James Xavier McLanahan

James Xavier McLanahan (1809 – December 16, 1861) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

James X. McLanahan (grandson of Andrew Gregg) was born near Greencastle, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1827. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1842 to 1844.

McLanahan was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary during the Thirty-second Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1852. He resumed the practice of law and died in New York City in 1861. Interment in First Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

Sources

• James Xavier McLanahan at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Jasper E. Brady	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district 1849–1853	Succeeded by Carlton B. Curtis