Biography

Henry Alvah Strong was born August 30, 1838, in Rochester, New York. He graduated from Wyoming Academy in 1858, and then worked in New York City at the American Exchange Bank. In 1861, he joined the Union Navy during the American Civil War, as a naval paymaster. Following the Civil War,
Strong joined his uncle in business making buggy whips. He and his family were boarders at the house of George Eastman’s mother. After becoming friends, Strong invested money with George Eastman, and by 1880 became President of the Eastman Dry Plate Company, until his death in 1919.