Agatha Strother Lewis | Col. Elijah McClanahan
Roanoke, Roanoke, Virginia
Marker Inscription
On the knoll to the Northeast is the grave of Col. Elijah McClanahan and his wife, Agatha Strother Lewis. Agatha was the daughter of Col. Andrew Lewis Jr. and a grand-daughter of Gen. Andrew Lewis, famous Indian fighter and leader of the Colonial forces… transcription continues on the marker
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The Story
On a quiet knoll near Roanoke lie Col. Elijah McClanahan and his wife, Agatha Strother Lewis, members of one of frontier Virginia's most prominent families. Agatha descended from the storied Lewis line: her grandfather, Gen. Andrew Lewis, commanded colonial militia at the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore's War and rose to brigadier general in the Revolution. The marker preserves the memory of an early settler family whose roots stretched across the mountains as Virginia pushed westward in the late eighteenth century.
Why it matters
It ties a local burial ground to the larger saga of frontier Virginia and the Lewis family, whose generations helped settle the Appalachian backcountry and fight for American independence.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
To understand this quiet knoll near Roanoke, picture Virginia in the second half of the 1700s, when the colony's edge wasn't the Atlantic coast but the Blue Ridge and the long valleys beyond it. This was the backcountry — a landscape of new farms, scattered forts, and trails pushing toward the Ohio. Families who settled here lived at the seam between the established colonial world and the contested frontier.
It was a turbulent stretch of years. Tensions between settlers and Native nations over the Ohio country boiled over into open conflict, and within a few years the colonies themselves would be at war with Britain. People living in this part of Virginia experienced both upheavals close to home.
The Roanoke area sat squarely along the routes of westward movement. Land here was both a place to put down roots and a doorway to the country beyond the mountains — exactly the kind of crossroads where a prominent frontier family would build a life and, eventually, be buried.
People & events
The marker draws your eye to a small rise where Col. Elijah McClanahan and his wife, Agatha Strother Lewis, are buried. They belonged to the layer of frontier society that did the organizing — the colonels and landowners who raised militia, held local office, and helped knit scattered settlements into communities.
Agatha's family name is the thread that ties this grave to something larger. She was a daughter of Col. Andrew Lewis Jr. and a granddaughter of Gen. Andrew Lewis, one of the best-known figures of Virginia's frontier era. The Lewis name carried real weight in the valleys of western Virginia, a family woven into both the settling and the defending of the backcountry.
Gen. Andrew Lewis earned his reputation as a militia leader. In 1774 he commanded colonial forces at the Battle of Point Pleasant, fought during Lord Dunmore's War — a campaign over control of the Ohio country. He later served the American cause during the Revolution, rising to brigadier general. To stand at Agatha's grave is to stand only one or two generations removed from those events.
Its place in the American story
A single family burial ground might seem like a strictly local matter, but the Lewis story connects this spot to two of the defining currents of early American history: the westward push across the Appalachians and the struggle for independence.
The Battle of Point Pleasant and Lord Dunmore's War belong to the larger contest over who would control the lands beyond the mountains — a question that shaped the new nation for decades. The same militia networks and frontier leaders who fought those battles often became the officers and organizers of the Revolution that followed. The Lewis family lived that overlap directly.
So the grave on this knoll is a small monument to a big pattern. Across the backcountry, families like the Lewises and McClanahans planted communities, served in militia and government, and turned a contested frontier into settled American counties. Their personal graves are, in miniature, markers of how the young country grew westward.
If you visit
This is a memorial marker, so come for the quiet rather than the spectacle. The marker points toward a knoll to the northeast, where the graves lie. Take a moment to look at the lay of the land — the rises and valleys around Roanoke are the same kind of terrain that drew settlers here in the first place.
Read the names slowly and let the generations stack up: a husband and wife resting here, a father, and a grandfather whose name reaches back to the frontier wars of the 1770s. It's a rare chance to feel how close together the personal and the historic can sit in a single spot.
If you're building a road trip, treat this as a doorway into frontier Virginia. Pair it with other sites tied to the Lewis family and the backcountry militia, or simply use it as a pause that adds depth to a drive through the Roanoke Valley. Be respectful as you would at any burial place, and let the quiet do some of the storytelling.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Virginia Museum of Transportation1.8 mi away · 303 Norfolk Avenue Southwest, Roanoke, VA
- BanG Studios1.8 mi away · 425 4th Street Southwest, Roanoke, VA
- Roanoke Pinball Museum2.2 mi away
- O. Winston Link Museum2.3 mi away · 101 Shenandoah Avenue
- Taubman Museum of Art2.3 mi away
- Taubman Museum of Art2.3 mi away · 110 Salem Avenue Southeast, Roanoke, VA
Attractions
- Norfolk Southern 86611.9 mi away
- Jupiter Missile1.9 mi away
- Roanoke Star3.4 mi away
- Mill Mountain Zoo3.4 mi away
- Dixie Caverns11.2 mi away
- Botetourt Honey Bee Sanctuary11.3 mi away
Food & drink
- Screaming Vegan0.3 mi away · 2715 Melrose Avenue Northwest
- Burger King0.8 mi away · 3216 Melrose Avenue, North West, Roanoke, VA
- Jersey Water Ice1.1 mi away
- PortaBella Pizza1.1 mi away · 1132 Salem Avenue Southwest, Roanoke, VA
- Tacos Rojas1.3 mi away · 713 13th Street Southwest
- The Village Grill1.3 mi away
Places to stay
- Courtyard Roanoke Airport1.6 mi away · 3301 Ordway Drive, Roanoke, VA
- Hyatt Place Roanoke Airport/Valley View Mall1.6 mi away · 5040 Valley View Boulevard Northwest, Roanoke, VA
- Hampton Inn & Suites Roanoke Airport1.6 mi away · 5033 Valley View Boulevard North, Roanoke, VA
- Residence Inn Roanoke Airport1.7 mi away · 3305 Ordway Drive, Roanoke, VA
- Sheraton Roanoke Hotel and Conference Center1.7 mi away
- BEST WESTERN PLUS Inn at Valley View1.7 mi away · 5050 Valley View Boulevard Northwest, Roanoke, VA
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Related people
- · Col. Elijah McClanahan
- · Agatha Strother Lewis
- · Col. Andrew Lewis Jr.
- · Gen. Andrew Lewis
Related events
- · Lord Dunmore's War
- · Battle of Point Pleasant
Themes & tags
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