Male

1738

1802

Ruth Paterson Strong (1774)
Susannah Wyllys (1788)

The following biography appears in A biographical history of the county of Litchfield, Connecticut: comprising biographical sketches of distinguished natives and residents of the county; together with complete lists of the judges of the county court, justices of the quorum, county commissioners, judges of probate, sheriffs, senators, &c. from the organization of the county to the present time published in 1851 by Payne Kenyon Kilbourne

"Perhaps no name occurs more frequently upon the Litchfield Town and County Records, for a period of twenty-five years, than that of JEDEDIAH STRONG. He was a son of Supply Strong, one of the, first settlers of Litchfield, where he was born on the 7th of Nov'r. 1738. In 1761, he graduated at Yale College, and first studied divinity, but soon ...abandoned it for the profession of law. He became a member of the bar of this county, but, being constantly in some public station for
many years thereafter, he had little or no business before the Courts.

In 1771, Mr. Strong was elected a Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and held a seat in that body for thirty regular sessions — during several of which he was Clerk of the House. In 1774, he was chosen a Member of the Continental Congress. In 1780, the Legislature appointed him
a Judge of the County Court, an office which he held for eleven years. In the mean time he had been elected to the Council, or Upper House of the Legislature, in place of which the Senate has since been constituted. In all of these honorable public employments he appears to have given general satisfaction, both to the Government and to the people.

"At a town meeting of the inhabitants of Litchfield, legally warned, held on the 3 1st of August 1770, — Mr. Abraham Kilborw, Moderator — It was Voted to chose a Committee to attend the General Meeting of the Mercantile and Landed
Interests of the Colony, at New Haven, on the day after the Commencement. Jedediah Strong, Esq., and Capt. John Osborn, were chosen said Committee."

In 1774 and '75, he was appointed a member of the Revolutionary "Committee of Inspection,'' in connection with Oliver Wolcott, James Morris, Seth Bird, Abraham Kilborn, Andrew Adams, Abraham Bradley, and others.

At the commencement of the Revolution, Mr, Strong was appointed by the General Court, a Commissary of Supplies for the Army. In April, 1775, the Governor and Council sent him to Albany with a special commission to secure all " the arms belonging to this colony, left theie during the French War, and return them as soon as might be." In the spring of the following year, the Legislature selected him as one of a committee "to procure ,£1,800 in specie, in exchange for bills, and pay the same to the Governor for the use of the Northern Army, on a request of Congress." During the period of the disaffection in the army in 1777, complaint was made to the Legislature against several militia officers in Litchfield county : and Jedediah Strong, Capt. John Watson, Reuben Smith, and
H. Fitch, were appointed a committee " to examine the facts and report to the Assembly."

In 1788 he was chosen a Delegate to the Convention which adopted the Constitution of the United States. Judge Strong was also conspicuous in all matters of local interest in the town. He was Town Clerk for sixteen years —
a Lister and Inspector for six years — a Selectman for thirteen years — besides being a Constable, Grand Juror, Surveyor, &c.

The first wife of Judge Strong was Ruth Patterson, to whom he was married on the 17th of April 1774. She having died, he was married to Susannah, daughter of the Hon. George Wyllys, of Hartford, (Secretary of State,) on the 22d of January, 1788. Previous to this last date, his popularity had begun to wane. By our town records it appears (hat committees were appointed to oppose certain claims of his against the town — and subsequently a committee was chosen to prosecute him for alleged "dues to the town." He had scarcely been married a year, before his young wife petitioned the General Court for a divorce, on the ground of intemperance, personal abuse, &c. ; and her petition was granted. In 1789 he resigned the office of Town Clerk " at the particular request of the Selectmen." — and after the year 1791, he appears to have lived in obscurity and poverty until his death in 1802: His remains were interred in the burying -ground west of the village of Litchfield, but no stone was ever erected to his memory. He left one daughter, who died unmarried."

Kilbourne's book left out a few details. Jedediah Strong petitioned the state for divorce prior to his wife's petition. His was rejected. At the end of his life, an overseer was appointed to care for his affairs. It is said that Strong's case was one of the reasons for the founding of Litchfield's early temperance society.
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Graduated from Yale in 1761

Lawyer; Political Office

Kilbourne, Payne Kenyon, A biographical history of the county of Litchfield, Connecticut: comprising biographical sketches of distinguished natives and residents of the county; together with complete lists of the judges of the county court, justices of the quorum, county commissioners, judges of probate, sheriffs, senators, &c. from the organization of the county to the present time (Google eBook) Clark, Austin & co., 1851