Husband Stewart Strickler 1
Born: 17 Feb 1812 - New Salem, Fayette Co, PA 2
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Father: Jacob Strickler ( - ) 3
Mother: [Unk] Stewart ( - )
Marriage: Abt 1835 4
Wife Mary "Polly" Newcomer 5
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Died: Aft 1882
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Father: John Newcomer, Sr. ( - ) 6 7
Mother: Barbara Snyder ( - ) 8
Children
1 F Maria Strickler 4
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Spouse: [Unk] Boyd ( - ) 4
2 M Lyman Strickler 4
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3 M Dempsey Strickler 4
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4 F Martha Strickler 4
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Spouse: [Unk] Herbert ( - ) 4
5 F Harriet Strickler 4
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Spouse: [Unk] Ramsey ( - ) 4
6 F Kate Strickler 4
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Spouse: Dr. Thompson ( - ) 4
7 F Deccie F. Strickler 4
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General Notes: Husband - Stewart Strickler
He lived on the home place many years after his father's death, and first established the coke-works there. He removed to Tennessee about 1870.
He received a common-school education. When he was sixteen years old his mother died, and his father breaking up house-keeping, Stewart and his eight sisters, all younger than himself, were scattered among their relatives. In the spring of 1830, Stewart hired out to John Smiley, a farmer, at six dollars per month, and stayed with him till Christmas, after which he began peddling chickens and eggs, which he carried down along the Youghiogheny River in a very simply-constructed boat made by himself of boards, giving away the boat when he had sold his merchandise, and walking back, making such a trip every few weeks during the year 1831. Early in 1832 he began working about for different persons at making rails and washing sand (which was taken to Pittsburgh to the glass-makers).
In the latter part of 1832 Mr. Jacob Strickler got his children together again, Stewart with the rest joining him on the old place, known as the Jimtown farm, where he (Stewart) remained till 1835, when he married and bought a piece of land from his father at Jimtown, and built thereon a house and barn and commenced farming. In 1837 the great financial panic came, and found Stewart badly in debt for his farm (he says times were then so hard that he had to pay fifty cents in "shinplasters" to see a quarter in silver). He struggled on till about 1840, when times began to improve, but farming being poor business, he found it necessary to exercise his brain-power, and began to conjure up ways to enable him to pull through and get out of debt. In an early day there had been an iron furnace at the mouth of Jacobs' Creek, known as Turnbull Furnace, but then long abandoned and in ruin. Near it was a huge pile of cinders, containing a great amount of iron unextracted from the ore. Mr. Strickler conceived the notion of taking the cinder to iron-works in Pittsburgh, bought it for fifty cents a ton, built a large flat-boat, on which he carried the cinder to the city, and there sold it for four dollars and a half a ton, and afterwards sold his boat, making something on it. This enterprise stimulated him to plot and plan still further, and early in 1842 he bought ten acres of coal land on the Youghiogheny River, at the point later called Sterling Coal-Works, built six ovens, and began making coke, which he shipped by flat-boats to Cincinnati, Ohio. He carried on this business successfully for several years. About the same time there were others engaged in the business, but they were not successful, and became discouraged and gave it up. About 1855 Mr. Strickler bought eighty acres of coal land, known as the John Taylor farm, and began improving it with the intent to carry on the coal business as before, but on a larger scale.
In 1857 the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad was completed, and Mr. Strickler put into operation on his place eighty coke-ovens. At this time he built a side-track from his works to the main line of the railroad, for the purpose of shipping coke and coal to Graff, Bennett & Co., of Pittsburgh, keeping their furnace going from 1860 to 1864, with two thousand bushels per day. He then sold a third-interest in his business to the above-named firm for $35,000, a few months afterwards selling the balance to Shoenberger & Co. for $45,000.
Somewhere between 1835 and 1840 Mr. Strickler bought all of his father's old farm, paying $30 per acre. In the spring of 1864 he sold it to J. K. Ewing for $200 per acre, the latter afterwards selling it for over $400 an acre.
In 1867, Mr. Strickler removed with a portion of his family to Middle Tennessee, near the Cumberland Mountains. [HFC 1882, 805]
General Notes: Wife - Mary "Polly" Newcomer
from Tyrone Twp, Fayette Co, PA