Career
Their son, John, 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. Widowed, she remarried in 1899 to Admiral George Dewey.
In 1882, he moved to Washington, District of Columbia 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.
Mary McLean died on December 9, 1900 in her 72nd year and was interred with him.