of England there is a three-fold variety of crest. One of them is, out of a mural coronet, gold, a demi-eagle, wings displayed, gold; another is an eagle with two heads, wings expanded; the third an eagle displayed, gold. Any of these latter three may be the authentic crest of Elder John Strong, immigrant ancestor of virtually all the families bearing the Strong surname in this country, who was born in Taunton, England, 1605, son of Richard Strong. The family was originally located in county Shropshire, England, but one of the family married an heiress of Griffith, county of Caernarvon, Wales, and went thither to reside in 1545.

(I) Of this Welsh branch was Richard Strong, who was born in county Caernarvon, in 1561, and in 1590 removed to Taunton, Somersetshire, England, where he died in 1613, leaving beside his son John, a daughter Eleanor.

(II) John Strong lived at London and at Plymouth and finally, having strong puritanic sympathies and convictions he and his sister came to New England, sailing March 20, 1630, in the ship "Mary and John" and, after a passage of more than seventy days in length, on Sunday, May 30, 1630, landed at Nantasket, Massachusetts. They settled in Dorchester. The sister married Walter Deane, a tanner of Taunton, Massachusetts, previously of Taunton, England. In 1635 John Strong removed to Hingham. He was admitted a freeman, March 9, 1636. He removed to Taunton before December 4, 1638, when he was on the list of inhabitants and proprietors and remained there until 1645 or later. He was deputy from that town to the general court in Plymouth in 1641-43-44. He moved to Windsor, Connecticut, where with four others he was appointed to "superintend and to bring forward the settlement of the place.' He settled finally in Northampton, Massachusetts, with which his name has since been associated. He was one of the first and most active founders, and for fully forty years a prominent and influential citizen. He prospered in his business as a tanner and husbandman, owning about two hundred acres of land in and near Northampton. He was elected ruling elder of the church and ordained June 24, 1663. His first wife died in the passage, or soon after landing in Massachusetts, and two months later her baby died also. He married (second) in December, 1630, Abigail Ford, daughter of Thomas Ford, of Dorchester; she died, the mother of sixteen children, July 6, 1688, aged about eighty years. He died April 14, 1699, aged ninety-four years. He had at the time of his death one hundred and sixty descendants, among whom were eighteen children and one hundred and fourteen grandchildren, and at least thirty-three great-grandchildren. During his lifetime he made over his lands to his children.

Children of first wife: 1. John, of whom further. 2. Infant, died in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1630. Children of second wife: 3. Thomas, born 163, died October 3, 1689. 4. Jedediah, born May 7, 1637, died May 22, 1733. 5. Josiah, died young. 6. Return, born 1641, died April 9, 1.726. 7. Elder Ebenezer, born 1643, died February 11, 1729. 8. Abigail, born 1645; married (first) Rev. Nathaniel Chauncy, (second) Medad Pomeroy. 9. Elizabeth, born at Windsor, Connecticut, February 24, 1647, died May 12, 1736; married Joseph Parsons. 10. Experience, born August 4, 1650; married Zerubbabel Filer. 11. Samuel, born August 5, 1652, died October 29, 1732. 12. Joseph, (twin of Samuel), died young. 13. Mary, born October 26, 1654: married Deacon John Clark. 14. Sarah, born 1656; married Joseph Barnard, of Hadley. 15. Hannah, born May 30, 1659; married William Clark. 16. Hester, born June 7, 1661; married Thomas Bissell. 17. Thankful, born July 25, 1663; married Baldwin. 18. Jerijah, born December 12, 1665, died

April 24, 1754

(III) John (2) Strong, son of John (1) Strong, was born in England,

1626, died February 20, 1697. He was probably a tanner of Windsor and was a prominent man in the community. He married (first) November 26, 1656, Mary Clark, baptized September 30, 1638, died April 28, 1663, daughter of Joseph and Frances Clark; (second) in 1664, Elizabeth Warriner, died June 7, 1684. Children of John and Mary (Clark) Strong: 1. Mary, born April 22, 1658, died 1722; married, November 22, 1676, Timothy Stanley, of Connecticut, died November 26, 1728. 2. Hannah, born August 11, 1660, died November, 1745; married Stephen Hopkins. They had three children, who died unnamed. Children of John and Elizabeth (Warriner) Strong: 3. John, born December 25, 1665, died May 29, 1749. 4. Jacob, born April 8, 1673. 5. Josiah, of whom further. 6. Elizabeth, born 1684; married Thomas Burnham. (IV) Josiah Strong, son of John (2) and Elizabeth (Warriner) Strong, was born January 11, 1678, died at Colchester, Connecticut, April 5, 1759. He married, January 5, 1698, Joanna Gillett, born October 28, 1680, daughter of Josiah and Joanna (Taintor) Gillett, of Simsbury, Connecticut. Children: 1. Hannah, born October 12, 1699; married Dr. Benjamin Warner, of Waterbury, Connecticut. 2. John, born June 17, 1701, died April 7, 1783. 3. Damaris, born May 8, 1703; married June 7, 1723, Samuel Calkins Jr., of Hebron, Connecticut; child: Aaron Calkins, born January 19, 1725. 4. Elizabeth, born October 21, 1705. 5. Mary, born September 19, 1707; married, in 1724, Jonathan Webster, born November 5, 1700, died July 27, 1746; a farmer of Lebanon, Connecticut, son of George and Sarah Webster; children: David, born. April 8, 1725, died January 2, 1727; Jonathan, born February 26, 1727; Mary, born December 14, 1729; Abigail, born February 12, 1731; Israel, born June 18, 1735, died at Lake George, New York, October 20, 1755. 6. Josiah, born September 9, 1709. 7. Eunice, born November 19, 1711, married, September 26, 1739, Benjamin Webster, of Lebanon, Connecticut, a farmer; child: Benajah, born October 2, 1740. 8. Caleb, born February 20, 1713. 9. Rachel, born April 21, 1716. 10. Dorothy, born May 25, 1718. 11. Joshua, born July 20, 1721, died in Middle Haddam, Connecticut, November 25, 1779. 12. Irene, born October 20, 1722. 13. Asahel, of whom further.

(V) Asahel Strong, son of Josiah and Joanna (Gillett) Strong, was born June 22, 1725. He married, June 7, 1744, Betterus Crouch, a farmer of Colchester, Connecticut. Children: I. Irene, born May 20, 1745. 2. Asahel, born March 29, 1747, died April 13, 1748. 3. Adonijah, born May 21, 1749. 4. Ambrose, of whom further. 5. Joanna, born December 10, 1753; married Aaron Dewey. 6. Betterus, born November 3, 1755. 7. Asahel, born October 17, 1760. 8. Mercy, died unmarried. 9. Polly, married a Mr. Gott.

(VI) Ambrose Strong, son of Asahel and Betterus (Crouch) Strong, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, November 1, 1750. He was the compounder and seller of "Strong's Syrup for Rickets," a famous medicine of his day. He married, October 4, 1770, Lydia Holdridge, a widow. Children: I and 2. Elisha and Elijah, twins, born June 26, 1771. 3. Betterus, born January 27. 1773; married Richard Crouch, of Cohocton, New York. 4. Roxana, born April 13, 1775, died March 13, 1776. 5. Charles, born August 27, 1777.

(VII) Elijah Strong, son of Ambrose and Lydia (Holdridge) Strong, was born June 26, 1771, died April 26, 1860. He was a farmer of Colchester, Connecticut, He married (first) May 21, 1797, Anna Crouch, born September 24, 1773, died April 8, 1813, daughter of Christopher and Rebecca (Buell) Crouch, of Hebron, Connecticut, (second) June, 1814, Lucy Finley, born December 18, 1778, died October 26, 1856, daughter of Solomon Finley, of Marlboro, Connecticut. Children of first wife: 1. Anna Buell, born January 12, 1799; married George Strong, of Hebron, Connecticut, born August 3, 1793, son of Asa and Polly (Mann) Strong. 2. Lydia Chamberlain, born

I.

September 16, 1800, died in Hebron, Connecticut, April, 1866. 3. Rebecca Crouch, born April 13, 1803; married Hazael Gott Jr., of Hebron. 4. Elijah Frink, born October 12, 1804. 5. Charles Davis, born September 1, 1806. 6. Elizabeth Wright, born December 4, 1808; married Roger Lewis, of Hebron, Connecticut. 7. William Christopher, born March 12, 1811, disappeared. 8. George Griswold, born November 14, 1812; a miner in California. Children of second wife: 9. Edward Henry, of whom further. 10. Lucy Elvira, born January 30, 1817. 11. Walter John Finley, born September 17, 1822.

(VIII) Edward Henry Strong, son of Elijah and Lucy (Finley) Strong, was born in Colchester, New London county, Connecticut, May 14, 1815, where died March 15, 1891. He was educated in the public schools of the neighborhood, later considerably furthering his education by his own efforts. Until the civil war he had always been a staunch supporter of the Democratic party, but at that time he differed so greatly from the principles of his party and was at the same time so ardent an admirer of Abraham Lincoln that he joined the ranks of the Republicans. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives for two or more terms. He and his wife were members of the Congregational church. He was a farmer of Colchester, Connecticut. He married (first) April 12, 1842, Abigail Hodgekins Utley, born June 8, 1821, died February 20, 1843: (second) December 7, 1843, Eunice Loomis, born May 6, 1818, died June 30, 1902, daughter of Veach Loomis, a farmer of Lebanon, Connecticut, where he died April 30, 1867, aged ninety-one, and Lucy (Lathrop) Loomis, daughter of Charles Lathrop. Children of Veach and Lucy (Lathrop) Loomis: 1. Charles Lathrop, born December 6, 1810; married (first) Wealthy Grant, (second) Frances Esther Clark. 2. Anson, born January 14, 1813; married Emily Augusta Phillips. 3. Adgate, born May 29, 1815, died aged twenty-four years. 4. Eunice, of previous mention, married Edward Henry Strong. Children of Edward Henry and Eunice (Loomis) Strong: 1. Edward L., born November 4, 1844, died April 1, 1896; married Rhoda Dolbeare. 2. Henry A., born September 10, 1846; married Esther Lucretia Hastings; she died April 22, 1901. 3. Nelson Hooker, of whom further. 4. Lucy Louise, born February 14, 1852, died May 21, 1853. 5. Abigail Utley, born March 23, 1854, died March 2, 1901; married John Backus. 6. Sarah Jane, born November 11, 1856; married Frank Barbour. 7. Arthur Hotchkiss, born July 9, 1859, died January 15, 1863. 8. Nora Amelia, born May 26, 1862, died January 16, 1863.

(IX) Nelson Hooker Strong, son of Edward Henry and Eunice (Loomis) Strong, was born in Colchester, New London county, Connecticut, February 27, 1850. His mother was a paternal granddaughter of Captain Isaiah Loomis who served as a soldier in the army of the revolution. His boyhood was thus passed among the traditions and influences of New England. In the district school of the day he laid the foundation of his education, and during the winter of 1868-69 he taught in the neighboring district of Columbia. In June, 1872, he was graduated from that old and famous school of his native town, Bacon Academy, at which he also took his entrance examinations for Yale College. Upon his graduation from Yale in 1876, he accepted a position as teacher in Shortlidge's Academy, Media, Pennsylvania. This work he continued for several years, taking up at the same time the study of law. In December, 1879, he was admitted to practice at the Delaware county bar. Business and the practice of his profession have occupied him from that time hitherto.

In political faith he owes allegiance to no organized party, but is classed as an Independent. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and his only fraternal affiliation is with the Masonic Order, George W. Bartram Lodge, of Media.