SCOTT COUNTY, INDIANA
BIOGRAPHIES
William H.
McClanahan
William H. McClanahan was born in
Scott county, Indiana, on October 4, 1840, and is a son of Francis and
Armilda W. (Moore) McClanahan, both of whom are now deceased. The
subject came from a long line of sterling ancestors, who were
characterized by loyalty to the national government in time of war, his
paternal grandfather, Robert McClanahan, having served in the war of
1812, and four uncles were Union soldiers during the Civil war. The
subject was reared on the paternal farmstead in Scott county and
received his education in the public schools of the neighborhood. On
the outbreak of the Southern rebellion he enlisted, on July in. 1861,
as a private in Company C, Thirty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
with which he went to the front, his enlistment having taken place at
Lexington. Indiana. Soon after his enlistment he was taken ill with
measles and this, with resultant diseases, for several months
necessitated his confinement in hospitals at Woodsonville. Columbia,
Nashville and Madison. Indiana. He was granted a thirty-day sick
furlough from the Woodsonville hospital in December. 1861, which was
later extended to sixty days, at the expiration of which period he
reported for duty at Franklin, Tennessee. He received an honorable
discharge and on his return to civil pursuits he took up the vocation
of farming, which he followed with splendid success until a few years
ago when he retired and is now living in Franklin. He has a pleasant
home on East King street and is engaged in dairying, in which he is
meeting with splendid success, having a comfortable and attractive
place of ten acres, on which he is spending his latter days in
comfortable retirement.
On January T, 1863. in Scott county. Indiana. Mr. McClanahan was
married to Rebecca E. Flemming, who was born in Scott county, Indiana,
on September 27, 1840, the daughter of Archibald and Mary (Hogeland)
Flemming, both of whom are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. McClanahan were
born two children. Frank and Perry. Perry McClanahan inherited to a
marked degree his father's patriotic disposition and military instinct,
and at the outbreak of the Spanish war he enlisted as a private in
Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, with which he did faithful and courageous service during that
brief struggle. He is still a member of the regular army, stationed at
Washington. D. C., in the marine service. The family's splendid
military record is further enhanced by the fact that Mrs. McClanahan
had two brothers in the service, William and Reid Flemming, both of
whom served in Indiana regiments, and William died during the service
from disabilities contracted therein. Their father, Archibald Flemming,
served in the Indian wars and achieved a splendid record as a soldier.
Fraternally, Mr. McClanahan keeps alive his old army associations by
his membership in Wadsvvorth Post No. 127, Grand Army of the Republic,
in which he has held a number of official positions. Religiously he is
a member and, with his wife, a prominent worker in the Presbyterian
church. By his advocacy of wholesome living, pure politics and honesty
in business, Mr. McClanahan has long enjoyed the undivided respect and
esteem of all who know him, being regarded as one of Johnson county's
most substantial and worthy citizens.
