Henry County, Indiana
Biography
Henry County, Indiana
Biography
JOHN STROUGH
In the career of the late John Strough, who was a resident of Gage county for more than a score of years, success and honor were inseparable, and he made his life count for good in its every relation. His sudden death, as the result of heart disease, occurred at his home in the city of Beatrice, November 23, 1917, he having been stricken while engaged in his customary evening work about the home, at 1423 High street.
Mr. Strough was born in Henry county, Indiana, on the 28th of January, 1844, and was a son of John and Sarah (Miller) Strough, who reared to years of maturity a family of eleven children. John Strough, Sr., was born in Pennsylvania, in the year 1808, and in the earlier part of his career he followed the trade of tailor. As a young man he went to
the historic old state of Virginia, and later he numbered himself among the pioneers of Henry county, Indiana, where he became a prosperous farmer and where his death occurred on the 20th of May, 1863. His wife was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in which state she was reared and educated, and there their marriage was solemnized, her father, George Miller, having been a native of Pennsylvania: she was born about the year 1835 and passed to eternal rest about 1887, her first three children having been born in Virginia, prior to the family removal to Indiana, where she continued to reside until her death.
The subject of this memoir was reared on the old homestead farm in Indiana and acquired his early education in the pioneer schools of Henry county, that state. At the time of the Civil war he gave efficient service as a soldier in an Indiana volunteer regiment, .and his service covered practically the entire period of the conflict between the North and the South. In his native state his marriage was solemnized in 1867, and in 1870 he removed with his family to Holt county, Missouri, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, near the village of Craig. There he continued his successful activities as a farmer until 1890, when he and his wife established their home in Gage county, Nebraska, after he had disposed of his farm in Missouri. Upon coming to Gage county Mr. Strough purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 33, Holt township, and, with his progressive policies and mature judgment he there proved notably successful in his farm enterprise, the while he made excellent improvements on the homestead. He remained on the farm until 1908, when he retired from active labors and removed with his devoted wife to the city of Beatrice, where he passed the residue of his life, secure in the high regard of all who knew him. Mr. Strough was well fortified in his convictions .concerning governmental policies and was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party. He took deep interest in community affairs and while living on his Gage county farm, he served as a member of the school board of his district. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church and his widow holds membership in the Congregational church of Beatrice.
In the year 1867 Mr. Strough wedded Miss Sarah Ann Bowers, who was born in Henry County, Indiana, April 14, 1849, a daughter of George and Lydia (Weane) Bowers, both natives of Rockingham county, Virginia, where the former was born in the year 1819 and the latter on the 9th of August, 1831. Upon his removal to Indiana, Mr. Bowers became a pioneer of Henry county, and there he became a substantial farmer and influential citizen of his community. He was one of the venerable pioneer citizens of the county at the time of his death, in 1891, at the age of seventy-two years, and his widow, who attained to the age of eighty-one years, was a resident of Henry county, Indiana, at the time of her death, in 1908. Since the death of her honored husband Mrs. Strough has continued to reside in the attractive home which he provided upon their removal to Beatrice. In conclusion is given brief record concerning their children, eleven having been born to them and two of the number having died in infancy: Laura is the wife of Giles Laughlin and they reside near Sheridan, Arkansas; Mary B. is the wife of Thomas Harding, a prosperous farmer of Holt township, Gage county, Nebraska ; Joseph Leonard resides in Beatrice, this county, where he operates a garage ; Dora E. is the wife of John Coonley, who is engaged in the grocery business in West Beatrice; Lloyd L., who owns and resides upon his father's old home farm in Holt township, is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume; Rufus F. is engaged in the oil business in the city of Beatrice; Jesse F. is a resident of Ottumwa, Iowa; and Nona E. is the wife of William Sherwood, a prosperous farmer in Logan township.
History of Gage
County, Nebraska By Hugh Jackson Dobbs