Did You Know...
A collection of anecdotes about the Strother family, including the famous, the talented and the....

Randolph Scott - George Randolph Scott (1898-1987) was an actor on the stage and in the movies from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for most of his movie career, Randolph Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social and crime dramas, comedies,  adventure tales and war films. However, his most enduring image is that of the tall-in-the-saddle Western hero. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame. His Strother lineage is William, William, Anthony, Benjamin, Catherine, John W. Crane, Joseph M. Crane, Jr., Lucy L. Crane, George Randolph Scott. (Source: Wikipedia and the William Strother Society database.)

The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., Bishop of Kentucky. As the Diocese of Kentucky's bishop, Gulick is chief pastor to its clergy, 36 congregations and about 10,600 active members. His line is William, Robert, Enoch, James, James, James, Mildred Childs Strother Gulick.

Longest English Word "Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic", with fifty-two letters, is a claimant to the title of the longest word in the English language. The word is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother, (1675-1737 London), who devised it to describe the spa waters at Bath, England. We are not sure what the word means but it was listed in some editions of the Guinness Book of Records as the longest "real" word, other claimants being chemical or medical terms or fanciful words. We know little of Dr. Strother's ancestry but believe he is of a lineage different from ours.

Strother Meeting House

In 1800 Richard Strother built a log meeting house for the Methodist congregation on Station Camp Creek in Sumner County Tennessee. The first Methodist conference in Middle Tennessee was held there in 1802 with Bishop Francis Asbury presiding. It served as a meeting house until the 1850s and was then taken down by a Mr. Hassel and reassembled in his barn to use as a corn crib. In the 1920s the "corn crib" was verifed as the original Strother Meeting House, was purchased , taken apart again and erected for the third time on the grounds of Scarritt Methodist College in Nashville, Tennessee. Today the Meeting House still stands on the college campus and is a musuem containing relics of early frontier life. (Submitted via The William Strother Society Web site by MeccaV2752@aol.com)

Strother Field
An airport, jointly owned by Arkansas City and Winfield, was under construction in April 1942 when the Army Air Force indicated a need for the airfield. The facility was rushed to completion with the first class of cadets scheduled to arrive for basic training in the BT- 13 on December 14, 1942.

On November 13, 1942, the field was officially named Strother Army Air Field. It was named in honor of Captain Donald Root Strother. Strother, a Winfield native and graduate of Winfield High School and Southwestern College, was the first Cowley County Army Air Force pilot to lose his life in World War II action (February 13, 1942) on the island of Java. He was the youngest of four brothers, all involved in the war effort; Dean, eventually an Air Force general, Kenneth an infantry captain, and Robert who served in the Office of War Information.

The field was dedicated January of 1943 by Governor Schoppel, local officials at the Strother Field Commander. During the ceremony which included a military aerial review, The Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart were presented to Captain Strother's three year old son, Colbert.

The field was deactivated in 1945 and eventually returned to the cities. (Article by Peter Giroux)

William Strother, Horse Thief
Not all of our Strother ancestors were leaders of our country. William4 Strother (Francis3, Jeremiah2, William1) was convicted by the court of Salisbury in North Carolina for horse stealing and sentenced to death. However, numerous friends and neighbors presented a petition to the governor in April 1763 asking for clemency, saying that William4 had fallen in with bad company and led astray. The governor granted a reprieve for six months and on 22 December 1763 granted a further reprieve for 99 years. Source: Robert J. Cain, editor, The Colonial Records of North Carolina [Second Series], Records of the Executive Council 1755-1775, Volume IX: 120, 125, 416-418 (Raleigh, NC Division of Archives and History, 1994)

According to family legend William Strother (immigrant) came from England and was descended from royalty. Indeed, it has been so written in some publications. However, diligent research has found no documented evidence to support these claims. (Source: 1998 William Strother Society Biennial Conference booklet, p. 18.)

James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, Jr., 39th president of the United States, is a Strother descendant. His line is William, Robert, Priscilla Elizabeth Strother KAY, James KAY, James KAY, Mary Kay PRATT, James E. PRATT, Nina Pratt CARTER, James Earl CARTER, Sr. If you are a descendent of one of William's sons other than Robert and are of the same generation as Jimmy Carter, you and Jimmy Carter are 8th cousins. If you are a descendant of Robert, you are even closer kin. (Source: 1998 Strother Family Directory, p. 42)

George S. Patton, Jr. (Old Blood and Guts) (1885-1945), one of the foremost American combat generals of WWII, was a Strother descendant. His line is William, Jeremiah, James Lawrence, French, Margaret French Strother SLAUGHTER, Lucy Coleman Slaughter WILLIAMS, Margaret French Williams PATTON, George Smith PATTON I, George Smith PATTON II, George Smith PATTON III. (Source: 1998 Strother Family Directory, p. 43).

Charles S. Robb, former Governor of Virginia and former U.S. Senator from Virginia and son-in-law of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is a Strother descendant. His line is William, William, William, Elizabeth Strother FROGGE, John FROGGE, Elizabeth Strother Frogge ESTILL, Isaac ESTILL, Floyd ESTILL, John Floyd ESTILL, Susan Gay Estill ROBB. (Source: 1998 Strother Family Directory, p. 43)

Fort Strother near the Coosa River in St. Clair County, Alabama was named for Major John Strother (William, William, Francis, George) who was the chief Topographer for General Andrew Jackson from September 26, 1813 to February 26, 1814 during the War of 1812. (Source: Houses of Strother Newsletter, Feb 1991, Vol 3, No 1, p.10)

Strother, Missouri, a small, now largely abandoned, town in South Fork township of Monroe County on the eastern side of the state, was named for Prof. French Strother who was principal of the Strother Institute which was for many years a prominent institution of learning in the area. Prof. Strother's lineage is William, William, Francis, John Dabney, John, French. (Source: Houses of Strother Newsletter, Jan & Mar 1996, Vol 6, No 6 & 7, p.10; Descendants of William Strother, vol. I, p. 119, published by the William Strother Society, Inc. 1993.)

John Strother, lineage unknown, managed a hotel at 14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. from 1822 to 1824. This hotel later became the Willard Hotel that is there today. (Source: Houses of Strother Newsletters, Oct 1997, Vol 7, No 5, p.3 and Jan 1996, Vol 7, No 6, p. 14.)

George Washington, 1st president of the United States spent his boyhood years at a farm directly across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg, Virginia. The farm was known as the Strother Farm when owned by William Strother III, grandson of William Strother, the immigrant. The widow of William III sold the land to George's father. Augustine Washington. The property is now known as Ferry Farm because of the ferry across the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg that was begun when William Strother III owned the farm. Legend tells us it was here that George cut down one of his father's favorite cherry trees and tossed a coin across the Rappahannock River. The farm is now owned by the Kenmore Association which is conductng archeological digs and is believed to have found the foundation of the Strother house into which the Washington's moved in 1738. (Source: 1998 William Strother Society Biennial Conference booklet, p. 29)

David Hunter Strother (1816-1888) was one of the most talented artists and draftsmen of the Civil War era. Using the pen name, "Porte Crayon," Strother worked for Harper's Monthly, sketching famous events such as the capture and trial of John Brown. His lineage is William, William, Anthony, Benjamin, John. To see some of his work, click on Porte Crayon. To order the booklet Traveling Through Time by David Hunter Strother, click on General Store. (Source: Descendants of William Strother, vol. I, p. 102, published by the William Strother Society, Inc. 1993)

Zachary Taylor, Jr. (1784-1850), 12th president of the United States, was a Strother descendant. His line is William, William, Francis, William, Sarah Dabney Strother TAYLOR. (Source: Descendants of William Strother, vol. I, p. 75, published by the William Strother Society, Inc. 1993.)

John Tyler, Jr. (1790-1862), 10th President of the United States, 23rd Governor of Virginia, although not a direct descendant of William Strother, the immigrant, had a close relationship to the Strothers as two of his first cousins, twice removed, two brothers,  Henry Tyler (b. abt. 1710, d. 1777) and Francis Tyler (b. 1723), married two Strother sisters, Alice Strother  (b. abt. 1719, m. 1738, d. abt. 1792) and Anne Strother (b. 1723, m. 1744), respectively. The lineage of the sisters is William, William, William, Alice and Anne.  (Source: Wikipedia, June Wright and the William Strother Society database.) (Suggested by June Wright)

The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, is a collection of stories in a frame story. It is the story of a group of about thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury. One of the earliest mentions of Strother in literature is on line 160 of The Reeves Prologue and Tale (Line 94 of the Tale). Click here to see The Reeve's Tale in the original English. (In England at this time a reeve was the chief officer of a town or district.) At this point, the tale is about two young Cambridge students. In modern English, "One was named John, and Alan the other; Born in the same town both - a place called Strother far to the north - I cannot tell you where."

If you know of a Strother tidbit that would make an interesting addition to our Did You Know... page
or if you have a comment about any item on the page, let David Nance know.