The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-09-22
THOS. \. STRyKER'S
LONG, USEFUL CAREER
Was Born in House Where
lie Died-Repre8entative
Of Old Family.

~ CAN GAIL y
The late Thos. H. Stryker of Rome
N y, and Crescent City, Fla, whose
death was duly announced in this pa
per late in August, was man with
a long and useful career both in pub
llc and private life. The News feels
sure that hundreds of its readers will
be interested in knowing more of that
career, and for this reason it gives
the following account of his life as
published in The Rome IN. W Senti-
mel on the day of his death:
After long period of i'll health,
renewed to a great extent by his So
Journs during the winter months at
his orange grove in Florida, Thomas
ii. Stryker, one Of the best known and
most influential residents of this city,
passed away at his home, 112 E. Lib
erty street, at 1890 o'clock today.
up to Wednesday night he had
been in his usual health and during
the day was out in his car and attend
ed to some business matters, retiring
at his accustomed hour without COM
planning Of feeling ill. About $3.50
Thursday morning he was taken sud-
denly i'll and his family physician, DR..
II. f. Hubbard, was sent for. Des-
plte all efforts he steadily declined un-
til the end came. Death was caused
by hardening Of the arteries.
Thomas Hubbard Stryker was of
Dutch ancestry and was a representa-
tive of on old and prominent family
Of this city and county. He was born
Nov. Il, 1847, in the house where he
died and where he always lived, and
which stands on the site of old Fort
StanwiX. He was a son of John and
Frances E. (Hubbard) Stryker, the
former native of Orange, N. Y, and
the latter Of Hamilton, N. Y. John
Stryker lost his father when but sew
en- years of age and afterwards came
to Oneida county with his mother,
who in 1915, went to Whitestown to
make her home with the Rev. Beth
uel Dodd, a minister of that place.
1t was there that John Stryker OBJ
tanned his education. He studied la
ter in the office of Thomas r. Gold, a
noted attorney, and after being ad-
mitted to the bar located for prac-
tice in Rome, becoming one of the
leading lawyers and residents of this
city. In politics he was a strong
Democrat. When a young man he
served as a member of Assembly and
also as clerk Of the court. In 1889 he
was elected surrogate of Oneida coun-
ty. He was one of the Tilden-Sey-
mour-Kernan leaders in the central
part of the state, and was frequently
a delegate to state and national con-
ventions, having served as the chair
man of Democratic state conventions
more than once. In 1867 he was the
Democratic candidate for Congress
but the county was strongly Republi-
can and therefore he failed of cleo
ton. He became actively or fnan-
cially interested in nearly all of the
enterprises in Rome and for a long
time was president of the old Bank
of Rome In 1889 he built the house
at 112 f. Liberty street which re-
NAMED his home until his death in
1885. His wife survived him until
1891. Her father, Thomas H. Hub
bard. the first surrogate judge of
Madison county, was member of Con-
eress from this district from 1918 un-
til 1921, having been elected on the
EemOcratic ticket. Unto Mr.. and
Mrs. John Stryker was born five chill
dren. two sons and three daughters.
an a private school of Rome Tho
mas H. Strvker mastered the elemen-
tary branches of learning and after
ward attended successively Rome
Academy, Walnut Hill School, Gene
va, and Hobart College, Geneva, from
which he was graduated in 1868 and
became civil engineer. From the
time when his father suffered stroke
of paralysis until his death II years
later Thomas H. Strvker managed his
many interests. His father had been
one of the chief organizers of the
I AXE Shore & Michigan Southern
Railroad, the Alton & Terre Haute
Railroad. and other western railroad
"Thomas H. Stryker was city engin-
ger of Rome in 1876, was engineer in
The construction of the Rome & Clin-
ION Railroad and the survey of the
Boston, Rome e Oswego Railroad,
serving as chief engineer upon the
after project. During the incum-
1encv of the office of state engineer
w Hon. Horatio Seymour, Mr.. Stry-
yer was assistant engineer in charge
If construction on canals, doing much
work on the Champlain Canal. He
vas also engineer in charge of Hud-
;on River improvements. represent