Life History

Other facts

Notes

• The genealogy where I originally found the wife and children of this William Strange listed his father as John W Strange but gives William's name and that of his children as Strang.  The Le Strange and Strange family name does appear this way in various lines.
  
  I found only in 1914 that the gravestones for William and Polly and all their children has the surname spelled Strang.  As I probed it appeared there was no direct relation between the Stillwater, New York, Strang family and the Strange line of Virginia and Tennessee.  This appears to have happened due to a simplistic inclusion of information on the New York family with the Tennessee lineage by an early careless genealogist, which was then copied by so many others.
  
  This spelling of Strang is associated with a different family line that changed into Strange or Strong in various English descendant lines.  The spelling Strang, related to the English word and family name Strong, occurs due to the migration of German-speaking families moving into the English-language stream.  The pronunciation of the German word for strong -- which is a family name Strong is in English -- is Streng.
  
  This is pronounced very close to the English spelling of Strang.  Some members of the family line Streng Anglicized their name as Strong, and some as Strang.  Some of the latter became associated with the English name Strange, some of whom also spelled their name as Strang.  The latter name came originally from Norman French and the family line of Le Strange (the foreigner).  The name ultimately from Latin Extraneus, meaning "foreign."
  
  In recent decades, spellings of names for various family lines have become fairly standardized, to make record-keeping easier.  This trend has also been enhanced by the dramatic rise in literacy since 1900.
  
  In some early genealogical collections, with very poor or no documentation, the children of William Strange of Jefferson County, Tennessee, was mixed with children of William Strang of Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York.  The William Strang and family in the cemetery at Stillwater, New York, has thus been confused with the Strange line in Jefferson County, Tennessee, in many genealogies of the Tennessee family.  Before many resources became available on line, one genealogy in the One World Tree reported what appears to be this same William Strange, with wife Polly West.  That Polly West is born in 1816 in North Carolina.
  
  The place of death for William's father John W is Buncombe County, North Carolina.  But all the family genealogies of the Strang line of Stillwater, New York, all have the wife as Polly West, excepting a couple that call her Polly Stewart or Mary Stewart.  But I have found documentation of this Polly West reporting her birth in New York state.  It remains unclear if the wife of William Strange of Tennessee was even named Polly West.  As I gain documented info on William Strange's wife, I will add that.
  
  The relationship notes in the memorials on Find a Grave for the Strang family in Stillwater indicate that William Strang's parents were William Strang and Abigail Simmons Strang.  Most genealogies have the wife of John W Strange of Tennessee, the father of William Strange, as Abigail Simmons.
  
  But I have documented Abigail Simmons in New York, and she fits as the wife of William Strang Sr in New York.  Thus the wife of John W and his son both remain unknown.  But the same wife's name is given as Polly West with the same birth and death information as the wife of William Strange, son of John Strange and no name for the wife in sources I have consulted.
  
  This indicates there are two families conflated here.  I finally found the widow Polly (West) Strang with the youngest child Orren (spelled Orrin here).  This census reports Polly born in New York.  If this Polly West is not the correct wife, then we have little reason to think that William Strang of Stillwater New York is the same person as William Strange of Jefferson County, Tennessee.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Saratoga County, New York, 29 August, Stillwater, Hse #279, Fam #307
  Polly Strang 66 F   $1755 Valuation Real Estate b New York [b abt 1784]
  Orrin Strang 32 M No Occup b New York Idiot [b abt 1818]
  Acky Pelts 53 M b New York [b abt 1797]
  
  --------------------------
  William Strang
  Birth 1778, USA
  Death Oct. 31, 1838 New York
  
  Parents:
  William Strang (1752 - 1831)
  Abigail Simmons Strang (1751 - 1839)
  
  Spouse Polly West Strang (1781 - 1855)
  
  Children:
  Sylvanus A Strang (1804 - 1847)
  Christianna Strang Howland (1807 - 1898)
  Silvanus H Strang (1812 - 1843)
  Henry J Strang (1817 - 1845)
  Orren Strang (1819 - 1853)
  Abigail Strang Myers (1823 - 1908)
  
  [On memorials for the children, the last-born child Abigail is reported as a half-sibling, but no other spouse is reported in this cemetery for William Strange/Strang]
  
  Siblings:
  Silvanus Strang (1781 - 1858)
  David Strang (1785 - 1861)
  Elizabeth Strang Neilson (1792 - 1829)
  
  Burial Baptist Church Cemetery, Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York
  
  Maintained by Jerry Ames, Originally Created by Thomas Dunne Oct 26, 2007
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #22466140, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22466140
  --------------------------
  
  The graves in the Stillwater Cemeteries contain a large number of individuals surnamed Strang.  It seems likely that some early confusion of the Tennessee Stranges and the New York Strangs occurred in early sources.  Many details need to be sorted to clarify the family configuration of William Strange, son of John W Strange, of Jefferson County, Tennessee.  In the interest of collecting details, I am including here the information of the reported father of William Strang, form the memorial on Find a Grave.
  
  --------------------------
  William Strang
  Birth 1752 Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York
  Death Oct. 23, 1831 Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York
  William's mother was Hannah Clements Strang.
  
  Parents Gabriel Strang (1735 - 1758)
  Spouse Abigail Simmons Strang (1751 - 1839)
  
  Children:
  William Strang (1778 - 1838)
  Silvanus Strang (1781 - 1858)
  David Strang (1785 - 1861)
  Elizabeth Strang Neilson (1792 - 1829)
  
  Sibling:
  William Strang (1752 - 1831)
  Gabriel Strang (1755 - 1812)
  
  Burial Baptist Church Cemetery, Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York
  
  Maintained by Jerry Ames, Originally Created by Thomas Dunne Oct 26, 2007
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #22466091, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22466091
  --------------------------
  

Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 2. Ancestry Trees
• 3. One World Tree (sm)
  • http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/Person.aspx?pid=41293092&st=1
• 4. 1850 Federal Census, Saratoga County, New York
  • 29 August, Stillwater, Hse #279, Fam #307