My McElroy line is skimpy but here goes: First mention is 1860 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon township shows James McElroy, age 36, farmer born in Ireland. Living with him is Bridget McElroy, age 22 also born in Ireland (I thought this was his wife but it turns out to be his sister) 1870 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon Township shows JOHN McElroy, age 47, farmer with Bridget McElroy, and two children James and Patrick Welch ages 10 and 8. (Patrick Welch is my great grandfather). Bridget is the mother of these two boys, but no mention of Welch father 1880 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon township lists John McElroy age 59, with nephews James and Patrick ages 20 and 18 and a niece Mary age 22, previously not mentioned. It appears that Bridget the mother of the children has died. It lists that John McElroy was born in Ireland, as were both of his parents. The Welch children list Illinois as their birthplace, but both their parents were born in Ireland. I then follow Patrick Welch to the 1900 Missouri Census, Kansas City where he is married to Alice Brady and has 4 children. That is the extent of my information on McElroy. I have tried to find a death certificate on Bridget McElroy Welch with no luck. No able to find a marriage certificate for Bridget McElroy and unknown Welch man. I also searched for John McElroy for a marriage license, but none either. Would love to find anyone working on this line. Donna Fisher Kansas City MO

Thank you for posting your family. I doubt that there is any connection with my McElroy/various spelling families unless it was back in Ireland before1713. However, my husband's Stokes family is from Oakland, Coles Co., IL and I have seen your McElroys on the census and wondered who they were. Since this is a farming community, it is hard to tell when one is in Oakland or Matoon as they are nearby and the communities are not large. If there is any possibility that they were in the area in 1850, you might look at neighboring Edgar Co. Edgar Co. 1850 census lists the COUNTY as well as the state where individuals were born. I expect they also list more information for people not born in the US as well. My husband's families in Illinois were from Wayne Co., Indiana and Pike Co., Ohio directly before coming to Illinois. We found information on Jim's family at the courthouse and cemetery. At the local library, there was a Goodspeed type ancestry book of a type published in many rural communities in the 1880s where we found information about his Stokes family It gave the name of John Stokes parents and his brothers and sisters. During the sesquicentennial, there were sometimes books about the community and citizens published. I know there was one on Oakland in Coles Co. We asked about our family at the Post Office and were able to place an order for a copy of the book. There was very little to help us as no one in his family submitted anything, but there was a school football picture which included Jim's father. Betty Stokes ----- Original Message ----- From: <RNLee@aol.com> To: <MCELROY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:36 PM Subject: [MCELROY-L] McElroy in MO/ILL > My McElroy line is skimpy but here goes: > First mention is 1860 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon township shows > James McElroy, age 36, farmer born in Ireland. Living with him is Bridget > McElroy, age 22 also born in Ireland (I thought this was his wife but it > turns out to be his sister) > 1870 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon Township shows > JOHN McElroy, age 47, farmer with Bridget McElroy, and two children James and > Patrick Welch ages 10 and 8. (Patrick Welch is my great grandfather). > Bridget is the mother of these two boys, but no mention of Welch father > 1880 Illinois Census, Coles County, Matoon township lists > John McElroy age 59, with nephews James and Patrick ages 20 and 18 and a > niece Mary age 22, previously not mentioned. It appears that Bridget the > mother of the children has died. It lists that John McElroy was born in > Ireland, as were both of his parents. The Welch children list Illinois as > their birthplace, but both their parents were born in Ireland. > > I then follow Patrick Welch to the 1900 Missouri Census, Kansas City where he > is married to Alice Brady and has 4 children. > > That is the extent of my information on McElroy. I have tried to find a > death certificate on Bridget McElroy Welch with no luck. No able to find a > marriage certificate for Bridget McElroy and unknown Welch man. I also > searched for John McElroy for a marriage license, but none either. > > Would love to find anyone working on this line. > Donna Fisher > Kansas City MO > > > > ==== MCELROY Mailing List ==== > When replying to one of these messages, *please* remember to remove all but a small portion of the original message. Most mail software will only include the portion that is highlighted when replying. > >