Dr. Harvey W. Strader, who is engaged in the general practice of medicine in Sacramento, was born December 14, 1859, in Pearisburg, Virginia. His father, Josiah Strader, was born in North Carolina and is of Holland-Dutch descent. The family was founded in America near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the ancestors being among the early Dutch settlers of that state. Representatives of the name took an active part in the Revolutionary war in behalf of the cause of independence, and two great-uncles of Dr. Strader were officers of the war of 1812. Josiah Strader served as an officer in the Confederate army throughout the entire period of the Civil war and during much of the time had charge of a section of heavy wagons loaded with ammunition, while later he did detail duty. At the time of General Lee's surrender he had charge of wagons which were used in gathering up provisions for the soldiers. He has made farming his life work, and is still living on the old home place in Virginia. He married Miss B. C. Johnston, who was born in the same house in which occurred the birth of Dr. Strader. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and became the founder of the family in the United States. Her three brothers served in the war for the Confederacy and lost their lives while advocating the southern cause. Mrs. Strader now resides with her husband on the old family homestead. By her marriage she became the mother of six sons and four daughters: Harvey W.; John A., who is living in Ottumwa, Iowa; S. J., who makes his home at Pearisburg, Virginia; T. D., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church; George S., who is engaged in the real estate business at Bluefield, West Virginia; W. E., who carries on farming at Pearisburg; Mrs. H. L. Phleger, of Pembroke, West Virginia; Mrs. H. B. Shelton of Bluefield, West Virginia; Mrs. L. L. Johnston, at Columbus, Ohio; and Haven A., a teacher in the public schools of Bluefield.

Dr. Strader at the usual age entered the public schools at Pearisburg and there continued his studies until he had completed the high school course. He afterward engaged in teaching school for two years during 1881-2, and in 1883 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended medical lectures for three years and was then graduated, after successfully passing the required examinations, on the 13th of March, 1885, at which time the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him. He practiced for one year in his native town, and in May, 1886, removed to Filmore county, Nebraska, continuing a member of the medical fraternity at that place, until May, 1892, when he came to Sacramento, California, where he has practiced continuously since. He engages in the general practice of medicine and surgery, and the liberal patronage extended him attests his ability and the confidence reposed in him by the public.

Dr. Strader was married in January, 1887, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Miss A. R. Piercy, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of John Piercy, a contractor and builder who was born in Ireland, but was of English parentage, while his wife was of Scotch birth. Mrs. Strader is the youngest of ten children. By her marriage she has become the mother of three sons, Piercy Winton, who at the age of sixteen years is a student in Atkinson's Business College; William Frederick, aged twelve, a student in the Sutter grammar school; and George Arthur, a lad of five years.

Dr. Strader was president of an organization having in view the extension of the J street electrict road to the suburbs and this will soon be established. In politics he is an independent Democrat, who does not take a very active part in political work, although in Nebraska he served as a delegate to some of the county and state conventions and has also been a delegate to county conventions in Sacramento. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Formerly he was identified with the Woodmen of the World and served for two terms as presiding officer in the local lodge. He was also connected with the Royal Arcanum and for one term was its presiding officer. In relation to his profession, however, he holds membership in the American Medical Association, the California State Medical Society, the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, of which he was at one time president, and the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Maryland. He has written and read interesting papers before the Sacramento County Medical Society on a number of different occasions, and his fellow-practitioners as well as the general public bear testimony concerning his professional skill and ability as well as his personal worth.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume I

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine