William McLain is listed as a resident of Bristol, ME, where he "was paid for running the Town line on May 4, 1772." He was recorded as a constable in 1782 and was a member of the "Committee on Correspondence and Safety." Family tradition says he served in the Revolutionary War.

William and his wife Elizabeth (Johnson) McLain had at least nine children, all listed in the Bristol, ME Vital Records:

• Samuel, b. 24 Feb 1754, d. after 1828, m. 9 Apr 1789 Phoebe Cudworth, daughter of Capt. Joseph Cudworth and Lydia Tower. They had eight children.
• Sarah, b. 1758.
• William, b. 1759.
• John, b. 1761.
• Fergus, b. 3 March 1763; m. Elizabeth Meservey.
• Elizabeth, b. 1765.
• Archibald, b. 27 Sept. 1766.
• James, b. 1768.
• Alexander, b. 1774. It is possible that he moved to Appleton, ME, in the section known as McLains Mills.

It is believed that William and his wife Elizabeth (Johnson) McLain had one other child according to a Genealogical Chart drawn by Dr. Hazel Roberts which chart contained a reference to notes of Mr. H. C. Pease, descendant, in possession of Mr. J. E. Chaples, Appleton, Maine, 1954:

• Martha, b. 1770, m. John Meservey.

This couple moved to Appleton, ME, soon after their marriage. (In the Belfast, ME newspaper, The Belfast Republican Journal of August 20, 1851, in an article entitled "Sketches of Waldo County, #7," we find reference that Fergus McLain was one of the first settlers of Appleton, ME, in 1787.) Fergus and his brother, Archibald, and their families first lived on the Ridge in Appleton. They bought land in the valley of the St. Georges River, just below the Ridge, from General Henry Knox who was Secretary of War under President Washington. That land was part of the Town of Hope and they moved there from the Ridge in 1790. Each family built a home and these buildings are still standing. Fergus built a sawmill and Archibald a gristmill and the area became known as McLains Mills. Fergus had a large amount of land between the west side of the river and the Ridge and Archibald had a large amount of land on the east side of the river. Archibald gave land for a burying ground, now called Pine Grove Cemetery, provided that the citizens would build a wall around it.

At the first town meeting of Hope in 1804, Fergus McLain was elected first selectman. From 1809 through 1813, he served as one of the first to represent the Town of Hope in the General Court of Massachusetts in Boston. He was one of the framers of the Constitution of the State of Maine, and after Maine became a separate state in 1820, he was elected the first representative to the Maine Legislature representing both Hope and Appleton in 1821. In 1823, McLains Mills was granted a post office and Fergus was appointed postmaster. Fergus was a town clerk for the Town of Hope and was a selectman for 22 successive years. He remained active in public affairs until the time of his death.

The area of the Town of Hope which included McLains Mills was separated from that town in 1843 and became part of the Town of Appleton, ME.

Fergus and his wife Elizabeth (Meservey) McLain had at least seven children, possibly more, all but the first born in Hope, ME:

• William, b. probably in Bristol, ME in 1786; m. Eunice Robbins.
• John, b. 1790.
• Nathaniel, b. 1792.
• Alexander, b. 1794.
• Benjamin, b. 1796.
• Nancy, b. 1800; m. Nathaniel Sprague.
• Jerusha, b. 7 June 1804; d. 11 Feb. 1890; m. Charles Augustus Keene.