[p. 937] a leading agriculturist and representative citizen of Perry Township, owns two valuable farms here, one containing sixty-five acres and the other sixty-two acres. Mr. McElwain belongs to an old pioneer family of Perry Township and he was born September 7, 1840. His parents were Samuel and Margaret (Young) McElwain.
The grandparents of Mr. McElwain came to what is now Perry Township, Lawrence County, about 1800. They were of Scotch-Irish extraction and in all probability were born in the countries in which their ancestors had lived for generations. They lived into old age, the grandfather seeing his ninety-third birthday.
Samuel McElwain, father of William, was born in Perry Township in 1810, made farming his main business. and after a long, exemplary and useful life, died in 1886. He married Margaret Young, a daughter of another pioneer, William Young, and they had ten children born to them, of whom the following survive: John, William, Mary Ann, Jane and Thomas.
William McElwain enjoyed the usual educational advantages that country boys had in his day and he helped his father in the cultivation of the homestead land until his own marriage, in 1862. He has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits. As a leading citizen of his township he has frequently been called upon to perform duties of a public nature and has served a number of terms as township supervisor and as judge of elections. During the Civil War he endeavored to enter the army, but a crippled knee caused the examiners to refuse him.
In 1862, Mr. McElwain was married to Mary E. Lesnett, who is a daughter of Christy Lesnett, also of Perry Township. Mr. and Mrs. McElwain have had ten children born to them, namely: Mary Alice, William Robert, Emmett Byron, Samuel Christy, Richard Wesley, Margaret Viola, Andrew, Logan, Tina and Joseph Tim. Margaret Viola and Logan are deceased. The family belong to the United Presbyterian Church at Wurtemburg. In his political views Mr. McElwain is a Republican.
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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Updated: 5 Feb 2002