Saturday, October 31, 2015

Robert Stacy of Spartanburg Dist., SC was not from Sussex Co., VA

If you're doing Stacy genealogy on the internet, you may have come across this assertion on various family trees:
Robert Stacy b. Mar. 25, 1757 Sussex Co., VA d. Feb. 6, 1849 Spartanburg Dist., SC
The death date is correct, per the Robert Stacy family bible.

But Robert Stacy of South Carolina was not born in Sussex County Virginia in 1757--rather, this man is a distant cousin of the same name, as I will try to explain.

Back in the early 2000s, genealogist Temple Quinn Simmons came to the conclusion that the Robert Stacy who died in Spartanburg District, South Carolina had been the son of John and Ann Stacey, born March 1757 at Albemarle Parish, Sussex Co., VA.

That theory, as she explained, is based primarily on three bits of evidence:
1. Census records and family accounts indicate Robert Stacy of SC was born in VA.

2. The presence of an "Anna Stacy", wife of Shadrach Nowland of 96 Dist., SC in 1787 when the couple sold some land. It is assumed she is the Anne Stacy, sister of Robert born in Jan. 1764 (Albemarle Parish Register, Sussex Co., VA).

3. The presence of a "sewing table" in Robert's estate inventory of 1849 seeming to concur with the Virginia Robert being indentured to a tailor named John Conrad Gunther in Yorktown, VA in January 1772 (York Co. deeds, 1769-77).
Seems logical enough, right?

It is very likely incorrect. This evidence is flimsy at best and the documentation to the contrary is considerably stronger, as I'll try to illustrate.

First off, the Anna Stacy who married Shadrach Noland cannot be the Anne Stacy that was born in Sussex County Virginia in 1764; that Anne remained a spinster until Feb. 20, 1809, when she wed Henry Drury in York Co., VA and moved to Williamsburg, where she and her husband are found in the 1810 census. The census notes she is unusually old for a newlywed (age 45+).

Marriage of Ann Stacy and Henry Drury, York, VA. Click to enlarge.
 
More importantly, Simmons and other researchers argued that sewing tables were the exclusive domain of professional tailors, an unaffordable luxury for a common farmer like Robert Stacy. Therefore, owning a sewing table, they argued, is proof that the South Carolina Robert must have been a tailor, and thus the same man indentured to tailor John C. Gunther in York County, Virginia.

This is simply not true.

Here is an example of a "federal period" sewing table, circa 1800.


Colonial and early American farmers made their own clothing, so sewing tables became a hot commodity when they were introduced to the U.S. after the Revolution; the book Colonial Furniture in America notes they were "popular in the late years of the eighteenth century."

More importantly, the sewing table mentioned in his will inventory was valued at only $2-- just a tiny part of his vast estate. To illustrate how wealthy Robert was, in 1828 he spent $1,000 speculating on a tract on Doolittle Creek in York County (near modern-day Blacksburg, SC) that was miles away from his own farm. Robert was definitely not a "poor farmer," but an aggressive and relatively wealthy land speculator.

There's also no evidence whatsoever that Robert was a tailor in South Carolina: no court documents, receipts, apprenticeships, credit accounts or any other documentation that an artisan might have left behind.

Without the "sewing table theory," virtually nothing ties the Robert Stacy of South Carolina to York/Sussex County, Virginia. Which puts his parentage back up in the air.

But because evidently no one had looked through the original microfilm from York County, VA, they missed some very important evidence that this theory was wrong.

In fact, there is strong evidence that the Robert Stacy that was born in 1757 Sussex Co., VA died in early 1822 in nearby Gloucester Co., VA. He is well represented in VA colonial records over those years.

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The Robert Stacy, son of John and Anne Stacy that was born on March 25, 1757, lived in York County, Virginia from about 1766 to 1786. He lived in Warwick Co. VA from 1786 to 1796. He became a preacher in 1797/98 and lived in Gloucester Co., VA from 1796 until his death in 1822 at the age of 65.

Here's my chronological proof, excerpted directly from original Virginia colonial records:

Mar. 25, 1757- Robert Stacy, son of John and Anne, born in Sussex Co., VA. The family later returns to their native York County. (Albemarle Parish Register)

Jan. 20, 1772- Robert Stacy is apprenticed to tailor John Conrad Gunther at York County, VA. His indenture was contracted to end at age 21 in 1778. (York County Orders)

Late 1779- Robert Stacy converted to baptism at Grafton Church, York County by John Leland (The Family Tree Searcher Vol. 17, No. 1, 2013, pg. 36).

Oct. 1782- Robert Stacy of York County petitioned the colonial government for redress for the loss of his hay bails during the latter part of the Revolutionary War (Publick Claims of York Co., VA During the Revolutionary War, Chiefly for the Years 1780-81).

1783/1784- "Robert Stacy" appears in York Co., tax census in these two years. (Meanwhile, our ancestor Robert Stacy has already been living in South Carolina for at least one year).

Nov. 1, 1785- "Robert Stacy and wife Susannah" sold their land (40 acres, purchased five months earlier) in York Co. VA to Robert Shield. They appear in tax records of Warwick Co. in early 1787, so presumably moved there after this land sale. (York County Deeds).

September, 1791- The South Carolina Robert Stacy is ordered to oversee a road to the Union County line in Spartanburg Dist, SC. (Spartanburg Orders, 1790-91)... However the Robert Stacy of York was still in Virginia at this time, where he appeared on August 18, 1791 in York Co. court as a witness for John A. Rogers. (York County Orders).

Robert Stacy appears in Warwick County tax census records fairly regularly from 1787 to 1795. He is last recorded on July 20, 1795 in Warwick County tax census, though he appeared in York County Court on Oct. 17, 1796 (via his attorney, in a case involving William Burcher, whom Robert was named guardian of in 1786).

Robert does not appear in any tax census in 1796. However, he does make his debut appearance in Gloucester County in the tax census of 1797. (Gloucester County is just across the river from York County). He appears as "Robert Stacy" in 1797, and the following year appears in the same county as "Reverend Robert Stacy". He remains in Gloucester County until the tax census records on April 24, 1822 this entry: "Stacy, Robert, dec'd" (deceased).

He does disappear from the tax records between 1799 and 1803, where Robert does not appear in York, Warwick or Gloucester Counties, however his brother, John (b. Feb. 5, 1762 in Sussex Co,VA) who appears in several York County court documents between 1785 and 1795, does appear in Gloucester Co. in 1799.

Importantly, there is no overlap, in other words there are no Robert Stacys that appeared in York, Warwick or Gloucester Counties simultaneously, indicating there is only one Robert Stacy in this area and time frame. Robert does not appear in York County court records after Oct. 1796, around the time he moved to Gloucester County. Our Robert is supposed to be in South Carolina all this time, living on land he purchased there way back in 1786.

Perhaps most damning for the "sewing table" theory: Robert Stacy remained a friend with his former master, John Conrad Gunther, throughout his life. He appeared in York Co. Court for him as a witness on March 21, 1787. The entry reads as follows:
"On the motion of Robert Stacy, a witness from Warwick for the same against the same (John C. Gunther against John Moss, administrator of John Goodwin, dec'd), it is ordered that the said John C. Gunther pay him 239 pounds of tobacco for attending the court six days and for traveling seven miles four times and returning." (York County Orders, 1784-1787, pg. 424)
Here is an image of the entry I found in microfilm. Click to enlarge: 

 
Robert appears in York Co. court again on Aug. 19, 1789, again as a witness for Gunther. He is still mentioned as being from "Warwick", but the distance traveled is changed to five miles, the duration to two days, and the payment to 70 pounds of tobacco. (John C. Gunther vs. John Nelson, York County Orders) Note: John Conrad Gunther was dead by April 1796, when his will was probated.

As you can see, there is a firm chain of evidence: the Robert Stacy of Warwick County (1786-1796) is the same man who lived in York County (c.1766-1786) and was indentured to John Conrad Gunther in 1772, and the same man born to John & Anne Stacy in 1757. The families all moved in groups: Joseph and Kinchen Stacy, Robert's cousins (per Sussex Co., VA parish records), also appears in the 1788 Warwick Co. tax census with Robert.

Robert Stacy, his brother John Stacy and their cousin Kinchen Stacy named in a single 1786 document. York County, VA. Click to enlarge.
 
The documentation is very clear that Robert Stacy, b. Mar. 25, 1757 remained in York, then Warwick county, very near his relatives, many of whom also relocated from Sussex County in the 1760's.

For context, here is a map showing how close Gloucester, York, Warwick and Sussex counties are (red dots):


As a final note, the 1757 birth is also inconsistent with the SC Robert's census documentation, which places his birth between 1760 and 1765. The only indicator of the VA Robert's age is when he appeared in the Gloucester Co VA federal census of 1810. He is said to be over age 45 (b. bef. 1765), consistent with being born in 1757. Being apprenticed in 1772 is consistent with his youth, since he would have been 14 years of age.

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So if the Robert Stacy who died in South Carolina in 1849 was not the same man born in 1757, where was he from?

To answer that question, we need to start with his South Carolina neighbors. Are there any other Stacys in the vicinity of Spartanburg District, SC? Yes. There are two:
1. "Anna Stacy" wife of Shadrach Noland (1752-1841), who sold land in Ninety-Six District (the precursor to Spartanburg District) in December 1787.

2. "Jemima Stacy", wife of Charles Littlejohn (c.1732-1824) of Spartanburg District, SC. Her husband was enumerated on the same census page as Robert Stacy in 1790, indicating this woman lived in the same neighborhood.
We know through census documents Anna Stacy was about the right age to be his sister, and Jemima Stacy was about the right age to be his mother. But upon digging deeply into the evidence, I realized that's not a coincidence.

The evidence shows that Charles Littlejohn of Spartanburg District was the stepfather of Robert Stacy and that Jemima Stacy was his mother. That's the case I'm going to present here.

So we know these two Stacy women lived near Robert in South Carolina. Where were these women and their husbands from? That's where it starts to get interesting.
  • We know Anna Stacy's husband Shadrach was born in Frederick Co., VA in 1752.
  • We also know Jemima Stacy's husband, Charles was born in Stafford Co., VA before 1734.
Frederick County and Stafford County are very near each other. In this part of Virginia, there was a large Stacy clan we'll call the "John Stacy clan", rooted in Stafford County, that I believe our Robert Stacy was actually from.

On September 6, 1759, there appears in Frederick Co. VA Orders a George Stacy, who had recently been sued by a Sarah Ashby for breach of their engagement. His wife is named in the complaint as Jemima Stacy.


This George Stacy later appears in the ledgers of the J. Glassford store of Dumfries, Prince William County with a John Stacy (his likely brother) and a number of court records of Fauquier County, Virginia between 1760 and 1767. In Fauquier Court, Oct. 26, 1767, John Bell, Coroner, was paid 133 pounds of tobacco for his inquest into the death of George Stacy.


Remember, Robert Stacy of South Carolina had a son named George Stacy... was he named for his late grandfather? It's worth noting the name "George" only appears in the Stafford County Stacy clan.

It's at this point that Charles Littlejohn enters the picture. Born in Stafford County, VA he was a child living in Prince George's County, MD when his father signed his will in 1740. But as I'm about to show you, in the years before the move to South Carolina, Charles Littlejohn was a friend and close neighbor of George & Jemima Stacy in Fauquier County, Virginia from at least 1759 to George's death in 1767.

Charles's brother, Samuel Littlejohn (1733-1813), married a Sarah Cofer of Fairfax County, VA around 1764. Samuel's presence is recorded in Fairfax Co. Road Orders from March 1761 to April 1770. It's noted his property runs into "New Occoquan Road", which we can locate (see map below). Charles was found in Fairfax County in a 1755 freeholder's list.

Charles Littlejohn moved to Fauquier County shortly thereafter and according to Fauquier Families Vol. 2,  leased property on Leeds Manor in 1757. He appears in Leeds Manor, Fauquier County, VA rent rolls in 1767, 1770 and 1777 (VA Complied Census and Census Substitutes Index 1607-1890). Fauquier borders Stafford and Prince William Counties to the west.

Here's a map showing you the proximity we're talking about (click to enlarge):

That's just to show you a little context.

But here's the kicker.

A tithable list from Fauquier County's Northern District, dated June 10, 1759 shows Charles Littlejohn and his brother Henry lived just three homes away from George Stacy.

Note that none of the men listed below Charles Littlejohn were landowners in 1759, suggesting they were all his tenants.

Also: In Fauquier Court on Nov. 22, 1764, George Stacy, Charles Littlejohn and Henry Littlejohn were named among a group of men from Hamilton Parish who were presented for missing church within the last month.


There is no doubt they knew each other socially. It's possible that Stacy was even a tenant on the Littlejohn property. Given their evident association, it stands to reason that Jemima remarried to Charles Littlejohn after she was widowed in 1767... and that's why the Littlejohn descendants know his wife as "Jemima Stacy."

By the 1790 census of Spartanburg Dist., South Carolina, Charles Littlejohn and wife Jemima Stacy lived so close to Robert Stacy they were enumerated on the same census page:


At this point the Jemima Stacy/Charles Littlejohn "coincidence" is so uncanny that it is absurd to conclude that he married some other hitherto-unknown Jemima Stacy, especially considering how small the Stacy clan of Virginia is.

Summarized another way:

1. George Stacy who died in 1767 VA was the father of Robert Stacy of SC.

2. Jemima Stacy, wife of George Stacy (1759 VA court order) and Jemima Stacy, wife of Charles Littlejohn (Littlejohn family records) are the same person.

3. Robert Stacy named his third son George in 1797 in honor of his late father.

From the known facts, we can parse out a rough chronology:

1. Robert Stacy was born c.1764 in Hamilton Parish, Fauquier County, Virginia to George and Jemima Stacy.

2. His father died in 1767, and his mother remarried to their close neighbor (and probable landlord), Charles Littlejohn, by 1771.

3. The Littlejohn/Stacy clan relocated to South Carolina between 1774 and 1777 (the last year Littlejohn appears in Fauquier rent rolls).

This explains why there are no records of Robert Stacy in Virginia: he left while still a child. It also explains why he ended up in South Carolina when almost all the other Stacys went to Kentucky or Tennessee: the Littlejohns brought him there.

In case you're wondering about parish records for these marriages or births: I've checked. They were burned in the early 19th century. Fauquier county clerks literally used them to light their cigars and pipes.

But at this point, this is pretty solid.

So why should you accept this as accurate? Well to sum up:

In order to believe in the "sewing table theory," you would have to conclude that there were two Robert Stacys in York County, that one left for South Carolina as a youth, and that tailor John C. Gunther was well acquainted with both of them, despite the fact that only one Robert Stacy has ever been documented in the York County clan, a family that is impeccably documented in parish records going all the way back to 1690. In addition to a second Robert, you would also have to fabricate a second Anne Stacy, for reasons described above.

In order to believe this "Charles Littlejohn theory" is false, you would have to conclude that he married another woman named Jemima Stacy, though none has ever been documented, despite the fact that he is proven to have lived just three homes away from a widowed Jemima Stacy.

Of course this is a tough case to prove with just sparse colonial records... but now we have DNA testing.

And I have been able to use DNA evidence to show this theory is valid.

As a direct descendant of Robert Stacy, I uploaded my own raw DNA data to GEDMatch and compared with a woman (I'll call her ABD to protect her privacy here) who is a longtime genealogist and descendant of Charles Littlejohn and Jemima Stacy.

As it turns out, we have a match on Chromosome 21. Our Most Recent Common Ancestor was calculated by GEDMatch as 7.5 generations back. Jemima Stacy Littlejohn is 7 back from me.


This is a perfect match. I inspected ABD's family tree and we have no other ancestors in common.

Having recently done Ancestry DNA (user jmfarrell163), I have since found four more common relations between Jemima Stacy Littlejohn and myself, including some DNA I have been able to triangulate with other descendants of Robert Stacy.

This is pretty strong evidence that Jemima Stacy Littlejohn is the mother of Robert Stacy... and that the Robert Stacy of South Carolina was not born in Sussex County, but in Fauquier County, Virginia.

Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Researchers can make honest mistakes so I don't fault anyone for their beliefs. But I think it is important to get this right.

Hopefully that all makes sense. I know its a lot of information. Always appreciate feedback. 
 
UPDATE, NOVEMBER 2023: The Daughters of the American Revolution has recently affirmed this theory. Their patriot database now shows that Robert Stacy was born c.1760 in Fauquier County, Virginia to George and Jemima Stacy.

6 comments:

  1. I am a descendant of Robert Stacy. I am very interested in your research and information on Robert Stacy.

    Thank you,
    Roger Stacy originally from Mississippi now in Tennessee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Roger, thanks for commenting. You can find a lot of work I did on Robert here: https://archive.org/details/simon-stacy-of-virginia-and-his-descendants/page/238/mode/2up

      And of course feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Cheers!

      Delete
  2. You have done some outstanding research. I descend from Robert Stacy through his son, Robert Stacy, Jr, through his daughter, Margaret Auselle Stacy Oglesby - my namesake. Thanks, (Margaret) Stacy Hall

    ReplyDelete
  3. This pretty much lays it out - good job! Now, if we can just get some of the corrections into the family trees that we find online. If you have a tree on ancestry.com, please identify the name of the tree or your username; I would love to see your tree. Please reply at d.boeh at charter dot net Thanks David

    ReplyDelete