My family tree

[Strickler.GED]

ABRAHAM STRICKLER (From the Internet - Author unknown)
(The author of this not e is Frank Duff) - (RES)
Strickler research began in the 1980's believing she was a descendant of Abraham Strickler of Egypt. That was logical, my Stricklers were in Virginia, Abraham was in Virginia, it all seemed to fit. And like so m any others I believed all the early writings and publications about Abraham an d his family. Below is given a more objective survey of known records for Abrah am Strickler. This section is still developing. Unfortunately I was not a good source keeper in the early days and many of my sources I can not give a direct reference to. I have included many of them in hopes that someone will eventual ly track them down again. My records were again struck hard by a computer crash back in 1994. I was able to recover most of my records from backup disks, but many of the end notes either did not restore themselves or were simply listed a t the end of the document with no reference as to where they belonged. With th at said, I will quickly describe the nature of the below biography. It is writt en in a manner that all known records and theories are addressed. For example I have listed all the different speculated dates for immigration of Abraham Stri ckler, taken each one and given evidences as to why each may or may not be poss ible. With known records, I have also included tradition, as I believe there is some truth to all tradition. So with that said I hope this biography helps pro duce further leads as to the heritage of Abraham Strickler. I might also add th at several sections are in their infancy. This includes deeds and deed plats an d other court records which pertain to Abraham Strickler's land, estate and lif e. Abraham Strickler was a well-known Indian Trader. He would travel several t imes a year to meet the Indians traveling the Indian Road through Virginia. He was traveling this road as early as 1725 as might be evidenced by an old passpo rt giving Abraham permission to travel the lands south of the Potomac and west of the Blue Ridge for the purposes of commerce. Legend is that Abraham had a tr ading post somewhere in the Page Valley near the mouth of Mill Creek. This woul d have been the first permanent construction west of the Blue Ridge. It is beli eved that Abraham Strickler took up permanent residence in the state prior to 1 735, evidenced by the transfer of his property in Lancaster Co. in 1733. It was not until 12 December 1733 that he was conveyed 1,033 acres from Jacob Stover which was part of a 5,000 acre tract granted to Stover by Lord Fairfax. Along w ith the Adam Mueller and Joist Heit families, the Strickler's became among the first permanent settlers of the Shenandoah Valley. Adam Mueller is generally ac cepted as the first permanent settler in 1726 and Abraham Strickler the second in or about 1729-1734 (probably 1733). The Strickler Plantation came to be know n as Fort Egypt and the bend of the Shenandoah which it was located was known a s Egypt Bend. The name Egypt is a metaphor likening the Swiss and German's flig ht from religous persecution to the biblical flight of the Israelites from Egyp t. Fort Egypt was actually a house. It was heavily fortified and was of massive construct and lies west of the Shenandoah River off of Rt. 615 north of U.S. R t 211, four miles west of Luray. The oldest construct was no doubt an enlargeme nt of Abraham's trading post. It was in 1757 when Abraham's son, Jacob would re novate and build the Fort as it is today. The majority of the Fort is construct ed of large Maple logs. A number of rooms are lined with Oak, Pine and Walnut p aneling. A huge limestone central chimney measures 15 feet wide at its base and five feet wide in the second floor. It is open to several fireplaces, the one in the kitchen measuring 11 feet wide. The original peaked Swiss style roof was lowered. Another wing and a porch have been added to the house since 1758. The cellar is well preserved with loopholes for rifle