Samuel A. McClanahan
Samuel A. McClanahan, of West Union, is a scion of a pioneer family of Adams County. He was born at the old McClanahan homestead in Liberty Township, now occupied by J. A. McClanahan, June 27, 1846. His great-grandfather, John McClanahan, emigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland, in 1785, and with his family settled on the James River in the Old Dominion, after which he removed to Kentucky, settling near Lexington in that State. Being opposed to human slavery, as it then existed in the South, he removed to Adams County, Ohio, and located on the headwaters of the East Fork of Eagle Creek on lands still in possession of his descendants. By his second wife, Elizabeth Thompson, he had four children: William, Martha. Rebecca, and Margaret. William was the grandfather of our subject and was married to Nancv Paul, January 15, 1809. On September 28. 1814, his father deeded William fifty acres of a tract of one hundred acres bought from General Massie. and which is yet owned by his son, John McClanahan, born there October 20, 1820. William McClanahan lived there until his decease in 1858. He is buried at Cherry Fork. His son, James McClanahan. father of our subject, was born September 25, 1814. He received a good common school education, and when a young man taught school for several years. He became one of the prominent business men of Adams County, and at his death had amassed quite a fortune. April 11, 1843. he married Miss Sophia Baldridge. a daughter of John Baldridge and Ada Cole, his wife, of Lick Fork. They reared a family of seven children.
Samuel A. McClanahan, the subject of this sketch, is a son and second child of James McClanahan and Sophia Baldridge. He received a good education, but has devoted his time to farming and stock raising for many years. At the age of eighteen years, he enlisted as a private in the 141st Regiment O. V. I., and served in the Army of West Virginia until his honorable discharge with his regiment in 1864. He is a member of John W. McFcrren Post, G. A. R., West Union, Ohio.
He was married October 6, 1870, to Miss Sarah M. Zercher, a daughter of Jacob and Katharine (Ebrite) Zercher, of Adams County. To them have been born eight children: Laura E., deceased; J. Frank,
Albert A.; Robert P.; Nora Helen, deceased; John B.; Ralph H, and Margaret May.
Mr. McClanahan owns a fine farm on the Maysville and Zanesville pike two miles southwest of West Union, and is rated among the most substantial citizens of the county. In politics, he is a Republican, and in religious affairs he adheres to the church of his fathers, the Presbyterian, in which he is an elder.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900