My Genealogy Hound

LYDIA A. STROWBRIDGE, M. D., a well known and popular physician, residing and practicing in Cortland village, is a daughter of Silas and Mary Ann (Saxton) Hammond, the latter a relative of Lieut-Gov. Saxton; our subject is a native of the town of Marathon, this county. The family is of English descent. Her grandfather, John Hammond, was born on Long Island, and came to Cortland County in 1812, locating in Marathon, and following the vocation of an agriculturist. He was a Whig and also a member of the Baptist Church, of which he was a deacon for a number of years. His children were: John; Sally, the wife of John Marvin; Calvin; Silas; Luther; Noah; Zopher; Electa; George Washington; Phebe; Samuel; and Joseph. Dr. Strowbridge’s grandfather died in the year 1847, and her grandmother in 1865.

Silas Hammond, our subject’s father, was a native of Long Island; he received a good, common school education, and then learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, at which he worked in the towns of Freetown and Marathon. While the erection of the New York Central College was in progress, he was engaged in soliciting funds for it, and met with very flattering success. He was a strong Abolitionist, and exerted all his influence to help overcome the terrible evils of slavery. He was an earnest, devout Christian, and a member of the Baptist Church at Freetown. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond were the parents of three children: Sidney; Mary Elizabeth, wife of J. C. Terry; and Lydia A., the subject of this sketch. Silas Hammond entered into that last sleep that knows no waking this side of the resurrection morn, November 20, 1884, and six years later his faithful wife followed him into the unknown world. They were greatly beloved by their neighbors, and their deaths were felt as a great loss to the whole community.

Lydia A. Hammond was married May 4, 1851, to John W. Strowbridge, a son of Henry Strowbridge. Our subject’s husband departed this life very suddenly January 1, 1898; he was out driving in his cutter when the final summons came; he had gone to the train to meet his wife, the doctor, but as she did not come on the train he expected, he turned to go home, and had gone but a short distance when he fell over, dead. He was a man of scholarly attainments, and for a number of years was engaged in teaching in the public schools. For two years he was overseer of the poor of Cortland, and also served as deputy sheriff of Cortland County, being a strong and influential Republican. John W. Strowbridge was a soldier in the late Civil War, being Captain of Co. F. 185th Reg. N. Y. Vol. Inf.; he took part in many engagements, and was in the Army of the Potomac when Lee surrendered in 1865.

Dr. Strowbridge received a much better education than most of the young ladies of her set. She first attended the public schools, then took an academic course, after which she graduated from the Hygeio Therapeutic Medical College of New York City, having been a very studious and hard working pupil, and having stood well in all her classes. She first practiced in her native town, but later removed to Cortland, where she enjoys a very large and remunerative practice. She endears herself to her patients by her sympathetic manner, and the womanly, kindly skill displayed in the treatment of the sick. She makes a specialty of the diseases and ailments of women and children, to which she has given especial study, but is also quite as successful in treating all other kinds of sickness, and has gained a reputation for skill and success that is second to none in the country. She was a member of the Baptist Church in her earlier days, but later united with the Universalist Church of Cortland, in which she is an active worker. She is the mother of three children: Clarence, Silas H., and John W., deceased.