Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/76

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STRONG


STROTHER


STRONG, Jedediah, delegate, was born in Litchfielil. Conn., Nov. 7, 1738; son of Supply Strong. He was graduated at Yale, A.B., 1761, A.M., 1764, and changed from the study of divinity to the law. He was admitted to the bar and was a representative in the state legislature, 1771-1801. He was chosen a delegate from Con- necticut to tiie Continental congress in 1774, but declined the office ; was a member of the com- mittee of inspection, 1774-75 ; served as county judge. 1780-91 ; was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1783-84 ; and a member of the Connecti- cut convention that ratified the constitution of the United States in 1788. He died in Litchfield, Conn.. Aug. 21. 1802.

STRONG, Theodore, mathematician, was born at South Hadley, Mass., July 26, 1790; son of Josepli and Sophia (Woodbridge) Strong ; grandson of Joseph and Jane (Gelston) Strong, and of John and Martha (Clark) Woodbridge, and a direct descendant of John Strong, who set- tled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1630 ; and from the Rev. John Woodbridge, who came to Massachu- setts in 1634. He was graduated from Yale in 1812 ; was tutor of mathematics at Hamilton college, 1812-16; and professor of mathematics and natural philosophy there, 1816-27. He was married, Sept. 18, 1818, to Lucy, daughter of John and Huldah (Warren) Dix, of Boston, and they had two sons and five daughters. He declined the chair of mathematics at Columbia college and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1826, but in 1827 became professor of mathematics at Queen's (Rutgers) college, and in 1861 was made professor emeritus. His research work was con- fined to mathematics, and in that field he stood first in America, with the possible exception of Dr. Bowditch. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Hamilton in 1815, and that of LL.D, from Rutgers in 1835. He belonged to many scientific societies, and was nominated by con- gress one of the corporate members of the National Academy of Sciences. He contributed hirgely to mathematical magazines, and delivered many interesting and original papers. He is the author of : A Treatise on Elementary and Higher Algebra (1859) ; A Treatise on Differential and Integral Caleulns (1869). He died in New Bruns- wick, N.J., Feb. 1, 18G9.

STRONG, William, representative, was born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1763 ; son of Benajah and Polly (Bacon) Strong, and a descendant of Elder Jolin Strong, of Northampton. His father was one of the pioneer settlers of Hartford, Vt., and William obtained a limited education. He en- gaged in business as a land surveyer, and as a farmer in Hartford. He was a Democratic rep- resentative in the state legislature, 1798-99, 1801-02 and 1815-18 ; sheriff of Windsor county,


1802-10 ; a representative in the 12th, 13th and 16th congresses, 1811-15 and 1819-21 ; judge of the supreme court of Windsor county in 1817, and a member of the council of censors in 1834. He was married, June 17, 1793, to Abigail Hutchinson, of Norwich, Conn. He died in Hartford, Vt., Jan. 28. 1840.

STRONG, William, jurist, was born in Somers, Tolland county. Conn., M;iy 6, 1808 ; son of the Rev. William L. Strong, and grandson of Adoni- jah Strong. He attended the Plainsfield acad- emy ; was graduated from Yale. A.B., 1828 , A.M., 1831 ; taught school in New Haven, Conn,, and Burlington, N.J.; studied law at Burlington, and took a six months' course in the Yale Law school. He was admitted to the bar in Pliiladelphia, Pa., in 1832, and established himself in practice at Reading, Pa. He was married in 1836 to Pris- cilla Lee, of Easton, Pa. He was a Democratic representative in the 30th-31st congresses, 1847- 51 ; and associate justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, 1857-68, when he resigned and opened a law office in Philadelphia. He was ap- pointed b^' President Grant associate justice of the supreme court of the United States in 1870, and served until December, 1880, when he re- signed. He was a member of the electoral com- mission in 1877, and held that congress had no authority to canvass a state election for presi- dential electors. He was president of the Amer- ican Tract society, and of the American Sunday School Union ; and a member of the American Pliilsophical society. The honorary degi-ee of LL.D. was conferred on hini by Lafayette college in 1867, and the same degree by Yale and the College of New Jersey in 1870. He delivered a course of lectures at Union Theological seminary, N.Y., and was a lecturer at the law department of Columbian university, Washington, for several years. He also delivered addresses before the Philadelphia Bar association, the American Phil- osophical society, and otiier organizations, and contributed an important article upon •' The Needs of the Supreme Court," to the North Amer- ican Revieiv in 1881. He died at Lake Minne- wasca, N.Y., Aug. 19, 1895.

STROTHER, David Hunter, author, artist and soldier, was born in Martinsburg, Va., Sept. 16, 1816; son of Col. John and Elizabeth Pendle- ton (Hunter) Strother. He studied drawing with Pietro Ancora in 1829, was graduated at Jeffer- son college in 1835 ; studied art with S. F. B. Morse in 1836, in Rome, 1812-44, and in New York, 1845-49. In 1850, over the pseudonym "Porte Crayon", his first article appeared in Harper's Magazine. At the outbreak of the war, he was commissioned captain and appointed as- sistant adjutant-general on ]\IcClellan's staff. He served on Pope's staff in the Virginia campaign,