born May 6, 1808, Somers, Conn., U.S.
died Aug. 19, 1895, Lake Minnewaska, N.Y.
U.S. jurist.
He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1847–51) and on the Pennsylvania state supreme court (1857–68). In 1870 he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Ulysses S. Grant . In 1871 he spoke for the majority as the court overturned the Hepburn decision of the previous year, a reversal that allowed Congress the power to issue paper money as legal tender, a position favoured by Grant. Strong retired from the court in 1880.