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Bare and Jernberg Tree

The Stringer Family

Media file
Title: The Stringer Family
Media type: story
Format: htm
Record ID number
28746cb2-d59d-4ac4-b618-e4b69ea135a6

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transcription of a newspaper article by Bea Cougar from the Palo Pinto County Star, April 14, 1983

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<metadataxml><content><line>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;The Stringer Family &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;By Beatrice Couger, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Palo Pinto County Star&lt;/u&gt;, April 14, 1983.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;The first Stringer in Palo Pinto County was Cameron Stringer, a native of Ashe County, North Carolina.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron was born in the northwest part of Ashe County on December 15, 1837.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;His parents were Moses and Sarah Stringer.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Sarah was the daughter of Jacob Bare, son of Henry Bare who had migrated down the Wilderness Road from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;The 1850 Agricultural Census has Moses Stringer listed with 50 a. of improved land and 500 a. of unimproved land.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He had farm implements, 1 horse, 4 milch cows, and 6 other cattle.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He raised rye, Indian corn, Irish potatoes, and hay and their inventory included molasses and butter.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This was when Cameron was 13 years old. &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;There were five children in 1850, and two were born later.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Five had red hair and blue eyes, and two had dark hair and brown eyes.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron had dark hair, a ruddy complexion, and brown eyes.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The only sibling we know of is his brother, Missouri Stringer, whose descendants still live in Ashe County.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Moses Stringer&amp;rsquo;s parents were John and Susannah Stringer who appeared on the 1810 through 1850 North Carolina census lists.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;One of Cameron&amp;rsquo;s grandfathers was a blacksmith who taught Cameron his trade &amp;ndash; we do not know if that grandfather was John Stringer or Jacob Bare.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;John and Susannah had 11 children.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We know only of Moses, Absalom, Madison, and Adeline.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;John Stringer&amp;rsquo;s father was Reuben Stringer.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We have found a lot about Reuben&amp;rsquo;s life but nothing of his parents or his wife&amp;rsquo;s name.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Reuben was a noted huntsman and horseman in the Yadkin Valley region of western North Carolina and Virginia, so we assume that he descended from the Stringers of western Virginia or central North Carolina.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Reuben is mentioned in an early book as being a hunting companion of Col. Benjamin Cleveland, hero of the Revolutionary War battle of King&amp;rsquo;s Mountain.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Col Cleveland was asleep under a tree, according to the story, when a limb broke off the tree; and Reuben brushed the .limb aside and saved Cleveland from injury.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;If Reuben served in the Revolutionary War, we have found no records of his service.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He is listed on two Revolutionary pay voucher books for furnishing supplies for the Army.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Next Reuben is found in Wilkes County Court minutes from March 2, 1778 to October, 1784.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He appeared on many grand juries and trial juries.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He was overseer to mark out new roads and boundaries, and he was appointed tax collector for his district for two terms.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The land record books of Wilkes County (Ashe Co. was separated from Wilkes later) show that Reuben bought 200 a. of land on the south fork of the New River for $60.00 on Jan. 15, 1799&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;this land was purchased by his friend, Benjamin Cleveland, when Reuben went West.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;On the 1800 Federal Census for Ashe County, Reuben was the enumerator for his district.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;There is a microfilm of the original at the archives center in Fort Worth, and I got to see old Reuben&amp;rsquo;s handwriting &amp;ndash; it is like a seventh grader&amp;rsquo;s best work that the teacher is going to grade.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Reuben and his wife were both listed as &amp;ldquo;over 45 years,&amp;rdquo; and there were four males and four females in the family.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;The 1810 census for Ashe County showed only John Stringer, his wife, and two sons and two daughters under 10.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Apparently John had stayed behind in Ashe County, for Reuben Stringer is next found in Pulaski County, Kentucky, on the 1810 census with his family.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;In 1820, Reuben, with his wife and one child were on the census for Hickman County, Tennessee.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;That is the last time I found Reuben mentioned.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;In 1830, Tennessee Stringer (Reuben&amp;rsquo;s son?) had a male over 75 in his household, and Missouri Stringer (Reuben&amp;rsquo;s son?) also lived in the area.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;I never could find these Stringers in 1840 or later census lists, so they probably continued going WEST.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;This, then, is as far back as we can trace the Stringer line.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Reuben was an educated man, according to the tasks he performed, so I feel sure that we will find him.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;There are 26 Stringer wills that I have not searched in North Carolina, and I have not searched any of the Virginia wills.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;My cousin, Debra Gould, lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., and she is researching both the Stringer and Bare families.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Back to Cameron:&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He attended &amp;ldquo;the Academy&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; no doubt Helton Academy as the Stringers lived in that community in 1850, and it was the first high school in Ashe County.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;At that time, 16 years of age was old enough to take the examination for teacher in North Carolina.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This was given by the County Superintendent and could be oral or oral and written.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We do not know when Cameron became a school master or where he began his teaching career.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Moses and Sarah are not on the 1860 Federal Census for Ashe County, but they are on the 1860 Agricultural Census and listed as living in the Peak Creek community with Laurel Springs as their post office.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Their farm has 70 acres of improved land and 230 acres of unimproved land.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;They had farm machinery, 4 milch cows, 2 horses, 2 working oxen, 50 sheep and 100 swine.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The farm products boxes are empty, so we do not know what crops were raised.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Family members are not listed on the Agricultural Census, so we do not know if Cameron was still at home in 1860, but it is likely that he was not.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Frank Stringer&amp;rsquo;s family members say that Cameron left Ashe County and taught in Kentucky until the Civil War broke out.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We have found no record of this, but early Kentucky records are not very complete.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Next we find that Cameron has volunteered for service with the Confederate Army at Ashville, N.C. on May 17, 1861.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He was 23 years old.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He served with the North Carolina 26&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; Regiment as scout and ambulance driver.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He was captured at Manassas on May 25, 1864, and held prisoner at Elmira, New York.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;If you saw the TV movie, &amp;ldquo;The Blue and the Gray,&amp;rdquo; you saw what a terrible place that camp was.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron had smallpox during the war &amp;ndash; we do not know if at the prison camp or before &amp;ndash; and thereafter wore a full beard because of the scars on his face.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron took the oath of allegiance to the Union on Feb. 15, 1865.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The southerners called that oath the &amp;ldquo;damn nasty oath,&amp;rdquo; but all had to take it to regain their citizenship.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron probably had only the clothes on his back, and it was in the &amp;ldquo;dead of winter.&amp;rdquo;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He made his way to the Ohio River, down the Ohio, and up the Mississippi to St. Louis.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;I found a Camlin Stringer on the 1870 Federal Census of St. Louis.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He was living with a builder and working for him as teamster.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The age was 23 which had been changed to 33 (which makes the age right) and the state of birth was Pennsylvania.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Whoever gave the information to the census taker maybe did not know where &amp;ldquo;Camlin&amp;rdquo; was born, or this may not be Cameron.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Sometime about 1867 Cameron married Cornelia Elizabeth Wheeler &amp;ndash; we do not know where or when as all of the old Stringer papers were in Fannie Stringer Randal&amp;rsquo;s trunk which was stolen when she and Horace lived on a claim in New Mexico.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Cornelia Elizabeth (Lillie) was the daughter of Henry Eliaphalet Wheeler and Sabra Lucretia Belote.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We do not know much about the Wheeler family other than Henry E.&amp;rsquo;s family lived near Albany, N.Y. and Henry E. worked on the Erie Canal.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The Belote family has an organization which meets each year, and they have family records going back to 1389 in England.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Our branch left Somerset, England and sailed to America on June 14, 1630, and were settled in Saybrook, Conn. in 1634.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;As always in a family record, there are tragedies.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;In the Lee branch, Thomas Lee and his wife Phebe both died on the ship going to America in 1641 (or thereabout) leaving children to be brought up by others.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;When my cousin in Winston &amp;ndash; Salem found the Belote organization, they only knew that Sabra Lucretia had died in Texas in 1883.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Cameron and Lillie and the Wheeler family started westward.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Annie Stringer Melton said that they lived near St. Joseph, Mo., where Fannie, Alex, Frank and Bertie was born.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;They all started to Texas when Bertie was a baby, traveling in covered wagons drawn by oxen, arriving in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1875.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The baby died on the way, but we do not know when or where he is buried.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Harry was born in 1878, one of the first white children to be born in the settlement.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron had land in the Burleson area, and he worked in a blacksmith shop located in what is now the Forest Park part of Fort Worth.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;On his first trip west of Fort Worth, Cameron rode up to the store in Carter Bend on the Brazos River in Pala Pinto County with a 45 six shooter on each hip and a Winchester across his saddle.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The merchant asked his profession; and when Stringer replied that he was a schoolmaster, he was hired on the spot to teach there.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The grown &amp;ldquo;boys&amp;rdquo; attending the school had run off the last teacher.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;When school met again, one of the &amp;ldquo;boys&amp;rdquo; said to Cameron, &amp;ldquo;Mr. Stringer, if you will take off your guns, we will find out who is boss around here.&amp;rdquo;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron laid his guns on the desk and went outside with the young man.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;When they returned, the pupils got on with the business of having school without further trouble.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;This school was Elm Creek School &amp;ndash; a log cabin which the settlers had put up on Elm Creek near the Brazos River.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The log building was dismantled log by log and moved to the Fox Hollow community west of Randal&amp;rsquo;s Store and was the home of Horace and Fannie Randal when their first child, Ada, was born.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;When Horace acquired the land east of Cameron&amp;rsquo;s land, the cabin was again dismantled and moved to his land where Horace build a second and smaller log cabin connected to the larger cabin by a dogrun.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;These buildings are falling down but still there on the old Alex Stringer place.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;Cameron taught at Elm Creek school three terms.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;He like the Palo Pinto County hills &amp;ndash; no doubt they reminded him of Ashe County, so he filed claim on a section of land on Fox Hollow Creek and moved his family there in 1878.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Fox Hollow is named for an early settler named Fox who lived on this twisting branch.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Fannie and Alex rode on horseback behind the cattle and horses.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;On the way they milked the cows who never ceased to give milk on the journey.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;When they reached the Brazos River, the Caudill family who lived near the fording place helped them across.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Cameron and John Caudill found that they were from the same region of North Carolina, and they were always great friends.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;(CONTINUED NEXT WEEK)&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is also a photo with this article.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;It shows a woman with a poster display of several photos and a map and a young boy on the other side of the poster.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&amp;ldquo;Visual Aids were used by Beatrice Couger, Graham, to illustrate the Story of the Stringer Family, early settlers in the north part of Palo Pinto County.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;A young descendant of the family stands beside the easel.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The presentation was made at the April meeting of the Palo Pinto County Historical Association when Mrs. Couger was the guest speaker.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</line></content></metadataxml>

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2020-03-10 20:27:49.000

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_TID: 67492
_PID: -2133140308
_OID: 1cdf9893-9873-447e-95a9-fa4f23a53fed
OBJE:_ORIG
u

Unique identifier
C6AB575F998C4CDD9354A4CB3873DDD82B65

Given names Surname Sosa Birth Place Death Age Place Last change
Morris Moses Baker Stringer
1805
219 Ashe County, North Carolina, USA
0 1875
149 70 Ashe County, North Carolina, USA
Never
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