Family stories and information:

Sacca Gold told the story about  her mother Alice as a child during the civil war.  Alice remembered being carried to safety by her Black Nanny during a Civil War battle near their house.  Her nanny had to carry her through an orchard to the safety of Alice's father's tavern.  While running through the orchard, tree branches were being blown off by artillery shells going through them.

Another family story was that Alice's father was being chased by bushwackers during the Civil War.  He had to bury his money and escape to Arkansas.  He was caught and murdered.  His murderers brought his gold toothpick that he always carried back to his home in Newton County, MO and threw it on his wife's lap as proof that they had murdered him.  Eliza's sister went to Arkansas to bring his body back for burial.  It was thought that maybe Thomas McClain's business partner had him murdered.

On the McClain message board at Genforum.Genealogy.com, Laurel G., a descendent of Amanda McClain, Thomas's sister writes, "Amanda moved with her children to Newtonia, Missouri to live with her brother Tom around the end of the Civil War. He was shot & killed by his best friend Bob Christian." 

Click the image to see it bigger. 

This map shows McClain's farm during a battle in Newtonia, Newton Co., Missouri in 1864.  This map is from the American Memory Project at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html

Mississippi - I think this is the same person because Alice McClain Gold in later censuses says that her father was born in Mississippi.  He died when she was very young and wasn't actually born in MS, but maybe she knew he had lived there before.

From the Marshall County, Mississippi website http://www.rootsweb.com/~msmarsha/:
"...16 counties formed in 1836 from lands secured from the Chickasaw Indians, the aboriginal inhabitants of this area." 

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Union Co., MS            5/6/1839          160.06
Aliquot: NE       Sec: 23/       Twp: 6-S       Range: 1-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Patrick Henry Fontaine, Assignee of Thomas Nelson McClain
Purchased by Thomas Nelson McClain and given to Patrick Henry Fontaine
Union Co., MS       4/9/1842       159.71 acres
Aliquot: SW      Sec: 8/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain, Assignee of Patrick Henry Fontaine
Purchased by Patrick Henry Fontaine and given to Thomas Nelson McClain
Union Co., MS       4/9/1842       159.95 acres
Aliquot: NE       Sec: 17/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Union Co, MS            4/9/1842         159.71 acres
Aliquot: SE       Sec: 8/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E      Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain, Assignee of Joel Pinson
Purchased by Joel Pinson and given to Thomas Nelson McClain
Union Co., MS        4/9/1842           160.25 acres
Aliquot: NW       Sec: 18/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Union Co., MS        4/9/1842         160.12 acres
Aliquot: SW       Sec: 7/       Twp: 8-S       Range:2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall Co MS
Pontotoc Co., MS      4/9/1842        160.14 acres
Aliquot: SE      Sec: 15/       Twp: 9-S      Range: 1-E      Meridian: Chickasaw

Lawson McLean Bigham, Assignee of Thomas Nelson McClain
Purchased by Thomas Nelson McClain and given to Lawson McLean Bigham
Pontotoc Co. MS      4/9/1842        159.78 acres
Aliquot: NW      Sec: 34/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Pontotoc Co., MS       4/9/1842     320.62 acres
Aliquot: W1/2       Sec: 19/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Pontotoc Co., MS        4/9/1842      159.9 acres
Aliquot: SE       Sec: 30/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Pontotoc Co., MS       4/9/1842      319.8 acres
Aliquot: N1/2       Sec: 30/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Pontotoc Co., MS        4/9/1842       159.9 acres
Aliquot: SW       Sec: 30/       Twp: 8-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Benton Co., MS       4/9/1842          159.89 acres
Aliquot: NE       Sec: 14/       Twp: 4-S        Range: 1-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Harwood Morgan Assignee of Thomas Nelson McClain
Purchased by Thomas Nelson McClain and given to Harwood Morgan
Benton Co., MS       4/9/1842         160.15 acres
Aliquot: SW       Sec: 1/       Twp: 5-S       Range: 1-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Benton Co., MS       4/9/1842         147.16 acres
Aliquot: NE       Sec: 36/       Twp: 4-S       Range: 1-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain, Assignee of Harwood Morgan
Purchased by Harwood Morgan and given to Thomas Nelson McClain
Benton Co., MS       4/9/1842         160.28 acres
Aliquot: NE       Sec: 30/       Twp: 5-S       Range: 2-E       Meridian: Chickasaw

Thomas Nelson McClain of Marshall County, MS
Lafayette Co., MS        6/15/1843         320 arces
Aliquot: E1/2       Sec: 19/       Twp: 9-S       Range: 3-W       Meridian: Chickasaw

James Greer, Assignee of Thomas Nelson McClain
Purchased by Thomas Nelson McClain and given to James Greer
De Soto Co., MS         10/9/1845        160.42 acres
Aliquot: SE       Sec: 16/       Twp: 2-S       Range: 8-W       Meridian: Chickasaw

Why do they purchase land and then give it to someone else?

Arkansas

Thomas Nelson McClain
Benton Co. AR     9/1/1849     80 acres
Aliquot Parts: NWSW and NWSE    Sec./Block: 2/      Twp: 20N     Range: 30-W       Meridian: 5^th PM

Benton Co. AR     9/1/1849    40.09 arcres
Aliquot Parts: NENW    Sec./Block: 1/      Twp: 20N     Range: 30-W       Meridian: 5^th PM

Benton Co. AR     11/15/1854    40 acres
Aliquot: NWNE      Sec: 31/      Twp: 21-N      Range: 29-W      Meridian: 5^th PM

Missouri

Thomas N. McClain       
Newton Co., MO     5/15/1857    40 acres
Aliquot: NENE      Sec: 27/      Twp: 25-N      Range: 30-W      Meridian: 5^th PM

Newton Co., MO     5/15/1857    40 arces
Aliquot: NENW      Sec: 27/      Twp: 25-N      Range: 30-W      Meridian: 5^th PM