The Strickland family emigrated from England in the 1600’s. First settling and colonizing Virginia, some of its members emigrated from the swampy eastern land into what was to become Wake and Franklin Counties, North Carolina by the mid-1700’s. Though there is some dispute as to exactly how my branch is descended from Matthew Strickland, the Immigrant, the last few generations can be quite accurately accounted for.
Experimenting with yet another family tree format I describe these connections from the 20th century back. This is a work in progress.
My grandfather, George Ricks Strickland, was orphaned at the age of five. He was raised as the son of Edward, Molly and Dora Dodson, three single children of James H. Dodson and Sarah Jane Rowlett Dodson, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and would have been legally adopted by them were it not for his desire to remain George Strickland. He would grow up and marry their niece, Anna Florette Sayles, daughter of Rebecca Eulalia “Lilly” Dodson and Clifton Duvall Sayles.
George was the sixth of the seven children born to Sidney Nicholas Strickland and Virginia Elizabeth Coppedge.
Sidney was born in 1850 to Anderson Perry Strickland and Julia M. Stone Strickland. He died in February 1897, three weeks after his wife.
Anderson Perry Strickland was born about 1820 to John Perry Strickland and Leah Jeffreys Strickland. He died of wounds sustained in the Seige of Petersburg, Virginia, September 15, 1864.
John Perry Strickland was born about 1785 in Little River District, Wake County, North Carolina, one of many children born to Matthew Strickland, Senior, and ———-. He married Leah Jeffreys in 1808 and they had many children. He died sometime between 1828 and 1829. Leah continued to run the farm, holding it as tradition dictated for his heirs. The 1830 census indicates __________.
Matthew Strickland, senior, is the patriarch of this branch, and his parents are hard to document.
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 
Hi, Kay!
My earliest Strickland ancestor was James Strickland b c1759 in England and came to New England as a British soldier and fought with Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga! After that defeat he walked off into the Massachusetts countryside and married and raised a family.
Fascinating!!!
did the Strickland Family own slaves…
Hi Cathy! Thank you for reading my blog. Yes, several generations of Stricklands enslaved men, women, and children. I have documented a few of those discoveries in this blog under the title “The Lot of Them.” Feel free to contact me with any further questions. Kay
Cyrus and Fannie Strickland were my great grandparents. They moved to Johnston Co, NC (Smithfield) from potentially Wake Co. (can’t remember off the top of my head) as cousins were marrying each other. They had 12 children. My grandfather Woodrow Strickland was the youngest and worked as a share cropper for his father for the 44 acres my sister and I now own. It’s a very small portion of the original land of my great grandfather. I wanted to know if my great grandparents owned slaves? Could you help me? I have the old cast iron bell rung for dinner (lunch) for all to come in to eat dinner. It was said my grandmother cooked for all the share croppers each day and had an attendant just for her to help her prepare the meals, tend to her gardens, etc.
Hi Elizabeth!
Thanks for reaching out! Using a few tools–ancestry.com, newspapers.com, and familysearch.org–I could find a Cyrus Mahartney Strickland, whose parents were Mahartney and Catherine Bailey Strickland. If this obituary is your great-grandfather, he was born shortly after the Civil War ended.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115508917/obituary-for-cyrus-mahartney-strickland/
The quest to discover the full family story around enslavement would go back a generation, to Mahartney and Catherine Strickland. I did find them with a baby Cyrus in Nash County in 1870, and also in 1860. An M Strickland is listed in the 1860 Slave Census as having one 80 year old enslaved woman, who would have lived in his 1 slave cabin.
Note the process though, ’cause you will need to double check that I have the right Cyrus. Like you said, cousins intermarried and names get duplicated, leaving us family historians whirling.
Starting with Woodrow, your grandfather, and go back into the past, gathering birth and death records to begin a family timeline. Add location coordinates as you can, with additional names of spouse, children, neighbors. Check and double check that each layer makes sense given what you know.
These folks have not appeared in my records, which are all in Wake, Nash, and Franklin counties. But my ancestor hunting leads me to believe that there were/are a LOT of Stricklands in central and north central North Carolina. We could well be cousins separated by many degrees.
I love that you have the old cast iron bell and the image of your grandmother ringing it to call family and workers in. My brother has a bell from my father’s family farm in Mecklenburg County, VA.
Good luck on your search, and please contact me if I can be of any further help!
Best,
Kay