General Notes

In 1765, he went to Lake Champlain and built a wilderness home in Addison, VT.  He moved his family there the next year.  They fled in 1777 when Burgoyne took Crown Point and settled in Doset, VT.  He was elected assistant judge in 1781 and returned to Addison in 1783.  In 1791 he ws a member of the convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution.  Major General in the Revolution.  His house was burned during the war, his cattle carried off and he was plundered by the British.

Lake Champlain, Key to Liberty" by Ralph Nading Hill. Published by the
Countryman press, Taftsville, VT 1977. pages 143-152

In February, 1776 John Strong, with his wife Agnes and three children
started north from Salisbury, CT with all their goods piled in a sleigh
drawn by two mares. Their route lay through Albany and across the
Hudson, then on the ice on Lake George to Ticonderoga, then on the ice on
Lake Champlain to their house erected in Addison the fall before.

He at once commenced chopping a fallow, and as soon as the spring opened,
planted corn and potatoes. About the first of June he was taken with
chills and fever, but his wife and children were dependent on his
constant exertions. Kind neighbors had com in but they were not better
off that himself. So when the fit came on he would like down by a log
heap until it was partly over, and then up and at it again.

Wild animals were very troublesome, especially bears, with which he had
many encounters. In September Mrs. Strong (while her husband had gone up
the lake in a bateau to Albany to procure necessaries for the settlement)
one evening was sitting by the fire with her children. The evenings had
become somewhat chilly. The kettle of samp intended for super had just
been taken from the fire when, hearing a noise, she looked towards the
door and saw the blanket that served the purpose of one, raised up, and
an old bear protruding her head into the room. The sight of the fire
caused her to dodge back. Mrs. Strong caught the baby, and sending the
older children to the loft, she followed and drew the ladder after her.
The floor of this loft was made by laying small poles close together,
which gave ample opportunity to see all passing below.

The bear, after reconnoitering the place several times, came in with two
cubs. They first upset the milk that had been placed on the table for
supper. The old bear then made a dash at the pudding pot and , thrusting
in her head, swallowed a large mouthful and filled her mouth with another
before she found it was boiling hot. giving a furious growl, she struck
the pot with her paw, upsetting and breaking it. She then set herself up
on end, endeavoring to poke the pudding from her mouth, whining and
growling all the time.

This was so ludicrous, the cubs sitting up on end, one on each side and
wondering what ailed their mother, that it drew a loud laugh from the
children above. This seemed to excite the anger of the beast more than
ever, and with a roar she rushed for the place where they had escaped, up
aloft. This they had covered up when they drew up the ladder, and now
commenced a struggle; the bear to get up, the mother and children to keep
her down. After many fruitless attempts the bear gave up and towards
morning , moved off. After Strong's return, a door made from slabs split
from basswood and hung on wooden hinges gave them some security from such
inroads in the future.

At another time Strong and Smalley were crossing the lake from Chimney
Point in a canoe, and when near Sandy Point they saw something swimming
in the water, which they at once supposed to be a deer, and gave chase.
As they drew near they found it was an enormous black bear. This was a
different affair, and a consultation was held. They had nothing but an
axe, so it was planned that Smalley was to get into the wake of the bear
and run the canoe bow on, while Strong, standing in the bow with the axe,
was to knock Bruin on the head.

Smalley brought the boat up in good style and Strong with all the force
of a man used to felling the giants of the forest, struck the bear full
on the head. The bear minded it no more than if it had been a walking
stick instead of an axe, and instantly turning, placed both fore paws on
the side of the boat and upset it, turning both men into the lake.
Instead of following them the bear crawled up on the bottom of the boat
and took possession, quietly seating himself and looking on with great
gravity, while the men were floundering in the water. Smalley, who was
not a very good swimmer, thought he might hold one by one end of the boat
until it should float ashore, but no, Bruin would have none of their
company; and they were obliged, each with an oar under his to sustain
him, to make the best of their way to Sandy Point, the nearest shore.
>From here they had to go around the head of Bullwaga Bay, and north as
far as Point Henry, where they found their boat, minus their axe and
other baggage, and were very glad to comme off so well.

One fall the bears were making destructive work in Strong's cornfield.
He found where they came in and place his trap in their road. The second
morning he found his trap gone and plenty of signs that a large bear had
taken it. Getting two of his neighbors, Kellogg and Panghorn, to go with
him, they took three dogs, two guns and an axe. After following the
track for some tow miles they heard the dogs, and as they came up they
found the bear with her back against a large stub, cuffing the dogs
whenever they came within reach. The trap was on her hind legs.

Kellogg proposed to shoot the bear but Strong said he could kill her with
his axe, rather than waste a charge of ammunition which was scarce and
difficult to get. So taking the axe, and remembering his encounter on
the lake, he turned the bit of the axe, intending to split her head open.
He approached cautiously and when near enough gave the blow with
tremendous force, but the bear, with all the skill of a practiced boxer,
caught the axe as it was descending; with one of her paws knocking it out
of his had and at the same time catching him with the other. As she drew
him up for the death hug she endeavored to grab his throat in her mouth.
One moment more and he would have been a mangled corpse.

The first effort he avoided by bending his head close upon his breast;
the second, by running his left hand into her open mouth and down her
throat, until he could hook the ends of his finger into the roots of her
tongue. This hold he kept until the end, although every time the bear
closed her mouth his thumb was crushed and ground between her grinders,
her mouth being so narrow that it was impossible to put it out of the
way. He now called on Kellogg for God's sake to shoot the bear, but this
he dared not do for fear of shooting Strong, for as soon as he got the
bear by the tongue she endeavored to get rid of him by plunging and
rolling about, so that one moment the bear was on top, and then Strong.

In these struggles they came where the axe had been thrown. This Strong
seized with his right hand, and striking the bear in the small of the
back severed it at a blow. This so paralyzed her that she loosened her
hug, and he snatched his hand from her mouth and cleared himself of her
reach. The men then dispatcher with their guns. His mutilated thumb he
carried as a memento of the fight to his dying day.

Indians caused more fear than wild beasts, especially after the
commencement of the Revolutionary struggle. Although through the policy
of some of the leading men of the Grants the British had been induced to
treat the settlers on the east side of the lake with mildness, and had
forbidden the Indians to molest them, yet their savageness was to burst
forth on the slightest provocation. So much was this the case that if a
party of Indians appeared when the men were absent, the women allowed
them to help themselves to whatever they liked.

At one time a party came in when Mrs. Strong was alone. The first took
the cream from the milk and rubbed it on their faces; then rubbing soot
on their hands, painted themselves in all the the hideousness of the
warpaint, and sang the war song with whoops and dances. Just as they
were leaving, one of them discovered a showy colored short gown that her
husband had just made her a birthday present of. This he took, and
putting it on seemed greatly delighted, and with yells and whoops they
departed.

One morning in June Mrs. Strong arose and went to the spring on the bank
of the lake a few rods from the hosue. The birds had just commenced
their morning matins. The air was laden with the perfume of wild flowrs.
Not a breath stirred a leaf or ruffled the glass-like surface fo the
lake. As she stood listening to the birds she thought she heard the dip
of a paddle in the water, and looking through the trees that fringed the
bank, saw a canoe filled with Indians. In a moment more the boat passed
the trees in full view. A pole was fastened upright in the bow, on the
top of which was the scalp of a little girl ten years old, her flaxen
ringlets just stirring in the morning air, while streams of clotted blood
all down the pole showed it was placed there while yet warm and bleeding.

While horror froze her tot he spot, she thought she recognized the hair
as that of a beautiful child of a dear friend of hers living on the other
side of the lake. She saw other scalps attached to their waste belts ,
and two other canoes father out in the lake displayed these terrible
signals at their bows. Upon seeing her the Indians gave the war whoop
and made signals as though they would scalp her, and she fled to the
house like a frightened deer. The day brought tiding that their fiends
on the other side has all been massacred and scalped, six in number, and
their houses burned.

The morning before the taking of Crown Point by Burgoyne, Mrs. Strong was
sitting at the breakfast table. Her tow oldest sons, Asa and Samuel, had
started at daylight to hunt for young cattle that had strayed in the
woods. Her husband had gone to Rutland to procured supplies of beef for
the American forces at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, when a daughter of
Kellogg came rushing in with: " the Indians are coming and we are all
flying! There are bateaux at the Point to take us off, and you must
hurry!" And back she ran to help her own folks, her father then being a
prisoner in Quebec.

Mrs. Strong was in a very feeble health, totally unable to encounter
hardship or fatigue -- her husband away, her two oldest sons in the woods
and no one to warn or seek them. There was no way but to try and save
the children that were with her. She took her youngest, a babe of six
months, and putting him in a sack with his head and shoulders out,
fastened him on the back of her eldest daughter. Making up a bundle of
the most necessary clothing for each of the other children, she started
them for the Point, warning them not to loiter or wait for her, that she
would overtake them. After putting out the fire she closed the house,
leaving the breakfast table standing as it was when they first heard the
news.

She traveled on as fast as she was able until she came tot he north bank
of Hospital Creek. Here entirely exhausted, she sat down, when Spalding
of Panton, who had waited to see all off, came riding at full gallop up
the road. Seeing her sitting where she was he said: "Are you crazy? The
Indians are in sight, the lake is covered, and the woods are full of
them!" She told him she could go no father. He dismounted, placed her
on the pillion, and putting his horse to his speed, arrived just as the
last bateau, containing her children, were putting off. She was put on
board, Spalding going on with his horse. The night they arrived at
Whitehall (Skenesborough). Here the settlers scattered in many
directions, some returning to Connecticut, and others going east. Zadock
Everest, and family, with other neighbors, went east and she went with
them.

Asa and Samuel, as they returned towards night, saw by the columns of
smoke coming up from every house, that the Indians must have been there.
They hid themselves until dark and then, cautiously approaching, found
their house a blazing ruin. Believing that the family had escaped, they
retrace their steps and made their way east toward Otter Creek. At
daylight they found themselves near Snake Mountain. Fortunately, when
they let home the morning previous, they took a gun and ammunition. They
shot a partridge and roasted it and saved a part for their dinner, pushed
on. In about a week they found their mother and the rest of the
children. They then hired a log house, the older boys working out, and
each doing what they could for their support.

Hearing that Burgoyne had taken Crown Point, Strong left his cattle at
Brandon and hastened for his home. On coming within sight of the forts
he secreted himself until night, then moved on cautiously. When he
reached the center of a narrow ridge of land with a marsh on each side, a
yell as demoniac as though the gate of the infernal regions had opened
upon him, burst forth, and instantly he was surrounded by more than 200
savages, whooping and winging their tomahawks over his head. Instant
death seemed inevitable.

A Tory was in command. Having heard that Strong was expected in with
cattle, he had got the assistance of this band of Indians to intercept
him. After a few moments he partially stilled the Indians and addressing
Strong, asked: "Where are your cattle?" Strong answered: "Safe." This
drove the Tory mad with rage and no dubt he would have sacrificed him on
the spot if an old chief, who knew Strong, had not interposed. Strong
then told them to take him tot he fort, and whatever was proper for him
to answer, he would cheerfully do. He was then bound and taken to the
other side of the lake and placed in the guard-house until morning. When
he was brought before the commanding officer, General Fraser, Strong
explained who he was, the uncertain fate of his family, and his anxiety
on their account. Fraser generously let him go on parole until the
middle of November, when he was to be a Crown Point to go with the army
and prisoners to Canada.

After thanking him, and just as he was leaving, he said: "General,
suppose the army never returns, who then?" Fraser, smiling
incredulously, said: "Then you are released from your obligation." And
ordering him a supply of provisions for his journey, dismissed him. He
now procured a boat and went to his house, which he found in ashes.
After searching for any remains that might be left in case his wife and
children had been burned in the house, he returned to the fort, where he
procured a passage up the lake to White hall. Completely bewildered as
to which way his family had gone, he induced to believe they were in
Connecticut, where he went but found they had not been there.

He returned and went in another direction, and after weeks of fruitless
search had almost despaired of finding them.

One evening, weary and footsore, he called at a log house in Dorset for
entertainment for the night. It was dark inside and a flickering light
from dying embers only rendered things more indistinguishable. He had
just taken a seat when a smart little woman with a pail of milk came in
and said: "Moses, can't you take the gentleman's hat?" That voice! He
sprang toward her. "Agnes!" and she, with outstretched arms, "John, Oh
John!" How quick the voice of loved ones strikes upon the ear, and
vibrates through the heart!!!

That was a happy night in the little log house. The children came
rushing in and each in turn received their father's caress. Smile and
tears mingled freely, for a father and husband was restored as from the
dead.

Hon. John Strong was born in Coventry, Conn., August 16, 1738. When he was seven years old his father removed to
Salisbury, Conn., where John Strong grew to manhood and first settled. The Strong homestead lay next north of the
Livingstone farm from which Montgomery at a later day bid adieu to his wife at her father's door, when he started on his
fatal expedition to Quebec and never returned alive; long years afterward his remains were brought on a government steamer
for burial in St. Paul's church-yard in New York City, and the steamer paused in her course to salute a gray-haired matron
standing on the banks of the Hudson, with fresh and vivid memory of that bright morning when her young husband left her,
full of life and hope, now the nation's honored dead. The view north from the Strong farm embraces a fertile valley with a
beautiful lake in the center, on the banks of which the farm and house are located, which Thomas Chittenden (who was but
eight years older than John Strong) occupied till he came to Vermont, to be its first governor. Strong married at twenty-one,
moved to Addison, Vt., with his wife and three children, when twenty-eight years old, into a log house on the bank of Lake
Champlain, which he had built the fall previous (1765) while on a prospecting tour. The trials and perils of his situation
seem only to have strengthened his purposes and brought into play all the energies of his strong character. When the settlers
had become numerous enough to hold town meetings the most important business was committed to John Strong, and from
that time on to old age he almost constantly occupied positions of great responsibility, requiring the exercise of wise
judgment, prompt decisions, firmness of purpose and determined perseverance. As a delegate to the general conventions, a
member of the Legislature and of the Council for many years, he met the greatest men of that grand period of our history and
proved himself equal to every emergency. The training in such a school might well supply the want of college teaching, and
it is not strange that when Addison County was organized he was selected to the chief judicial office and found to be well
fitted for the position. In 1801 he declined all further public positions, and died June 16, 1816, leaving an enviable fame as a
true patriot, a wise statesman and an incorruptible judge. Judge Strong left a large family of sons and daughters: Moses
Strong, of Rutland, and Luke Strong, of Vergennes, were lawyers; General Samuel Strong, of Vergennes, well known
throughout the State, and several younger sons, have all passed away.

History of Addison County:http://www.middlebury.edu/~lib/AddisonCoHistory/chap10HAC.html