Stafford Family

Last updated: June 9, 2019

Census tables

Register format report

• Identifying the mother of Perry Balcom
• Identifying the wives of David Stafford (Sr.)
• Timeline of David Stafford (Sr.)
• Timeline of Sally Bishop/Twitchell/Balcom
• Timeline of Hannah Grant/Stafford

Identifying the mother of Perry Balcom

Starting from the death record of our ancestor Perry Balcom, we have (from Carolyn Thaler):

Perry Balcom death record:

Perry Balcom

Date of Death : May 4, 1868         45 yrs. 6 mos. 15 days

Date of Record : May 19, 1868

Birthplace: Canada

Place of death: Ravenna

Cause: Cancer

Fa: Sylvester Balcom

Mo: Stafford

 

State of Mich. library

Death Records, Muskegon Co.

Father : Sylvester Balcome               Residence New York

Mother: Stafford     "

From this we know that Perry's father was Sylvester Balcom, and his mother was a Stafford.  They lived in New York and Canada, and had descendents who came to Ravenna Michigan.

From the 1861 census, Canada West, Engin Co, Vienna Village:

Perry Balcom      Mariner     US       Baptist  40 M Md  Frame 1 1/2 stories

Eliza Balcom              Nova Scotia     "     38 F Md

Herman Balcom              UCanada        "     10 M

Edw'd R Balcom                 "          "      8 M

Jno W Balcom                   "          "      6 M

Chas Balcom                    "          "      2 M

Amanda Balcom              UCanada     Baptist  19 M

Malvina Balcom                 "          "      4 M

Conner Ryan                   US          "     56 F

Sylvester Balcom  Sawyer      US         WM     58 M Md  Frame 1 1/2 stories

Lucinda Balcom                US          "     56 F Md

From this we learn that Sylvester Balcom was born abt. 1802 in the US, and married Lucinda born abt. 1804 in the US.  Combining this with the information from Perry's death record, we are now looking for a Lucinda Stafford born probably in New York.

From Estherville Cemetery, Bayham Twp, Elgin Co, Ontario [Source]

22. White marble headstone, willow and flower motif.

In/ memory of/ Polly L./ wife of/ Sylvester BALCOM/ died/ Nov. 24, 1866/ AE 64 yrs. J. W. Smyth, London

From this we learn that Perry's mother was also known as "Polly L." (and we assume the L. is Lucinda), and was born about. 1802, which differs slightly from the age in the 1861 census.

The key is now found in 

Charles Warner Stafford, "An Index of the Stafford Families of New England and their Descendents", 1967.  (Images online at ancestry.com.) 

On page 17, we find the family of David Stafford (b.1756) and Sally Twitchel, married in Clinton Conn abt. 1788:

E 8.5 David        1756   F 23.1 Polly L.     (1780)_ _ _ Balcom
 Sally Twitchel           F 23.2 Synthia     (1782) _ _ _ Balcom

  in Clinton Conn.        F 23.3 Earma       (1784)

      1788?               F 23.4 Ananias     (1786)

         Ravena Mich ---- F 23.5 David        1792

                          F 23.6 Lucinda     (1794)

                          F 23.7 Benagger    (1796)

         to Canada ? - - -F 23.8 Thomas      (1798)

                          F 23.9 William     (1800)

                          F 23.10 Oris (Orin)(1802)

                          F 23.11 Joseph W.  (1804)

Here we find (F 23.5) a David Stafford b.1792 who went to Ravenna Michigan, with sisters who married Balcoms, including a "Polly L." (which we suspect may be ours), plus a "Lucinda".  We assume the parentheses indicate just guesses as to dates, and indeed if the marriage was about 1788, the estimated dates of the first four children listed seem unlikely.  Also, since no sources are given, it is quite possible that "Polly L." and "Lucinda" might in fact be the same person from different sources.  Hence the birthdate of Lucinda could be any time after 1792.

So now we believe that Polly Lucinda Stafford's father was David Stafford (whose ancestry is given in that source), and we can now look for him in censuses in New York.

This leads us to the 1830 census where we find David Stafford and Sylvester Balcom living next door to each other in New York:

1 JUN 1830 census, Hanover Twp, Chautauqua Co, NY [Image]

   David Stafford

      4 males 20-30 (Thomas, William, Oris, Joseph)

      1 male 70-80 (David, 75)

      1 female 15-20

      1 female 60-70 (Sally)

   Sylvester Balcom

      1 male 5-10 (Perry, 7)

      1 male 30-40 (Sylvester)

      1 female 30-40 (Lucinda)

(Note that finding Sylvester in this location is also the key to finding Sylvester's ancestry.)

Also, going back 10 years, the following census entry appears to be the family in 1820:

1 JUN 1820 census, Smithfield Twp, Madison Co, NY [Image at Ancestry.com]

   David Stafford      

      2 males 10-16 (Oris, Joseph)

      1 male 45+ (David, 64)

      1 female 0-10

      1 female 10-16 (Lucinda?)

      1 female 26-45

   David Stafford Jun'r

      1 male 0-10

      1 male 26-45 (David, 28)

      2 females 0-10

      1 female 26-45

So putting these together, we know that David Stafford (Sr.), born 1756, had daughters Lucinda and Polly L. (possibly the same person), and was living next door to Sylvester Balcom after he married Lucinda.  Furthermore, the Stafford book states that David's daughter Polly L. married a Balcom.  From this we can conclude that Polly Lucinda's father was this David Stafford.

Identifying the wives of David Stafford (Sr).

As noted above, the published Stafford genealogy lists David as marrying "Sally Twitchel in Clinton Conn. 1788?".

Erie Co., Will Books, Vol A-b, 1823-1856 shows the 28 December 1837 will of David Stafford that mentions his "former wife" and his "wife".  It also mentions: Polly L. Balcomb; Syntha Stafford; Emma Stafford; son Ananias Stafford; son David Stafford; son Benager Stafford; son Thomas Stafford; son William Stafford; daughter Polly S. Balcomb; Emma Stafford; Synthia Stafford; William Stafford, David C. Stafford and Orris Stafford, children of Orris Stafford; Lucinda Stafford; and son Joseph W. Stafford.

From the above, we know that the father of Polly L. (Stafford) Balcom(b) was married twice.

The next page gives the 15 February 1841 will of Sally Stafford of Washington Twp., Erie Co., PA, which mentions the "sons of David Stafford, deceased", grandson-in-law George McGahen, son Gardner Twitchell, son Hazletine Twitchel, and the (unnamed) heirs of daughter Sylvia Whitney.

This tells us that Sally was the second wife, not the first one, and that apparently none of the Stafford children were hers.

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 gives the marriage of Bala TWITCHEL and Sally BISHUP on 2 September 1792 in Athol, Worcester Co., MA, and their children are given in [Twitchell genealogy] #450d as Sylvia, Lucinda, Gardner, and Hazeltine, which names match those in the will above.  Various other original Massachusetts records show the same marriage, with her name spelled Sally BISHOP.  So now we know Sally's maiden name.

Next, now that we know the wills were written and probated in Washington Twp., Erie Co., PA, we find the [Pension S.23960] record of David Stafford of Erie Co., PA, which states that David was born in Coventry, Kent Co., RI, and embarked on the brig Washington of Plymouth, RI as a privateer during the Revolutionary War.  He was taken prisoner by the British and remained a prisoner in England until he was released on 12 October 1783.  After the war, he says he removed from RI to Berkshire Co., MA.  Later, he moved to Augusta near Utica, Oneida Co., NY, then to Jefferson Co., NY, then Chautauqua Co., NY, and finally to Erie Co., PA where he applied for his pension 18 September 1830.

Since his deposition indicates he moved to Berkshire Co., MA after the war, we check Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910 which shows that David STAFFORD married Hannah GRANT 6 December 1789 in Lanesborough, Berkshire, MA, and he is found there in the 1790 census.  There is no other David Stafford in the area in the census, the only other being in North Carolina, so we conclude that the "former wife" mentioned in his will would be Hannah GRANT.

All that remains is to determine whether Hannah was his first wife, or whether he had another "former wife" not mentioned in his will, since the marriage to Hannah is significantly after the estimated birthdates of children listed in the published Stafford genealogy.   First, we observe that in his deposition, he reported that he was a prisoner in England from 1775 to 1783, and so the published birthdate estimates cannot be accurate.  Indeed it estimates Polly L. as "(1780)" whereas Polly L. Balcom's headstone indicates it would be about 1802.

Looking back at the 1790 census entry in Lanesborough, we find David with 1 male under 16, and 2 females, presumably one of whom is Hannah.  The 1790 census had no specific census date but spanned a period of about 18 months.   Since the marriage was in December 1789, however, we would expect to find only one child of theirs, which would have to be the male under 16.  The other female's age isn't shown so could be a mother, mother-in-law, or other relative.   The first son listed in his will (and in the published Stafford genealogy) is Ananias whom we find in the [1850 census] in Washington Twp., Erie Co., PA where David and his wife both died less than 10 years prior.  In that census, Ananias is listed as age 61, making him born about 1789, and likely to be counted in the 1790 census.  Thus, we assume the male under 16 is Ananias.

If David was married before 1789, Ananias and perhaps one daughter could have had another mother who died before the marriage to Hannah.  But Polly L. is the first daughter listed in David's will and her tombstone places her birth clearly after the 1789 marriage to Hannah, and again his will only explicitly mentions one former wife.  Thus it seems more likely that he was only married twice, and Ananias was born in late 1790 (if the marriage date is accurate), making him only 59 at the time of the 1860 census.

Timeline of David Stafford (Sr.)

Timeline of Sally Bishop/Twitchel/Stafford

NOT to be confused with:

David Stafford of Philadelphia

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