MARTIN
DORANCE STROPE (1826-1910) was born in Rome, Pennsylvania to William and
Abigail Strope. He married Jannette
Park (1830-1910) in 1848. Their five
children were born in Pennsylvania. In 1865, the family moved to Wisconsin where they farmed until 1879
when they moved to Knox, County, Nebraska. Their children were: Alonzo, a
batchelor; William (leaving his wife,
Ella, and two children to the care of
her parents, B F and Jane Gerry); John and his wife; Sam and Nettie Strope
Brown; and Emma, in her teens. This
group traveled by wagon. In 1881,
Ella and the children, Ervie and Frank, came by train to Sioux City where
William met them. They continued by
boat to Niobrara, then William sent the family by stage to the homestead
while he walked home. Ella’s parents
came later and settled near by. Jane
Gerry died in 1884 and B F died in the blizzard of 1888. John’s infant son died in 1880; Emma married James Canning in 1886; Samuel Brown died in 1892. After this, these three members of the
Strope family and their spouses moved to Oregon. Alonzo (1849-1934) took a homestead and timber claim south of
his brother William’s homestead. In
1884, Alonzo married Sarah Parks (1848-1940) who had homesteaded near
Venus. She was the first
teacher. Their three children did not
reach adulthood. They moved to
Orchard in 1903. Here Martin and
Jannette lived and died in the home of their oldest son. The homestead of William (Billy) Strope
(1851-1934) is the only one to remain in the family and is operated by a grandson, Merlin Strope. Ella (1852-1935) was the first teacher in
the Enterprise School. William built
houses for other people in addition to farming. William and Ella had seven children: Bert (1884); Ervie May
(1877-1951) married Charles T Anson; Franklin D (1879-1944) married Bessie
Fraim; Maude (1882-1971) married Andrew Olson; William Wallace (1888-1964)
married Dora Ickler; Merwin G (1889-1970) married Octavia Anson; and Floyd R
(1891-1973) married Mary E Collins. Mary
J, an adopted daughter (1891-1954) married Oscar Whitaker.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in Mar 2008