William Campbell McLean was born in Grenada, Grenada County, Mississippi, on June 10, 1854. He was the son of Robert Davidson and Mary Ann McLean and the grandson of Judge Alney and Tabitha McLean of Greenville, Kentucky. William Campbell McLean attended school in Grenada until the age of sixteen when he entered Kentucky University (now Transylvania University) in Lexington. He graduated in June of 1874 and returned to Grenada where he read law under William R. Barksdale. McLean was admitted to the Mississippi bar in June of 1875 and became the law partner of Barksdale.

McLean married Susannah Collins on August 21, 1882. She was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Collins of Yalobusha County, Mississippi. The couple resided in Grenada where they had nine children: Robert Davidson (b. July 18, 1883), Elizabeth (b. September 6, 1885), Alney Charles (b. August 18, 1887), William (b. 1890), Susie (b. August 12, 1892), Frank Collins (b. February 1, 1894), William Campbell, Jr. (b. December 17, 1897), Russell (b. 1899), and an unnamed infant son (b. January 4, 1902). Susannah Collins McLean died on January 25, 1902. McLean married his second wife, Belle Booth Chamberlin, on February 14, 1906. She was the daughter of Captain and Mrs. William MacPherson Chamberlin of Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi. The couple had one son who died in infancy.

William Campbell McLean was a delegate to the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890. He was appointed as an associate justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court by Governor Edmond Favor Noel on October 11, 1911. McLean returned to Grenada to practice law after the expiration of his court term on May 10, 1912. He moved to the Tampa, Florida, area in the 1920s to oversee business interests there. McLean died in Florida on September 8, 1928, and was interred at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Grenada. Belle Booth Chamberlin McLean died on December 14, 1944, and was interred at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Grenada.

This collection consists of two letters, a gift card, and accompanying information relating to each item. The first letter is from William Campbell McLean to his daughter, Susie McLean Trotter (Mrs. W. C. Trotter, Sr.), in 1928. In the letter, McLean mentions his son, Russell, and discusses fishing and the weather. He also asks his daughter to send the measurements of his granddaughter, Sue, so that he can purchase a dress for her the next time he is in Tampa. There is a typewritten transcription of the 1928 letter, possibly by Sally Stone Trotter (Mrs. W. C. Trotter, Jr.). The second letter is identified as being from Belle Booth Chamberlin to William Campbell McLean in 1905. The letter concerns a Christmas gift intended for McLean. There is also a gift card addressed to Chamberlin from McLean. Included are typewritten notes regarding these three items, which were probably supplied by Sally Stone Trotter. They offer background information on the family of William Campbell McLean.

1. Papers. 1905-1928; n.d. 1 folder.