The Mcelroy House
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The Mcelroy House
The main room of The Mcelroy House
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
During
the latter part of the Civil War, John W. McElroy was called to serve
hthe Confederate States as the Brigadier General in charge of the
Western North Carolina Home Guard. While away, the house was used as a hospital by the Home Guard.
The Home Guard was a group of the younger and older men who were not of the right age to
serve in the regular army. Their duties were to seek out deserters,
help to protect the local communities and towns from Union soldiers,
and from a renegade group known as the infamous Kirk’s Raiders, a
band of dissenters and deserters that ravaged the area. McElroy
served under Governor Zebulon B. Vance during that time. One of his
daughters married the governor’s son so this made a close
relationship between the two men. John Wesley McElroy had four sons
who served in the Confederate States Army.Many
others have called this place home over the years, from Dr. Lewis in
the late 1850’s, Thomas and Virginia Dellinger Young, to the last,
Troy and Winnie Lou Ray.