Thomas Foster STRAHORN

Abt 1824 - 1886  (62 years)

• Name	Thomas Foster STRAHORN
  Birth	Abt 1824	West Buffalo, Union, Pennsylvania
  Gender	Male
  Death	18 May 1886	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California   [1]
  Burial	Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, Section O, Lot 74, #1SW
  Notes	1850 Census in Haines Twp., Centre Co., Pennsylvania 1852 to 1855 worked in Hartleton, Union, Pennsylvania as a Millwright 1856 to Freeport then Buena Vista, Stephenson, Illinois 1861 Fall back to Centre, Pennsylvania to leave Rebecca with her parents 1862 Spring back to Buena Vista, Stephenson, Illinois 1865 to Sedalia, Missouri 1870 Census in Washingtom Twp., Pettis Co., Missouri 1876 St. Louis Missouri City Directory, City Hotel, a Foreman 1880 Census in Ruby Valley, Madison Co., Montana, a Millwright 1882 Voter Register, Los Angeles, California 1882 A founding elder, 2nd Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, California 1883 Directory a Machinist working for Bath and Fosmir 1884 Voter Register, 403 Mozart St., Los Angeles, California, a Carpenter 1884 Spring - Suffered a stroke in Hailey Idaho, a town founded by his his son, Robert E. Strahorn. "My father was a rare combination of mechanic, who could build anything from a clock or engine to flouring mills or steel works; he was a fine vocal and instrumental musician, teaching music and leading a brass band, and was an exceptional country school teacher. He was a full six feet, of fine build, in rough-and-tumble athletics feared nothing. He was also a splendid shot, in the country rifle matches of those days always bringing home a quarter of beef or a brace of turkeys. He ruled us mischievous boys by merely pointing at the hickory ramrod that reposed over the fireplace." -Robert E. Strahorn, from his autobiography Ninety Years of Boyhood. "Historically, a millwright was a master craftsman who designed, built, and maintained mills powered by water or wind. Often described as the ancestor of the mechanical engineer, a traditional millwright possessed a rare combination of skills, ranging from heavy carpentry and stone masonry to complex mathematics and physics." Gemini AI
  Person ID	I85713	Zentmeyer Main Tree
  Last Modified	12 Jun 2026

  
  

  Father	Samuel STRAYHORN,   b. 25 Dec 1794, East Buffalo, Northumberland (now Union), Pennsylvania d. 16 May 1884, Hartley, Northumberland (now Union), Pennslylvania (Age 89 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth LNU,   b. 1795   d. 11 Dec 1867, Hartley, Union, Pennsylvania (Age 72 years)
  Family ID	F23178	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Rebecca EMMERT,   b. 1826, Bethel, Lebanon, Pennsylvania (year per headstone) d. 1863, Harris, Centre, Pennsylvania - Tuberculosis (year per headstone) (Age 37 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1848	Centre, Pennsylvania
  Children	+ 1. John Calvin STRAHORN,   b. 14 Mar 1849, Haines Twp, Centre, Pennsylvania d. 27 Nov 1933, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Age 84 years)   2. Samuel R STRAHORN,   b. 20 Aug 1850, Haines Twp Centre Co., Pennsylvania d. 6 Jun 1851, Haines Twp Centre Co., Pennsylvania (Age 0 years)   3. Mary STRAHORN,   b. 1851, Haines, Centre, Pennsylvania d. 1860, Stephenson, Illinois (Age 9 years)   4. Robert Edmund STRAHORN,   b. 15 May 1852, Haines, Centre, Pennsylvania d. 31 Mar 1944, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (Age 91 years)   5. Charlie STRAHORN,   b. Aft 1856, Stephenson, Illinois d. 1860, Stephenson, Illinois (Age < 2 years)
  Family ID	F23140	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 May 2015

  
  

  Family 2	Rebecca Jane KELLOGG,   b. 17 Mar 1842, Mifflin, Juniata, Pennsylvania d. 21 Feb 1913, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Age 70 years)
  Marriage	07 Aug 1864	Freeport, Stephenson, Illinois
  Children	+ 1. Henry Ellsworth STRAHORN,   b. 10 Jun 1865, Freeport, Stephenson, Illinois d. 1 Jan 1941, Deming, Luna, New Mexico (Age 75 years)   2. Thomas Foster STRAHORN, Jr.,   b. 21 May 1868, Sedalia, Pettis, Missouri d. Aug 1868, Pettis, Missouri (Age 0 years) + 3. Frank Kellogg STRAHORN,   b. 21 Jan 1869, Washington, Pettis, Missouri d. 28 Aug 1898, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Age 29 years)   4. Alfaretta STRAHORN,   b. 24 Jun 1879, Sedalia, Missouri d. 27 May 1971, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Age 91 years)
  Photos		Thomas Foster Strahorn and Rebecca Jane Kellogg Taken soon after their wedding, a CDV (Carte de visite) in the Zentmyer Collection, taken by photographer William McHenry in Freeport, Illinois, where they were married.
  Family ID	F23277	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 May 2026

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Thomas Foster Strahorn From the Zentmyer Collection. Found in the photo album of Arthur Thomas Strahorn, Thomas' grandson.
  		Thomas F. Strayhorn in Hartleton Biographical sketch indicating Thomas was working in Hartleton as of the summer of 1852, soon after his son Robert Edmund Strahorn was born. At that time, Thomas' father Samuel was living in Hartley Township, 1/4 mile west of Hartleton. The Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Vol.1. Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer
  		Thomas Strayhorn, Teacher Another record from The Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Vol.1., corroborating his son Robert E. Strahorn's account. Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer
  		Director, Second Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, 1882 Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer
  		Los Angeles Directory 1884 Thomas and his son Harry were living at 403 Mozart St. in 1884. Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer
  		403 Mozart St., Los Angeles This is where Thomas and Jennie Strahorn and their son Harry were residing in the mid 1880s. The map is from a Sanborn Insurance Map dated 1888. Address numbers have changed at least twice, in the 1890s the house was addressed as 907 Mozart St., it is now addressed as 2707 Mozart St. The structure in the backyard on the Sanborn map was a fifteen foot high windmill and water tank, apparently there was no municipal water service at the time the house was built. Domestic water service was established in Lincoln Heights in 1874. Thomas' son Frank was recorded as living here as late as 1890.
  		907 Mozart St. This is from the the 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, and Jennie Strahorn was listed as living here in the 1894 and 1895 Los Angeles Directories. The Strahorns owned the entire parcel, from Mozart to Baldwin, apparently it was later subdivided.
  		Headstone for Thomas Foster Strahorn Thomas, his second wife Rebecca Jane Kellogg, and their son Frank Kellogg Strahorn are all buried in the same plot in Rosedale Cemetery, just west of downtown Los Angeles, according to cemetery records there. We suspect the headstone was installed by Thomas' son Robert Edmund Strahorn after Robert became wealthy, since Thomas was a man of modest means. A smaller stone can be seen in front of the larger one, which reads, "T.F.S. Husband," possibly an earlier installation. No headstone is in evidence for Rebecca Jane Kellogg, even though she is buried in the same plot, but she was not Robert E. Strahorn's mother. (A curious omission -Ed). Robert's mother Rebecca Emmert and her parents have substantial headstones in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, possibly also paid for by Robert. (Section O, Lot 74, Grave 1SW) Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer
  		Rosedale Cemetery on Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, was renamed Angeles Rosedale Cemetery in 1993. Image courtesy Gary Zentmyer

  
  

• Sources

  [S21033] S.J. Clarke.