Daughter of Silas C. Harvey and Sarah D. Arnold.

Louisa's surname is spelled McLean in Rock Creek records, in her various obituaries and in some census records, but her tombstone gives it as McLane, and her sons also used both spellings. It is possible she preferred to use McLean after a divorce to differentiate herself from her ex-husband, but never changed it legally.

From the Washington Post, February 15, 1914:

MRS. L. M'LEAN DIES

Was Mother of Four Soldiers in the Civil War

PIONEER OF MEMORIAL DAY

She Made Shirts for Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur -- Given Special Permission to Decorate Confederate Graves in Arlington Cemetery. Rebellion Cost Her Large Fortune.

Mrs. Louisa August Harvey McLean, the first observer of Decoration day, mother of four sons who fought in the civil war, and well known in this city through her loyalty to the Confederacy during the rebellion, died yesterday in her ninety-fourth year, at her home, 727 Twentieth street northwest.

Mrs. McLean was born at Sand Lake, near Troy, NY. Following her marriage to Archibell [sic] McLean, she came to Washington and has been living here for three-quarters of a century. At the outbreak of the civil war, three of her sons joined the Confederate army and one entered the Union ranks.

Had Five Nephews in the War.

She also had five nephews who fought in the war, and was known to many as "the soldiers' mother".

The rebellion caused the loss of a large fortune. When peace was restored, Mrs. McLean went into the shirt-making business on F street, where the Columbia Theater now stands. When her sons died, she went to the Lenthall Home for Widows, where she lived for 34 years. She has been living on Twentieth street less than a year.

Among Mrs. McLean's early customers were Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur, several Vice Presidents, a long list of congressmen, and many army and navy folk.

Decorated Confederate Graves

Mrs. McLean was given special permission by President Grant to decorate the graves of the Confederates in Arlington cemetery. Her son had been killed in the Union lines and was buried at Arlington, and on the first Memorial day, she decorated two Confederate graves and one Union grave.

For the last four months, Mrs. McLean has been confined to her bed.

She is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Thomas Fuller, of Globe, Ariz. [this was actually her daughter-in-law Katrina, the remarried widow of Louisa's son Maxwell A. McLean, referred to in her will], and one niece, Miss Blanche E. Rice, of New York. Funeral services will be held in the chapel of Joseph Gawler's Sons tomorrow. The Rev. George W. Atkinson, jr. will officiate. Interment will be in Rock Creek cemetery.

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There are some inaccuracies in the above obituary. Three of her sons, Maxwell, Allen, and William, fought for the Union. Maxwell enlisted in Company A, Minnesota 1st Infantry Regiment on 27 May 1861, Allen in the 77th New York Infantry, and William H. in the 77th New York Volunteers, Saratoga County. None of them were actually killed in the war. Some family trees show her son Mortimer, born Dec 1845, as having died 22 May 1862. I have not yet found supporting data on this.

Census records show the family more often spelled their surname McLane. Two of Louisa's deceased sons are mentioned in her 1909 will: Maxwell Arnold (born 3 Oct 1842, died Mar 1901) and Allen Chester McLean (born Dec 1847, died 11 Aug 1907), and the spelling McLane is also used there. Both married. Allen had no children; Maxwell had three.

Some genealogical records give Louisa's husband as Archibald Arnold McLane, who was born in Scotland in about 1813, and died in California about 1884. An A.A. McLane is listed as "divorced" in Inyo County, California in the 1880 census.

The 1850 census shows the following family in Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, NY. Maxwell and Allen's names and ages match Archibald and Louisa sons:

Arthur, age 36

Eliza, age 29

William, age 9

Maxwell, age 7

Monting, age 5

Allen, age 3

Scott, age 1