Julia Ann Dodd was born on Little Paint Creek, just south of Harpers Ferry, Iowa, the first child of Calvin Riggs Dodd and his wife Sarah Ann Welliver. When Julia was just a few weeks old her father left for service in the Civil War, and when he returned in 1865 she had no prior memories of him.

Calvin Riggs Dodd built a chain-stitch sewing machine for his wife to use, and she sewed a dress for Julia on that machine. One day Julia was sent on an errand, and the path included climbing up the steps of a stile to cross a fence, and then down the other side. Julia was wearing her new dress, and a loose thread caught on the fence, and as she walked away, the thread that sewed the ruffle onto the bottom edge of the dress pulled out and the ruffle dropped off!

In the fall of 1873 Calvin Riggs Dodd moved his family from Allamakee County, Iowa to Harlan County, Nebraska, settling on Turkey Creek. Julia was 12 years old and had vivid memories of the trip in a white-top schooner. In December of 1878 in Bainbridge, Julia Ann Dodd (age 17) married William Henry Stratton (age 33), who owned the local mercantile store. Julia actively assisted in the Stratton family enterprises, especially in the creamery making butter and cheese for sale. As their family grew, Julia was kept busy caring for the children and tending to their needs.

In 1884 the family moved to Malcom, Iowa where William Henry owned and operated a mercantile store. It was in Iowa that William Henry purchased an ankle-length good wool coat for Julia to wear during the winter-time.

In January of 1888, "Ma Amy" (Wm. Henry's mother) was back at Bainbridge, Nebraska looking to settle some debts owed to Wm. Henry. While there, she discovered that Julia's mother was on her death-bed. She wrote Julia a letter urging her to come quickly, and Julia (with Addie and Calvin, and Hazel on-the-way) headed to Bainbridge from Iowa, but by the time she arrived, her mother had already died. While at Bainbridge, Ma Amy and Julia received a letter from Wm. Henry that he had loaded what he could salvage from the flood (including a wagon and a pair of mules) onto a rail box-car and was heading to Cherry County, Nebraska by train, with Warner, Essie and Ray. Julia and Ma Amy, with Addie and Calvin, took a stage-coach and headed north to Cherry County.

The place where they settled they called Oasis, but the stories are of sand hills, rattlesnakes, and rumors of Indians on the war-path. Despite the rumors, things remained peaceful, and Wm. Henry got along well with the natives who came to purchase supplies from his mercantile.

For nearly two years the Stratton family lived in a large tent with the edges weighted down with bales of hay in the winter to keep out the snow and cold wind. When the weather turned bitter cold, Julia would keep the children in bed all day under the blankets, while she wore her warm wool coat to keep the fire burning in the stove and to cook the food. Eventually Wm. Henry built a wood house out of the slab wood that made up the crates and wooden boxes his mercantile goods were shipped in when they arrived by train. Even then, Julia's kitchen was a "soddy" that was built up against the house. As a side-line, Julia made hats and sold millinery supplies - a trade that she learned from "Ma Amy."

In 1900, Wm. Henry traded his Cherry County property for a farm in Missouri. He sent Julia and the children to Missouri in two covered wagons, but he stayed in Cherry County to "close up his business." Julia's father, Calvin Riggs Dodd was the first to head to Missouri, leaving by train in May of 1900 with his grandchildren Essie, Calvin, Hazel and Floyd (age 5). Julia soon followed with the packed wagons, one driven by herself or Addie. The second wagon was driven mostly by Warner or Ray. When Addie was not driving a wagon, she held baby Grace on her lap. Along the way, they came across a Swedish campmeeting, and the people insisted on giving them big baskets of food. One of the Swedish men saw all the children in the wagon and began to count, "one, two, three. . . " Julia helped him by saying "four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven." They all had a good laugh over that one. After they reached Kansas, W. Wylie Dodd (brother of Julia) traveled with them and help drive one of the wagons. He teased Addie by pretending a persimmon was delicious, and she fell for it and took a bite. "I could have whistled for a week, my mouth was so puckered!" Addie later remembered.

The Stratton family was a lively bunch, and had many interesting experiences in Oakmound, Missouri. Many of the family and community activities revolved around the community church and school. Not long after the move to Missouri, sons Warner and Ray returned to Cherry County, Nebraska to ranch. In 1903, Essie married Clint Houser - the wedding was held at the Stratton house. In early 1905 Julia and Addie sewed Addie's wedding dress out of dotted Swiss fabric. Addie and Ben Chesterman were married in February of 1905.

In 1905 the house burned down. It was on a Sunday morning, and Julia had lunch ready and the dishes on the table, covered with a white cloth. Alice and Grace were dressed for church and sitting on chairs across from the stairs going upstairs when they noticed sparks falling down the stairs. They told Julia and she instructed everyone to grab a chair and go outside, away from the house. Alice and Grace, being the youngest, were taken a ways away and told to sit on a blanket on the ground. Near them was a 5 gallon can of kerosene, kept away from the fire, for safety. The girls were mostly afraid of the kerosene, but also upset about the fire. The family got what they could out of the house, but could not go upstairs where the bedrooms and personal items were, for the entire upstairs was on fire. The house burned to the ground, and very little was saved, but no one was injured. Afterwards, grandpa Calvin Riggs Dodd used his carpentry skills to remodel the separate carriage house into a dwelling for the family.

Eventually Julia and the younger children moved to Kansas and then to Beaver City, Nebraska. In 1918 Julia went back to Cherry County to help Wm. Henry "close up his business." It took six years, but in 1923 Wm. Henry was ready to retire and they returned to Beaver City. Julia had a "sweets shop" set up in the living room of their house where she sold candy. William Henry had his organ in the living room on which he loved to play his favorite songs.

As William Henry declined during the last few months of his life, Julia and daughter Grace spent much time and effort taking care of Wm. Henry at home. One day they were totally exhausted from tending to William Henry's needs, including repositioning him in bed, and they sat down on the sofa in the living room to rest. Soon they had both fallen asleep. Grace's daughter Mildred was playing with some toys in the corner of the living room. After Julia and Grace were asleep Mildred saw her grandfather lower himself out of bed, crawl across the living room floor, hoist himself up onto the organ stool and then proceed to play a couple of his favorite songs. Then he lowered himself down to the floor, crawled back to his bed and hoisted himself back into bed. Julia and Grace slept through the whole thing!

After Wm. Henry died in 1944 at the age of 98 years, Julia went to live for a time with her daughter Addie in Montana. Then in the fall of 1946 she moved to Saint Helens, Oregon to live with Grace and Ezra Tillotson. Julia kept a small box of "treasures" - mementos of her life and family - which she would take out from time to time and tell their stories to her grandchildren.

Julia also was a skilled needlewoman and crocheted many dainty items, especially doilies. It has been said that a crochet hook was constantly in her hands, and she worked on her crochet projects nearly to the day of her death. She died at the home of her daughter Grace in April of 1953.