[p. 698] supervisor of Little Beaver Township, is the owner of sixty-three acres of fine land, located in the western part, near the State line. He is one of the township's leading men. He was born on the old McAnlis home farm, in Big Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1838, and is a son of William and Marjorie (Young) McAnlis.
William McAnlis was born in Ireland, and was fifteen years old in 1822, when he accompanied his parents to America. His father, James McAnlis, acquired 500 acres of land in the vicinity of the present McAnlis schoolhouse in Big Beaver Township, where he lived until his death, at the age of sixty-one years. His eight children were named as follows: Jane, Eliza Susan, Margaret, John, William, Robert and James, all of whom are deceased, and almost all left descendants. In his will, James McAnlis left each son 100 acres. William McAnlis lived on the home farm until his marriage to Marjorie Young, who was born and reared in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. William McAnlis died in 1882, aged seventy-six years. His widow survived until 1884. They had the following children: James, who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, during the Civil War, was a member of Battery C, Fifth United States Regulars; John Y., Robert, deceased; William W.; Joseph, Samuel, and Susan Jane, who died in childhood.
William Wallace McAnlis went to the country schools during boyhood, and without difficulty recalls the hard slab benches and the many inconveniences of the old log schoolhouse of those days. At that time plenty of wild game was yet to be found not far from his home. He worked on the farm and helped to clear it up and remained there until August 3, 1862, when he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Hague. He served nine months, during which time he took a soldier's part in a number of skirmishes and in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. When the regiment was mustered out he was given an honorable discharge, and returned to peaceful pursuits.
On December 16, 1863, Mr. McAnlis was married to Harriet McClure, who is a daughter of Robert McClure, and they have three children: Anna Marjorie, Frances Wilhelmina and Robert Wallace, all at home. After marriage, Mr. McAnlis went to Scotland County, Missouri, where he bought a farm, which he sold ten years later and moved to Gibson County, Indiana, locating at Princeton, and for four years followed railroading. He then returned to Pennsylvania, and during 1880 lived at New Galilee, and then bought ten acres of his present farm, near Enon, on which he lived until 1902, when he removed to his larger estate of fifty-three acres, on which he has carried on general farming ever since. He owns both farms, and his son, Robert Wallace, manages them. In 1902 he built the comfortable residence. On May 30, 1905, Mr. McAnlis was bereft of his wife. She was a most estimable lady, and left a large circle of mourning friends behind.
Mr. McAnlis has been active in politics for a number of years. On the Republican ticket he was elected as overseer of the poor, serving with efficiency, and since 1903 he has been supervisor of Little Beaver Township.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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