Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/753

Rh county. The town of Florence was the result, and in 1838 he was sent as a Whig to represent that district in the legislature. In 1840 he removed to Newark, N. J., and became interested in the con- struction of railroads, accepting stock in payment for his work. He settled in Brooklyn in 1844, which had since been his home. In 1854 he was sent as a Whig to congress, and served from 3 Dec., 1855, till 3 March, 1857. Mr. Stranahan was a member of the first Metropolitan police commis- sion in 1858, and delegate to the Republican na- tional conventions in 1800 and 1864, serving as a presidential elector in the latter year. During the civil war he was an active supporter of the Nation- al government and president of the war-fund com- mittee. This organization founded the Brooklyn Union," in order that the government might have an organ devoted to its support. In 1860 he was appointed president of the park commission, and he held that office for more than twenty years. During his administration Prospect park was created, and the system of boulevards, including the Ocean and Eastern parkways, is due to his suggestions. He had long been one of the mana- gers and the active president of the Union ferry company, and the great Atlantic docks, which are the largest works of the kind in the United Stairs were built under his direction. Mr. Stranahan was not only the president of the dock company, but also the largest stockholder and general manager of affairs. He was also associated with the build- ing of the East river bridge from the beginning of that work, and was president of the board of di- rectors in 1884.

STRANGE, Robert, senator, b. in Virginia, 20 Sept.. 1796; d. in Fayetteville, N. C., 19 Feb., 1854. He was educated at Hampden Sidney college, and then studied law. After being admitted to the bar he settled in Fayetteville, N. 0., and in 1821 was elected to the North Carolina house of dele- gates, where he served in 1822 '3 and 1826. He was elected in 1826 judge of the superior court, and held that place until 1836. when he withdrew from the bench to take his seat in the U. S. senate. He continued a member of that body until 1840, when he resigned after refusing to obey the in- structions of the North Carolina legislature. On his return to Fayetteville he resumed his profes- sion, and subsequently was solicitor of the 5th ju- dici.-il district of North Carolina. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Rutgers in 1840. Judge Strange published for private circulation a novel entitled " Eoneguski. or the Cherokee Chief," in which he preserved many of the traditions of the region in which he resided.

STRANGE, Thomas Bland. Canadian soldier, b. in Meernt, India, 15 Sept., 1831. He entered the Royal artillery as 2d lieutenant in 1851, and retired from the service in 1881 with the rank of major-general. He served during the Indian mu- tiny, and was present at the siege and capture of Lncknow. Gen. Strange was appointed comman- dant of the School of gunnery, Quebec, in 1871, inspector of artillery for the Dominion in 1872, commandant of artillery for Quebec in the same year, and was retired in 1882. He commanded the Alberta field -forces during the northwest cam- paign in 1885, and was awarded a medal.

STRATTON, Charles Carroll, clergyman, b. in Mansfield, Pa., 4 Jan., 1833. He early settled in Oregon, and was educated at Willamette uni- versity. In 1858 he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and held various pas- torates until 1875, except during 1867-'8, when he returned to Willamette and took his degree. He was elected president, of the University of the Pa- cific in 1877, and held that post for ten years, dur- ing which time the attendance rose from about 100 to more than 400. The buildings and appliances in- creased correspondingly, and the annual income of the institution was advanced from about $7,000 to $25,000. In 1887 he accepted the presidency of Mills college, Oakland, Cal.. which place he held three years. He was a delegate to the general conference of the Methodist church in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1872, and to that in Cincinnati in 1880. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Northwestern and Willamette universities in 1879. He edited the " Autobiography of Erastus 0. Ha- ven " (New York, 1883), and has prepared a volume of tin- scrim ms and lectures of Bishop Haven.

STRATTON, Charles Sherwood, dwarf, b. in Bridgeport, Conn., 4 Jan., 1838; d. in Middlebor- ough, Mass., 15 July, 1883. He was first exhibited as a dwarf by Phineas T. Barnum at his American museum in New York city on 8 Dec., 1842, who gave him the title and name of Gen. Tom Thumb. At that time he was not more than two feet high, and weighed less than sixteen pounds. He was en- gaged at a salary of -three dollars a week and trav- elling expenses; but, as he proved a great success his salary was soon increased to twenty-five dollars a week, and at the end of his second year he re- ceived fifty dollars a week. In 1844 he visited Eu- rope under the management of Mr. Barnum, and appeared at the courts of England, France, and Belgium. In 1857 he again visited Europe, and on later occasions he travelled extensively on the continent. He accumulated a large fortune, and settled in Bridgeport. In 1862 he met Lavinia War- ren, also a dwarf, who was exhibited by Mr. Bar- num, and married her on 10 Feb., 1863. The wed- ding ceremony was performed at Grace church, in New York city, with "Commodore" Nutt as groomsman and Minnie Warren as bridesmaid. Subsequently Mr. and Mrs. Stratton travelled over the world and gave exhibitions wherever they went. As he grew older he became stout and weighed seventy pounds, and his height increased to forty inches. The dwarf's death was the result of a stroke of apoplexy. He was buried in Mountain Grove cemetery. Bridgeport, where a marble shaft forty feet in height was raised to his memory, on the top of which is a full-length statue of the little general. His wife, Mercy Lavinia Bump, b. in Middleborough, Mass., 31 Oct., 1841, was first en- gaged by Mr. Barnum in 1862, under whose man- agement she assumed the name of Warren. When exhibited with Gen. Tom Thumb she was both shorter and lighter than her husband, but her height increased to forty inches and her weight to fifty pounds. After the death of Mr. Stratton she lived in retirement until her marriage on 6 April, 1885. to Count Primo Magri, an Italian dwarf, with whom she has since given exhibitions in the United States and Europe.

STRATTON, Henry Dwight, educator, b. in Amherst, Ohio, 24 Aug., 1824; d. in New York city, 20 Feb., 1867. He was educated in the public schools of Lorain county and at Oberlin college, but was not graduated. With Henry B. Bryant he established the Bryant and Stratton business col- leges, which at the time of his death numbered more than fifty, located in the principal cities of the United States and Canada.

STRAUS, Oscar Solomon, merchant, b. in Otterberg, Rhenish Bavaria, 23 Dec., 1850. He emigrated with his parents to the United States, and settled in Talbotton, Ga. At the close of the civil war he removed to New York, where he was