McClanahan, Monroe, IL Vol Inf

Monroe Robentile McClanahan

IL Vol Inf, Co. A, 138th Reg

Monroe Robentile McClanahan, 17^th child of Capt. John McClanahan and Peggy Black Wright, was born in Brown County, Ohio, on March 7, 1844 and died in Caldwell, Kansas at the home of one of his two sons, Dr. William A. McClanahan on Dec. 3, 1923.

When Monroe was eleven years old, the family moved to Monmouth, Illinois. In 1864, he volunteered as a soldier in the Civil War and served in his brother’s (William Steele McClanahan) Infantry until the end of the war. He then returned to Monmouth, Illinois. On September 19, 1865, he was married in a double wedding to Sarah Isabel Struthers, along with his brother, Francis Marion McClanahan (also a Civil War Veteran) who married Elizabeth Foster. In 1872, he moved his family to Ringgold County, Iowa, and improved a farm south of Mount Ayr. Five children came to this union, the three girls dying in infancy. The two boys were William A. and Nelson Rankin McClanahan (of Aberdeen, South Dakota).

In early life he made a profession of religion and united with the United Presbyterian Church of Cedar Creek, Illinois and was always an active member of the church. He was a charter member and an elder of the Alexis United Presbyterian Church and served as elder a number of years in the Mount Ayr United Presbyterian Church. At the time of his death, he held his membership in the West Side United Presbyterian Church of Monmouth, Illinois.    

Mrs. Belle McClanahan died November 20, 1893. On May 25, 1896, he was married again to Mrs. Elizabeth McCreary at Cedar Creek parsonage, Warren County, Illinois, by her pastor. They lived most of the time in Warren County, Illinois, until her death, which took place October 31, 1920. After that time he made his home with his two sons.