa Monica and Hollywood Palisades, had numerous children. A daughter, Mercedes, eloped with a Scottish (Irish?) sailor, Thomas McLellan, who had jumped ship and then gone to work on the Marquez hacienda. They went to Arizona and she was followed there by her brother Roy.

Thomas McLellan, who left his homeland in his teens, was one of the first in this part of the Wild West. Thomas McLellan built one of the first school houses in the Florence district. The school was named Cuerreia or Cuereria, and was a sod structure which stood upon a knoll, overlooking the River (Gila), and remained in use until about 1912. So, over the years, a great many children had the opportunity for full-term schooling, and, without Thomas McLellan’s civic endeavor, this would not have been possible.

The Gila River was more subject to flooding in that time and there were a great many days when travel to the Florence school would have been impossible. Also, Cuerreia or Cuereria school became a popular gathering place for the ranchers, their families and their hands. Some 15 to 20 families lived in the immediate vicinity. There were reports that some of the dances held in that school lasted until daylight.

The McLellan ranch was known in later years as the Tidwell Place and the Webb Ranch. Thomas MeLellan worked as a clerk of the court, a job to which he had devoted part-time, even while operating the ranch. Thomas McLellan built a home on Park Street in Florence and reared his family there. The house is now the Clarence Knight residence. All the Mc.Lellan children attended Convent School, a Roman Catholic Institution.

Thomas McLellan’s son, Roy McLellan, was in the first contingent of draftees to be called up from Florence in World War I. Roy was also the first Florence casualty in that war. Eventually, Thomas McLellan died of cancer after spending a huge fortune in an attempt to find a cure. The quest included a trip to Europe. The children from the union of Mercedes and Thomas were: Margaret, Roy, Robert, Sarah, Mary, Lydia, Helen, Mercedes and Inez(Agnes).

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