The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: SC
Qualifying Service: Civil Service
William McElwee was born in 1718 at County Tyrone, Ireland. He immigrated to America about 1750, when about thirty-two years of age, and settled first in Pennsylvania, where he married Janet Black in 1757. Jane was born 19 August 1738 at Virginia. He moved his family to Virginia and then to York District, South Carolina. They made their home at Clarke’s Fork of Bullock Creek. He built a large log home on land near King’s Mountain.
The McElwee property at York County was the site of the Battle of King's Mountain. On the day of the battle, October 7, 1780, a group of Tories stopped at the McElwee home to build a fire in the yard and were preparing to kill hogs, when they heard the sound of the battle and fled. William McElwee, II, and his two sons, William McElwee III, age 19, who was at home on a leave of absence from his command, and John McElwee, age 15, shouldered their muskets and went forward to participate in the battle. As they were leaving, John started to turn back, but his mother called out to him to go forward to help his countrymen, which he did without further hesitation. All three McElwees, the father and his two younger sons, were American patriots, although neither the father, nor younger son was a member of any official military organization that engaged in the battle.
William and Janet were the parents of nine children: James W. McElwee (born 1758), William, III (born 1761), Jane (born 1764), John Calvin (born 1765), Eleanor (born 1766), Agnes (born 1770), Ann (born 1771), Mary (born 1772), and Elizabeth (born 1774).
William died in June 1807 at York County, South Carolina, and was laid to rest at Bethany Associate Reformed Presbyterian (A.R.P.) Church Cemetery of Clover, York County, South Carolina, along with his wife Janet, who died 25 December 1825.
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