Submitted by Sid Stroupe and Mike Stroupe; Edited and vetted by Cheri Todd Molter
William Stroup left Lincoln County in the early 1800s and settled in Buncombe County. He married Sarah “Sallie” Earwood and raised a family. They had four sons—Michael, Matthew, William, and James. All of William and Sallie’s sons either volunteered for or were conscripted in the Confederate Army. At least two of the four were killed in battle.
Michael “Mike” Stroup 1826-1878
On September 15, 1863, Mike Stroup, William and Sallie’s eldest son, enlisted at Buncombe County North Carolina; he was “37 years and 8 months” at the time. According to the 1860 Federal Census, Mike lived in “Buncombe County, Shufordville Post Office District.” He was a Private in Company B, 7th Cavalry Regiment, “Major John W. Woodfin’s Battalion” North Carolina.
A year after his enlistment, on Sept. 20, 1864, Mike was reported on a Bounty Roll for Buncombe County.
Mike was recorded as living in the Limestone Community of Buncombe County in 1870 (the last Census Record discovered for him). He died of an unknown cause 12 years following the Civil War and is most likely buried at or near the Limestone Community of Buncombe County.
Matthew T. Stroup
According to the 1860 Federal Census, Matthew T. Stroup lived in Buncombe County, in the Shufordville Post Office District, with his wife Stacy and their son, Charles. He enlisted with the Confederate army and was a Private in Company F of 60th Infantry Regiment, North Carolina. Muster Rolls are available.
We were unable to locate the whereabouts of Matthew, Stacy, or Charles after the Civil War. Perhaps, he died during the war and Stacy remarried but we haven’t found definitive records yet.
William J. Stroup 1835-1863
William J. Stroup was a Private in Company K, 11th Infantry Regiment, “Bethel Regiment,” North Carolina. William Stroup enlisted “for a period of 3 years or the war” at Swannanoa, Buncombe County, North Carolina, at the age of 26 on March 1, 1862.
William J. Stroup was present and accounted for May 1862 through the date of his death fourteen months later in early July 1863. He was killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.
On February 8, 1864, Attorney O. B. Lawyer filed a “Claim of Deceased Soldiers from North Carolina which was filed for settlement in the Office of the Confederate States Auditor for the War Department.”
James R. Stroup 1842-1864
On May 16, 1862, James R. Stroup, at twenty years old, enlisted with the Confederate States Army in Asheville, Buncombe County. He was listed as a farmer and served as a Private in Company F of 60th Infantry Regiment, North Carolina.
James was captured by the Union Forces at Chickamauga, Georgia on September 20, 1863. The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the “Chickamauga Campaign.” James was imprisoned in Louisville, Kentucky, then moved to the military prison at Camp Douglas near Chicago on October 2, 1863. He died from typhoid fever at the prison on January 21, 1864.
During the Civil War years of 1862 through 1865, Camp Douglas served as a war camp for Confederate prisoners of war. Nearly 4,000 of them, including James R. Stroup, died and were buried in the City Cemetery’s potter’s field. The City Cemetery is now known as Lincoln Park. James Stroup’s grave number is #970.
