Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography of REV. JOHN McELHENNEY, D. D. This biography was submitted by Sandy Spradling, E-mail address: This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 293-294 REV. JOHN McELHENNEY, D. D. Rev. John McElhenney, D. D., was born in the Waxhaus (Waxhia) Lancaster district, South Carolina; March 22, 1781. In 1800 he went to Spartansburg district to an academy taught by Rev. James Gilleland. In 1802 he entered Washington College Virginia, and graduated in 1804. In 1808 he was licensed to preach by Lexington Presbytery and was sent at once to the churches at Lewisburg and Union. He was installed as pastor of the Old Stone Church in the summer of 1809 and continued his relations with it down to his death, January 2, 1871, in his ninetieth year. In 1807 Dr. McElhenney married Rebecca Walkup, of Lexington, Va. Six children were born to this union. She survived her husband five years and died at about the same age. The graves of these two remarkable people are seen under the shadow of the Old Stone Church, and many have been the pilgrim who have journeyed there to stand in reverence and lowered heads. Dr. McElhenney preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesus from the top of the Alleghanies to the banks of the Ohio and established Presbyterianism throughout this trans-Alleghany region. He was a great man and a great teacher, and his name is so linked with the history of this region it can never be forgotten.