Ralph B. Strassburger
American businessman and racehorse owner (1883-1959)

Ralph Beaver Strassburger (March 26, 1883 – February 26, 1959) was an American businessman who was also a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder.
Biography
Ralph B. Strassburger was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on March 26, 1883. Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1905 and served in the U.S. Navy until 1909. He then went into business and in 1911 married May Bourne, the daughter of Frederick Gilbert Bourne, president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. An unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in the elections of 1914, following America's entry in World War I he rejoined the Navy and served as a transport officer until being discharged in 1919.
In 1921, Strassburger entered the newspaper business in his hometown, acquiring the Herald then the following year the other local, the Times. He merged the papers to create the Norristown Times Herald which still operates to this day. Of importance to historians and genealogists is Strassburger's book Pennsylvania German Pioneers: a publication of the original lists of arrival in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808 published in 1934 in two volumes. He was president of the Pennsylvania German Society from 1928 to 1940.
He died at his home in Paris on February 26, 1959.
“Ralph B. Strassburger” enters the record as american businessman and racehorse owner (1883-1959). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ralph, Strassburger and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ralph B. Strassburger” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ralph, Strassburger and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7287201. VIAF identifies the subject as 5992256. The Library of Congress control number is n86071962. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1883, 1959, 1905 and 1909.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ralph B. Strassburger”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ralph B. Strassburger primary sources, Ralph B. Strassburger archive and Ralph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ralph B. Strassburger”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ralph B. Strassburger” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.