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January 5, 1843 ! granddaughter of William
Heyer, born December 14, 1723, died
April I, 1880; great-granddaughter of
Walter Heyer, born in 1699, died October
27, 1772. Mr. and Mrs. Strang were the
parents of the following children : James
Suydam, of further mention ; Clifford H.,
died August 30, 1903 ; Jane H., married
C. L. Mason, of Peekskill, New York.
(VII) James Suydam Strang, son of
Edgar A. and Anna (Suydam) Strang,
was born December 12, 1863, in Yonkers,
New York. His education was received
in the public schools and at the famous
old Peekskill Military Academy and Rutgers
Preparatory School. After working
for a time for a firm of wholesale drug-
gists, he went into a retail drug store,
June 26, 1882, in Verplanck's Point. There
he applied himself diligently to the mas-
tery of every detail of the art of pharmacy,
and passed successfully the examination
for a license as pharmacist, November
30, 1886. He later clerked for
Charles Dickinson, a New Britain druggist,
for about eighteen months. Mr.
Strang then opened a store of his own in
Mount Vernon, New York. Three years
more of the exacting life of a druggist,
made all the more arduous by his ambi-
tion to make his venture highly success-
ful, sufficed to cause a breakdown in his
health, compelling Mr. Strang to abandon
his profession. He sold his business, and
later became a clerk for the Union Transfer
& Storage Company, of New York
City. After a year and a half there, he
removed to Stamford, Connecticut, in
July, 1894, and there entered the office of
Doty & Bartel, lumber dealers, as bookkeeper.
The following year Mr. Doty
sold his interest out to Mr. Strang and
his brother-in-law, Mr. C. W. Harper,
and the business was continued under the
name of Bartel & Company. After five
years Mr. Strang and Mr. Harper sold
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
242
their interests to Mr. Bartel, and Mr.
Strang became identified with the Blickensderfer
Manufacturing Company, where
he remained until August, 1914. Then
the present partnership with W. W.
Graves, under the firm name of Graves &
Strang, Inc., was formed to engage in
the coal and wood business. In the
spring of 1919, Mr. Strang and his part-
ner with others incorporated The Springdale
Ice and Coal Company, of which Mr.
Strang is secretary. Mr. Strang is a director
of the Stamford Morris Plan Company
and of the Young Men's Christian
Association in that city.
From the time he was made a Master
Mason in Union Lodge, No. 5, of Stam-
ford, May 3, 1899, Mr. Strang entered
actively and zealously into the cause of
Free Masonry and has attained the thirtysecond
degree. He is treasurer of Union
Lodge ; treasurer of Rittenhouse Chap-
ter, No. II, Royal Arch Masons; treasurer
of Washington Council, No. 6, Royal
and Select Masters ; member of Clinton
Commandery, Knights Templar, of Norwalk
; Lafayette Consistory, Ancient Ac-
cepted Scottish Rite ; and
Pyramid Tem-
ple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine, of Bridgeport. Mr. Strang
thinks Masonry, like religion, is some-
thing to be lived in everyday life. Since
1884 Mr. Strang has been a member of
Courtland Lodge, No. 6, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, of Peekskill, New
York. During the time he was associated
with the Blickensderfer Manufacturing
Company, he had charge of their office in
Detroit for sixteen months, and while
there he affiliated with Palestine Lodge,
No. 357, Free and Accepted Masons, as
permanent visiting member. He is also a
member of the Kiwanis and Suburban
clubs of Stamford.
On October 8, 1885, Mr. Strang was
united in marriage with Grace E. Harper,