Thomas Cary Stinson, Civil War Soldier

THOMAS CARY STINSON appears in "So Obscure A Person” on pages 123, 124 where his lineage can be traced back to Alexander Stinson of Buckingham County. This image, documenting his Civil War service is from "United States Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949" found at FamilySearch.org. In addition, since the publication of the book, we have found a marriage record to Mary Alice Fortune on 25 November 1873. Additional sources were found that document Mary Alice's birth as 14 February 1858, Newbern, Pulaski County, Virginia and her death on 27 January 1939, at Roanoke, Virginia.

Thomas B. Stinson

On pages 100, 101 of "So Obscure A Person” the wife of Thomas B. STINSON should be recorded as Susan PRICE, as that is the name that was entered on the death record of their daughter Louisa STINSON. The informant for the death record was Louisa's older brother, so this citation carries more weight than the name "Elizabeth" found in a Buckingham County book of cemetery records, previously used for documentation.

Death Record of Louisa Stinson

Kidnapped

On pages 5 through 7, of my family history of the STINSONS, So Obscure A Person, I discussed the STINSON family legend of a kidnapping regarding our immigrant ancestor Alexander STINSON. The legend first surfaced in the following clipping from "Southern Kith and Kin" by Jewel Davis Scarborough, page 366, published 1958. Recently, I was excited to learn of another family history written in the 1940s which corroborates the Georgia family's "Kidnapped" story. It is from a family of STINSONS of Tennessee and Texas that had originated in Buckingham County, Virginia. Incidentally, the Mary Jane STINSON and her husband, Isaac TATOM mentioned in the clipping below, appear on pages 58, 59, of my genealogy book.

Stinsons in 1809 Buckingham County

On the 1809 Buckingham County Personal Property Tax List we find: "STINSON Phoebe" (0 tithe 1 slave 11 March); "STINSON Archer" (1 tithe 0 slave); "STINSON Cary" (1 tithe 4 slaves); STINSON Stephen (1 tithe 0 slave); STINSON David (1 tithe 3 slaves); STINSON Jno (1 tithe 0 slave); STINSON Alexander (1 tithe 0 slaves); STINSON Asa E (1 tithe 0 slaves); STINSON James SC (1 tithe 1 slave).

For more details about these Stinsons of Buckingham County, Virginia, see "So Obscure A Person” by Edna Barney.

Mattie (STINSON) HYDE of Easton, Pennsylvania

I came upon the death certificate of "Mattie HYDE" who was a daughter of David STINSON who appears on page 143 of "So Obscure A Person,” where their ancestry is traced back to Alexander STINSON of eighteenth century Virginia. Two-year-old Martha S. STINSON appeared on the 1880 Census of Buckingham County, Virginia with her parents. Her death certificate records her birthdate as 13 February 1879 in Buckingham County, Virginia and her death as 23 January 1955 at Wilson, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. She was buried at Saint John's Cemetery in Bangor, Northampton County. At death, as the Widow HYDE, she was living at 2665 Liberty Street, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Roling P. Carter 1810-1847

Roling P. CARTER was the husband of Elizabeth A. STINSON. A bible record of his family is at the Library of Virginia Archives, entitled "Carter Family Bible Record, 1836-1899."

William CARTER Sen and Mildred CARTER above are assumed to be Roling's parents. Others on the page are assumed to be his siblings. "William H. CARTER Died Feby 8th 1890" was Roling P. and Elizabeth's son.

Roling P. CARTER appears with his STINSON wife on page 137, of "So Obscure A Person", along with his children, descended from Alexander STINSON of Buckingham County, Virginia. Roling's son, William H. CARTER appears on page 138, of "So Obscure A Person.” The Carter Bible record image is from Ancestry.com. 

Susanna Allen's Will of 1719

Indentured Servitude in Virginia

"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN I Susanna Allen of the City of Wmsburgh & County of York in the Colony of Virga Spinster... make this my last Will & Testamt in manner following ... ITEM my will is that Within a Convenient time after my decease my houses & Lotts in Wmsburgh be sold in the best Manner by my Execrs for ready Money or Otherwise at their Obscretion & the produce thereof to be Equally divided between David & Jane Cunningham1 Orphans of David Cunningham decd ITEM I Give to the sd two Orphans One feather bed & furniture with two prs Sheets I Also Give unto each of the Orphans one Pottle & one Quart Tankard of Silver the same being in the hands of Mr Archibald Blair I Also do give the sd David one large Bible & to the sd Jane two Small Bibles ITEM I WILL that my Negroe Man named Cooper be imployed on the Plantation of the sd Orphan David... Untill... Comes of Age & then I Give the sd Negro unto the sd David & his heirs for ever ITEM I WILL that my servt boy Named Alexander Stinson be kept on the plantation for the Uses Aforesd or sold by Out Cry at the Discretion of my Execrs ITEM THAT all the Rest of my personal Estate of what Nature soever be sold by publick Auction in such Maner as my Execrs Shall Think proper & the produce (all my Just Debts being duely paid) to be divided Equally between the two Orphans above named LASTLY I Do Constitute & Appoint my Good friends Thos Jones & Wm Robertson Gents to be Execrs of this my Last Will & Testamt hereby Makeing Void all former wills by me heretofore made & declaring this Only to be my last will & Testamt IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & seal this 2d day of March in the Year of our Lord Christ 1719. Susanna Allen (Seal) [Witnesses] Saml Cobbs Jas Menzies Andr Laprade Jas Spence"2 [Recorded York County court, May 16, 1720.]" 

Alexander Craig House Historical Report, 

Block 17 Building 5 Lot 55

Originally entitled: "Alexander Craig House"

Mary A. Stephenson 1956

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1341
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library
Williamsburg, Virginia

"So Obscure A Person”

Death Record of Louisa Stinson

See more on Louisa STINSON: Louisa Stinson's Six Sons.

Louisa STINSON appears with her STINSON parents on page 101, of "So Obscure A Person” descended from Alexander STINSON of Buckingham County, Virginia.

The Death Certificate image is from Ancestry.com.

Early History of Buckingham County

"The Early History of Buckingham County" by James Meade Anderson, 1955

"As to the exact date of settlement or the identity or the first settlers of this area, there is no evidence. However, the names and date, 'R. BOLLING, I. BELL, 1700,' are carved in a rock ledge on Willis Mountain. This is the earliest known date that any white man put foot on the soil of Buckingham County. It is an assured fact that there would have been trips into Buckingham before 1700. It is therefore logical that the pioneers made their way up the James and in settling their searches toward the west, eventually scaled the mountain for a better view of terrain. Since, this lone mountain peak, which was later named Willis Mountain, rises from a relatively flat plain to 1,159 ft., it may be seen for several miles. Nine years later W. SMITH and P. TURPIN made their way into a cave, later known as Woodson's Cave, on Willis' Mountain and carved their names along with the date 1709. These two carvings on the mountain are the only known records that have been discovered concerning early adventurers into Buckingham County."

"So Obscure A Person” is about the descendants of ALEXANDER STINSON who was an early pioneer to Buckingham County, Virginia. In 1750, ALEXANDER STINSON's land lay adjacent to the Rocky Ridge of Willis Mountain, which bordered on the land of Colonel JOHN BOLLING.

Stinson Vineyards of Albemarle

The Stinson Vineyards is located at 4744 Sugar Hollow Rd, in White Hall, Virginia. It is described as a "family-owned estate winery in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains specializing in small lot wines with a distinct French influence. The father/daughter team of Scott and Rachel STINSON takes inspiration from 'garagiste' wineries of France, in both their winemaking techniques and the winery itself, which is built into an old three car garage." The STINSON patriarch of Virginia, Alexander STINSON, who lived and prospered in the neighboring county of Buckingham, would be proud that STINSONs continue living off the Virginia land as he had begun so long ago. "So Obscure A Person” is the story of our ancient forebear "Alex'r STINSON" who as a young man in the 1730s had petitioned the Virginia Council for 12,000 acres and was rejected as "too much land for 'so obscure a person'." (Stinson Vineyards Blog)

Nancy Stinson & James LeSueur

Nancy STINSON and her husband appear on pages 59, 60 of "So Obscure A Person.” The dates and other information appearing with this family were obtained from the 1830 Census, DAR lineage papers and a CHASTAIN family genealogy book published in 1995. The dates cannot be correct for this family, so I have thoroughly researched the 1830 Buckingham County, Virginia census and calculated birth and marriage dates for the couple. They had two sons enumerated on the census, born between 1811 and 1820. They also owned ten slaves. James LESUEUR was born 1781-1790, of Buckingham County, Virginia, and his wife on the census was born 1791-1800, of Buckingham County. They married about 1814, probably in Buckingham County, Virginia. There is no documented death date for Nancy STINSON.

The remainder of the information on Nancy STINSON which came from Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, page 113, does not match the fact that James LESUEUR was living in 1830, at Buckingham County, Virginia, with two young sons only. The CHASTAIN information will need to be further researched. ©Edna Barney 2014. 

All my writings herein are Copyright ©Edna Barney. It is unlawful to copy and paste them elsewhere without permission or attribution. You may copy and paste URL link to this post or the URL link to this blog.

L. Varner Stinson of Oklahoma

The grandfather of L. VARNER STINSON was Judge DAVID STINSON** of Shilo, Hunt County, Texas. DAVID STINSON appears on page 108, of  "So Obscure A Person” where his lineage can be documented back to ALEXANDER STINSON of Colonial Virginia.

A biography of L. VARNER STINSON appears in A Standard History of Oklahoma by Joseph B. Thoburn, 1916, Volume IV.

The Oklahoma Legislature of 1915 passed a law providing a method by which public highways might be constructed in every county in the state. ... In Bryan County, where only 42 per cent of the lands are taxable, road work began in earnest in 1915, when the county commissioners designated County Surveyor L. VARNER STINSON as county engineer. From 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the highway built in a county are designated as state highways and one-half the expense of construction is borne by the state, while the county engineer makes the necessary surveys, drawings, plats, specifications, etc.

L. VARNER STINSON was well qualified for the work of county engineer, being a graduate in civil engineering from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and having had several years of experience in field work. Another qualification lay in the fact that he had for eight years been surveyor of the county, being the only man to fill that office since statehood. During those eight years he had been the commissioners’ engineer in the construction of all highways, bridges and other work of an engineering nature.

MR. STINSON was born at Campbell, Hunt County, Texas, September 27, 1880, and is a son of A. W. D. and IDA (EILAND) STINSON. His father, a native of Texas, is now sixty-seven years of age, but is still actively engaged in the real estate business at Durant, Oklahoma, where he is a member of the city council and a leading and influential citizen. His grandfather** was a lawyer and jurist of more than local note for many years in East Texas.

Louisa Stinson's Six Sons

The Mystery of Mary Louisa STINSON

Mother "Luisia STINSON" first appears on the 1860 census at Buckingham Courthouse, Virginia, as a seamstress and implied single mother with four young sons, Robert STINSON, Samuel STINSON, Charles M. STINSON and James STINSON. On marriage documents, the two older of these sons later gave their father as Thomas STINSON.  On the birth record of her son Charles STINSON, only his mother, Louisa STINSON, was recorded. It appears that Louisa or Mary Louisa STINSON was never married to Thomas STINSON or anyone else, because she was always described as "Single" in lieu of "Widowed" or "Married" in the census records. Her two youngest children, John STINSON (born about 1862) and Edward STINSON, appear as her sons on succeeding censuses. Edward M. STINSON was born in Virginia in September 1871, and in 1896, he married Eva who was born December 1872, in Virginia. When Edward died in 1942, his father was recorded as David Stinson of Buckingham County. In 1910, Buckingham County, Virginia, "Mother Mary L. STINSON" was living in the household of her son John STINSON and his family. Mary Louisa was not with him in 1920.

A Louisa STINSON appears with her STINSON parents on page 101, of "So Obscure A Person” descended from Alexander STINSON of Buckingham County, Virginia.

This post is updated from 6/15/2014 because of discoveries of new information.

Minnie Frances Stinson of Buckingham

Fourteen-year-old MINNIE FRANCES STINSON and some of her siblings appear with their widowed father David W. STINSON on the 1900 Census at Marshall in Buckingham County, Virginia. The children were WILLIAM D. STINSON, born September 1874; JAMES P. STINSON born February 1876; JENNIE E. STINSON born June 1877; MARTHA S. STINSON born February 1879; GEORGE W. STINSON born February 1880; WILEY G. STINSON born June 1884; and MINNIE F. STINSON born April 1886.

The parents of MINNIE FRANCES STINSON appear on pages 143 through 147 of "So Obscure A Person” where their lineage is traced back to ALEXANDER STINSON of Colonial Virginia.

I found the above image identified as Minnie Frances STINSON at Ancestry.com, uploaded by SusanFrederick61.

Indentured Servitude in Virginia

Page 20 of "So Obscure A Person” begins the tale of Alexander STINSON's adventures as an Indentured Servant in Williamsburg, Virginia, even to his bequeathal in the will of his Tavern-keeper owner to her heirs or to be sold at public auction. So what exactly was this Indentured Servitude that our forebear was subjected to?

Indentured Servitude was commonly practiced in the early settlement days of America, especially in the Tidewater Colonies of Maryland and Virginia. The use of indentured servants for labor was practiced long before the arrival of slaves to Virginia, as the intensive labor required to raise crops such as tobacco needed large scale importation of farm laborers. The scheme was devised to pay the ocean passage for an immigrant, and then for that new laborer to be bound by an indenture contract for five to seven years. Even after the importation of slaves began, indentured servitude continued. The British crown even used the scheme to export undesirables, including debtors and criminals from Great Britain. In 1681, more than twice as many plantation laborers were indentured whites than black slaves.

"Servant in the colonial era meant about the same as employee in ours; and within the class there was as wide a variation as today between a migrant farm laborer in California and a master electrician. In the English colonies, a servant was usually a person whose passage was paid, or assisted, in return for working for a certain number of years--usually four or five for an adult. When released from this apprenticeship, the servant became a freeman like any other. Servants in Virginia might be of any class, from poor gentleman, to convicted felon. The average servant was a respectable young person who wished to better himself in the New World but could not afford the cost of outfit and passage. During the four or five years he worked for his master, he became acclimated, learned how to grow tobacco and corn, and in many instances learned a trade. During this term of service the servant received only food and clothing; but at the end, the former servant could set up as a yeoman farmer, vote, and even be elected to the assembly."

Morison goes on to say that the range of membership in the servant class varied from respectable young men and women; to Scottish and Irish prisoners taken in the civil wars; to boys and girls kidnapped and sold to ships' masters who then resold them on arrival in the New World; to convicted felons. These latter in turn might vary from people imprisoned for nothing worse than stealing a loaf of bread, to hardened habitual criminals." (Samuel Eliot Morison, "The Oxford History of the American People," Oxford University Press, New York, 1965, page 82)

Slaves of the Cabell Family of Nelson County

Derek Nicholas has created a webside and CD documenting his research on the slave descendants of the CABELL family of Nelson County, Virginia. Slave Descendants of the CABELL Family is his website and it includes the NICHOLAS, VENABLE, ALLEN, WOODSON, and MAYO families of the Warminster, Lovingston, Midway Mills area of Nelson County, Virginia.

The early CABELL family of Virginia and its connections with the STINSON family of Buckingham County, Virginia is documented beginning on page 173 of "So Obscure A Person.”

Jesse and Eliza TONEY of Buckingham

I have received information from a reader who has found his grandmother on page 97 of "So Obscure A Person” as "Eliza TONEY," implied daughter of Cary and Martha STINSON of Buckingham County, Virginia. His Buckingham County, Virginia grandmother had told him that her grandmother was an Eliza Irvine STINSON who married Jesse F. TONEY. "Jesse F and Elisa TONEY" appear on the 1850 Census of Buckingham County, Virginia, with a family of children, ages 1 to 16 years. "Elisa TONEY" was born about 1820 and, if all of the children are hers, it implies that she and Jesse married about 1834, according to their births.

The children in their household of 1850, were descendants of the first Alexander STINSON of Buckingham County, Virginia. Their names were:

• Martha J Toney F 16y
• John O Toney M 14y
• Samuel E Toney M 12y
• William F Toney M 10y
• Penella Toney F 9y
• Stephen W Toney M 7y
• George M Toney M 6y
• James Toney M 5y
• Ann E Toney F 1y

©Edna Barney 2011. All my writings herein are Copyright ©Edna Barney. It is unlawful to copy and paste them elsewhere. You may copy and paste the URL link to this post or the URL link to this blog.

Robert STINSON, Abbeville, Alabama

Robert STINSON was born 12 May 1862, and died at the advanced age of 82, on 10 July 1944, at Abbeville, Henry County, Alabama, according to his death record. His parents and his ancestry back to Alexander STINSON of Buckingham, Virginia are documented on page 100 of "So Obscure A Person."

James STINSON of Alabama

I have received the following email, which I will answer below:

Edna, I found info about your book on the Buckingham Va Stinsons. I am looking for information about a James Stinson who was born in 1803 in Va. He may have lived in South Carolina for a while, but he settled in Pickens Co, Al where I have found him in 1840, 1850, and 1860. He married Nancy Cotton, daughter of Abner Cotton, in 1836 in Nohubee, Miss. He was a cotton broker, along with Drury Miller, my husband’s 2gtgrandfather’s brother, and a James Chalmers. He may have been related to Robert Stinson who lived in Lancaster/Kershaw SC ( married to Martha George). Any help with this man’s identity would be greatly appreciated. I am not finding much..
Carol

ANSWER: Carol - I do not know about this James STINSON (1803-p1860), nor the Robert STINSON of South Carolina. They may be descendants of the STINSONs from Buckingham County who went to Wilkes County, Georgia. "The Lincoln County, Georgia Land Lottery of 1805, listed Archibald STINSON, Joseph STINSON, Alexander TINSON and the orphans of Edmund ADCOCK." These people are cited beginning on page 79, through Generation 3, of my STINSON genealogy - "So Obscure A Person.”

Perhaps someone reading here may be able to give you some clues or information. For example, please see this previous comment about a STINSON family of North Alabama:  September 1, 2009 10:34 PM

Phoebe Barksdale

Phoebe (BARKSDALE) STINSON appears on pages 56 and 76 of "So Obscure A Person.” Her children were descendants of Alexander STINSON of Buckingham County. Her father Hickerson BARKSDALE (page 77) was a Revolutionary War soldier in the South Carolina militia under Captain John Cowan. He has been proved as a DAR Patriot Ancestor #A006165.

Her husband was George STINSON who appears on pages 43, 76-79. Although no one has yet proved him as a DAR Patriot, he signed a Virginia petition in 1780, that is now housed at the Library of Congress: Buckingham County Stinson Patriots.