Carl Valentine Strock

The family of Carl Valentine Strock (1894-1959) and Florence Matilda (Miller) Strock (1900-1971) came to Henry County from Van Wert County in 1933, having purchased a farm west of Colton. With them were a son, Cecil Sherman, and a daughter, Maude Matilda.

Carl was the son of Sherman Strock and Maude Rinehart Strock, and Florence a daughter of Samuel Andrew Miller and Matilda Spangler, all from the Hardin, Van Wert Counties area. The families are of German descent, many of them serving in the German military, particularly cavalry, and the Strocks came to the colonies as part of the Hessian soldier detachment. Finding the rural life to their liking, many of them stayed to farm in the Valley Forge area of Pennsylvania.

Gradually they moved westward to Warren, Ohio, and then still farther to Hardin and Van Wert Counties, becoming prominent land owners, as were the Millers.

After moving into the village of Liberty Center, Carl took an active part in civic affairs, was elected to Council, and a dedicated member of the volunteer firemen. He and his wife operated a service station for several years, among his other enterprises.

The Strock interest in horses has been a long-continued one, and Cecil has for about twenty years owned and trained a stable of trotters and pacers, with permanent quarters at the Henry County Fairgrounds. The Strock Stable colors of blue, gold, and white have been known from St. Louis and Chicago to New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but racing now has become an all-year activity in the midwest, and the stable competes mainly in Detroit and Toledo raceways.

Two of his sons are also horsemen: Leon Bonner, a driver and trainer, and John Andrew, an owner-trainer who assists in management of the stable.

Maude, the wife of Bernard R. Routs, was a businesswoman in Liberty Center and then in Napoleon. She now devotes her time to volunteer services and to the Soroptimists' many service projects.

Submitted by Louisa Mires Strock