In 1986, I began a school project for Texas History that never ended. It led me down paths I could never have imagined and introduced me to people the world over. Thousands of hours of research, thousands of miles of travel, thousands of letters and messages exchanged with living descendants, and it all comes down to this. I spent the last two years writing the family history and preparing it for publication, and now RICHARD STAFFORD AND HIS DESCENDANTS is ready for print!This unprecedented work tells the story of a young man brought to these shores as a British conscript during the American Revolution almost 250 years ago. He was captured by Continental forces, marched into the wilderness of Northern Virginia, and released to his own fate. As the war climaxed in colonial victory and led to the formation of the United States of America, Richard Stafford forged a place for himself on the new American frontier. He married and settled on the banks of the Potomac River, there raising a family of eight children. He is well documented in the local records of the time, noted as one of the founding trustees of Frankfort (what is now Fort Asbhy, West Virginia). His Family Bible purchased in 1804 and the estate papers and chancery court records following his death in 1808 give us rich insight into his life and times.
From our ancestral origins in Wexford County, Ireland, Staffordshire, England, Normandy, and Scandinavia, to the family seat in the Blue Ridge and Potomac Highlands of Northern Virginia, and from there to nearly every state in the Union, RICHARD STAFFORD AND HIS DESCENDANTS traces the families of five of Richard's eight children. More than 15,000 direct descendants have been identified and are included in this history. A complete index of names and an easy-to-use numbering system provide the tools you need to follow your family through the pages and the centuries in a discovery of your place in the extended Stafford family.
It is impossible to set a value on such a work, but copies of the book are being made available at $85 each. RICHARD STAFFORD AND HIS DESCENDANTS will be sent to the publisher on June 30. If you would like to have a copy of this once-in-a-lifetime book, please make an order today! Send $85, check or cash, to Casey Stafford, 13083 SH 19 South, Lovelady, Texas, 75851, or email calystafford@live.com for details about using PayPal to order. Thank you for your interest in this project. It is my honor to present this book to you!
