Strickland Family

by Leland Smith
Born May 14, 1926 and Died August 8, 2007

The American surname Strickland spelled in early records of the southern states variously as Stricklen, Stricklin, Strickling, Striclin, Stricllin, Stricklan, Stricland, Strictland, Strictling, etc. is of English origin, possibly derived from stirk land (pasture land for cattle).  However, other origin is suggested from remarks we strike land" passed by Norman invaders of England in 1066  or "we have struck land by English soldiers upon landing during a campaign of King Edward I (reign 1272-1307) against Frances. There is record of the surname in 13th century Westmoreland County, England where the name Strickland of Sizergh appears to date from the time of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (d. 1265).  The Strickland of Sizergh castle near Appleby-in-Westmoreland still stands.

The Westmoreland County Strickland family line is traditionally descended from Robert de Vaux, a tenant with lands in Norfolk, Surry, and Essex Counties listed in the Domesday Survey of William the Conquerer.  It is from this line that the American family of present interest is said to derive.  Even George Washington, our first president, may have a Strickland ancestor.

However, the Strickland families in the southern states may derive from more than one early immigrant ancestor.  Three such immigrant ancestors have been suggested in various genealogies: John Strickland who came from Scotland to Virginia in 1650 (his family settling later in Georgia), Walter Sticland who came to Accomack County, VA in April 1666, and Matthew Strickland, Sr. from Westmoreland, England, the likely progenitor of the Strickland family of present interest.  Matthew Strickland, Sr. by tradition of the family of Sir Roger Strickland of Westmoreland, England is recognized as the immigrant ancestor of the Strickland family of Franklin and Wake Counties, NC and by extension, of the Strickland families of Greene and Pickens Counties, AL of interest.

The present Strickland genealogy is composed as a best offering linking the author's established Lewis family with a Strickland family of late 18th century North Carolina and early 19th century South Carolina, possibly derived from earlier 17th century lines in Virginia. There are major limitations of prior Strickland family genealogies that must be kept in mind; there is a considerable reliance on works of others, on family traditions, and on circumstancial evidence. There is also a substantial confusion among records of men with the same given names. Despite these limitation and the attendant uncertainties, the present genealogy explores te Strickland-Lewis link in mid 19th century Pickens County, AL and the earlier Strickland-Chamblee link in the Pendleton District SC and serves to point the way for future study. 

The Strickland family of interest is that of the author's line stemming from an unnamed Mr. Strickland putatively from Pendleton District, SC and later of Pickens County, AL.  Although a proper link of his Pickens County, AL Strickland family to the Matthew Strickland lines has yet to be discovered. circumstances suggest that the one descends from the Strickland family, both as a genealogical base and as means to exclude several family members as forebears of the Pickens County, AL lines.  Accordingly, the Matthew Strickland family has been covered in detail to the mid-19th century but not beyond that date.

By story Matthew Strickland Sr. came to Maryland in 1679 on the Herron with his wife Elizabeth Loreen, of Liverpool, England. He settled in Isle of Wight County, VA, where he purchased land in 1678. The lineage descends via his son, Matthew Strickland, Jr. and wife, Ann Braswell, the Braswell line being traced for four centuries back to Tudor times in England.  Strickland descendants are found in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and other states over the next three centuries.

Members of the Matthew Strickland family began moves from Isle of Wight County, VA into North Carolina in the early 18th century. Arranging the genealogy of the Matthew Strickland family thereafter is particularly trying, as repeated use of the given names Matthew, Sampson, William, Jacob, Joseph, Abell, and Green in the 18th and early 19th centuries in Isle of Wight County, VA, in Vertie, Edgecombe, Johnston, Wake, Nash, and Franklin Counties, NC, in Pickens and Greene Counties, AL and elsewhere pose the obvious difficulty of distinguising among records of different men, given the paucity of adequate identification evidence.  Moreover, besides multiple use of several given names there are differences among several genealogical treatments of what data there are.

William Strickland and his son, William Strickland, Jr. are found in Bertie County NC 1723-1728, and John Strickland and Jacob Strickland are found in Edgecombe County, NC 1736-1764.  Samuel Strickland is found in Johnston County NC 1754-1762.  By mid-18th century the brothers Sampson Strickland, Matthew Strickland III and Jacob Strickland had settled 1761-1765 in the Little River region of Johnson County, NC.

Johnson County had been created 1746 from Craven County NC; Wake County was erected 1770 from Johnston (and Cumberland and Orange) County, and Nash County was created 1777 from Edgecombe County in turn created 1741 from Bertie County.  Franklin County was created 1779 from Bute County formed 1764 (discontinued 1779).

Strickland family members all probably related are found in neighboring Nash and Wake Counties, NC during and after the Revolution, with later moves to Franklin County NC by 1788.  Others in Johnston, Northampton, and nearby counties also appear to be related lines.  Yet other  family groups derived from these same lines had moved to South Carolina and on to Georgia in the late 18th century.  Thus, in order to explore ancestry of the family of Mr. Strickland of interest it is necessry to examine each of these several families for possible relevance.  Although a link between the family of interest and the Matthew Strickland or other fmily has not been discovered, two candidate Strickland family lines appear to have moved to Pickens Co. AL where our Strickland family of interest may be placed by reliable evidence.

One branch of the Strickland family is found in Franklin County, NC 1788-1830 before their later move to Pickens County, AL. The brothers Obediah A. Strickland and Abell Strickland found in Wake County, NC 1782-1783 are recorded later in Franklin County NC 1788-1789 and thereafter with their progeny there in the early 19th century as well.  Also present in late 18th and early 19th century Frnaklin County, NC were other members of the Matthew Strickland family. By 1790 there were Jacob Strickland and Matthew Strickland, with many of their relations present thereafter. Among these were Elisha Strickland, Braswell Strickland and Isaac Strickland by 1800 and Matthew Strickland, Jr., Sampson Strickland and Sampson Strickland, Jr., Brinkley Strickland and Jesse Strickland there 1804-1815.

It appears that perhaps as many as 8 or 9 Strickland men from at least three different Strickland lines migrated to Pickens and Greene Counties, AL within a few years 1827-1830, and many others shortly thereafter 1830-1840. A major family group descended from Sampson Strickland came to Pickens County, AL starting  1827-1828. Kindred Strickland was there 1827-1828 and obtained land there 1831-1835.  Others of the line coming 1830-1840 were Obediah A. Strickland, Brinkley Strickland, Abell Strickland, Obediah Powell Strickland, Green Strickland, Effington Strickland, Kinsbird Strickland, Kennewell Strickland and Kinyerd Strickland.

A second set of four unidentified Strickland men came to Greene County, AL by 1827-1831. Sampson Strickland apparently related to Sampson Strickland but in uncertain manner was there by 1828. James W. Strickland was there by 1830. additionally, Warren Strickland obtained land there 1830. Additionally, Warren Strickland obtained land there 1830, as did also Enoch Sjtrickland 1831. Other Strickland family members were also in Greene County, AL by 1827-1828.

The Strickland Family of Pickens County, AL 1830-1839

Mr. Strickland, born 1800-1810 and died 1842-1850; married by 1830 in South Carolina to Malinda Chamblee. Mr. Strickland's family appears to have migrated from South Carolina to Pickens County, AL after the 1830 birth of Eliza E. Strickland in S. C. but before the 1834-1836 birth of Malinda Strickland in Alabama.It is presumed that Mr. Strickland was a member of one of the Strickland families in Pickens County, AL 1830-1840, that he and Malinda Chamblee Strickland both died by 1850, and that their three youngest daughters then lived with their grandfather, Lewis Chamblee.

Children of Mr. Strickland and Malinda Chamblee Strickland are:
1.  Eliza (Liza) E. (maybe Ellen) Strickland, born Jan. 13, 1830 in SC.  Died April 7, 1906 in Freestone County, TX buried in Old Rehoboth Cemetery, Freestone County, TX.  Married 1846-1847 to Henry Remps Cockerell, born Oct. 1, 1826 in AL and died Sept. 3, 1883 in Freestone Co. TX, buried in the Old Rehoboth Cemetery (a son of John Cockerell, Jr. of Nash County NC. )

The John Cockerell, Jr. family appears to have moved from Nash Co. NC to Greene Co. AL 1820-1821.  The Henry Remps Cockerell family moved to Freestone County, TX probably by 1852-1853 at a time when related Chamblee family members from Pickens County, AL also made the moved. The family lived near Stewards Mill in northern Freestone Co. TX.

Malinda Strickland Lewis

2.  Malinda Strickland  born 1834-1836 in Alabama, died 1876-1880 in TX. Married by 1860 in Pickens County, AL to James Franklin Lewis.

3.  Samantha A. Strickland, born 1839-1840 in MS or AL. Married (1) Lewis B. Chamble and (2) married Dec. 14, 1865 in Freestone Co. TX to Maramon Driver, born ca. 1835 in Al.

4.  Lena (or Tina) Strickland, born ca. 1842 in AL. Untraced.

Sampson Strickland, b. ca 1706 (or 1723) in Isle of Wight Co. VA and died 1781 - March 1782 intestate in Wake County NC. Married Christianna A. ___.  Sampson Strickland moved about 1761 to Little River Township of Wake (than Johnston County) NC. He became a prominent farmer and may be placed in Wake County, NC until his death there in 1782.

Children of Sampson and Christianna Strickland were:
1.  Sampson Strickland, Jr. born ca 1757 and died May 16, 1839 in Franklin Co. NC. Married 1780 in Wake Co. NC to his cousin Bythe Strickland. Sampson Strickland, Jr. was a Revolutionary soldier from Wake County NC. He may be placed in Wake County NC 1784-1794 but later moved by 1804 to Franklin Co. NC where he is found 1810-1833.

2.  Obediah A. Strickland, born Jan. 1763 in Johnston County NC. Died Dec. 1842 in Pickens County AL, buried in Pickens County, AL. Married Winney____, born 1770-1780 and died ca. 1836. Obediah A. Strickland may be placed in Wake Co. NC in 1784 where he purchased land on the north side of Moccasin Creek and where he bought at his father's estate sale. He may be placed in Franklin County, NC 1784-1830 by deeds of 1784 - 1826, by census data 1790-1830, by 1804-1815 tax records and a guardianship record of 1821. From census data it appears he had a large family. He migrated to Pickens County, Al with members of his family about 1834, obtaining land northeast of Benevola, AL and where he joined the Liberty Church. He was living with his son, Green Strickland in 1840.

3. Abell Strickland, born 1755 - 1774 and died Oct. 1801-1802 in Franklin Co. NC. He married Nancy (or Nanny___). Abell Strickland may be placed in Franklin County NC 1789-1801 by deeds of 1789-1792 and census records. His widow and sons lived there after his death.

4. Braswell  (or Brazil) Strickland, born 1765-1774 in NC. Married Ben Upchurch.  Braswell Strickland may be placed in Franklin County, NC 1800-1830 by census and tax records.

5. Matthew Strickland, born ca 1775 - 1782. Matthew Strickland, orphan of Sampson Strickland, had guardian John Rice appointed 1796 in Nash Co. NC. One family arrangement states he was Matthew Strickland, but the matter is uncertain.

Child of #2 Obediah A. Strickland and wife, Winney are:
1. Brinkley Strickland, born 1784 - 1785 in Franklin Co. NC, married (1) Nancy Pearce, b. 1784-1794 and died by March 1814 (a daughter of Stephen Pearce); married (2) Dilanna (or Delanna or Delaney), born 1798-1800 in NC. Brinkley Strickland of Franklin Co. NC 1808-1820 moved by 1830 to the Little River region of neighboring Wake County NC and on to Pickens County, AL by 1837. He appears to have had two wives and two families. He was a carpenter by trade.

Children of Brinkley Strickland are:
1.  Lucinda Strickland, born 1810-1815 in Franklin Co. NC

2.  Uny Strickland, born by 1814 in Franklin Co. NC

3. Payton Strickland, born 1820-1825 (or c. 1824) in NC, died 1862 of wound; married Rebecca Harriet ____, born ca. 1825 in AL.

3.  Miss Strickland, born 1820-1825.

4. Brazil Strickland, born ca. 1825, married Elizabeth _____.

5.  Abell (Abel, Able) Strickland, born Oct. 17, 1803 at Raleigh (Wake County) NC or in Franklin Co. NC, died Jan. 19, 1892 in Pickens Co. AL.  buried in Pickens County, AL. Married (1) Feb. 26, 1835 in Pickens County, AL to Sarah A. Ligon, born June 28, 1814 (daughter of Richard J. Ligon), by whom three children; married (2) after 1866 to Sarah E. Stapp, born Jan. 26, 1826. Abell Strickland obtained land in Pickens County, AL 1834-1836 and can be placed there in 1837-1860.

6. Obediah Powell Strickland, born 1806 in Wake County, NC and died 1892 near Kennedy (Fayette Co.) AL, buried near Kennedy, AL. Married Dec. 9, 1826 in Wake Co. NC to Mary (Polly) Bolton, born 1805 in NC. Obediah Powell Strickland removed from Franklin Co. NC by 1830, as did his cousin Kennewell Strickland and brother Brinkley Strickland, all three living in Wake County, NC in 1830. Obediah Powell Strickland obtained land in Pickens Co. near Benevola, AL in 1835-1836 and moved there in a two-wheel cart drawn by a blind gray mare. He may be placed there 1837-1860 but moved 1860 to near Belk (Fayette Co.) AL and in 1866 to near Kennedy (Fayette Co., AL) Both he and his wife became blind, and they deeded their land to their son, Wesley B. Strickland, with the proviso that the son take care of them.

7.  Green Strickland, born 1810-1820 in NC. Married 1830-1840 to Miss ____, born 1810-1820. Green Strickland may be placed in Pickens County, AL by land grants of 1836 and by the 1840 census.  He is not listed on the 1850 Pickens County, AL census and is presumed to have died or left the region, possibly moving to Mississippi where one or two Green Strickland families are recorded.