Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography of REV. JOHN MCELHENNEY, D. D. This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: ********************************************** ***The submitter does not have a connection*** ********to the subject of this sketch.******** ********************************************** 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 The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 639 Greenbrier REV. JOHN MCELHENNEY, D. D., was one of the re- markable characters in the ministry and citizenship of old Greenbrier County. For more than sixty-two years he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Lewisburg. This church itself is one of the oldest in the state, established in 1796. Rev. John McElhenney was born in Lancaster District of South Carolina, March 22, 1781, youngest of the six chil- dren of John and Ann (Coil) McElhenney. His father fought as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died soon after the close of that struggle. The educational training of the son was largely directed by his older brother, Rev. J. McElhenney. Rev. John McElhenney also attended Wash- ington Academy and the old Liberty Hall Academy, gradu- ating from the latter in 1804. He was licensed by the Lex- ington Presbytery in 1808. In the Spring of 1809 he was assigned to the pastorate of Lewisburg, in what is now West Virginia. The Presby- terian Church at that time was the central institution of the community, and its pastor was not only the recognized head of the flock, but a leader in every department of the community's affairs. He had the character that well fitted him for such responsibility, and his life was a long and utmost devotion to his church, the cause of Christianity, the counsel and guidance of his fellow men, and both in Green- brier County and in wider sections of the state he was thoroughly beloved. Few men had as many friends. He administered the affairs of the church and the neighborhood for over sixty years, though in later years he was given an assistant. Mr. McElhenney, who died January 2, 1871, married on December 7, 1807, Rebecca Walkup. Their children were James Addison, Elizabeth Ann, John Franklin, Samuel Washington, Mary Jane and Susan Emily.