Elijah McClanahan

Elijah McClanahan (April 20, 1770 – December 1, 1857) (aka Elijah McClanachan; McClanechan, etc.) was a planter and soldier in western Virginia and the Roanoke Valley. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th/121st Virginia Militia in the War of 1812, and was one of the largest landholders in what later became Roanoke County, Virginia.

Early life Elijah McClanahan was the son of William and Sarah Neely McClanahan, along with three brothers: John, James and Green. He was noted as being generous, and probably had previously contracted smallpox, because at the age of 13, on October 10, 1783, he was "...allowed five pounds for attending a Continental soldier with the small pox." By the age of 22, he was granted a license to keep an ordinary (tavern) in their house.

War of 1812 On August 11, 1795, he took an oath of Captain of the Virginia militia.

Post war McClanahan was a substantial landowner in Virginia, and the owner of most of the land that ultimately became the northwest section of Roanoke City. As early as 1798, he purchased along with his partner and father-in-law, Colonel Andrew Lewis, two plots of land of 92 and 84 acres each along the Little River in Montgomery County, Virginia. By 1820, McClanahan had built Villa Heights, a two-story house in the Federal style located in what would become Northwest Roanoke City. The house was expanded and renovated multiple times, and was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

McClanahan served as a justice when Roanoke County, Virginia was formed from part of Botetourt County, Virginia. He later was appointed the county's first high sheriff. He was also one of the trustees at the founding of the town of Salem and among the founding elders of Salem Presbyterian Church. He additionally served as one of the justices of the county court in 1838, 1852 and 1856.

Death McClanahan died on December 1, 1857.