The McElroy Line

Research notes

Everything behind the family line: who we've found, what each claim rests on, and what's left to prove. Online trees are a starting point, not proof, so each person is rated.

Confirmed means a record or obituary names the person in this relationship. Family-confirmed means the family treats the link as settled (per Lonnie and the McElroy Forever site), though no single document for it has turned up yet; on the site it is drawn solid like a confirmed link. Likely means a family source or a consistent online tree, not yet checked against originals. Guess means a volunteer tree or a single clue.

What to do next

Status as of 27 October 2026.

Everyone found so far

Generations count back from Mason's (0); his sons are −1. Birth years are left off for most living relatives.

PersonGen.Life and placesStatusSource
Archie Fitzgerald McElroy−1b. 2022; son of Mason and StephanieConfirmedFamily
Jonah Moses McElroy−1b. 2023; son of Mason and StephanieConfirmedFamily
Mason C. McElroy0b. 1987; owner of SolCalc Consulting; Las Vegas area, now Austin, TXConfirmedFamily site (archived)
Stephanie Walters0b. 1983; Mason's wife, mother of Archie and JonahConfirmedFamily
Ellis Tefen McElroy0Mason's brother; listed as T. Ellis on the family site. Four years in the U.S. Navy as an electricianConfirmedFamily
Emily Rebecca McElroy0Mason's sisterConfirmedFamily
Curtis Lee McElroy03 Jul 1997 – 21 Jun 2018; Mason's brotherConfirmedFamily
Archie L. McElroy Jr. (Lonnie)1Eldest surviving child named in his father's 2022 obituaryConfirmedObituary
Hong Sian McElroy1From Surabaya, East Java, IndonesiaConfirmedFamily
Archie L. McElroy Sr.22 Jan 1935, rural Craig Co., OK – 31 Oct 2022, rural Chetopa, KS. Married 9 Feb 1956, Seward, KS. Buried Lake Creek Cemetery, BartlettConfirmedObituary
Sadie JoAnn (Strobel) McElroy2Daughter of George and Sadie Strobel of SewardConfirmedBrother's obituary
Ellis Frederick McElroy39 Dec 1897, Edna, KS – 26 Oct 1969, Parsons, KS; buried Lake Creek Union Cemetery, Bartlett. The family site and Social Security index say 1898; his WWI draft card says 1897. In George and Rose's household in 1900, 1910 and 1920; the draft card names “Rose Holtinger McElroy” as his relative. Married Lena 4 Nov 1926 at Oswego. Craig Co., OK in 1935; Hale, Yuma Co., CO in 1950. Siblings Alta Mae, Alvin Rae, Glover J. and Alma GleniceConfirmedDraft card; second index; Find a Grave
Sarah Lena (Trissell) McElroy322 Jan 1903 – 13 Nov 1997, Chetopa, age 94. Buried Lake Creek. Indexed as “Sarah M” (1930) and “Sarah L” (1940). Maiden name and mother's maiden name from DadConfirmedKSGenWeb
George Albert Strobel34 Nov 1903 – 2 May 1965 (one transcription says 1953). Farmer near Seward. Buried St. Francis Xavier, SewardConfirmedCemetery list
Sadie Ann (Moore) Strobel34 Jun 1902 – 1 Apr 1983, Great Bend, KS. Buried with GeorgeConfirmedSon's obituary
George Washington McElroy and Rose Martha Hottinger4George 26 Sep 1869, Andrew Co., MO – 11 Aug 1956, Oswego, KS. Rose 2 Aug 1868, Osage Co., MO – 7 Nov 1953, Parsons, KS. Both buried Elm Grove Cemetery, Edna. Married 24 Dec 1890, Labette Co. In the census 1900–1950 (Howard Twp. in 1900, Elm Grove in 1910). Moses's 1922 obituary says he died at the home of his son George. Children Alta Mae (1891–1985), Alvin Rae (1895–1969), Ellis Frederick (1897–1969), Glover J. (1902–1981), Alma Glenice (1907–1998). Lonnie and the family site agreeConfirmedMarriage index; 1900 census; Find a Grave
Arthur B. Trissell and Mary M. Metzen4Parents of Barbara Marie Trissell, b. 27 May 1904, Edna, Labette Co., KS, which fits Lena. No record naming Lena's parents seen yetLikelySortedByName
John E. Stroble? and Katherine Hoss4Katherine, b. Germany 1877, per Dad. John E. Stroble (1875–1928) is buried at Seward with Mary Ella (1888–1968), who was too young to be George's motherGuessCemetery list
Sadie Ann Moore's parents4Not yet foundTo research
Moses Matthew McElroy5Obituary (Edna Sun, Oct 1922): died at the home of his son George at Edna; Mexican War 1846; to Missouri 1854; to southeast Kansas 1877; 15 children, six living; third wife living. Find a Grave adds unsourced marriages to Ellen Coler (c.1840), Caroline Ellis (30 Jan 1855) and Martha A. Helt (after 1893), and a burial at Elm Grove beside Caroline. 4 Jan 1820, Campbell Co., KY – 1 Oct 1922, Labette Co., KS. Pvt., Co. H, 1st Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 1862–65; record says born Kenton Co. (formed from Campbell in 1840). 16 childrenLikelyNARA; WikiTree
Caroline (Ellis) McElroy51833–1893. “Moses & Caroline McElroy” are parties with Daniel Ellis's heirs in a July 1870 DeKalb Co. suit (Sheriff's Deed Bk. AA-129). Siblings likely include Fountain, Elizabeth, Frances, Thomas, Robert, Susan, Amanda, Alice and MarionStrongly supportedCounty history clipping; Find a Grave
William B. Trissell and Sarah C. Harvey?5Sons born in Indiana 1869 and Labette Co. 1871. W. B. sold nursery stock at Chetopa in 1876. Not shown to be Arthur's parentsGuessSortedByName
Arnold Howard Hottinger and Catherine Malinda “Kate” Glover5Arnold 17 Dec 1841, Zurich (photo label) – 2 Jul 1931, Sawtelle, Los Angeles; buried Los Angeles National Cemetery. Came to America 1850. Private, Co. L, 10th Missouri Cavalry (Union), NARA M405 reel 228. Married 31 Dec 1865, Medora, MO; divorced 27 Jun 1904. Kate 17 Nov 1846, Osage Co., MO – 29 Sep 1919, buried Edna; her full name appears in her sons' birth records. Son William Carl born 1872 at Spavinaw, Cherokee Nation. Children Rose Martha, Joseph Arnold, William Carl, Tenia Ellen, Felix Edward, Fredrick Chester, Alfred Ray. Rose is the daughter who married George W. A claim that Catherine married a “John Anthony Hottinger” found no supportStrongly supportedFind a Grave; Co. L roster; Huerfano Co. births
Jacob and Rosena Hottinger6Arnold's parents; emigrated from Switzerland in 1850GuessWikiTree
John William Glover Jr.64 Oct 1820, Georgetown, Northumberland Co., VA – 23 Sep 1911, Centralia, Craig Co., OK; buried Elm Grove, Edna. Linked on Find a Grave as Kate's father, with daughters Elizabeth Susan (who married a Felix Hottinger), Mary Moriss Roberts and Ida Melvina Whittaker. No record seenLikelyFind a Grave
Daniel Zimmerman Ellis and Mary “Polly” Senour6Daniel 25 Jun 1804, Fauquier Co., VA – 20 Jun 1864, DeKalb Co., MO. Dad confirms Polly's name as Senour (27 Oct 2026). Marriage bond to Mary Senior, Campbell Co., KY, 2 Dec 1824. Other spellings: Senior, Senier, Senjior, Seymour, Seignour. Her father was probably one of four Senour men of Campbell Co.: Bryant, Phillip, John or Daniel, most likely Bryant or Phillip by marriage dates (a guess)Strongly supportedCampbell Co. bonds
James McElroy and Alice Hamm6James 1799–1849; Alice 1800, Spartanburg, SC – 1882, Allen Co., KY. Married 12 Aug 1820LikelyWikiTree
William Ellis and Nancy Glendenning?7Married 1789, Fauquier Co., VA. Nancy reportedly lived to nearly 100, dying in Kenton Co., KYGuessGenealogy.com
James “Sinky” McElroy and Frances Langston7James c.1759, Chatham Co., NC – 1848, Allen Co., KY. Frances 1759, Granville Co., NC – 1858. Married 16 Apr 1782, Greenville, SC. Pension S2786LikelyFamilySearch
William Ham and Jennetta Williams7Alice Hamm's parents; Spartanburg, SCGuessWikiTree
Archibald McElroy and Ann Agnes Aston8Archibald c.1730, Bucks Co., PA – 1780. Married 7 Aug 1756, Prince Edward Co., VA. To North Carolina about 1765GuessRootsWeb
John Glendenning and Jeanette Wilson?8Nancy's parents, per one researcherGuessGenealogy.com
James McElroy and Sarah McCune9James c.1705 – 1772, Prince Edward Co., VA; his 1770 will names son “Archable”. Arrived from Ulster about 1729 by traditionLikelyWill abstract; 1901 family history
William Aston91709 – before 1767, Southside Virginia. Ann Agnes's fatherGuessWikiTree
Langston, Vann, Person and Partridge10+Colonial Virginia and North Carolina lines behind Frances Langston, c.1660–1760GuessWikiTree

How far back, by branch

Documented means an original record or an official index. Tree-only means volunteer family trees.

BranchEarliest documented in AmericaEarliest tree-onlyArrival
McElroyJames “Sinky”, in South Carolina service by Sept 1776 (pension S2786)James (c.1705) and Archibald (c.1730), Bucks Co., PA; Archibald on a 1748 Amelia Co., VA tax listUlster, before 1730, by tradition
EllisDaniel Ellis, born Virginia; pioneer settler of Sherman Twp., DeKalb Co., MOWilliam Ellis and Nancy Glendenning, married 1789, Fauquier Co., VAColonial Virginia; not traced
HottingerFelix E. Hottinger, born Edna, KS, 1878, son of Arnold and Kathryn GloverJacob and Rosena Hottinger, from Switzerland in 18501850, Switzerland
TrissellWilliam B. Trissell's sons, born Indiana 1869 and Labette Co. 1871None beyond William B.Not traced past Indiana
MetzenMary M. Metzen, Edna, KS, 1904Eifel Metzens in Sedgwick Co., KS (link unproven)Germany, probably 1800s
Strobel and HossGeorge A. Strobel, b. 1903; both families at Seward by about 1912John E. Stroble, 1875–1928Katherine Hoss, b. Germany 1877
MooreSadie Ann Moore, b. 1902NoneNot traced

Arrival in America

Archibald's parents were most likely James McElroy (d. 1770–72, Prince Edward Co., VA) and his wife Sarah, said to be Sarah McCune. James's 1770 will names a son “Archable”. The family story says they came from County Down to Philadelphia about 1729 on the George and Ann. The only George and Ann voyage on record that year doesn't fit, so treat the ship as tradition.

ClaimWhat the sources sayStatus
James and Sarah were Archibald's parentsJames's will of 15 Mar 1770 names his wife, sons Archable, John, Hugh, Samuel and James, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Inventory dated 19 Oct 1772. The 1901 family history agrees.Likely
Sarah's maiden name was McCuneOnly the 1901 book gives it, in three spellings (McCune, McCue, McHugh).Guess
James's parents were Hugh McElroy and Esther McDowellOnline trees only, unsourced. The 1901 book says only that his father “probably” bore the name Archibald.To research
Married 8 May 1729, County DownOnline trees only. The 1901 book says James left with “his young wife” about 1729.Guess
Came on the George and Ann, Belfast to PhiladelphiaThe George and Ann of 1729 sailed from Dublin with Charles Clinton's County Longford party, landed at Cape Cod after 80–98 deaths, and settled in New York. Clinton's list has McDowells but no McElroy. Philadelphia lists of the time record only non-British arrivals.Guess
Bucks Co., then 25 years in Cumberland Co., PAOnly the 1901 book, which calls the Bucks stop “probable”. A separate Bucks Co. McElroy family arrived about 1717; any kinship is unproven.Guess
In Southside Virginia by 1748Archibald on the 1748 Amelia Co. tax list, a 516-acre purchase in 1754, June 1755 tithables, marriage bond to Ann Aston 1756, land sales 1761 and 1765.Likely
To North Carolina about 1765; father of James “Sinky”William Aston's will names son-in-law Archibald and grandson Thomas “Stinkey”. A 1783 Guilford Co. deed is by Agnes McElroy, widow, and James Sinkey McElroy.Likely
Killed at Kings Mountain, 7 Oct 1780The 1901 book says so (printed “1770”). Another tree has him alive about 1802. No service or pension record.Guess

Where to look next. Prince Edward Co. Will Book 1 and Deed Books 1–2, and Orange and Guilford Co., NC deeds (FamilySearch, free login). The 1748 Amelia Co. tithables. Pennsylvania warrant registers and Cumberland Co. tax lists of 1750–53, where the name can be indexed as “Maukelroy”. In Ireland, PRONI for a James McElroy marriage in County Down around 1729.

Scots-Irish origins

General history, not documented ancestry. No record yet ties this family to a particular place in Ulster.

The name is Gaelic Irish, Mac Giolla Ruaidh, son of the red-haired lad. Rev. Patrick Woulfe (1923) places the family at Ballymackilroy, in the parish of Aghalurcher near Lough Erne, County Fermanagh. By the 1700s many Ulster families, Gaelic and Scots planter alike, were Presbyterian and emigrated together as “Scotch-Irish”. They usually landed at Philadelphia, settled in southeastern Pennsylvania, then moved down the Great Wagon Road into Virginia and the Carolina Piedmont, and later through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.

  1. Ulster, before 1729Family tradition; County Down.
  2. Bucks Co., Pennsylvania, c.1729–1740sJames and Sarah; Archibald born about 1730.
  3. Southside Virginia, 1740s–1765Cub Creek and Buffalo settlements, Amelia and Prince Edward counties.
  4. Guilford, Rockingham and Chatham Co., North Carolina, 1765–1780sArchibald's family; James “Sinky” born about 1759.
  5. Allen Co., Kentucky, by 1820Sinky and his son James.
  6. DeKalb Co., Missouri, then Labette Co., KansasMoses, from the 1850s to 1922.
  7. The Kansas–Oklahoma line, 1935 onArchie Sr. and his family around Bartlett and Chetopa.

Native American lineage

Family lore says Native ancestry explains Grandpa Archie Sr.'s dark skin. The story names no tribe or ancestor, so it's treated as an open question. Not finding someone in an index doesn't rule it out, and sharing a surname with someone listed wouldn't prove it.

No ancestor of Archie Sr. has been found on any roll or application searched: the Dawes cards (including rejected and doubtful ones), the Guion Miller Eastern Cherokee applications, and the 1901 Labette County history. Census race entries and the Indian Census Rolls still need a logged-in browser.

LineCheckedResult
McElroy, from Ellis F. back to ArchibaldDawes cards, Guion Miller, 1901 Labette Co. historyNot found. The only Guion Miller McElroys are a rejected Mississippi family. Moses's 1862 papers say “dark complexion, blue eyes”, a routine description that isn't evidence on its own. Every census for George W. (1900–1940) and Ellis F. (1920–1940), and Ellis's 1918 draft card, record them as White.
Hottinger and GloverDawes, Guion Miller, Labette Co. history, 1880 Cherokee census (partial index), 1884 Hester roll, 1851 Old Settler roll, 1890 Cherokee census indexNot found on any of them. Hottinger is a Swiss immigrant family (1850). Son William Carl was born at Spavinaw, Cherokee Nation, in 1872, so the family lived inside the Nation for a time. That alone is not evidence of Cherokee ancestry. No record shows either family as citizens, intermarried whites, permit holders or intruders.
Ellis, Senour, Glendenning, WilsonDawes, Guion MillerNot found. None of 37 Ellis applicants names Daniel, Polly, Caroline or Fountain.
Trissell and HarveyDawes, Guion MillerNot found. Harvey not yet searched; too common without given names.
MetzenDawes, Guion MillerNot found.
Hamm, Langston, AstonDawes, Guion MillerNot found. None of the applicants names our ancestors.
Melungeon and similar communitiesCore Melungeon DNA Project surname listNo family surnames on the list. Granville Co., NC, Frances Langston's birthplace, is a shared place, not evidence of a connection.
1880 Cherokee Nation census, citizensGlover, Hottinger, McElroy, TrissellNo matches, but the online index covers only five districts. Delaware District, where Spavinaw lies, is not transcribed yet.
1890 Cherokee Nation census indexCooweescoowee, Delaware and Saline districts (today's Craig, Delaware and Mayes counties)No matches for Glover, Hottinger, McElroy, Trissell or Metzen.
1884 Hester roll and 1851 Old Settler rollGlover, Hottinger, McElroy, Trissell, EllisNo matches; three unrelated Ellis children on the Old Settler roll.
1883 Strip payment roll, 1896 census, 1893 intruder census, permit recordsHottinger, Glover, McElroy, TrissellNot checked; no free index. The intruder census is on Ancestry; permit records are on Oklahoma Historical Society microfilm.
Indian Census Rolls, 1885–1940Quapaw, Osage, Delaware, Potawatomi and Kickapoo agenciesNot checked; no free index.
Census race entries, 1850–1940Each ancestorNot checked; images need a FamilySearch login.

Living in the Nation isn't Cherokee ancestry. Many white families lived in the Cherokee Nation without being citizens; its 1880 census had separate schedules for intruders and for people living there under permit, often hired hands, renters or mill workers. William Carl's 1872 Spavinaw birth, the Hottingers' later home at Edna on the Nation's Kansas border, and Archie Sr.'s 1935 birth in Craig Co., former Cherokee land opened to settlers after allotment, show where the family lived, not who their ancestors were.

How tribal citizenship works. The Five Tribes (Cherokee, Muscogee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole) require documented descent from someone on the Dawes Final Rolls, shown through birth and death certificates for each generation. Tribes don't accept DNA for enrollment.

What DNA can tell us. Grandma JoAnn's AncestryDNA kit covers her Strobel side, so it can't test this story. Lonnie carries about half of Archie Sr.'s DNA, so his test, or a McElroy cousin's, is the one that bears on it.

The first family site

McElroy Forever lived at mcelroy.20m.com and now returns an error. This text is from the Internet Archive's copy of 20 March 2016. Its claim that Moses served in the 1st Missouri Volunteer Cavalry has since been corrected to the 1st Missouri State Militia Cavalry.

Born in Campbell County, Kentucky near the banks of the Ohio River in 1820, Moses McElroy is a true American Hero. He volunteered for service to his country in 2 wars. First the Mexican-American War in 1846-1848, a war in which his brother, Thomas McElroy, was killed in battle. … He fathered 16 children. One by his first wife who died and 15 by his second wife, Carolyn Ellis. Moses lived to the ripe old age of 102 years and 8 months. The picture above was taken around 1920. From this view, his son, George Washington McElroy is seated next his father.

Its lineage list ran Moses, George Washington, Ellis Frederick, Archie L., Archie L. Jr., Mason C., T. Ellis, Curtis L., William Arthur, Dylan T. and George Ellis. The site's contact address points to Lonnie, which suggests he built it and wrote its motto, so the site and Lonnie's account are one family source rather than two. Its motto: “Your identity lies in one simple fact: you are your father's son.” Home page and photo page archives.

Sources