As I Remember Grandfather Strouse:

A Remembrance of Jonas Strouse and Anna McCartney

Physically he was about 5' 10" tall. Weight 170 to 180 lbs. Complexion fair. Rather broad shoulders. He was all muscle, no surplus fat. When he talked, his voice was firm, not loud, but he spoke in very plain language as if he meant what he said. He would look at you as the saying goes, "square in the face".

His was not a negative character. He had positive opinions. When he believed in a certain principle no argument would cause him to change his mind. And if the argument was carried too far, he would express his opinion of you in language not hard to understand.

He was truthful. He would not stoop to tell a falsehood. He hated a liar. To him, a man who was a neighborhood trouble maker by spreading false gossip was an abomination. He had no use for that type.

He hated evil. He was a firm believer in punishment of criminals. Since it was difficult to get justice in the Courts during the Blackleg Days of 1858 when so many horses were stolen, he was strong in his conviction that the Regulators did right in executing the ringleaders of the horse thieves. That act stopped horse stealing in Northern Indiana.

To say that he was industrious would be to put it mildly. In 1836, he located in the heavy timbered forest of Swan Twp, in the region now called Hopewell. The farm of nearly 300 acres had been purchased from the Federal Government. The ax, saw, some carpenter tools, a small amount of farm equipment, plus a yoke of oxen. He faced a problem which seem impossible for a man of his age today - By hard work and the help of a good wife he felled the forests, burned the logs, fenced the fields, cultivated the land and became what was considered in those days quite wealthy.

His community spirit was good. He believed in the school and the church. When the Hopewell Church was contemplated and during the construction, my father, the late H. R. Veazey was the treasurer. He told me that Grandfather gave the ground, $100 in cash and boarded the carpenter free.

Of course, the last item was grandmother's donation. What about Grandmother Strouse? She was a good psychologist. She seemed to understand that a boy age from 7 to 14 was always hungry in mid forenoon. I will never forget the bread and butter covered with honey she would kindly beg me to accept at about 9:30 AM. In writing about her it can be summed up in one line of Grey's Elegy: "She was a gem of purest ray serene."

W. M. Veazey

August 16, 1938

Swan Township

Noble County, IN