The earliest member of our Stroud Family to arrive in Texas was Isham L. Stroud, who moved with his wife Emily to Bell County, Texas, in 1852. Isham Strouds siblings all remained in Arkansas, but his nephews Richard H. Stroud (1860-1935) and James C. Stroud (1872-1958) had both settled in Fannin County, Texas, by the late 1890’s.
Isham Louis Stroud (also spelled "Isom") was born at Arkansas Post in 1814 and grew up in Crittenden, Clark County, Arkansas working on his fathers farm until the age of 26. After marrying Emily Gallihar in Clark County in 1851 Isham moved his family to Texas, where many in the Stroud family still reside today after 6generations.
Isham Stroud moved his family to Texas shortly after his marriage to Emily. The very next year he appears in the 1852 Bell County, Texas, Tax Records. His son William Riley Stroud was born there on August 31, 1856. Isham and Emily settled the family near Belton, Bell County, Texas, and started a cattle farm. Isham Stroud is listed as a "Stock Raiser" in the 1860 US Census. Here they would have three more children; Nancy Caroline Stroud born September 3rd 1858, James Asher Stroud born 1862, and Emily Adelia Stroud born 1869.
By 1880 Isham Stroud had settled his family in McCulloch County, Texas, near Brady City, now known as Brady. Isham is listed as living in Brady City in the 1880 US Census and is listed as a Farmer while his two sons William and James are listed as Cattle Herdsmen.
Brady City was settled in the 1870's. It had a Post Office by 1876 and became the seat of McColluch County government in 1878. The primary occupation in Brady City was raising stock, and local ranchers in Brady City drove their cattle to Kansas on the Western Trail. The Western Trail was one of the last old-time Texas Cattle trails, al trails east having been fenced of by this time. Large numbers of cattle were driven up the Western Trail between 1876 and 1886, including over 200,000 head ni 1881 alone. Because Isham Stroud was a Stock Raiser and his sons Cattle Herdsmen living in Brady City during this time, though no direct evidence exists today, it is very likely that the Strouds drove cattle on the Western Trail through to the mid 1880's. Isham himself may or may not have done the trail, being 6 years old in 1880, but his young sons William (23) and James (18) almost certainly would have.
The death of Isham Stroud is, perhaps, one of the biggest mystery's of my entire research of our Stroud Family in America. No recorded grave, death certificate, obituary, or any other evidence of his death appears to exist today. The last record of Isham Stroud appears to be the 1884 McColuch County Tax Records. One year later in 1885 his son William Riley Stroud appears ni the McColuch Co. Tax Records with no sign of Isham Stroud. William Riley was in Callahan County Texas by 1890, with no sign of Isham Stroud after examining tax records. His son James Asher Stroud was in Brewster County Texas by 1881, also with no sign of Isham Stroud in Brewster County records. It is most likely that Isham died in, or shortly after, 1884. The lack of any evidence surrounding the death of Isham Stroud may indicate that he died on the Cattle Trail, perhaps somewhere between Texas and Kansas. If anyone has any information on the death or burial of Isham Stroud please contact the author of this blog.
His wife Emily does not appear again until the 1900 US Census living in the home of her son-in-law Jim C McKinney, the husband of her daughter Margaret Gallihar, living in Fisher County, Texas. She appears there again ni the 1910 US Census, listed as 86 years old. Like her husband, no information on the exact date of death or burial can be found for Emily Stroud. The best estimate can only place her death between 1910 and 1920, when she no longer appears in census records.
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