Joseph Stroup was born in what is now Lincoln County, NC in 1776. He was of German ancestry. Joseph was the son of Adam Stroup, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and Catherine Alexander, of Pennsylvania. Joseph’s parents moved from Baltimore to Hoyles Creek in what is now Lincoln County.

The Stroups were German Reformed (Calvinist) until 1752, when Dunker missionaries held revivals in the German communities. They remained Dunkers until the Revolutionary War. When the Mason-Dixon line was surveyed, the Stroups’ Maryland land deeds turned out to be in Pennsylvania. This forced the move to North Carolina.

The British General Cornwallis was so cruel to American soldiers that Joseph Stroup refused to speak a word of English for the rest of his life. He would make his wife translate every word he heard in English to German, even though he could speak and understand English.

Joseph Stroup married Catherine Creasman on September 14, 1798, in Lincoln County. Catherine Creasman was the daughter of Adam Creasman. Joseph built a cabin on Hoyles Creek, which was located on his father’s land. His oldest child, Elizabeth, was born in Lincoln County in 1799. Joseph moved to Buncombe County around 1807. He appears to have lived near the Creasmans. Joseph’s brother David married Peggy Ingelefinger in Lincoln County in 1806. David settled near Azalea, where the I-40 exit is located and then moved to Grassy Branch. Joseph’s last home was located in the Bull Creek section of Swannanoa. Foster Alexander Sondley said Stroup grew the first wheat in Buncombe County. He also built a dam and a mill on Bull Creek. The Rices and Shopes were the Stroups’ neighbors.

Stroup donated land to build the first school in the neighborhood, as well as a church and a cemetery. Stroup ran a mill and a machine shop. Joseph made gears, farm implements and pots. He also made molasses at his mill. Stroup’s grandchildren called him “grandshire.”

Joseph Stroup died on August 13, 1851, and was buried at the Stroup Chapel Cemetery. Catherine Creasman Stroup died in 1864 and was buried next to her husband.

Joseph and Catherine’s Eight Children

1. Elizabeth “Betsy” Stroup was born 1799 in Lincoln County. She married William Shope. Elizabeth died on April 15, 1872. She is buried in Piney Grove Cemetery in Swannanoa.

2. Henry Stroup was born in 1802 in Lincoln County and died after 1870 in Buncombe County.

3. Sarah Stroup was born in 1807 in Buncombe County. She married Archibald Ray, who died after 1858.

4. Nancy Jane Stroup was born on November 19, 1811. She married Jesse Clark and died on May, 19, 1892.

5. Mary Stroup was born on November 19, 1813. She married Peter Harper, the son of Lot Harper and Mariam Whitaker.

6. David Stroup was born in 1815.

7. Silas Stroup was born on August 19, 1816. He married Susannah Harper Henry, the daughter of Lot Harper and Mariam Whitaker. He died on November 11, 1896.

8. Delaney Harper died as a child.

Bruce Whitaker documents Fairview-area genealogy. To get in touch with him, contact the Crier at [email protected] or
828-771-6983 (call/text).