Henry Stroup

Born- abt 1773

At- Hoyle's Creek, Lincoln County, North Carolina

Died- Unknown

At- Unknown

Buried- Unknown

(1) Married- Local German girl

Marriage Date- Unknown

Born- Unknown

Died- Unknown

At- Unknown

Buried- Unknown

Henry Stroup (born c1773) is believed to have been one of seven sons born to Adam and Catherine (French?) Stroup of Saylor's Branch, upper Hoyle's Creek, Lincoln County, N.C.  Little is known about Henry except that he is thought to have married a German girl in Lincoln County by publication of the marriage banns on several consecutive Sundays in the local Lutheran church, a type of marriage with the only record kept in German in the parish records, most of which have not been translated and published.

                        TO MISSOURI c1810

            Henry is presumed to have migrated about 1810, probably with his brothers Andrew, b c1781 and Peter, b. c1787, in a wagon train of Germans from Hoyle's Creek who settled before 1811 south of St. Louis in an area that in 1818 became Jefferson County.

                        MISSOURI EPIDEMIC

            The presence of Henry and his wife are known in this area because the three Stroup brothers apparently settled very close to each other, and two of the three brothers died in epidemics that hit their home area, leaving small orphans.

            The surviving brother was Peter, b c1787, whose wife apparently died in the epidemic leaving him with about four children.

                        BROTHER ANDREW STROUP

            Andrew Stroup, b c1781, had married Katy Link in Lincoln Co., N.C. in 1803, and moved to southeast Missouri with his brothers Peter and Henry before 1810. 

            EPIDEMIC OF c1825

            A great epidemic occurred about 1825, at which time Betsy Stroup, born July 11, 1821, was about four when she was orphaned along with her small brothers.  Harmon Stroup, b c1823 was almost surely Betsy’s younger brother, aged about two when their parents died.

            By the process of elimination, the father of these two-orphaned Stroups is believed to have been Henry Stroup. Brother Peter is eliminated because he lived until 1851, along with his nine children being named in Jefferson County probate records.

            BROTHER ANDREW & KATY (LINK) STROUP

            Andrew and Katy (Link) Stroup probably died c1825, because Andrew, b c1781, should not be father of Andrew, b. July 16, 1828 in Jefferson County, because, the Stroups were still following an old Dutch Patronymic Name System where sons were never named for the father, unless the child was illegitimate to shame the father.  The Name System they did use was to name eldest sons for the paternal grandfather, and subsequent sons for their uncles.  Another factor of with all the Germans was to call people by their middle names.

     Because of the Dutch Name System, Andrew Stroup, b c1781, should not father of Andrew born in 1828, which, by elimination, seems to be son of Henry, b c1773.  If so, Henry was alive until c1837 when Thomas Stroup was born.

            SECOND EPIDEMIC c1838

            Betsy (Stroup) Gamble’s in-laws raised two boys orphaned by an epidemic c1838, who  were probably her first cousins, George Stroup, b. c1829 and Thomas Stroup, b c1837.  The reasoning here is that Betsy stated her parents died when she was about four years old, hence these two boys were born after her parents died, Betsy having been about sixteen in 1837.

From the files of Ethel Belle Stroupe