Judge Samuel McClanahan
Robert McClanahan and Isabelle, his wife, came from Ireland and purchased land on which West Union is now located and while it was still a part of the Northwest Territory, they donated or sold the land for public buildings to the county. Their son, Samuel, was born on the fifteenth of February, 1797. He, was married to Mary Armstrong, December 14, 1815, and located on the farm west of West Union, where he lived until 1864 when he removed to North Liberty, Ohio, and died March 5, 1882. Isabelle, his daughter, married William McGovney, May 9, 1839. He was elected Associate Judge of Adams County in 1831 and served one term. He was a practical surveyor and did a great deal of work in the way of land surveying. He was also a school teacher and County Examiner and was one of the first School Examiners in the county. He died November 5, 1881.
In politics he was a Whig, an Abolitionist and a Republican. He was a strong temperance advocate. He set the example of total abstinence by refusing to use liquor at a barn raising or in harvest, and to show his harvest hands it was not to save money, he offered to pay each one the amount extra for the cost of the whiskey they had formerly been furnished. He was a Presbyterian, a ruling elder in the church for many years, the Associate Reformed and afterwards the United Presbyterian. He was liberal in his views and spiritually minded. In the last few years of his life, there was but one book to him—the Bible. He read it four times in four years, and said that each time he re-read it there was some thing new. His mind was clear to the last. In his final illness, he spoke calmly of his approaching end, and passed away in the confidence of Christian faith.
In his personal appearance Judge McClanahan was a remarkable figure, and in his old age he was one of the best types of the patriarch, with his long flowing beard and dignified bearing. He was a man among men and respected by the entire community for his sterling virtues.
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