John McElroy was born in Greenup County, Kentucky. He was the son of Robert McElroy, a builder of blast furnaces, and Mary (Henderson) McElroy, both of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was given his mother's maiden name as a middle name but, throughout his career, he was known as John McElroy. In 1855 his father died, his mother remarried, and young John, leaving home, went to St. Louis, where he became a printer's devil at the age of ten.
His formal schooling was fragmentary. At the close of the Civil War, after release from Andersonville, he went to Ottawa, Ohio, where he studied pharmacy in a drugstore
Aided by sympathetic journeymen printers, he succeeded in setting the type for popular songs and sold the sheets on the streets of St. Louis. Later he moved to Chicago, where he enlisted in McClernand's body-guards after the outbreak of the Civil War. On March 29, 1863, he enlisted in Company L of the 1sth Illinois Cavalry and served through the various enlisted grades in that organization. On January 3, 1864, after he had been appointed sergeant-major, he was captured by the Confederates at Jonesville, Va. He spent more than a year in various Confederate prisons, chiefly at Andersonville, which had been established the previous November. His story of this camp, Andersonville (1879), is remarkable for its force and, aside from the compelling nature of its narrative, is a noteworthy document from a historical as well as a literary standpoint. Moving to Chicago in 1868, he became a reporter on the Inter Ocean and later became an editorial writer.
In 1874 he was called to Toledo, Ohio, by D. R. Locke, to be an editor of the Toledo Blade. He filled this post with distinction for ten years. Then he became an editor of the National Tribune of Washington and, upon the death of George Lemmon, editor and publisher. He continued to be active in this position until his death. Perhaps his most important literary contribution was his book, Andersonville, although Champ Clark was said to have considered the Struggle for Missouri (1909) the finest history of that state ever written. His writings were numerous, including the History of Slavery in the United States (1896), and the well-remembered "Si Klegg" series, among the most popular of which were Si Klegg, His Development from a Raw Recruit to a Veteran (1897) and Further Haps and Mishaps to Si Klegg and Shorty (1898). He also wrote numerous pamphlets and monographs. He became a national figure by his efforts to obtain aid for veterans of the Civil War, and his pocket and pen were unfailingly at their service. In 1901 he was senior vice-commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, was many times commander of the Kit Carson post of that organization, was three times commander of the Department of the Potomac, and was a member of the legislative committee of the Grand Army of the Republic for fifteen years. He was a charter member of the Press Club in Washington and a member of the Board of Trade.
a member of the legislative committee of the Grand Army of the Republic, member of the Press Club, member of the Board of Trade
His private reading was enormous, and his memory was of the photographic kind that imprints entire pages indelibly upon the mind.
In February 1866 married Elsie Pomeroy, the daughter of the owner. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Some years after the death of his first wife he married, on May 16, 1925, Isabel (Worrell) Ball, a member of the staff of his own newspaper, who attained some distinction as a newspaper writer and interested herself in many patriotic organizations and projects, especially in the details of the history and etiquette of the flag as a national emblem.
