Wesley Stafford

Wesley Stafford

1792-1856

Kosciusko County, Indiana

 

Wesley Stafford was born in 26 May 1792 in Hampshire County, Virginia, the seventh of ten children born to Richard and Catharine Brobeker Stafford.  He seems to have married three times.  His first wife was named Lucy, whom he married about 1818.  They had two sons, and she died between 1822-1826.  We have speculated that her maiden name may have been Carlye or Carlyle because of the tendency among her oldest son’s descendants to use that as a middle name for their girls, particularly in the form of Lucy Carlye.  Bible records indicate he had a second wife named Sally, who was the mother of his third son born in 1826.  Finally, he married Sally Corbin on 18 Jun 1829 in Harrison County, Ohio, and they had five sons and a daughter.  Between 1844 and 1850, Wesley moved his family to Fayette County, Indiana.  In the early 1850s, they relocated to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where Wesley died 22 July 1856.  Sarah died 28 May 1862.  They are buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery, Sidney, Kosciusko County, Indiana.

 

 

His full name and birthdate are recorded in the Family Bible of Richard and Catharine Stafford, transcriptions of which were provided by Rita Kay Stafford Fawcett, Lake Alfred, Texas.  A 1792 birthyear is also corroborated by the 1850 Census and his gravestone.    The first names of his first two wives are found in the Family Bible.  His marriage record to Sarah Corbin can be found in Harrison County, Ohio, and is included in Ohio Marriages 1800-1958 available through the FamilySearch website.  His deathdate is from the Family Bible and his headstone in the Spring Creek Cemetery, Sidney, Kosciusko, Indiana.

 

A young man of 18 when his mother died in 1810, Wesley could be the unidentified male in the household of his brother John in the 1810 Census for Allegany County, Maryland.  He appears on the tax and tithe rolls for Hampshire County in 1811.  He was a veteran of the War of 1812 from Allegany County, Maryland.

 

The 1820 Census is hard to read and harder to interpret, but shows his household in Hampshire County, Virginia, with brother Joseph.  On 27 June 1820, he was charged in Hampshire County Court with stealing a calf from the property of John Earson.  In October 1820, he assigned his share in the supposed estate of his younger brother Washington to Joseph S. Stafford.  Wesley’s oldest son William was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, in 1822.  Sworn statements included in the 1823 lawsuit filed in Frederick County Chancery Court regarding the estate of his deceased brother Washington indicate that he was no longer living in Virginia. 

 

Wesley Stafford apparently came into possession of the Family Bible belonging to Richard and Catharine Stafford and took it with him to Ohio and Indiana.  He passed it on to his son Martin, and from there it was handed down to George, then Roger, then Waldo, and finally to Rita Kay Stafford Fawcett and siblings of Florida. 

 

The 1830 Census records his household with four sons in Harrison County, Ohio, and the 1840 Census records his household with seven sons in Green County, Ohio.  He was in Fayette County, Indiana, for the 1850 Census, and though he was dead by 1860, his widow and children all appear on the census for Kosciusko County, Indiana.

 

Wesley fathered nine children total, eight sons and a daughter—John Fletcher, born 1818; William Josephus, born 1822; James Bruce, born 1826; Francis Asbury, born 1830; Thomas, born 1834; Joseph Stone, born 1837; Martin, born 1839; Andrew, born 1842; and Mary A., born 1844, who died as a child.  He named five of his sons for five of his six brothers; Richard is without a namesake.  Apparently before the family’s move to Indiana, John Fletcher Stafford returned to Virginia.  The rest of the sons married and had families in Indiana.

 

John Fletcher Stafford

John Fletcher Stafford was born 31 December 1818 in Hampshire County, Virginia.  Raised in Ohio, he left before the family moved to Indiana and is found in Albermarle County where he married the widow Elizabeth Jane Nicholson Moon on 01 January 1844.  She was born about 01 June 1817 in Frederick County, Virginia, the daughter of George Nicholson.  They lived in Augusta County, Virginia, and had nine children—Lucy Clay Snyder, 1845; Charles William, 1848; Eleanor Virginia Rippetoe, 1849; Sarah Snyder, 1850; Laura Lee Remmel, 1853; George Nicholson, 1854; Joseph Clarence, 1855; John Brooke, 1859; and Marie Antoinette, 1861.   A merchant in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, John Stafford served in the Staunton Rifles, Company G, 5^th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War.  He died at age 49, 13 January 1867 in Staunton.  Elizabeth died 20 May 1872.  They are buried in the Thornrose Cemetery.

 

Sisters Laura and Marie Antoinette Stafford became school teachers and moved to Newport, Jackson County, Arkansas, where they married and raised their families.

 

The rest of the children lived out their lives and raised their families in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia.

 

 

William Josephus Stafford

William Josephus Stafford was born 16 January 1822 in Hampshire County, Virginia, but was raised in Ohio.  He married Christina Shafer in 1846, Butler County, Ohio, and they moved with his family to Indiana, in the mid-1840s.  They had eight children, only three of which lived to adulthood—John, 1846; Wesley, 1848; and James, born 1853. 

 

John enlisted as a private in Company D, 152^nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in February 1865, and he died a month later without having married or had children.  James married twice, but had no children.  Wesley had a son Elisha Van who raised his family in Wright County, Iowa, and two daughters, Jesse Huffman and Annie Hoagland who raised families in Kosciusko County, Indiana.

 

William died 23 November 1863 and is buried in Spring Creek Cemetery.  His wife Christena made her will 24 December 1898 and died shortly thereafter in Kosciusko County.

James Bruce Stafford

James Stafford was born in 19 March 1826, probably in Harrison County, Ohio, and came to Indiana with his parents as a young man.  He married Sarah D. Ladd about 26 January 1851 in Fayette County, Indiana.  She was born 13 December 1832 in Fayette County, Indiana, the daughter of Noble H. & Mary Ann Wile Ladd.  They lived in Kosciusko County until the 1870s, when they moved to neighboring Marshall County, where James died 25 April 1877.  Sarah died 06 July 1924.  They are buried in the Hindel Cemetery, Inwood, Marshall County, Indiana.

 

They had six children—Mary Ann Shirley, born 1853; James Madison, born 1856; Martin Noble Logan, born 1858; Nancy Elizabeth Kline, born 1863; William Alvin, born 1865; and John Emery, born 1868.  William never married or had children.  Martin married and moved to Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont.  Mary, Madison, Nancy and John raised their families in Marshall County, Indiana.

 

Francis Asbury Stafford

Francis Asbury Stafford was born 1830 in Harrison County, Ohio.  He married first Isabella McCourtney on 18 October 1855 in Kosciusko County, Indiana.  They had two children—Francis Marion Stafford, born 26 June 1856, and Amanda Jane Stafford Greer, born 1858.  Isabella died 11 June 1860.  Francis enlisted as a private in Company D of the 13^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in November 1864.  He married Harriet Louisa Norris about 1865, and they had on daughter Della, born 1878.  He died 15 July 1911 and is buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery. 

 

Francis was working in Fayette County, Indiana, for his uncle Joseph in 1880, but he returned to Kosciusko County where he married Marilla Belle Shirley in 1881.  They raised their family of seven children in Kosciusko County.  Amanda married John Schuyler Colfax Greer and raised a family of five children in Marshall County, Indiana.  Of Della, no other record has been found. 

 

Thomas Stafford

Thomas Stafford was born 01 August 1834 in Ohio.  He married Martha Wine 09 February 1858 in Kosciusko County, Indiana.  She was born 28 August 1842 in Wayne County, Indiana, the daughter of George and Margaret Durbin Wine.  They had five children—Mary Jane Lamb, born 1858; Alice Garner, born 1861; John, born 1865; Lyman, born 1867; and Joseph, born 1870.  Thomas enlisted as a private in Company K, 88^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in March 1864 from Kosciusko County, but after the Civil War they moved to Henry County, and then Delaware County, Indiana.  Thomas died 11 September 1892 in Delaware County, Indiana.  Martha died 13 Jan 1922 in Blue River, Henry County, Indiana.  They are buried in the Bethel Cemetery at Mooreland, Henry County, Indiana.

 

Joseph died as a teenager, and Alice Garner had no children.  Mary Jane Lamb, John & Lyman Stafford all married and raised families in Henry and Delaware Counties.

 

Joseph Stone Stafford

Joseph Stone Stafford was born 11 March 1837 in Ohio.  He enlisted as a private in Company B of the 44^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on 21 November 1861, the day before they mustered out and moved to Henderson, Kentucky.  He earned the rank of Corporal.  Following the Civil War, Joseph returned to Fayette County, Indiana, and married Nancy Newhouse 04 April 1869.  She was born in 1845 in Indiana, the daughter of William and Sally Newhouse.  They had one son Francis Marion Stafford in 1869.  Joseph before 31 January 1881, when his widow filed for his Civil War pension.

 

Frank Stafford married and lived in Fayette County until moving to Florida in his senior years.  His only child Luther Stafford had no children.

 

Martin Stafford

Martin Stafford was born 20 June 1839 in Montgomery County, Ohio.  He married Eliza Lenwell 24 September 1865 in Kosciusko County, Indiana.  She was born 02 April 1848 in Whitley County, Indiana, the daughter of Gerald and Elizabeth Lenwell.  They had three sons—Charles, born 1867; Milton, born 1868; and Daniel, born 1870.  Charles and Daniel both died as children, and Eliza died 05 June 1870 in Pierceton, Kosciusko County, Indiana.  In 1880, Martin was working for George Finley in Delaware County, Indiana, very near his brother Thomas, and his son Milton was working for Richard Miller in Kosciusko County.  Martin married Mary Naomi Jackson on 20 Jun 1880 in Delaware County, Indiana.  She was born in 1862, Delaware County, Indiana, the daughter of Calvin and Emily Porter Jackson.  They moved back to Kosciusko County, where they raised a family of six children—Otto, born 1880; George Washington, born 1881; Melvin Matthew, born 1883; William, born 1886; Elmer Nathaniel, born 1887; and Elsworth G., born 1890.  Otto died as a child.

 

George and William both married and had families in Kosciusko County, and both tragically drowned while swimming.  Melvin lived in Wabash and Whitley Counties.  Elmer married and raised seven children in Wabash County, Indiana.  Elsworth married and raised two daughters in Kosciusko County.

 

Andrew Stafford

Andrew was born 21 Jul 1841, possibly in Greene County where his father was living in 1840.  He was raised in Fayette and Koscukso Counties, Indiana.  Following his Civil War service with Company B, 44th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he married Eva Miller 17 March 1864 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. She was born 06 July 1846 in Stark County, Ohio, the daughter of Daniel and Nancy Freed Miller.  They had one son, Willie in 1865, before Eva died in 1866. Willie was killed in an accident with a shotgun in 1880.

 

He married secondly Cynthia Martin 08 Apr 1873 in Fayette County, Indiana. They had one daughter Dora, in 1877. Cynthia died after the 1880 census. Some researchers identify her as the Cynthia Stafford (1855-1880) buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery, Kosciusko County, Indiana, but others identify that grave as belonging to Cynthia Stafford, daughter of William S. Stafford, Andrew's brother.

 

After Cynthia's death, Andrew married Nancy Latson Miller on 28 December 1883 in Kosciusko County, Indiana, and they had one daughter Daisy in 1884. She was the daughter of James & Esther Mabie Latson, and ex-wife of Eli Miller by whom she had a son William. Nancy Stafford died 06 Jul 1887, and is apparently the woman buried in the North Webster Cemetery, North Webster, Kosciusko County, Indiana.

 

Finally, Andrew married Florence I. Grindle on 16 Mar 1896 in Kosciusko County. The 1900 census records their household, shows that they have been married 4 years, and that she has given birth to one child who is still living. The only children in the household are Daisy, age 15, and Grover, age 4 (but born in Jul 1895). If the census information is correct, it seems that Grover was born before Andrew & Florence married. Florence and Andrew divorced about the same time as William & Dora did in 1900 or 1901, because she married John E. Peterson 23 Apr 1901 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. I can't find record of Grover after 1900, or Florence after 1901. A Florence I. Peterson, wife of J.L. Peterson, born 25 Aug 1876 (which is what the 1900 census gives for her birth), died 29 Jul 1903 and is buried in the Laurens Cemetery, Laurens, Pocahontas, Iowa, but I have no way of knowing if this is her. I do know that they are not the same as John & Florence Peterson who lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

 

Andrew was living with his daughter Dora and her second family with Joe Spiegel in 1910, and identified himself as widowed. He died 13 Oct 1915 in Pierceton, Kosciusko, Indiana, and is buried in the Ryerson Cemetery, which is contained within the Hillcrest Cemetery.

 

Dora Stafford married first William Jennings Bryan Grindle and had two children, before divorcing him and marrying Joseph Edward Spiegel.  Dora and Joseph had six children that they raised in Kosciusko County.

 

Daisy Stafford married Lorenzo Dow Wolfe and had two children that she raised in Kosciusko County.