The first member of the Strahl family that came to Brown County was Casper Strahl who came from Germany to America.
He came on the ship Edinburgh, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August 1750. At the courthouse he swore an oath of allegiance to the King, the Proprietor and the Province on Aug. 13, 1750. He married in 1862 Rebecca Barger, the daughter of John and Mary Barger of Maiden Creek County, Pennsylvania.
In 1793 Casper bought land in Northumberland County and he died there Jan. 30, 1793. His wife Rebecca was born in 1740 and died March 5, 1800.
Casper and Rebecca had nine children: Five boys and four girls. The son in this story that we are going to follow is Thomas Strahl. Thomas was born 1775. He married Martha Barr in 1778. Thomas and Martha had eight children. Child number five is William Strahl born Feb. 1, 1808 in Jefferson County, Ohio.
William married Catherine Alltop, born in Pennsylvania before 1834, most likely in Jefferson County, Ohio. We next find William in the 1850 census of Grandview Township, Washington County, Ohio.
William Strahl, his wife Catherine, and several of their children moved from Washington County, Ohio to Van Buren Township, Brown County, Indiana about 1865. They settled in the western part of the township, west of Mt. Zion, where they were enumerated in the 1870 and 1880 census. Of the children listed in the 1850 census in Ohio only three were living with the parents in the 1870 census in Brown County. They were Martin, William and 16-year-old Eliza J. who was born after the 1850 census in Ohio.
Son Joseph Strahl also came to Brown County with the parents. Joseph married Hannah Flint in 1866 and settled in Jackson Township, Brown County. A daughter, Hannah Strahl, also came to Indiana with the parents and in May 1870 had married to William H. Roush. She was enumerated in his household in the 1870 census. Since we want to focus on the Strahls of Brown these five children, Martin, Hannah, Joseph, William, and Eliza are the ones we will follow.
By the 1880 census we find William and Catherine in Van Buren Township in Brown County, Indiana where William died June 28, 1897. He is buried in the Mt. Zion Cemetery, in Van Buren Township. His wife Catherine is buried next to him.
Martin Van Buren Strahl, son of William and Catherine, was born 1838 in Ohio. He died Dec. 26, 1912 in Nashville, Indiana. Martin is buried next to his wife Mary in the Mt. Zion Cemetery, Van Buren Township, in Brown County, Indiana. He married Mary E. Read in Belmont County Ohio. Martin served in the Civil War in Company G. 77th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Martin and Mary had three children; James William Strahl, Anna Belle Strahl and Etta Josephine Strahl.
James William Strahl, the first born child of Martin and Mary, was born 1875 and lived on the site of Strahl Lake in the Brown County State Park. The lake is named for him.
James married Minnie Almira Skinner. James is the Strahl that lived on land that was where the Brown County State Park is today. To be exact: Starhl Lake is on James William Strahl’s land. The lake was named for him. After the state bought the land for the state park everyone had to move. James moved to Bartholomew County where he died in 1961. He is buried next to his wife Minnie in the Mt. Zion Cemetery in Van Buren Township.
James and his wife Minnie had six children: Ransom Otto Strahl, Dolly Ethel Strahl, Grace Ellen Starhl, Anetta Bell Strahl, Lawrence Austin Strahl and Louie Martin Strahl.
Lawrence Austin Strahl, the fifth child of James, was born 1908 at Kelp in Brown County. Kelp was a village also located on land in the Brown County State Park. Lawrence married Margaret Marie Littinken. They had eight children: Minnie Strahl, Esther Marie Strahl, Mary Almara Strahl, Lucille Ann Strahl, Robert Lee Strahl, Alice Jean Strahl, William Strahl and Nellie Strahl.
Robert Lee Strahl is the first generation born in a county other than Brown. Robert, or “Bob” as we all knew him, was born 1937 and died in 2017 in Bartholomew County.
He and his family lived on a beautiful working farm near Ogilville, Indiana. They had a variety of farm animals including pigmy goats. They bottle fed and named each and every little goat. Most of those little guys and gals went with 4-H’ers to local county fairs all over central Indiana.
We hope you have enjoyed our article today. If you wish to have more information or research the Strahl Family, you may contact us at the Brown County History Center. Our phone number is 812 988 2899.
— Submitted by Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society
