Moses Stroup

Origin

Moses Stroup was reputedly born October 12, 1796, the third son of Philip and Molly Eddleman (Adtleman) whose farm was on upper Hoyle’s Creek between Alexis and High Shoals, was adjoined on the west by the home place of Moses’ grandfather, Jacob Stroup, Sr., and on the east by the Old Road to Lincolnton.

  FIRST WIFE SUSANNA MASTER

            When Moses was about seventeen, he married eighteen year old Susannah Master with a Lincoln County Marriage Bond dated Nov. 26, 1813, Bond Surety, the groom’s brother John Stroup, in a ceremony performed a few days later by Vardy McBee, J.P.

            The bride, Susannah (b. 1794) was daughter of Michael and Mary “Margaret” Master.  Two years earlier, 1811, Susannah’s sister Catherine married as his second wife Philip Stroup, Sr., father of Moses, so after Moses and Susannah married, the bride’s older sister was her new mother-in-law (something both families recalled with amusement).

LUTHERANS AND BAPTISTS

            Moses Stroup’s parents raised him Lutheran, but Susannah and her family were ardent Baptists, so he converted.  However, part of the Stroups remained Lutheran, and several of Moses and Susannah’s children were Lutherans who clung tenaciously to the German language, “old country customs”, and refused to attend church services in English. Moses Stroup’s grandchildren remembered him “Reading aloud from his Bible in German”, a practice carried on later by his vehemently Lutheran son, Caleb, who “Kept the Sabbath so Holy he refused to feed his horses if they neighed, took the family carriage to the Lutheran church and made his Baptist wife go to church on horseback.”

1820 LINCOLN COUNTY CENSUS

            A section of the 1820 Federal Census for Lincoln County, N.C., can be identified by land records as a rural area of upper Hoyle’s Creek along the Alexis - High Shoals road and along the headwaters of Leeper’s Creek, where in 1820 the heads of farm families included: Solomon Stroup, Susannah Spain, Henry Seitz, Philip Stroup, Michael Stroup, Moses Stroup, Edward Saunders, Lemuel Saunders, Samuel Saunders and David Troutman. [Lemuel Saunders was a German Dunker lay minister who later converted to the English Baptists.]

Moses Stroup’s 1820 household consisted of:  2 males -9, 1 male aged 16-45 (himself); 2 females -9, 2 female 26-45.  Moses Stroup’s farm household was also listed in the 1830 Federal Census for Lincoln County.

1845 SCHOOL DISTRICT; 1846 GASTON COUNTY

            In 1845, for School District #36, the building used in the Alexis area was “Stroup’s School House”, and Moses Stroup was in school records as father of students named Hosea, Bartlett, Miriam and Roxann Stroup.

            In 1846, this southern section of old Lincoln County was cut off to form Gaston County.

SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH

            Moses Stroup’s wife, Susannah Master was born into the French Huguenot family of Master (LeMeister, Lowmaster).  The Huguenots, having fled from massacres in France across the Rhine into Germany, on emigration to the American colonies brought with them a deep distrust of religious sects supported by (or linked to) State governments, including the Church of England (Episcopal), Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) and German Lutherans, gravitating instead toward sects that insisted on complete Separation of Church and State, e.g., Quakers, Mennonites, German Dunkers, English Baptists and Methodists.  Susannah (Master) Stroup was said to be in the local community “A beacon of light of Baptist principles.” About 1845, when her son Alexander Stroup (b. Mar. 19, 1829) was sixteen, he told her about hearing Rev. Wade Hill preach a very eloquent sermon at Long Creek Baptist Church, after which she invited Hill to come and preach at High Shoals, he accepted, and for the next two years preached regularly at High Shoals and Stroup’s School House. This resulted, c1847, in the formation of Salem Baptist Church about four miles SE of Lincolnton. The Salem Baptist congregation also built a brush arbor, where summer time camp meetings were held until about 1870.  The leading members of Salem Baptist were the Stroup, Abernathy, Garrison, Smith, Robinson, Harrell and Clanton families. In 1868 there were 219 members, but in 1934 the membership was reduced to 134.  (Wm. Sherrill, Annals of Lincoln County, p 487.)

TO IRONTON

            At an unidentified date, Moses Stroup moved his family from the old Stroup home area a few miles away to Ironton, which, after the 1846 formation of Gaston County, remained on the Lincoln County side of the county line with Alexis and High Shoals south of the line in Gaston County, an artificial separation for communities only a few miles apart.

1850 CENSUS

            The Federal Census of 1850 for Ironton Twp., Lincoln County, showed Moses Stroup living near a young married couple, Joseph P. Stroup (wife Lucy Ann Faulkner) son of Moses’ cousin, Solomon Stroup (wife Nancy Haskins) of Hoyle’s Creek.  Shortly after this census, the Joseph P. Stroup family moved to his father’s farm on Swannanoa River, north of Asheville. In 1850 Ironton Twp., Moses Stroup was listed as aged 56 (b c1794), farmer, $900 real property, wife Susan Stroup, age 58 (b c1792). Children in their home were Hosea 24, Sabina 22, Miriam 18, and Roxanna 16.  

1854 TYPHOID EPIDEMIC

             In the late summer 1854, Moses and Susannah’s son, Alexander Stroup, and other relatives and friends sickened and died in a great typhoid epidemic.  Alex Stroup was 25 years, 6 months 11 days old, from his tombstone in his brother Bart Stroup’s cemetery near Alexis.

            1860 CENSUS, LINCOLN COUNTY

            The 1860 Federal Census, for Spring Mill P.O., Ironton Twp., Lincoln County, showed Moses Stroup, age 66, real property $1,000, wife, Susan Stroup, daughter Miriam Stroup 29, daughter Roxana Stroup 25, granddaughter Frances Hovis 16.

            Also in Moses Stroup’s home in 1860, Ironton: Henry Dellinger 66 (b. c1794), Christina Dellinger 55 (c1805), Betsy Dellinger 19 (c1841). 

MOSES SECOND WIFE

            The date of Susannah (Master) Stroup’s death has not been discovered, and no tombstone found in local cemeteries in the old home areas.  Perhaps she died in Ironton, and was buried in a private Master family cemetery.  Her missing death record might have gone unnoticed if Moses Stroup had not remarried in his old age.

            Family lore in Lincoln County, N.C., contains several versions of an ancient tale with the names badly garbled from many generations of retelling, about how this second arriving group located Jacob who had preceded them:

            “Peter Stroup (Jacob’s younger brother) on arrival from Pennsylvania at Hoyle’s Creek about twilight.  Not knowing the area went toward the sound of an axe in the forest to ask directions, and to his amazement found the man welding the axe was his own brother.”

            Another version of this tale says, “Adam Stroup (aged about 25, a married man with two small children) followed the sound of the axe at twilight, and found his father cutting wood.”

1880 CENSUS

            When the 1880 Federal Census for Lincoln County was made, 84-year-old Moses Stroup had a woman named Betsy Armond living in his home at Ironton, identified as his “sister” (which in the highly inaccurate census records could be his blood sister or a sister-in-law).

WHO WAS “SISTER BETSY”?

            “Betsy” was a nickname for “Elizabeth”, and Moses Stroup had a sister Elizabeth born 1802, but in 1822 she married Daniel Masters, and in 1824 m. 2nd Daniel Hager, each time with her brother Moses as bond surety.  Therefore, unless Moses Stroup’s sister had an unrecorded 3rd marriage in her old age to a Mr. unknown Armond, then the lady in his home in 1880 was his sister-in-law, that is, a sister to either his first wife Catherine Master, or his [reputed and unproved] second wife, Ellen  (Armond?).

            Her name being given as “Armond” makes this lady’s identity interesting, for several reasons. Regardless of who Betsy Armond was, Uncle Peter Stropes wife was once thought to be Catharina Maria Armond, and the Armonds were French Huguenot ancestry, and so were Susannah Master, which means that at least part of these supposedly “purely German” Stroups had Holland Dutch ancestry through their immigrant, and French blood through several early wives.

UNCLE PETER AND MARIA (ARMOND) STROPES

            After “Uncle” Peter Stropes, died at Leeper’s Creek in 1793, his widow married a “Mr. Tankersley”, and took her five Stropes children to East Tennessee where they retained the same spelling and pronunciation used by Jacob and Peter’s immigrant grandfather, listed in 1673 Talbot County, E. Md.  as “Mr. Mathias Stropes”. (Their migration to E. Tennessee ends speculation that unidentified Stroups in Lincoln - Gaston descend from Uncle Peter b 1728.)

MOSES’ 1877 WILL

            Moses Stroup’s will, dated Jan. 3, 1877, Lincoln, did not name his second wife, Ellen Stroup, although she was still alive.  He instructed that his personal property be sold, with cash be divided equally between his granddaughter, Miriam McClure & Roxanna Lineberry.  Granddaughter Frances Nance (whom he had raised) to receive $30  “twenty of it in silver and ten in paper money”.  Witnesses, son, Bartlett Stroup and R. L. Handsell. Signed with X.      

            Will probated 1869 by Lincoln County Court.  An attached note gave estate value as $175.  (In 1937, the original was still in the Lincoln County Court House.)

DEATH & BURIAL

            Although Moses Stroup probably attended Sharon Baptist Church near his home in Ironton, after his death on Mar. 31, 1878, he was buried in the cemetery of Salem Baptist Church four miles SE of Lincolnton in the old home area where he was born and raised.

MOSES STROUP'S CHILDREN

            Moses Stroup reputedly had 11 children, 9 of whom have been tentatively identified:

            1. Delaney “Lannie” Stroup, b c1814, m Philip Hovis, s/o Jacob Hovis & Sarah Rudisill, with Lincoln County Marriage Bond dated 6 July 1833, Surety George Carpenter. Delaney (Stroup) Hovis died young, and her daughter, Frances Hovis, was raised her grandparents.  [Modern descendant - researcher, June 2000, Kenneth Hahn, 2005 MacDowell St., Rockville, MD 20851, until next year when it will be: 9 Glen Cove Rd., Arden, N.C. 28704. June 2000 e-mail address:  HahnK@NMRC.NAVY.MIL

            2. Caleb Stroup, b c1820, m 1st Amy Abernathy (whose mother was German); 2nd Frances Clodfelter; Caleb “Strup”, farmer, Cottage Home, Gaston County; children: Louisa c1842, Susannah 1844, Frances 1846, Hannah 1848, Marcus Cornelius, b. 1850.  (See his biography.) Modern descendant:  Ardenia (Hovis) Sain, Rt. 7, Box 603, Lincolnton, N.C. 28092.  Mrs. Sain wrote an excellent history in 1983 of Caleb & Amy.  Her line: Caleb’s daughter, Emily Theodocia Stroup (1863-1900) m. Michael P. Dellinger.  (Hovis History).

            3. Hosea Holcombe Stroup (1826 - 1865) Vestal's Ford P.O.; m. Nancy Salina Crutchfield born c1851 in Tennessee; will, 14 Mar 1863, probated 8 Apr 1876, Lincoln County, N.C.; Hosea’s will did not name his children, but they were James Pierce Stroup, Agnes Stroup, Abel Stroup, Horace C. Stroup, Adelaide Stroup & Pleasant Stroup.

               4. Sabina Stroup (c1828, d before 1877); m Mr. --- Nance (Ger: Nantz).  Mother of Frances Nance, named in the 1877 will of Sabina’s father.

            5. Bartlett “Bart” Stroup (22 Apr 1828 - 10 Mar 1910); m. 1st his cousin Susannah Stroup d/o Solomon & Nancy (Haskins) Stroup; m. 2nd Ellen Shelton.

                        Bart Stroup lived at Vestal’s Ford P.O., Gaston County.  He and his wife nursed several sick and dying relatives in their home, several of whom are buried in “Bart Stroup’s Graveyard.” (See his biography.) Modern descendant: Toni Tidwell. 

              6.  Alexander Stroup (19 Mar 1829, 8 Sep 1854) s/o Moses & Susan, helped form Salem Baptist Church, 4 miles s. of Lincolnton; Annals of Lincoln, p 487; died in the 1854 typhoid epidemic, as did several of his young cousins.  Alex Stroup died at age 25 years, 6 months 11 days, from his stone in his brother Bart Stroup’s cemetery.

            7. Miriam “Mirrie” Stroup, b c1831; m 1st Mr. --- Armstrong, c1851/1853, no bond; married 2nd James H. McLure, Lincoln Marriage Bond 23 Oct 1860, Bond Surety D. A. Lowe, married on 25 Oct 1860 by Elisha Saunders, J.P.

            8.  Minnie Stroup (?) b c1832.  1850 census, age 18, parent’s home. [Warning: “Minnie” may be the same girl as “Mirrie”, due to a possible misreading of census handwriting; no other record for a Minnie Stroup has been found so far.]

            9. Roxanna Stroup (11 July 1832, 23 May 1877); m David Lineberger 14 Dec 1865, Gaston C.H. record; named in father's 1877 will; buried in the cemetery on Bart Stroup’s farm.

                   10. Mary A. Stroup, b. c1838??

                          Warning: Several of this name are easily confused. 

                        #1:  Mary A., b c1838, believed the one who was d/o Moses Stroup b 1796 and Susannah Master of Hoyle’s Creek.

                        #2. Mary A. Stroup, b 1821-25, d/o Moses C. Stroup, b 2 Oct. 1802; m. 1848 (no bond) Adam Clark, “son of Joshua Clark and Minnie (Kiser) Clark who lived with her family a while near Gastonia, then moved to Arkansas”.  [Part from Peter Heyl & Descendants; Our Kin, p 377.]

                        #3:  Mary Stroup (c1802 - 1821) d/o?  married Moses N. Dellinger Lincoln MB 4 Sept 1820, Surety Simon Dellinger. (This Mary Stroup Dellinger died about age 19 leaving 2 children, James McAllister Dellinger & Jane Dellinger, perhaps twins, b. 1821.)

                        #4.  Mary Stroup (c1795 - 1880) d/o Jacob Stroup & Betsy Dellinger m. John White, by whom 12 surviving children; lived in Ga.  Mary Stroup White named in the 1825 will and estate of her maternal grandfather Henry Dellinger; this Mary Stroup’s husband, John White, was involved in her father’s estate settlement, Cass Co., Ga.

                        #6. Mary Stroup (1840 - 1921) d/o? Married Nov 17, 1870 Joseph Hovis  (1851-1921); buried Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  Peter Heyl, p 275.

This birth date may have been confused quite early with that of his cousin Moses, also said born Oct. 12

When Moses Stroup went to the C. H. and paid for a Marriage License and Bond, this means that he did not plan to marry in marry in a Lutheran Church ceremony, either by choice or for lack of a Lutheran minister in the area at the time. Licensed ministers in the Anglican and Lutheran church performed legal marriages without purchase of either a marriage license or bond from Court Clerks, by merely publishing from the pulpit the Marriage Bans (intention to marry) on several consecutive Sundays.  Church Banns Marriages were legal in N.C. until Marriage Laws changed c1860Õs, with the only records kept in Church Parish Records or minister’s diaries.  Church marriages were preferred, not only by the strictly religious, but by any member of a State Church, because they were so cheap, costing about one fifth as much as a marriage by license and bond.  As of 1999, no German Lutheran Parish records for Lincoln (Gaston) County have been located, translated or published, according to Lutheran Rev. R. Paul Stroup who inquired about N.C. Lutheran Synod records.

Caleb Stroup, research and biography written his descendant, Ardenia (Hovis) Sain of Lincoln, as sent to her cousin, Florence H. Cox, , Arvada, CO

Census research by Reiley Kidd, M.D., microfilm reel #83, p 362.  (In 1820, there were several different Moses Stroups, but the only one of this age who was married and headed a household was Moses s/o Philip, Sr of Hoyle’s

Research by Reiley Kidd, M.D., 1830 Lincoln County Census, and microfilm reel #122, p 231/232.

1860 Federal Census, Lincoln County, p 103, farm #403; although this Dellinger family to Moses Stroup has not been discovered, they were probably related to him in some way.

As heard by the late Chauncey D. Stroup, Sr., historian & banker of Lincolnton, N.C., President of the Annual Stroup Reunion Group.

Compiled by Ethel Belle Stroupe, , Laguna Woods, CA 92653

Phone (949) 716-3827.  Version of May 2, 2002.  

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