He became one of many Hessians who served the British crown in the American Revolution, Strenge enlisted in 1776 and, under the command of Johann Rall, arrived in New York in August of that year.
He moved to Hempfield in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; he married and had a daughter, but both wife and child died.
The family moved in the 1790s to East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, where he began a teaching career;[2] he taught at least one term in Chester County as well.
[2] Although he himself had been baptized in the Reformed Church,[1] Stenge was a schoolmaster for the Mennonite community, which informed the style of his fraktur; he produced writing samples, family records, Bible entries, bookplates, and a variety of presentation pieces.
[2] One of Strenge's love letters is held by the American Folk Art Museum.