W.P. ELMER HOME
400 N. Pershing Street
The Dent County Museum was a home originally occupied by W.P. Elmer, a local lawyer and U.S. Congressman. Built in 1895 by Angus MacGlashan and supervised by Charles Thornhill, a local carpenter. The area around this house was called Wingfield Grove and this is where the people of Salem came for their Fourth of July festivities and picnics. Angus sold the house to W.P. Elmer in 1906 for $2,700 (exactly what Angus had spent on materials). He did this because another buyer wanted to clear all the timber around the house and Mr. McGlashan knew that W.P. Elmer would leave the trees standing. The other buyer had offered more money but McGlashan sold it to W.P. Elmer.
The Elmer family moved into their new home on December 26, 1906. Once the family was settled in they decided to call their new home “The Oaks”. Mr. and Mrs. Elmer’s daughters, Helen, Amelia, Lucille and Dorothy were born in this home. At one time the home had a large tower next to it that included a water tank and a 12 foot windmill. The home is now the site of the Dent County Museum (2010).
William Price Elmer
3/2/1871 – 5/11/1956
Amy (Adelmann) Elmer
1/10/1872 - 2/15/1963
William Doss Elmer
9/12/1897 – 10/10/1918
Victorine Dale (Elmer) Whitmire
12/26/1898 – 12/23/1966
McVeigh Adelmann “Buck” Elmer
4/21/1901 – 5/19/1987
Billie Ruth (Elmer) Dent
6/15/1902 – 11/22/1934
Vivian Katrina (Elmer) Gatlin
8/24/1903 – 7/4/1993
Helen Willene (Elmer) Turner
1/15/1907 – 3/10/1997
Amelia Imogene (Elmer) Hamilton
11/28/1909 – 11/13/1985
Lucille Elmer
6/7/1912 – 9/1/1913
Dorothy Elizabeth (Elmer) Horn
6/12/1913 – 8/24/2007
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