Washington McLean was an American businessman of Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 ancestry best known as the owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, in 1848 Washington McLean and his brother S.B.W. McLean acquired a share position in the Cincinnati Enquirer to be partners with editor James J. Farran. Washington McLean bought out Farran in the 1860s and in 1872 sold a half interest in the newspaper to his son.

McLean and his wife Mary had three children. Their son, John

John Roll McLean

John Roll McLean was the owner and publisher of The Washington Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer. McLean was also a one-time partner in the ownership of the Cincinnati Red Stockings baseball team of the American Association and also the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds of the Union Association.He was born...

, purchased his father's remaining fifty percent in the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1881 and went on to acquire the Washington Post in 1905. Their daughter, Mildred "Millie" McLean (1845–1931), was married in 1871 to General William Babcock Hazen

William Babcock Hazen

William Babcock Hazen was a career United States Army officer who served in the Indian Wars, as a Union general in the American Civil War, and as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army...

. Widowed, she remarried in 1899 to Admiral George Dewey

George Dewey

George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...

.
Washington McLean was a prominent member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and served as chairman of the Ohio Democratic State central committee in 1853. In 1882, he moved to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 but maintained a legal residency in Cincinnati. In the nation's capital he made large and successful investments in real estate that expanded his wealth. He died there on December 8, 1890 and although initially was to be returned to Cincinnati for burial, he was interred in a mausoleum in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE in Washington, D.C.'s Michigan Park neighborhood, near Washington's Petworth neighborhood...

. Mary McLean died on December 9, 1900 in her 72nd year and was interred with him.