Betty Ann Burkes Stinson of 1781

The image above is a snippet from Cumberland County, Virginia Order Book 1779-1784, page 55, dated 23 April 1781. You may see an image of the entire page HERE. I cited a transcription of this record on page 44 of "So Obscure A Person.” At that time I did not have access to this original, which shows the final statement to read: "and proved as to the other parties thereto subscribed by the witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded."

Who was the person mentioned in this indenture, Betty Ann Burkes Stinson, of Buckingham County, Virginia, 1781? She is obviously related to Alexander Stinson, Senior and his children, when they all seemingly made an indenture to her in 1781.

Was she a daughter of Alexander Stinson, Senior, who did not share in the inheritance that he and his children had already obtained? Is this why she was named in this Indenture? Was she from a different mother than the rest of his children? If so, who was Alexander Stinson Senior's second wife?

Betty Ann Burkes Stinson seems to be named for Elizabeth Burk, wife of Doctor William Cabell, who are cited on page 197 of "So Obscure A Person.” In my book, I show how Doctor Cabell was related to the wife of Alexander Stinson. How was Betty Ann Burkes Stinson related to Elizabeth Burk Cabell?

The image, Stinson Indenture 1781, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Flickr. Thanks to Ginger Adams for sending this image to me.

A STINSON of the War Between the States

I heard an interesting bit of family history on #74, JAMES STINSON (James Bryant STINSON), page 100 of "So Obscure A Person.” Descendant RUSSELL REEDER, mentioned that JAMES was a soldier during the War Between the States. Once when home on a visit, his uniform was in such tatters that the women in the household stayed up all night spinning and sewing to get him properly clothed again. Things were indeed hard for the boys who fought on the losing side of that battle.

I had noted that when the STINSON family was counted on the 1870 Census in Abbeville, Alabama (illustrated on page 99), the family was living next door to two black STINSON families also born in Virginia: ALEX and SARAH STINSON, and SAM and MARIAH STINSON. Mr. REEDER told me that when the STINSON family travelled from Virginia to Georgia in the early 1800s, they took a number of slaves with them, and the surnames of those slaves were STINSON. He said that one slave was the same age as GEORGE STINSON who was born about 1796.