Harrison Monroe Strickler was born on July 9, 1843, in Page County, Virginia, to Harrison and Louisa Strickler. His father was a farmer who owned $9,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Page County, Virginia.
He enlisted in the Confederate army on July 30, 1862, and he mustered in as a 3rd lieutenant in Company E of the 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion later that day. The regiment took part in the Battle of Gettysburg. He was wounded in the knee near High Bridge, Virginia, on April 6, 1865.
He returned to Virginia after the war, and he married Sallie M. Soule on October 2, 1866. They had at least five children: Henry, born around 1868; Montgomery, born around 1869; Bessie, born around 1871; Edith, born around 1876; and Harrison, born around 1878. They settled in Falling Spring, West Virginia, and Strickler worked as a minister.
His wife died in 1895, and he married Margaret Thomas on October 2, 1897. Their son Thomas was born around 1899. By 1900, they were living in Springfield, West Virginia, and they moved to Luray, Virginia, in the early 1900s. Strickler died of “senile debility” in Luray on December 30, 1928.