This is our Stroup Group for exchanging Stroup information and thoughts. We are interested in all lines of Stroups. We have photos and documents from North Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and Alabama Stroups plus others. I have Ethel Stroupe's files and am posting them as fast as I can convert them from Apple to Windows files. She has Bio's on most of the early Stroups which I have posted. We have several members that are very active in research and make frequent "road trips", so come join us and enjoy all the information available.

 
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Iron-Master Matthias Matthew Stroope was born about 1650, Westphalia West, Germany. He lived in The Ruhr Valley of Germany. Ruhr is the name of a River and a Region. The river is a tributary of the Rhine River, rising in the West Central part of Germany, in the State of North-Rhine-Westphalia.

The Region; the Ruhr River basin and adjoining area, comprising the region that extends East from the Rhine River, between Weasel and Dusseldorf, is one of the most intensely developed industrial regions in the world. A large proportion of Iron and Steel are manufactured in Germany, most predominantly produced in the Ruhr Valley. The primary industrial cities of the district are Essen, Dusseldorf, and Dortmond. Among other leading cities in the Ruhr District are Duisburg, Oberhausen, Gelsenkrehen, Bochum, and Wuppertal.

North Rhine-Westpertal State is in West Central Germany, bounded on the North and Northeast by the State of Lower-Saxony; on the East by the State of Hesse; on the South by the State of Rhineland-Palatinate; on the West by Belgium and the Netherlands. Dusseldorf is the Capitol. Other chief cities are Cologne; Bonn, the Administrative Capitol. Dortmund is the heart of the Ruhr Coalfield and extensive Iron-ore deposits.

This information of the Ruhr Valley is taken from the World Book Encyclopedia.

1. Matthias Stroope was born about 1650. He arrived in America as an educated iron master the first time October 10, 1684 on the Ship SHIELD in PENNSYLVANIA. He lived briefly in GERMAN TOWN, PA. "He went back to Germany possibly for his wife and family," arriving the second time in 1687 on the ship ENDEAVOR OF STOCKTON at a port near BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. He crossed the Atlantic at least five times. He made his home near ELK RIDGE, MARYLAND. The PATAPSCO FURNACE is located about 3 miles away. Matthias Stroope was an Iron Master from the old country- Germany. Some Stroup-e’s still carry the E in their name today but most have dropped the E.

Matthias’s wife’s last name is unknown, however we can be sure of her first name (HANNAH). The Stroope family was using the paternal name system; the eldest son and daughter were named for their paternal grandparents. His eldest son named Matthias or Matthew and his eldest daughter named Hannah.

1. Arrived in Baltimore on 10 Oct 1684 on board ship Shield

2. Matthias sailed between Europe and America at least 6 times. The first time he arrived in Philadelphia on 10 October 1684 abroad the ship "Shield." He lived briefly in German town, Pennsylvania before he returned to Germany. He arrived for the second time in 1687 abroad the ship "Endeavor of Stockton" at a port in Maryland. Matthias was an iron master, as were some of his descendants.

3. Born ABT 1650 in Ruhr Valley, Westphalin Province (near Essen), NW Germany

Died ABT 1740 in High Point, NC

Spellings of this name include STROOP, STROOPE, STROUP, STROUPE, and STROPE. STROPE is the correct German spelling.

It is a rare name found only in Westphalia.

Mathias sailed between Europe and America at least 6 times. In 1687, Talbot County, East Maryland, "Mr. Mathew STROPE" was on a trip from England.

There was a iron furnace near Matthias home it was called Patapsco Furnace however it is unclear if Matthias had any dealings with this furnace.

Mathias Strupe was undoubtedly chosen by both Proprietors to set up their earliest iron works because he was ambitious, unencumbered, healthy enough to withstand the voyage, young enough to be physically capable of carrying out an arduous task, yet old enough to have good job skills as an iron master and gunsmith. By this combination of qualifications, he was probably about 25 or 30 years old at his two emigrations in 1784 and 1787. So, by 1683, either in Germany or England, Mathias Strupe apparently signed a two-year contract with William Penn to become Pennsylvania’s first iron master and gunsmith, but no record of this has been located so far, no search having been made.

 

Because Germany had no western ports, Mathias’ route, like that of other emigrants, was down the Rhine to Amsterdam to book passage on an English ship. The next port Mathias saw was almost certainly Stockton-on-Tees which is north of London, faces Europe and traded primarily with Holland. Stockton was an early center of English iron making and most early English iron works employed German iron masters. Mathias may have been employed in Stockton’s iron works before 1684, and Stockton may be where William Penn (or his agent) found him. A stay in England would explain why he signed his name as Stroope, which seems to have been his Anglicized phonetic spelling of the German name Strupp/Strupe/Strub. Whether or not he worked in Stockton, Mathias definitely sailed twice on ships out of that port.

 

The ship ‘Shield’ had its home port in Stockton, on England’s east coast, but when it sailed for America, its last land fall would have been the western port of either Cowes or Plymouth to take on fresh food and water. After weeks at sea, the ship with Mathias Stroope aboard arrived at Philadelphia. He was a single German on a ship load of Quakers. His arrival record survived by accident. Paper was so scarce that the thrifty Quakers turned it over and wrote on the back. The reverse side of a record from Philadelphia’s Falls Monthly Meeting reads

 

From aboard the ship Shield 10th of 8th mo. 1684. These are to certify unto all people, Friends and others, that said John Chapman (of Stannah, Yorkshire), with all his family hath been of sober and good carriage and peaceable behavior and in all things demeaning themselves as people professing God and truth ought to do, we are willing to testify by our hands underwritten

 

The first signer was the ship’s master, Daniel Toues. His name is given for an earlier voyage of the same vessel as Towers, Towle or Towes. The rest who signed were obviously ship’s passengers signing as witnesses. The fourth witness was "Mathias Stroops." This document has several meanings. By his being asked to witness a document, Mathias was not a Redemptioner (indentured servant) but a freeman over the age of twenty-one. He either paid his own passage or had it paid by his employer, much as cooper John Alden’s was paid by the Pilgrims. The certificate being drawn up for Chapman also shows the English insistence on maintaining their monopoly on the importation of settlers to the Colonies, with all arrivals required to have papers showing legal entry on an English ship. Those who could not produce arrival papers were considered squatters, subject to deportation. Chapman’s papers may have been spoiled by water coming into their cabin. Whatever, the passengers were still aboard when Capt. Towes drew up Chapman’s replacement papers.

 

Mathias’ being able to sign his name helps confirm the belief that he was an educated craftsman. His spelling of "Mathias" shows he was German (a shipmate signed as "Matthew," the English form of the same name.)

 

During his two year stay in Philadelphia, there were only twelve German families in the Colony - a group of Anabaptists, linen workers brought over in 1683 from Crefield, Holland who built Germantown on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The Dutch culture of Germantown no doubt was much more familiar and comfortable to Mathias than the Quaker culture of Philadelphia. None of these Germantown families migrated to Lincoln County, NC.

 

Although Mathias may have built an iron furnace and forge near Philadelphia, nothing is known of his stay in early Philadelphia except a family tale that "the immigrant first lived amongst Quakers," from which we learn that he was not in Germantown but among the English in Philadelphia. "He then moved and lived amongst Methodists." During his two years in Philadelphia, Mathias must have gone prospecting and found a more suitable site for iron works near Baltimore.

 

Mathias seems to have been well paid by Penn but under a limited contract for two years. Later, he was free to leave and had the money for a return trip to Germany. Apparently, no wife awaited him, else he would have sent for her, nor does he seem to have located a suitable girl in the dozen families of Germantown. Therefore, it is likely that he returned to Germany about 1686 to find a wife (although Jacob Forney returned to Germany for the purpose of collecting his inheritance). Mathias’ wife was definitely German because that was the language of Stroup homes for several succeeding generations. His marriage record should be in a village easily accessible to river travel, probably in Bavaria or Baden-Worrtemberg.

 

When he arrived in America the second time, he brought a large Bible which was taken to Lincoln County, NC then to Arkansas where it was remembered by Jesse Ardell Stroupe "Our family’s German bible is about 300 years old, has dates to the 1600s, all the names are Biblical, and it came over on one of Lord Baltimore’s ships."

 

For reasons unknown, when Mathias left Pennsylvania he chose to be employed by William Penn’s chief rival, Lord Baltimore. Perhaps he was unhappy with the iron project in Pennsylvania, with Quaker rigidity or merely believed Maryland offered better opportunities. The "Proceedings of the Council of Maryland" dated 19 Feb 1696 indicates that Mathias embarked on the English ship "The Endeavor of Stockton" in 1687. The ship dropped anchor at Baltimore harbor fifty-seven years after the "Dove" brought the first 200 colonists on 25 Mar 1634. When he arrived in 1687, the Dove’s rotting hulk was still visible in the waters of Baltimore’s inner harbor. The little village consisted of a dozen houses.

 

In his day, "iron works" consisted of ore, limestone and coal mines whose products were transported down small streams on rafts to an iron mill located on a stream which had been dammed to provide power to operate machinery. The "iron works" would include a Catalan furnace, forge and molds for casting. To meet these requirements, Mathias’ home had to be on a small waterway on the outskirts of Baltimore rather than in the village. He would also need fertile farm land, and would have built his home on the same farm as his iron works. Although his exact location has not been discovered, the oldest Stroup home place in America was very likely the same place described by his grandson, Adam Stroup, when he swore to the Lincoln County, NC court that "I was born in 1746 three miles from the City of Baltimore."

 

What did Adam mean by "City of Baltimore?" Baltimore was not a real city but a small village. However, "City of Baltimore" was the name given to the new county formed in 1729 from old Baltimore County. This new county encompassed several miles on three sides of the village and harbor. Therefore, when Adam said "three miles from the City of Baltimore, "he was referring to the distance between the Stroup home place and the County line which was the Patapsco River. The old Stroup home place likely lies three miles south of the Patapsco River probably at Major’s Choice or at Jacob’s Lot. Adam’s son, Jacob, owned land at both places by 1750 and both areas would meet the conditions necessary for iron production. Major’s Choice is on an old map and is now located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland about three miles west of Elk Ridge. A history of Howard County says there were early iron ore mines at Elk Ridge and a modern street atlas shows a furnace road along the river. What used to be Major’s Choice seems to be about a mile north of what is now the General Electric Appliance Park.

 

It has been stated that "The Stroups were never poor..." if so, then Mathias undoubtedly prospered. However, under the Maryland law of primogeniture, his entire estate must pass intact to his eldest son. The Maryland Hall of Records reported no Stroope, Strub, Straub in its Will Index to 1850, and no land record from 1740 through 1780.

 

By tradition, Mathias had three sons. One son stayed in eastern Maryland and two moved west to York County, Pennsylvania. According to the German name system the family used, it is likely that the eldest son was named for Mathias’ father in the old country

 

1. (Jacob?) Stroup - born about 1687

2. Adam Stroup - born about 1690

3. (Peter?) Stroup - born 1690 to 1695