French Strother

[George] French Strother (1730 July 3, 1800) was an eighteenth-century planter, politician, lawyer and judge in Virginia, nicknamed "the Fearless" for his fiery rhetoric during debates in the American Revolutionary War. Early life Born in King George County, Virginia in 1730, the eldest son of James Lawrence Strother and his wife, the former Margaret French. His great-grandfather William Strother had made a will in Richmond County, Virginia in 1700. Young French Strother moved to Falmouth, Virginia (across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg) with his parents as a boy when his father received a job inspecting tobacco for export from the area. When his father died in 1761, French Strother inherited his estate. Career He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law principally in Culpeper County. French Strother lived on a large estate on the Culpeper/Stevensburg Road, owned slaves, and served on the vestry of St. Mark's Parish.(whose history a descendant would write). Strother also served as Presiding Justice of the Culpeper County Court for most of his adult life. His normal honorific of "Colonel" reflects his years of service leading the county militia. He also was one of the trustees of the Stevensburg Academy. French Strother represented Culpeper County in the Virginia General Assembly for more than 25 years, including in the Virginia Convention of 1776. He was one of Culpeper County's two delegates for 15 years in the Virginia House of Delegates (1776-1792), serving alongside first Birkett Davenport, then Henry Field, Jr., George Weatherall, Henry Hill, Henry Field, James Pendleton (several times), Henry Fry, Joel Early, David Jamison, Jr., and finally William Madison. In 1788 Culpeper county voters elected French Strother to represent them in the Virginia Ratification Convention, where he allied with Patrick Henry and George Mason and voted against the proposed United States Constitution—although the convention as a whole ratified it. Strother was a political opponent of James Madison (before his presidency), and also once defeated by James Monroe.