Yesterday, Part 1 presented a timeline of documented events in the life of Revolutionary War soldier and pensioner, John Stufflebean.

Today, we’ll look at his life in detail, especially the tumultuous years of the Revolutionary War.

Johannes “Stopplebeen,” the first child of Johannes Stoppelbein and Eva Dingman was born on 28 February 1756 in Kinderhook, Columbia, New York. He described his birthplace in his Revolutionary War pension application as being on the east side of the Hudson River not far below Albany, New York.

The extended Stoppelbein clan arrived in the American colonies in two waves from the Palatinate area of today’s Germany. Peter Stoppelbein, an uncle of the later group, arrived in New York in 1709. Johannes’s father, also Johannes, was in the later group of emigrants, settling in New York in the 1740s.

Johannes’s mother, Eva Dingman, born 13 December 1730 in nearby Kinderhook, Columbia, New York, was the daughter of Johannes and Geesje (Janzen) Dingman. The Dingmans were Dutch, originally from Haarlem in the Netherlands and had lived in New York at least since the 1660s.

John grew up in the Kinderhook area and the death dates of his parents are unknown. However, on 26 June 1775, Johan “Stufflebane” and Johan “Stufflebane” Jr. both signed the oath of allegiance in Mamakating, New York, which today is Deerpark, Orange, New York, close to where John stated he lived at the time in his pension application.

What became of his parents is not known. There ar no land or probate records found for any variation of the Stufflebean name in Ulster or Orange Counties, New York.

John’s 1844 obituary states that the time he enlisted in 1776, he had a wife and two children. It’s possible, but John would only have been 20 years old – perhaps married at a young age, but married with two children seems unlikely. No evidence has been found for this family, but New York has a reputation as a black hold when it comes to record keeping.

In 1776, Captain Jacob DeWitt formed a company of rangers to guard the frontier in that portion of New York State. John Stufflebean enlisted and served as a private, probably for much longer than he ever envisioned given his capture by the Indians.

The clerk recording John’s pension statement in 1833 said John was illiterate. He couldn’t read or write even so much as to sign his name, nor could his children according to the clerk.

John’s lack of formal education was definitely no reflection on his innate intelligence. He lived a long life, much of it spent on various frontiers, including the Revolutionary War frontier.

His life during the war was much more tumultuous than most others. Service in Captain Jacob DeWitt’s company started off rather quietly with postings to towns like New Windsor, New York and Hackensack and Paramus in nearby Bergen County, New Jersey, all relatively close to home. However, in 1778, while out on reconnaissance, John was captured by Colonel Joseph Brant’s Indians and taken prisoner.

He detailed how the Indians and prisoners crossed the Delaware River on logs and wooden rafts, continued traveling westerly across New York and crossed the Susquehanna River in the same manner. Eventually, they arrived at the Mohawk settlement located about eighteen miles south of Niagara Falls.

John’s pension declaration includes being forced by the Indians to run the gauntlet, which was a daunting experience for anyone. The gauntlet was created by two rows of men wielding various types of weapons. It was a public spectacle designed to embarrass, punish and humiliate, but men sometimes died from their wounds. Those who survived were deemed to have displayed bravery and, perhaps, like Revolutionary War General John Stark from New Hampshire, physically fought back and earned the admiration of their captors.

John Stufflebean said no more of his own gauntlet experience, but he was a young man in his 20s and likely physically fit enough to hold his own as he survived and lived many more years.

About 1780, the Mohawks sold their prisoners to Col. John Butler, reportedly for a barrel of whiskey. They were then taken to Detroit and held for a little more than two years.

John did not mention in his pension application that, in 1783, he agreed to fight for the British. However, his name appears on a muster roll of Butler’s Rangers, signed by Jacob Ball, as “John Stufflebem” on command to Detroit.

After years as a prisoner of war, John may well have seen agreeing to join the British as his best hope for escaping. He is only found on that one muster roll and another fateful meet up also occurred in 1783. John and five other soldiers, presumably all patriots who saw their chance for freedom, took off from their assignments, traveled down the “Lake of Water” (Lake Erie?) for over 100 miles through wilderness to the Muskingum River and then to the Ohio River. From there, they met up with James Garrard’s company heading into Kentucky.

James Garrard, later governor of the State of Kentucky from 1796-1804 organized a company of settlers heading from Virginia to the frontier near the close of the American Revolution. John described how Mr. Garrard took some convincing that the men were really patriots and not British soldiers looking for trouble, but they were accepted into the group. That is how John Stufflebean came to make Kentucky his home for most of the rest of his life.

Kentucky was very much the frontier in 1783 and, like Col. Garrard, John Stufflebean originally settled near Paris, Bourbon County. Records are scarce that early in Kentucky, but John does appear on the Bourbon County tax list in 1790 with one white tithe and two horses or mules.

On 14 July 1790, John married Priscilla Ross, daughter of John Ross, in Bourbon County. They were the parents of one surviving child, son William, born c1792. Priscilla died soon, though – perhaps giving birth to a second child who didn’t survive either.

John appeared on the 1791 tax list for one white tithe and one horse, again in 1792 for one male over 16 and six cattle. Tax lists for some years are missing and John’s last appearance in Bourbon County was his next marriage in 1795.

John Stufflebean’s marriage bond, dated 12 August 1795, indicated a pending marriage to Elsee (Larrison) Ketchum, widow of one Joseph Ketchum and mother of Joseph Ketchum Jr., born c1794 in Kentucky.

Nothing further is known about Elsee’s first husband as no probate has been found for him nor are there other nearby Ketchums who might be related.

John and Elsee went on to become parents of seven more sons.

There is no extant 1810 census for Kentucky and John hasn’t been found in further Kentucky records until 6 August 1816 in Estill County, Kentucky where a deed filed indicated that John Stoflebeen signed a rental agreement with Thomas Duckam for 200 acres of land.

Clark County, Kentucky was formed in 1793 from portions of Bourbon and Fayette Counties. John Stufflebean lived in the area that became Estill County and, much later, Lee County. Clark County would have been the county of record in the late 1700s and early 1800s, but while John Ross and David Snowden, both of whom were part of John Stufflebean’s life, are indeed listed on the Clark County tax rolls, John himself is nowhere to be found. Tax lists for Fayette and Madison Counties were also read, with no success.

The Stufflebeans then again disappear from the records until the 1820 census, when John was incorrectly indexed as “Lee” instead of “Jno.” Stufflebean in Franklin County, Kentucky. At home were: Male 45+, Female 45+, Male 16-25, Male 16-25 (16-18), Female 16-25, Male 10-15, and Male -10.

John was still in Franklin County in 1821, when he appeared on the tax list.

However, by 1822, the family had permanently settled back in Estill County, Kentucky where the family appears on the tax lists and census records through 1842. The lone exception was in 1828, as John stated he went to visit his brother, Michael, in Illinois.

By 1836, John Stufflebean was listed as exempt on the tax list, likely due to his advancing age.

The 1840 census has a curious entry. John “Stuppelben” is enumerated living in the home of David Snowden and noted as a Revolutionary War veteran. David was not related to John, as far as can be determined. David lived only a couple of doors from John’s sons, Hiram and Richard, but, for whatever reason, John chose not to live with them.

On 4 March 1842, John Stufflebean appeared in court stating that he and wife, Elsee, was moving to Randolph County, Illinois to live with his son, Jacob. He said he was infirm and unable to keep house and asked that his pension payment be transferred.

This statement appears not only in his pension file:

It also was printed in the District of Columbia newspaper because of his very wrongly reported age:

John lived two more years, passing away in Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois on 16 January 1844. Elsee survived John by at least a year as her application for a widow’s pension was filed on 27 April 1844, in Randolph County, Illinois. She has not been found in 1850 and it is assumed that she died before that census. Their son, Jacob, with whom they were living, died of cholera in July 1849, leaving no family.

Children of John Stufflebean and possible Unknown Wife in New York:

1. Child
2. Child

If John Stufflebean was married in New York and had a wife and two children when he enlisted, no evidence of them as ever been found. Whether his wife died and John was free to marry or whether he chose to walk away and build a new life out west is not known.

Although unable to read or write, John kept in touch with at least one brother, Michael, who was nine years younger, through an intermediary. Michael might have passed on the news that John’s wife had died before 1790 when he married Priscilla Ross in Kentucky.  Perhaps other relatives took in any surviving children and they have been lost to time. It’s even possible that John’s wife died giving birth to their second child making John a young widower. The third possibility is that he was a bigamist!

Child of Joseph Ketchum and Elsee Larrison, raised by John Stufflebean:

1. Joseph, born c1794, Kentucky; died after 1 December 1874, probably Kentucky; married Sarah King, 5 April 1818, Estill County, Kentucky (2) Fannie (MNU), c1854, probably Kentucky. Although a stepbrother not related by blood to the Stufflebeans, Joseph had seven children.

Child of John Stufflebean and Priscilla Ross:

1. William, born c1792, Bourbon county, Kentucky; died 1836, Fulton County, Illinois; married Elizabeth Miller, 23 February 1812, Estill County, Kentucky. William had eight children.

Children of John Stufflebean and Elsee Larrison:

1. James, born c1797, Kentucky; died before 1830; married Mary Dunaway, 13 October 1819, Estill County, Kentucky. James has one known child, daughter Alsey, who married and had four children..
2. Michael, born c1798, Kentucky; died before 30 october 1848, Linn County, Missouri, likely in a cholera epidemic; married Elizabeth Baker, 25 December 1817, Estill County, Kentucky. Michael had ten children.
3. Andrew, born c1799, Kentucky; died before 1840, probably Estill County, Kentucky; married Susanna Dunaway, 4 August 1818, Estill County, Kentucky. Andrew had seven children, but only the three youngest have been identified.
4. Jacob, born c1801, Kentucky; died 19 July 1848, Randolph County, Illinois; married Unknown, c1827. Jacob had one son, born c1828, but who died young. He has no known descendants.
5. Hiram, bornc1804, Kentucky; died after 1860; married Mourning McAllister, 14 June 1828, Morgan County, Kentucky. Hiram had three daughters, none of whom have been identified, born c1825-1833.
6. Richard, born c1806, Kentucky; died after 1880, probably Madison County, Arkansas; married Polly Patrick, 14 July 1830, Estill County, Kentucky. Richard had seven children.
7. John, born c1808, Kentucky; died after 1880; married Mary Stivers, 26 May 1849, Brown County, Indiana. John had one son, Eugene, who married, but had no children. John has no known descendants.

From surviving records, it can be seen that John had at least 31 grandchildren and many Stufflebeans today are descended from this Revolutionary War soldier.

Due to John’s much exaggerated age at death, the newspaper printed an unusually lengthy obituary detailing his life and war adventures. Like the statement of his age, some of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. For instance, John Lyon is not mentioned in his pension application, but James Garrard is. Also Priscilla Ross has only one documented child, her son William. If she had a second or third child, they remain unknown.

Obituary of John Stufflebean

Kaskaskia (Illinois) Republican
March 16, 1844, Page 2, Column 3

Departed this life, in the vicinity of this place, on the 16th of January, 1844, JOHN STUFFLEBEAN, a Revolutionary soldier, at the advanced age of 110 years, 11 months and one day. This ancient man was born, on the banks of the Hudson River, twelve miles from Albany, in the state of N. York, Feb 15, 1733.

There, he married his first wife, whom he left with two children when he enlisted, as a private, in the Revolutionary Army, in which he served, almost to the close of the war, when he was taken captive by the Indians, who disposed of him, to the British, for a barrel of rum.

Having remained a prisoner at Detroit, a few months; while employed, one day chopping wood, he and five of his fellow prisoners effected their escape.

On account of the difficulty, experienced in procuring subsistence, these fugitives separated into two parties, and took separate routes to the Ohio River.

The subject of this notice and his two companions, guided by the sun, in fair weather and lying bye, when it was cloudy, aiming for some point, high up, on the river, made the best of their way through the desolate and gloomy forest, then inhabited, only by the hostile Indians; but now is the territory constituting the States of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Three long months were spent in concealment and wandering about, in the performance of this lonesome and hazardous journey, beset as it was on all sides, by insidious foes, then the sole tenants of those savage wilds; in perils and dangers, daily; and at times nearly reduced to starvation. At one time for four successive days they were without nourishment, save that afforded by a half-dozen pheasant eggs.

Some times falling in among the Indians and representing themselves as sent from the British Army, in pursuit of deserters, they obtained food from them and their sufferings were mitigated by the kindness, thus elicited, as well as themselves protected from the effects of the savage enemy then so strong against the Colonists.

These forlorn wanderers struck the waters of the Muskingum, near its source, and following the stream down to where, it was found to be of depth, sufficient to float a bark canoe, they constructed one, and made their way in it to the Ohio.

After their arrival at this river, they were rejoiced at the sight of a float boat, floating down the stream. Although their applications to be permitted to come on board, often repeated, for several days, were, as often, refused, from the fear of their being enemies, finally, the owner, John Lyon, being satisfied of their friendly disposition, yielded to their solicitations.

With this gentleman Mr. Stufflebean continued, after their arrival at Limestone – now Maysville, working for him. Here he married his second wife, who, after a few years, died, leaving three children.

After his bereavement, he settled in Bourbon county in Kentucky and there married his third wife, who has survived him and is now living, at the advanced age of 82 years, and was able to attend the remains of her deceased husband to the grave.

In the state of his adoption, to which he had fled, as to a place of refuge; he passed the residue of his long life, except the last two years, which were spent, with his son Jacob Stufflebean, in this county, where he died.

He was, during the Indian troubles, in Kentucky, engaged with occasional intermissions, three years in the ranging service and, while so employed, as at all other times, when his country called, he always heard her voice, where dangers were greatest and thickest, there he was in their midst, prepared to face them.

He was one of the first settlers in Bourbon County and assisted in sawing with a whipsaw, the planks, used in constructing the first permanent framed building, there erected.

This county he left, not long after his third marriage, and settled, high up, on the Kentucky River.

Among the incidents of his eventful life, may be mentioned his presence of Crawford’s defeat, where he was one of Crawford’s party.

With him, hunting was a favorite pursuit, and the sight of the bears and buffaloes, in those days, so numerous, where he lived, was the delight of his eyes, and, not infrequently was he gratified with the discovery of the former, among his own domestic cattle, as they came home, out of the woods. He was blessed with a fine flow of animal spirits and, was generally cheerful. His eye sight was unimpaired, almost to the last, and he never had occasion for the use of spectacles. He never took a dose of medicine and, with the exception of the four days illness, immediately preceding his death, he was never sick. At least, not seriously so, in his last and only sickness, he could not be prevailed upon, to call in a physician. So long as he was able to procure a livelihood by the labor of his own hands, or possessed the means of support, he utterly refused to apply for a pension, declaring, he “did not fight, when in his country’s service, for money, but for Liberty.” At last, however, finding himself unable to work and in poverty, he was forced to make application for a pension, and was placed upon the Pension Roll of the United States.

Part 3 will share a list of the descendants of John Stufflebean through three generations plus some family photos that hint at how John, himself, might have looked.