Thomas STROPE Jr.

  General Notes:

Photo: A tall monument marks the burial location of Thomas Strope, Sr. and his second wife Sarah at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Greene County, Pennsylvania. A close-up of the inscription for Thomas provides his full dates of birth and death.

Credit: Greene County, Pennsylvania Cemeteries CD No. 3 by James Fordyce, 2002



1824 BIRTH of Thomas Strope, Jr.

1830 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Richhill Township (with parents) (household of Thomas "Stroup")

1840 DEATH of grandfather, William Allum

1840 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Richhill Township (with parents) (household of Thomas "Strop")

1848 DEATH of father, Thomas Strope, Sr.

1850 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Aleppo Township ("Thomas," age 24, "Farmer") (wife "Eliza," age 30) ("Strope" in census)

In 1850, Thomas Strope, Jr. was 24 years old and served in the 1850 Aleppo Township Militia --Cornerstone Clues, Volume 21, No. 2, May 1986

1860 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Springfield Township, P. O. New Freeport ("Thomas," age 36, "Farmer") (wife "Eliza," age 45) ("Strope" in census)

1863 REGISTRATION, Civil War Draft, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Springhill Township, 24th Congressional District (May & June) ("Thomas Strope," age 36, "Farmer," born in Pennsylvania) (Class 2)

1870 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Springhill Township, P. O. Rogersville ("Thomas," age 45, "Farmer") (wife "Eliza," age 50) (Thomas's mother "Sarah," age 78, is in his household) ("Strope" in census)

1873 DEATH of first wife, Eliza (Mitchell) Strope at approximately 58 years

Eliza's gravestone at the Bosworth-Strope Cemetery tells us she died on November 27, 1873 "in her 58th year." Eliza is documented as 30 in the 1850 census; 45 in the 1860 census; and 50 in the 1870 census, indicating she could have been born in 1820 instead of 1815. I have, however, used 1815 as her year of birth to coincide with "58th" year on her gravestone. (Presumably, the stone does not say "53rd" year... )

1876 DEATH of mother, Sarah (Allum) Strope

1880 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Springhill Township ("Thomas," age 55, "Farmer") (wife "Sarah," age 40) (in the household is son "Park," age 3) ("Strope" in census)

1899 DEATH of second wife, Sarah Jane (Miller) (Fordyce) Strope, at 61 years 1 month 29 days

1900 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Springhill Township ("Thomas," age 75, widower, "Farmer," born "November, 1824") (in the household are sons "Lloyd," age 23, "Farmer," and "Purman," age 18, "Farm Laborer") ("Shope" in some census indexes)

1901 DEATH, Thomas Strope, Jr. at 76 years 9 months 11 days




HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, by Samuel P. Bates, Nelson, Rishforth & Co, Chicago, 1888, page 858:


THOMAS STROPE, farmer and stock grower, Deep Valley, Penn., was born November 22, 1823 and is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Elems) (sic) Strope. His parents were of English descent. His father, who was a farmer during his lifetime, died in 1848. Mr. Thomas Thrope (sic) is the fourth in his father's family and the eldest who grew to maturity. His opportunities for an education were very limited. He is a self-made man and now owns 290 acres of well improved land. When he was a small boy he worked by the month and then worked on a farm as a tenant. He also learned the tanner's trade, at which he was employed until twenty-four years of age. Mr. Strope's first wife was Eliza Mitchell, who lived twenty-five years after their marriage. They had one child, George W. Mrs. Sarah Jane Strope, the present wife, was the daughter of Jacob Miller, a prominent farmer of Springhill Township. Mr. and Mrs. Strope are the parents of two children--Park L. and Purman D. Mr. Strope is a Republican. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and the Patrons of Husbandry. He and (his) wife are members of the Church of God.

Thomas married Eliza MITCHELL before 1854 in (Probably) Greene County, Pennsylvania. (Eliza MITCHELL was born in 1815 in Pennsylvania, died on November 27, 1873 in Greene County, Pennsylvania and was buried in Bosworth-Strope Cemetery, Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.)

Thomas next married Sarah Jane MILLER after 1873. (Sarah Jane MILLER was born on November 26, 1837 in Pennsylvania, died on January 24, 1899 in Pennsylvania and was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.)