Forerunners: A History Or Genealogy of the Strickler Families and Their Kith and Kin

A "book report", comparing "Forerunners" with KCL

From: Hope Lind
Date: December 17, 2007 3:09:08 PM MST (CA)
Subject: Forerunners: A History Or Genealogy of the Strickler Families and Their Kith and Kin, Including Kauffmans..... (FR)

Hello, Fellow searchers:

Quite a long time ago Cousin Frank sent a memo that mentioned the title in my subject line, authored by Harry M. Strickler, copyright 1925.  My next door neighbor loaned me her first edition copy and I looked it over, especially the sections about Kauffmans.  I compared Kauffman info in the Strickler book with that in the Kauffman-Coffman Lineages (KCL) compiled by Charles Fahs Kauffman, pub. 1940.  

It appears that some of Kauffman's info came from Strickler's book.  For example, Kauffman's info about "D" Martin Kauffman appears to be copied from Strickler's book, with references to deed data, etc.

The Strickler book is harder to navigate.  He does not always clearly distinguish which generation of a named person he is talking about.  But he includes info about certain people from legal records, family Bibles, etc.  

There are some inconsistencies between the two books.  For example, in FR, the David Kauffman who married Elizabeth Strickler died July 15, 1804 (p. 231).  However, in KCL, the David Coffman F3 who married Elizabeth Strickler died in 1830, and the David Kauffman D3 who died in 1804 married Dorothy Strickler.  In FR, the family of David Kauffman and Elizabeth Strickler has six children named or referenced (p. 232), only the last with date of birth, and noting those who moved to Licking Co., Ohio.  In KCL, this family, albeit with the mother named Dorothy, not Elizabeth, has eight children instead of the six in FR, with dates or years of birth or, in the case of several of the daughters, the dates of their marriage, and also notes some who moved to Licking Co., Ohio.

This tells me that Kauffman must have done more research than Strickler, on this family at least.  I am inclined to consider KCL the more reliable source in details in which the two sources differ.

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From: Frank Coffman
Date: December 17, 2007 4:34:51 PM MST (CA)
Hope,

I would concur that Charles Fahs Kauffman's work was likely more accurate and scientifically completed.

Strickler was one of the great historians of the Valley of Virginia, but he bases a lot of his information on the many Strikler-Kauffman/Coffman marriages (my own great grand uncle, Benjamin Franklin Coffman [son of Benjamin T. son of Martin "Whitehouse"] married Euphemia Strickler). Often mentioned by Strickler is the ancient Bible of Abraham Strickler which CFK uses to some degree also, I believe.

The great problem with the "Valley" Kauffmans/Coffmans is the multiplicity and redundancy of first names (even more common than is usually the case) and the great number of marriages between the offspring of families of the same names — with the number of children per family being commonly more than, rather than fewer than five or six.

My own grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Coffman, was named after that great grand uncle (my g grandfather's younger brother). Such was very common. That two different David Kauffmans or Coffmans married Stricklers in roughly the same era is not at all surprising.

I hope more of the Virginia line join our group in the near future. There's lots to clear up — including a removal of a large congregation (Primitive Baptists by then, I believe, rather than Mennonite) up to Ohio -- and thence, in my line, over to Illinois.

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"Forerunners: A History or Genealogy of the Strickler Families Their Kith and Kin"
by Harry M. STRICKLER; Copyright 1925 Published by Harry M. Strickler, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Printed by Ruebish-Kiefer. Dayton, Virginia. 1st. ed.

Strickler Families;
Including Beaver, Blosser, Brumbach, Brubaker, Burner, Grove, Kauffman, Neff, Rothgeb, Ruffner, Shaver, Stover, Zirkle and others
Early families of Shenandoan, Rockingham, Frederick and Page Counties of the Shenandoah Valley. 425 pages with index. Coat of arms frontispiece, a few photographs inside.