[2] She had been previously married to Dr. John Pierre Van Bibber, a Baltimore physician who had died in 1892.

[3] His actions in office included the appointment of William Cabell Bruce to the position of city solicitor,[4] and, far more controversially, the management of the Great Baltimore Fire in February 1904: during the fire, McLane "stood in the streets (...) cheering on the firefighters", which historian and professor of management Pete Petersen has described as "the macho thing to do", but "not the smartest", since it meant that McLane was incommunicado, and could not accept offers of aid from other cities.

[6] Those who knew him had differing opinions as to this verdict, with some emphasizing the stress that he had faced as a result of the post-fire reconstruction.

[6] In 2004, researchers from The Baltimore Sun pointed out that McLane had gotten married two weeks before his death, which could have alleviated his stress, but that his family had refused to attend the wedding because his wife was 12 years older than he and from the wrong social class ("the smart set" as opposed to "the retiring aristocratic sort"), which could have exacerbated it.

[2] They also pointed out that McLane left no suicide note, and that he had written a letter earlier that day describing his plans for the following week.