Last month led to a marathon session of Michael Stufflebeam research. I knew that Michael, born 1763 in Claverack, Columbia, New York, headed west by the early 1800s and is likely the man who, with Jacob and Valentine Stufflebeam, appear on the 1804 tax list in New York state.

What became of this Valentine I have no idea. However, Michael Stufflebeam and Jacob, who I originally posited might be a nephew of Michael’s, settled in Ohio between 1810 and 1820.

They were positively related since all Stufflebeam/Stufflebeans are. Jacob, though, was too old to be Michael’s son and too young to be his brother. That left uncle-nephew or cousins as the most likely scenario.

There are no Stufflebeams in the Ohio 1810 census, but many of those returns were lost.

By 1820, Michael Stufflebeam and his children had moved on to Crawford County, Illinois.

The remaining Stufflebeams in the Pickaway County area appear to be children of Jacob Stufflebeam.

Online trees can be very tricky as a source. However, in this case, church records in Claverack, Columbia, New York (Albany County, New York until 1786) – the same birth place as Michael Stufflebeam – identify Jacob Stufflebeam as a son of Johannes Valentine Stoppelbein and Maria Ersley. This Jacob was born on 21 September 1777 and was a first cousin of Michael Stufflebeam.

No other Jacob fits the age and close relationship to Michael and I believe this is the Jacob who ventured westward with Michael.

The Stufflebeams arrived in Pickaway County no later than 1815 because Michael’s son, Ebenezer, married Elizabeth Thomas on 30 December of that year. By 1817, Jacob’s daughter Jane also married in Pickaway County.

Jacob Stufflebeam [Stuffelbeem] was living in Monroe, Pickaway, Ohio at the time of the 1820 census. The residents in his home were enumerated as:

Male 45+
Female 45+
Female 26-44
Male 16 to 25
Female 16 to 25
Male -10
Female -10

Jacob’s [Stuflebeen] household, still in Monroe, Pickaway, Ohio in 1830 appeared:

Male 50-59
Female 50-59
Male 15-19

Jacob’s last census appearance was in 1840 when he lived in Darby, Pickaway, Ohio:

Males 60-69
Female 50-59
Male 20-29
Female 10-14

Michael Stufflebeam was said to have run a tavern although he did buy and sell a piece of land in Ohio.. It’s possible that Jacob had a similar occupation because he isn’t found buying or selling a single piece of land in Pickaway County. If he wasn’t managing a hotel, Jacob and his sons must have all followed some type of skilled trade because there is no other Stufflebeam in the land records until an entry for William during the Civil War. That land entry pertains to property William’s wife received from her father.

Jacob is gone by 1850 and, given his age, it is likely he died between 1840-1850. No probate administration has been found for Jacob, but given that he didn’t seem to own any real estate, that isn’t a surprise.

Marriage records in Pickaway County help identify his children:

Jane married John Bailey, 20 February 1817
Sarah married John Eagleston, 1 April 1819
Margit married George Michael, 27 January 1821
Eleanor married Jacob Watts/Watson, 31 January 1826
Martha married Nimrod High, 21 August 1827
Stephen married Nancy Mason, 11 February 1830

Additionally, there is a marriage record for one Jacob Stufflebeam who married Keziah Bean, 10 January 1822, Morgan County, Ohio (three counties east of Pickaway).

There are two marriage records for one Isaac Stufflebeam, who isn’t claimed by Michael’s descendants nor Jacob’s.

Isaac Stufflebeam married Polly Swarts, 4 December 1815, Muskingum County, Ohio and an Isaac Stufflebeam marrying Mary French in Pickaway County on 2 May 1819.

This Isaac, if one man, hasn’t been found anywhere after his 1819 marriage. However, in 1830, there is a Jacob Stufflebeam living in Muskingum County, Ohio. He is 30-39, so born in the 1790s. His neighbors, interestingly, are Bean and Bailey families. Those family surnames would make me inclined to believe that Isaac might have been a son of Jacob who died as a young married man.

There is one Jacob Stufflebeam who owed money in Geauga County, Ohio, which is on the northern state line. It’s possible the family arrived in Ohio from the Buffalo area of New York via Lake Erie. Jacob’s name is found in the 9 January 1812 court minutes as owing money to Hugh McDougal, who fled the jurisdiction due to his own debts to others.

If our man, Jacob left Geauga County and headed south to Pickaway where he served on a jury in June 1814.

Jacob Stufflebeam appears in only a handful of other Pickaway County records. He is on the tax lists for 1826 and 1827, taxed for 2 horses, 4 cattle and for his state tax and school/county taxes owed.

Because of the rarity of the Stufflebeam name in Ohio at the time and knowing that Michael’s family moved on to Illinois between 1818, when Michael sold his land, and 1820 when he is enumerated in Crawford County, Illinois, it is reasonable to posit that the remaining strays in Ohio belong to Jacob’s immediate family.

Note that in spite of online trees that give names for not one, but two wives of Jacob, her name doesn’t appear in a single Ohio record so she will remain “Unknown” for now.

Therefore, this is a tentative list of his children.

1. Jacob, born c1798, probably New York; married Keziah Bean, 10 January 1822, Morgan County, Ohio. This family settled in Muskingum County, Ohio and then Davis County, Iowa. They were the parents of six children.
2. Isaac, born c1799, probably New York; married (1) Polly Swarts, 4 December 1815, Muskingum County, Ohio (2) Mary French, 2 May 1819, Pickaway County, Ohio. No further record after his second marriage.
3. Sarah, born c1801, probably New York; died by 1840 as John remarried that year; married John Eagleston, 1 April 1819, Pickaway County, Ohio. They were the parents of six or seven children, to be explained in their family sketch.
4. Jane, born 28 July c1803, Lake Erie near Buffalo, New York; died 28 April 1887, Five Points, Pickaway County, Ohio; married John Bailey, a War of 1812 veteran, 20 February 1817, Pickaway County, Ohio. They were the parents of eleven children, eight living in 1887 when Jane died.
5. Margaret, born c1805, probably New York; died after 17 October 1887, when she filed for a widow’s pension for George’s Civil War service and she appears in the 1890 Civil War veterans census schedule; married George Michael, 27 January 1821, Pickaway County, Ohio. They were the parents of seven children.
6. Stephen, born c1809; died about April 1844, Pickaway County, Ohio; married Nancy Mason, 11 February 1830, Pickaway County, Ohio. In 1824, Stephen Stufflebeam and Daniel Bean [perhaps related to Keziah who married Jacob Stufflebeam Jr.?] were indicted for larceny in Muskingum County. The writ was returned and marked “not found.” They were the parents of at least four children.
7. Eleanor, born c1809, New York; died after 1860; married Jacob Watts/Watson, about January 1826, Pickaway County, Ohio. This family is found as Watson in the census, although as Watts in the marriage record. They were the parents of six children.
8. Martha, born c1816 on Lake Erie according to the 1850 census; died after 1860; married (1) Nimrod High, 21 August 1827, Pickaway County, Ohio (2) Peter Carey, 19 August 1857, Pickaway County, Ohio. Nimrod and Martha were the parents of five children.

Next up – family sketches for each of the eight presumed children of Jacob Stufflebeam.