The War of 1812 was raging and his youth was the time of covered wagons and stagecoaches. George W. Strong became a local giant in the era of steamships and the railroad. His path took him through the dark days of the Civil War and the brighter times of the brith of the Industrial Revolution. His life as an icon in a small town in the Midwest was all but forgotten as he passed into obscurity at the age of 92.