THE STROTHER FAMILY
The history of the Strother family in the United States spans 200 years and eleven generation. William Strother was living in Virginia in 1673. A member of the sixth generation of Strothers came to Texas in the 1850s. His descendants are in the fifth generation.
Joseph Sale Strother, the youngest of nine children, was born in Alabama in August, 1836. Around 1954 he left Alabama to join his brother George in Galveston.
Joseph lived in Galveston one year and worked for the city. He then moved to the Dallas area. He took charge of the Dallas Male Academy until the beginning of the Civil War.
When the war began, Joseph enlisted as a prive in Company C of the 15th Regiment of the Texas Infantry. Because of an eye problem, he was assigned to serve as a clerk to S. D. Buckner.
After the war, Joseph moved his family to the Duck Creek area. He and his wife, the former Emily McCullough, had been married in 1858 near Hillsboro.
The family bought a farm and built a large house near the present intersection of Kingsley and Plano Roads. Their six children were raised on the farm. For several years while the children were growing up, Joseph was a teacher at Duck Creek Academy.
After a number of years, Joseph turned to farming full time. He was very active in the organization of several groups in Dallas County. He and Mrs. Strother were charter members of the Methodist Church in the area. He was one of the original members of the Dallas County Pioneer Association organized in 1875.
Joseph was a lifelong Democrat and was delegate to the state conventions. He was county commissioner for the Garland area and also served as Justice of the Peace.
Around 1895 Joseph was elected to the state legislature representing Garland, Sachse, Mesquite, Rowlett. He was serving his third term as representative when he died in 1903.
Joseph Strother was survived by his wife and six children. The youngest son Archie lived with his mother in Garland. In the 1890s the family had moved to what is now the southeast corner of Glenbrook and Avenue D.
The oldest daughter Mary Ellen had married William McDonald. They had seven children. Her youngest daughter Cora married George Willis. They did not have any children.
One son William Kemp became a Methodist preacher and served churches in the area for many years. His son Joseph, also a Methodist preacher, is retired and lives in Dallas. A daughter Martha taught school in Dallas for many years. She is also retired and lives in Dallas.
The fifth child Edwin was for a time in the Centerville school. He later lived in Dallas. The youngest child Archie had six children. Two of his grandsons live in Dallas.
The Strother name, once so important in the development of Garland, has almost disappeared from Garland.