Proof

This climb up the Stafford family tree has taught me a lot about genealogy, stuff I wish I had known thirty years ago when I started.  I had a close friend whose mother was a genealogist, and she encouraged my interest, giving me advice that has helped me to this day.  It's all because of her that I can tell the difference between Jesse and Ieppe in a census record!

 

I collected a lot of names and dates without a single concern for proof.  I gathered data, not documents.  I went for the impressive ancestral chart without regard to the evidence for said lineage.  I have since learned that is not the way to do real genealogy research.  Real research takes time and exacting effort.  It takes hours going through a multiplicity of records, so that one can reach an informed conclusion about the ancestors.  Regarding The Stafford Genealogical Project, the primary focus of my genealogical attentions for more than two decades, I have tried to be much more careful than my earlier days of research.  I've tried to document everything.

 

So consider my lineage.  Even though I knew my great-grandfather until I was 17, and he was 20 years old when his own grandfather died, I've taken nothing for granted.

 

I have my own birth certificate, showing my parents as Bryan Lynn Stafford and Donna Gail Huckins.  There are multiple personal records repeating the date and place and circumstances of my birth, including pictures of the day I was born.  Details of my birth and early years are recorded in my mother's handwriting in my Baby Book, as well as in my grandmother's Bible.

 

I have my father's birth certificate that shows his parents as Francis Lynn Stafford and Olga June Beighle.  Details of his birth were recorded by his mother in a Baby Book which I have in possession, and by his grandmother in her Bible.

 

I have my grandfather's birth certificate and baby book, showing his parents as Lewis Jackson Stafford and Charlene Fayblane Guynes.  The 1940 Census shows their household in Wheeler County, Texas, with my grandfather Lynn shown as a son of Jack and Charlene.  I have my great-grandfather's will listing my grandfather as his son and heir.

 

I have my great-grandfather's birth certificate--issued when he was an adult based on the sworn testimony of his mother, stating that his parents were Francis Marion Stafford and Clare Desmond Jackson.  I have the 1910 & 1920 Census that show him as a son in their home.

 

I have a certified copy of the marriage license of Frank & Des Jackson Stafford.  I have the 1880 & 1900 Census that show Frank as a son in the home of his parents, James & Katherine Hartman Stafford.  I have copies of the Bible records and personal diary of James Stafford which give a list of his children with their dates of birth.

 

I have firsthand accounts from several of James & Katherine's grandchildren who knew them, testifying to their names, dates of birth and death.  And the same Bible records and diary give the biographical information for James and Katherine as well.  I have a copy of their marriage license, as well as a copy of James' discharge from the Union Army in 1865.  When he enlisted in 1862, he gave his age as 19, which confirms and 1843 year of birth, and his place of birth as Hampshire County, Virginia.  I also have the 1850, 1860 & 1870 Census that show James (once as William, his middle name) in the home of his parents Washington and Elizabeth Lickliter Stafford.

 

I have letters from my great-grandfather's cousin Ted Stafford, who recalled letters he had received from his grandfather James' youngest sister Mazie Stafford McNeil identifying her father as Washington Stafford.  I have a biography of Washington Stafford published in the History of Livingston County, Illinois, in 1888, which gives dates of birth for his wife and himself, the names of their parents--Joseph & Elizabeth Myer Stafford in his case, George & Rosa Cook Lickliter in hers--and siblings, and a history of their migration from the homeplace in Hampshire County, Virginia, to Zanesville, Ohio, and finally to Livingston County, Illinois.

 

I have a statement from my great-grandfather's cousin Lucy Stafford Killette that confirms Joseph Stafford was our ancestor.  Since census records before 1850 have no names besides the Head of Household, all that can be confirmed in 1830 & 1840 is that Joseph Stafford of Hampshire county had a son in the right age range to be Washington, but since Joseph is the only one of his generation who remained in Hampshire County to raise a family, there is no reason to doubt that Washington was his oldest son.

 

Finally, though we had enough circumstantial evidence to assume Joseph S. Stafford was the son of Richard Stafford of Hampshire County, Virginia, I finally obtained copies of four original documents that either imply or outright state that it is so. 

 

First, I have copies and transcriptions of Richard & Catharine Brobeker Stafford's family Bible, purchased in 1804, recording their marriage, the births of all of their children, marriages for some of their children, births for some of their grandchildren, and dates of death for them and a few other family members. 

 

Secondly, I have the estate papers of Richard Stafford, dated 1808-1812, showing Joseph Stafford and several of his brothers buying items from their father's estate.

 

Thirdly, I have the will of Catharine Stafford dated 1810 naming her youngest two children--Washington & Sarah--and witnessed by her two sons John F. & Joseph S. Stafford.

 

Finally, I have the Chancery Court papers that include two sworn statements of Joseph Stafford listing his siblings in the order of their birth and naming them as children of Richard and Catharine Stafford.

 

So I can say with documented proof that this is my lineage.  From that solid foundation and using the same process, I have traced the five branches of Richard's children to the present day.