Biographical Data
Basic Identification
Gender: male
Ethnicity: European American
Immigration: German
Attributed Race: white
Free or Enslaved: free
Birth & Family
Birth Date: 1827/09/00
Birthplace: Württemberg, Germany
Mother: Frances Sterk
Father: Francis "Frank" Sterk (Sr.)
1st Spouse: Sophia Bowman Sterk
2nd Spouse:
Age Details
Age: 56
Age Group: adult (20-59)
Life Details
Occupation(s): master machinist for Norfolk and Western Railroad
Last Church:
Military Service:
Last Residence: Lynchburg, Virginia
Last Address: 400 block Main Street
Death
Death Date: 1884/04/15
Death Note: none
Place of Death:
Cause of Death: arsenic poisoning
Burial & Undertaking
Burial Date: 1884/04/00
Funeral Home: Diuguid
Indigent?:
Gravesite and Grave Marker Data
Grave Marker or Marker Fragment: none
Section:
Confirmation Source for Location:
Grave Marker Erector(s):
Confirmation Source for Interment: Reminiscences article (1896)
Others In Same Plot (T0399)
Obituary and Biographical Detials
Married 1857
1870 census: living in Lynchburg
1875-76 LCD: master machinist for AM&O Railroad, res. 500 block of Main Street
1880 census: cannot find!
1881 LCD: master machinist for N&W Railroad, res. 400 block of Main Street
From “Reminiscences” (1896):
Near the drive, pretty well down on the second walk there from, on a stout wooden cross about seven feet high, there is inscribed on the cross-piece in large letters “F.Sterk, 1884.” Our attention was attracted to it by its originality and when we looked at it, we were reminded of the unique character of the man whose grave it marked. Mr. Sterk was for many years master machinist of the shops then kept here by the Norfolk and Western Railroad, and was regarded as equal to any demand on his services in that line. His temperament was what rendered him peculiar. He would appear rough and disobliging on occasion, yet beneath such an unpropitious exterior dwelt a warm heart and a disposition to help his men at the expense of his own ease. In his personal intercourse with his fellow citizens (which amounted to but little) he was about as laconic as the late James Fretwell, on meeting an acquaintance, viz: “Mornin” and passed on.
