Born- c1802

At- Lincoln County, North Carolina

Died- 8 Oct 1863

At- Cherokee County, Georgia

Buried- Briar Patch Cemetery

(1) Married- Martha Elizabeth Fewell

Marriage Date- c1819 Spartanburg, SC

Born- C1804

Died- Unknown

Buried- Unknown

(2) Married- Roena Stovall

Marriage Date- 25 Sep 1830 Habersham County, Georgia

Born- 1805 North Carolina

Died- 1844

Buried- Unknown

(3) Married- Elizabeth Sarah Roach

Marriage Date- 1845 Georgia

Born- 1824 Habersham, Georgia

Died- 1911 Gasden, Alabama

Buried- Unknown

ORIGINS

      Benjamin Franklin “Ben” Stroup was born about 1802 at Saylor’s Branch of upper Hoyle's Creek, Lincoln County, N.C., the son iron master Jacob Stroup born March 18, 1771 and his first wife Elisabetha “Betsy” Dellinger (who married in August 1790 in Lincoln County, central North Carolina, where he had his first iron works and was a Captain of a company of Lincoln County men he raised during the War of 1812, moving to South Carolina in 1814.)  

      The lives of Benjamin F. Stroup and his siblings were intertwined with that of his father because part of the family was employed in his iron works or owned a tavern near it, so that they often followed him whenever the iron industry took him from North Carolina on a route through the northern part of South Carolina, and ended in northwestern Georgia as Jacob and his eldest son and primary business partner, Moses Stroup, speculated in land and built a string of iron foundries, some small, others larger, although one or more of Jacob’s children often “stayed behind” while those who did move sometimes “came back” to an earlier settlement.

MARRIAGE

 Ben married three times, 1st 1819 to Martha Elizabeth “Betsy” Fewell, at Cowpens Furnace, Spartanburg County, S.C.; m. 2nd on 25 Sept 25, 1830 Roena Stovall in Morgan Co., Ala.; m. 3d Apr 28, 1853 Sarah Elizabeth “Betsy” Roach.  Ben Stroup died 1865 Cherokee Co., Ga., buried Briar Patch Cemetery, near Waleska, Ga.

       Benjamin F. Stroup was married three times, first in 1819 to Martha Elizabeth “Betsy” Fewell, at Cowpens Furnace, Spartanburg County, S.C.

      He was married the second time on 25 Sept 1830 to Roena Stovall in Morgan Co., Alabama.   He was married third in 1845 to Sarah Elizabeth “Betsy” Roach.

1850 CENSUS, CHEROKEE CO., GA.

      The 1850 Federal Census, District 15, Cherokee Co., Ga.:  Joseph Stroup, known son of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth (Fewell) Stroup, was married and head of a household, aged 24, born c1826 in Alabama, wife Margaret J. age 23, b c1817 in S.C., daughter Mary A. 1/12 born in 1850 in Georgia.

1860 CENSUS, CHEROKEE CO., N.C.

      The Federal Census for 1860, Waleska P.O., Hardin District, Cherokee County, Ga. showed:  Benjamin Stroup 55 (born c1805 in N.C.), wife, Elizabeth Stroup, age 35 (born c1825 in N.C.).

      Children in their home in 1860: 1. Mary Stroup, age 20 (c1840 Alabama); 2. Drury Stroup age 19, male, (c1841 Alabama); 3. Jacob Stroup 18 (c1842 Georgia); 4. Sarah Stroup 11 (c1849 Ga.); 5. Amey Stroup 9 (c1851 Ga.); 6. James Stroup, age 6 (c1854 Ga.); 7. Alfred Stroup, 5 (c1855 Ga.); 8. Moses Stroup, 3 (c1857 Ga.) and 9.  Susan Stroup, age 1 (c1859, Ga.)

1870 CENSUS

      Benjamin F. Stroup died in 1864, aged about sixty-two at Shoal Creek, and was buried with many of his kin in the Briar Patch Cemetery near Waleska, Cherokee County, Ga.

      His widow, Elizabeth (Roach) Stroup, outlived him by many years, moved to Cherokee County, Alabama with part of her children, where she died in 1911.

KNOWN CHILDREN

Benjamin F. Stroup’s known children:  By 1st wife Elizabeth Fewell: 

            1. Joseph Stroup (c1826 - 30 Apr 1862) b. Walker County, Alabama, married May 21, 1849 Cherokee County, Ga. to Margaret Johnson born c1817 S.C.; died in 1862 in the Confederate Army in Atlanta, buried Oakland CSA cemetery.

       Benjamin F. Stroup’s children by 2nd wife Roena Stovall (they married in 1830 and she died in 1844):

            3.  Mary A. Stroup b c1839 Walker County, Alabama, married May 27, 1858 Elias Suggs, Cass/Bartow Co., Ga.

            4.  Drewry “Drury” S. Stroup born c1842 in Morgan County, Alabama; died in Arkansas.

            5.  Jacob Stroup born c1842/4 at Stamp Cr. Cass (later Bartow) Co. Georgia.     

      Benjamin F. Stroup’s children by 3rd wife Sarah Elizabeth “Betsy” Roach (married in 1845):

            6. Sarah Stroup born c1848 at Stamp Creek, Cass/Bartow County, Ga.

            7. Georgia Amy Stroup (14 Feb 1850-1877) born at Stamp Creek, Cass/Bartow Co., Ga.

            8. James Stroup born c1854, Waleska, Cherokee Co., Ga.

            9.  Alfred Stroup born c1855, Waleska, Cherokee Co., Ga.

            10. Moses Stroup born c1857, Waleska, Ga.

            11. Susan Stroup born c1859, Waleska, Ga.

            12. Martha Ellen Stroup, born c1863, Waleska, Ga.; to Cherokee County, Alabama where c1880 or 1881 married Henry Alfred Wiggs.

SOURCES

      1. Federal Census records.

      2. Nov. 1, 1995 letter from descendant John Reuben Jackson, 5208 Happy Valley Church Rd., Dallas, GA 30132.  

      3. July 1,1999, e-mail from Martha Ellen Stroup Wiggs descendant Shirley McDonald Keeling, giving name of Martha Ellen Stroup’s husband.

Elizabeth Fewell was probably d/o Edmund Fewell, Sr., b c1785 N.C.& wife Sarah Jennings (b 22 Mar 1787 N.C.); Edmund Fewell, Sr. was one of Jacob Stroup’s partners at his Cowpens, S.C. furnace until Fewell death c1822, after which Jacob Stroup m. his widow as his third wife.  Edmund & Elizabeth Fewell, Sr.’s known children included Irene b c1800 who m. Jacob Stroup’s son Alexander; Theodore Fewell and Edmund Monroe Fewell.