Born at Oak Grove, Joseph C. McElroy prospected in the California goldfields in 1849. During the Civil War he raised a militia company at Racine and was later promoted Captain of Co. K. 18th O.V.I. After the war, he served on the Racine Village council, as Sheriff of Meigs County, and as a member of the Ohio General Assembly. He was Secretary-Treasurer of the Ohio Commission for the Chickamauga Battleground National Park and served 14 years as Postmaster of the U. S. House of Representatives.