Yesterday, I put together some clues about Michael Stufflebeam, brother of my husband’s Revolutionary War ancestor, John Stufflebean.

John went to visit his brother, Michael, in Illinois (likely Lawrence County) in 1823 for the purpose of obtaining an affidavit attesting to John’s service as a soldier in the War for Independence. John’s pension file added a statement in 1832 that Michael was the only one he knew who could swear to John’s service, IF Michael was still living. A response in the file indicated that Michael had removed from Lawrence County to Vermilion County, Illinois and had died about 18 months previously.

A search for marriage records in Vermilion County, Illinois turned up nothing, but the records of Warren County, Indiana have a number of interesting hits.

First, the 1830 census of Warren County, Indiana includes entries for John Stufflebeam, aged 30-40, with a female in the same age range plus quite a few children: 2 males 10-15, 2 females 10-15 and one male plus one female, both under the age of 5.

Possible Relatives:

Abigail Stufflebeam married Samuel Hardistie, 5 June 1832
Abigail Stufflebeam married William Henry Lawrence, 4 May 1843
Marilla Stufflebeam married William Sealy, 22 February 1831
Elza Stufflebeam married Leaurene Fleming, 20 February 1839
John E. Stufflebeam married Harriet Ostrander, 24 February 1837
John Stufflebeam married Jane Stufflebeam, 12 February 1839
Mary Ann Stufflebeam married Henry Rakestraw, 3 June 1838
Izelda Stufflebeam married John Bush, 3 June 1838
John Stufflebeam married Martha Gallimore, 2 July 1853

Now, it’s important to remember that Oliver Stufflebeam’s biography in the Vermilion County, Illinois history that I included in yesterday’s post states that John married a first wife who had died young. One John E. Stufflebeam married Eleanor Roland in Pickaway County, Ohio on 13 February 1817, which would have been the 22nd birthday of “my” John Stufflebeam.

Finding Michael Stufflebeam named in many records at all – land, tax, etc. hasn’t been very successful. However, there aren’t too many Michael Stufflebeams running around and several mentions of a man by that name might all be “my” Michael Stufflebeam. Ancestry has some New York tax records that are index-only – Michael Stufflebeam in Onondaga County in 1800, in Cayuga County (formed from Onondaga County) in the 1802 (owned no land), next in Ontario County in 1803.

However, there is a Michael Stuflebeam on page 47, aged 45+ with one female 26-44 and one female 16-25 living in Crawford County, Illinois in 1820. Crawford County borders Lawrence County, Illinois and on page 46 is John E. Stuflebeam!

Remember, this is very much a hypothesis in progress, but IF the Michael in these tax records AND John who married in Pickaway County are the same men who lived in Illinois and Indiana, then here is a map detailing their westward journey:

Possible westward journey of Michael Stufflebeam

There are a number of other Stufflebeam records in Pickaway County, including a census enumeration for one Jacob Stufflebeam, born 1770-1780, living there in 1840.

There are a few people who have info about Jacob Stufflebeam online, but none has responded to my messages yet. Jacob’s family reportedly included the following children:

Sarah, 1795-1838; married John Eagleston, 1 April 1819
Jane, 1796-1887; married John Bailey, 20 February 1817
Stephen, 1800-1840; married Nancy Mason, 11 February 1830
Margaret, 1802-1888; married George Michael, 27 January 1821
Martha, 1806- after 1850; married Nimrod High, 21 August 1827
Eleanor, 1810-1860; married Jacob Watson, 31 January 1826
William, 1813-1877; married Martha Johnson, 16 August 1842
Valentine, 1814- after 1870, when he apparently went by Fred; unmarried

I have no idea if there is any documentation to support these people as Jacob’s children (although all seemed to remain in the Pickaway County area). However, there are also the following people marrying in Pickaway in the same time frame who aren’t attributed to Jacob:

John Stufflebeam married Eleanor Roland, 13 February 1817
Isaac Stufflebeam married Polly French, 2 May 1819
Ebenezer Stufflebeam married Elizabeth Thomas, 30 December 1815

John reportedly is a son of Michael – but, again, is there any record documenting Jacob’s children?

There are two other Stufflebeam marriages in Pickaway in those early years:

Ebenezer married Elizabeth Thomas, 30 December 1815
Isaac married Polly French, 2 May 1819

Ebenezer is said to be a son of Michael and is given a reputed death date of “by 5 May 1831.” I wonder if there is a probate record for him somewhere?

I can find no mention of Isaac Stufflebeam anywhere except for this marriage record. He may have died soon, but was he a son of Michael or Jacob?

Possible children, then, for Michael Stufflebeam, born 1763:

Ebenezer, born by 1794 – reportedly died by 5 May 1831; married Elizabeth Thomas, 30 December 1815, Pickaway County, Ohio; no further record.
John E., born c1795; died after 1840; married (1) Eleanor Roland, 13 February 1817, Pickaway County, Ohio (2) Harriet Ostrander, 24 February 1837, Warren County, Indiana
Isaac, born by 1798; married Polly French, 2 May 1819, Pickaway County, Ohio; no further record

Good thing I have a trip to the Family History Library coming up soon. I think I have my work cut out for me on this one!