Born- 16 Aug 1764

At- Hellam Township York, Pennsylvania

Died- 13 Apr 1837

At- Alexis, North Carolina

Buried- Lawson Stroup Cemetery on Rhyne Rd. near Alexis, NC

(1) Married- Mary Molly Edelmann

Marriage Date- 09 May 1789 Lincoln, North Carolina

Born- 24 Feb 1766

Died- 1809

Buried- Unknown

(2) Married- Catherine Master

Marriage Date- 09 Mar 1811

Born- 1768 Lincoln County NC

Died- after 1870

Buried- Unknown

Marker in Lawson Stroup Cemetery near Alexis, NC

Revolutionary Years

Between 1775 and 1783 the Stroup's participated in the Revolutionary War, reputedly making guns and gun powder on their farms. Philip's father (Jacob) received two vouchers for provisions (one for corn, the other not specified) to the American Army.

Philip's older brother received a pension for service in the Lincoln County Militia during the British invasion of their home area in September 1780, when Philip was 15 years old. The Stroup boys were surely among the lads who stood beside the road east of Jacob's farm watching as the despised redcoats " tootled and drummed on the Old Road to Lincolnton". The redcoats got as far as Charlotte before they were repelled and retreated to South Carolina.

Also in 1780, according to tradition, Philip's father, Jacob, aged 56, "fought alongside his two eldest sons (Adam and Peter) with homemade guns." Philip was too young for active service, but he probably helped his father, and uncles make guns and gunpowder.

On Jan. 23, 1781 Lord Cornwallis and his redcoats again invaded Lincoln County, making a quick march in very bad weather. They camped at Tryon Old Court House in the west part of (modern) Gaston.

On Jan 24, 1781 Cornwallis reached Ramsour's Mill, then on the 28th found the Catawba River too swollen to cross, so he fell back to camp at the Killian's Creek home of Jacob Stroup's friend Jacob Forney, a wealthy German millwright and Iron worker from York County, Pa, who by 1754 owned land on a middle fork of Killian's Creek.

In January, Cornwallis locked the elderly Forney's in their own cellar, while he and his staff ate all their food, destroyed their property, broke down fences and stole everything of value. After the "lobster-backs" left, the German community rescued the Forneys, repaired the place and brought in food. Philip Stroup was 18 years old when the Peace of Paris was signed, but the fighting ended two years earlier with no evidence that he was ever drafted.

courtesy of Reiley Kidd from Ethel Belle Stroupe's notes

Philip's Migration to South Fork

About 1769/1770, when Philip was about 5 years old, his parents migrated down the Shenandoah Valley to Central North Carolina, settling on the South Fork of North Carolina's Catawba River.

 He grew up at "The Grove" (of oak trees) on upper Hoyle's Creek between (modern) Alexis and High Shoals in a community made up mainly of families who spoke German, "Cooked German", built Lutheran churches and kept to the "old country ways", probably because many neighbors, e.g., the Dellingers, had been born in Germany.

courtesy of Reiley Kidd from Ethel Belle Stroupe's notes

Philip Stroup Will 1837