RICHARD EDGAR STRONG

The following bio was taken from page 400 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

John Strong, a farmer by trade, was born February 24, 1806 in Georgia and died September 5, 1854.  He came to Rusk County circa 1850, together with his wife, Mary Ann (Whatley) Strong, born April 14, 1809 in Georgia.  She died July 17, 1898.  They and their children settled in the Church Hill Community, John Hallum Survey on the waters of Martin Creek.  The Strongs donated land for Strong Cemetery, a Rusk County landmark, at Church Hill, where John and Mary Ann are buried.

 John Strong was the son of Sherwood Strong and grandson of William Strong and Frances (Johnson) Strong, all of Georgia.  Mary Ann (Whatley) Strong was the daughter of Wilson Whatley and Sarah “Sally” (Heard) Whatley and the granddaughter of Thomas Heard and Elizabeth (Fitzpatrick) Heard, all Georgians.

 Children of John Strong and Mary Ann Whatley Strong (all born in Georgia) were: Elizabeth “Betty”, who was born May 21, 1827 and died August 31, 1893 in Rusk County, was married first to William Young and second, to B.F. Montgomery.  Charity Antoinette Strong married Thomas Scruggs.  Sherwood W. Strong, born April 6, 1837 or 1838, was a Civil War casualty.  He was married to Sarah Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ballenger/Ballinger, born October 6, 1839 at Spartanburg, South Carolina, daughter of Thomas Ballenger and Mary (Wingo) Ballenger.  She died June 14, 1913 in Henderson.

 The first child of Sherwood and Elizabeth Strong, John S. Strong, died in infancy.  The second child, Thomas Edward, was born December 28, 1859 in Rusk County, Texas. He married Leona Koen, born November 14, 1871 in Alabama, the daughter of J.N. Koen and Mary Jane (Lee) Koen.  Thomas Edward died February 14, 1908 in Rusk County, and his wife, Leona, died March 29, 1934 in San Antonio, Texas.

 Thomas Edward and Leona’s first child, Lillian Irene Strong, was born April 28, 1889 in Rusk County.  She married W.W. Rollins, and died on April 8, 1968 in San Antonio.  Lillian and W.W. had one child, Lee Edward Rollins.

 The second child of Thomas Edward and Leona was Richard Edgar Strong, born July 17, 1892, in Rusk County.  He was a grocer and married Lois Weatherford, who was born September 6, 1900.  Richard Edgar died January 25, 1952 at Minden, Texas; and Lois died in Henderson, July 2, 1973.

 Richard Edgar and Lois had two children.  The son, Richard Keith Strong, died in infancy.  Their daughter, Edith Strong, a native of Henderson, married, first Frank Newton Addington of Henderson, son of John Addington and Nellie (Dickerson) Addington, and second, Wilbur C. (Buster) Rives, a native of Henderson and the son of Carrelton Rives and Ella (Harper) Rives.

Submitted by Edith Strong Rives