Mr. and Mrs. Lyman E. Strong

A biographical sketch of Henry Clay Strong in HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE provides information about Henry's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman E. Strong. Lyman Elderkin Strong was born to Major Joseph and Lucy Elderkin Strong on June 13, 1802. Major Strong was one of the earliest settlers in Lyme Township of Huron County. Lyman E. Strong was a merchant and also had a farm, first in Lyme Township and later in Plymouth, Ohio in Richland County. Lyman D. Strong married Calista Lucinda Nims in 1831.

Lyman Elderkin Strong died on October 8, 1889, and Calista Nims Strong died on April 14, 1891. A tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Strong is found in the book HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE:

"They lived lives of usefulness and honor and their names merit an enduring place on the roll of those who contributed their quota to the social and material development and progress of the historic old Western Reserve."

The business papers of Lyman Elderkin Strong are held by the Library of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Lyman E. and Calista Strong are buried in the Strong's Ridge Cemetery in Huron County, Ohio along with their son Ozias Strong, who died in 1864. A cousin of Lyman Elderkin Strong, also named Lyman Strong, was a marble dealer in Cleveland, Ohio.

Tombstone Tuesday: Abner Strong

Abner Strong was born in Lee, Massachusetts on April 7, 1780. He married Sally Bassett in Homer, New York in 1801. In 1815, Mr. and Mrs. Abner Strong moved to Lyme Township in Huron County, Ohio. Abner had a farm in the area of Lyme Township known as "Strong's Ridge," named after the Strong family, pioneer residents of the region.(Major Joseph Strong, older brother of Abner, was the earliest family member to settle in Strong's Ridge.)

Rush Sloane, the grandson of Abner Strong, wrote of Abner in Volume V of the New Series, Firelands Pioneer, that he was a man of earnest principle, and was firm in his principles of temperance. "He was a strong abolitionist, a friend of the slave and never failed to aid them." Hewson Peeke wrote in his 1916 edition of A STANDARD HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO: "Abner Strong of Strong's Ridge Lyme, Huron County, Ohio, was always ready to receive, care for and send to Sandusky, in good conveyance, the fugitives who reached that 'Strong' and safe station."

Abner Strong died at Bellevue on February 3, 1859. He was buried at the Strong's Ridge Cemetery, located just east of the intersection of State Route 113 and Route 4.His wife, Sally Bassett Strong, died in 1865. She is also buried at Strong's Ridge Cemetery.



The children of Abner and Sally Bassett Strong were: Cynthia, Eunice, Pelatiah, Alonzo, and Benjamin. Obituaries for Mr. and Mrs. Abner Strong are found in Volume V of the new series of the Firelands Pioneer, available fulltext at Google Books.