Post by Doris McCraw
aka Angela Raines
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| Evergreen Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO. Photo(C) Doris McCraw |
The start of this series on the wives of Civil War Veterans buried in the local cemeteries in Colorado Springs is the wife of Dr. William M Strickler, a Confederate soldier who made his mark on the region as a doctor, rancher, farmer, and politician. Her name was Virginia and this is her story, at least as much as I have been able to find so far.
Born Virginia Lipscomb in Prince William County, Virginia. Her birth year has been listed as 1828, 1833, and 1836. Her headstone lists it as 1829.
Not much is known about her early life. According to census records, her grandfather, Philip Lipscomb was a slave owner, so the probability is her family had money before the war although Philip died in 1821. Her parents, Robert and Ann died in 1858 and 1857 respectively.
At the time of their deaths, their son William would have been twenty-four. Ann, Mary, Betty, and Virginia were all older, so the running of any property would have probably fallen to all of them. In fact, her brother, William, served in Company H of the 15th Virginia Calvary, having enlisted as a private in the Confederate army in 1861. He finished as a lieutenant and in 1864, according to Civil War records, he was a POW.
Virginia met Dr. William Strickler at the second battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in 1862 while he was treating the wounded on the battlefield. He enlisted as a surgeon's assistant in 1861 and served in Companies F & S of the 52nd Virginia Infantry throughout the war.
Photo by Ron West from Find a Grave
Virginia married
William in 1865 and by 1868 the couple had moved to Colorado City
where William served as a doctor. By 1874 the couple moved to the new
city of Colorado Springs. There the couple remained until 1906 when
they moved to Denver. William died in 1908. Virginia remained in
Denver where she passed away in 1915. Her death registry states her
cause of death as senility.
Both she and William are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. So far no images of her have been found.
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| Amazon Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. Doris  |
She lived to a good age. The historical change she must have witnessed in tha time is incredible. It's so sad we can't see photos of them. So many old photographs floating around have no names, so we'll never know if we're even related to the subjects.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I liken it to my great grandmother and what she experienced during her lifetime. It's sad that the only way to find out about some of these lives is to infer from other family or male sources. Doris
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