Tag Archives: Jacob Stufflebean

Stufflebean-Stoppelbein

More Stufflebean Proof – Jacob Stufflebeam of Randolph County, Illinois

Leave a comment

There is now documentary proof regarding Jacob Stufflebean, son of Revolutionary War pensioner John Stufflebean.

To recap the little I had on Jacob Stufflebean:

Jacob Stufflebean apparently married Unknown before 1830. I say apparently because no marriage record has ever been found for him.

In 1830, Jacob is 20-29 years old, with a female in the same age range and a male under 5.

In 1840, the adults are both 30-39. There are two males, one 15-20 and the other 10-15.

  1. Male, born 1820-1825
  2. Male, born  1825-1830

The 1850 mortality schedule lists one Jacob Stufflebean of Randolph County who died in July 1849 of cholera. His age is recorded as 70, which is about 20 years too old, and that he was born in Tennessee, but Jacob is the only Stufflebean there in 1840 and no Stufflebeans are in the regular schedule of Randolph County in 1850.

So, is this Jacob who died of cholera the same Jacob who is the son of John and Elsee? I don’t know, but I don’t know who else it could be. A 1780 birth date in Tennessee is not likely. There weren’t any Stufflebeans early in Tennessee. There is also no indication of who gave the mortality information to the census taker, either. Another possibility is that the census taker wrote down the wrong age. In any case, John and Elsee’s son, Jacob, and his family are gone by 1850 with no clues about their given names.

UPDATE: Jacob Stufflebean’s will was found in the records of Randolph County, Illinois and I am sure that this is the son of John and Elsee (Larrison) Stufflebean.

Jacob’s will, probated on 25 July 1849,  was extremely short. He left a bed to the Mary, the German hired woman living with him and the rest of his estate to Henry Parks. If Jacob had ever married and the 1830 census included his wife and young son, then they died long before Jacob.

There were three Parks families living in Randolph County in 1840, but Henry Parks wasn’t listed then or in 1850. The mortality schedule that listed Jacob also named Henry Parks, aged 22 and Mrs. Parks, aged only 19. The Parks were the next two names following Jacob’s and just above Jacob was 30 year old Dr. Millard. All died of cholera.

Jacob furthered asked to be buried next to his parents. Soldier John died on 16 January 1844 in Kaskaskia. Elsee survived him, but apparently died before July 1849. Jacob also requested that a fence be put around their graves. Today, that land is under waters held by the Kaskaskia River dam.

IRAD marriage database shows Henry Parks married Mahala Page on 1 May 1849. Jacob must have befriended them and when he knew he was dying, he left his estate to this young married couple. Little did any of them know that all three would be dead a few weeks later.

Thus, Jacob Stufflebean left no heirs and has no living descendants today.

 

eBay Finds, Stufflebean-Stoppelbein

Jacob Stufflebean’s Civil War Spoons

3 Comments

Just about one year ago, I wrote a post about using eBay to hunt for genealogical treasures. While I was working on that post, I searched eBay for several different families and places, Stufflebean being one of them.

I was quite surprised and excited to find four coin silver teaspoons dating from the Civil War era up for auction. They were engraved with “Stufflebean” on the tops and I just knew I had to have them.

JacobStufflebeanCoinSilverSpoons1860sView2
Two of Jacob Stufflebean’s 4 Spoons

The listing is long gone, but the seller said they had been originally purchased from a jeweler located in St. Albans, Franklin County, Vermont, which is very close to the Canadian border.

Of course, that put me on the hunt right away and I found only one Stufflebean family in Franklin County, Vermont in 1870. They lived in Sheldon, 15 miles away from St. Albans.

Since the posting last year, more databases have come online and I’ve been able to piece together how the Sheldon family of Jacob and Jane Stufflebean fit into my husband line from John Stufflebean, the Revolutionary war soldier.

The 1870 census showed a household with the following people:

Jacob Stufflebean, born about 1819
Jane Stufflebean, born about 1823
Hulbert, born about 1850
Nellie, born about 1858Jane Stufflebean, born about 1799

Two young men, Jerry and Jester Orville, aged 20 and 17, both from Canada, were also living with them. They were enumerated as farm laborers and might have been hired help.

It was quite easy fleshing out a portion of this family tree. Jacob Stufflebean married Jane Hulbert in 1848 in Franklin County, Vermont. Hulburt is later referred to as S.B.H. and Samuel B. Hulbert Stufflebean. Jane’s father was Samuel B. Hulbert, so we can see for whom he was named.

Jane Stufflebean, born about 1799 was Jacob’s mother. Her death record in 1896 said she was 98 years old, born in Ghent, Columbia County, New York. Her father was Abraham Teal.

Another quick check of the records found that Jane Teal married Peter Stufflebean in Columbia County, New York. The family moved to Vermont, where Peter died in 1844.

Peter, in turn, was the son of Johan Valentine Stufflebean and the grandson of John Stufflebean and Eva Dingman, who were the parents of Dave’s soldier, John Stufflebean. Simply put, my Dave is 2nd cousins, 4x removed from Jacob who bought the teaspoons.

Why aren’t they still in the possession of that branch of the family? Jacob Stufflebean died in 1897. His estate packet names his only two heirs as his son, S.B.H. Stufflebean, and his daughter, Ellen Z. Bates, married to Eugene Bates.

During the estate administration, Ellen and Eugene signed over all their rights to her father’s estate, leaving S.B.H. as the sole heir. The estate was only worth $228.55. It’s possible that the Bates received half that amount in cash from her brother.

In 1908, S.B.H.’s will was probated. He named his wife, his wife’s daughter Lena Swett, and his sister, Ellen Bates. S.B.H. had no surviving children of his own. He left bequests to the Bates, his wife and his step-daughter. I don’t know whether the teaspoons passed from Jacob directly to Ellen or whether S.B.H. came into possession of them before Ellen, but I think the spoons probably ended up with Ellen by 1908.

Eugene Bates was a physician. He and wife, Ellen, had one child, a daughter Lillian, who was born on 7 January 1885 in Highgate, Franklin County, Vermont. They had apparently lost a second child sometime between 1877, when they married, and the 1900 census. S.B.H. bequeathed the property in Highgate to Eugene and Ellen in his will.

Lillian is not in the home after the 1900 census, when she was 15 years old. Sadly, her mother Ellen reported that she had given birth to two children, neither of whom were living in 1910. Lillian had died.

Ellen died in 1924 and Eugene followed in 1925, dying of liver cancer. His probate stated that there were no known relatives closer than second cousins and their names were unknown.

I think that Jacob’s spoons were eventually purchased by someone who then passed away and the cycle may have repeated itself until the eBay auction.

Things happen for a reason and I think Jacob’s spoons were ready to come home to some Stufflebeans. It’s ironic that Eugene’s closest relatives were second cousins and Dave is a second cousin 4x removed from the original owner.

Are you wondering why I only have two spoons? We gave the other two to my brother-in-law (Dave’s brother) and his wife for Christmas. They couldn’t believe I found them on eBay.

 

Stufflebean-Stoppelbein

Descendants of Rev. War Soldier John Stufflebean, Part 3 – Jacob and Hiram

Leave a comment

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, sketches were presented about William and Andrew, likely children of John Stufflebean and his first wife, Priscilla Ross, and then James and Michael Stufflebean, the first two children of John and second wife, Alice/Elsee Larrison Ketchum.

Today, we have two more of John’s and Elsee’s sons, Jacob and Hiram, but information about their families is sadly lacking. Perhaps there are some descendants out there who will read this and add to the knowledge base. Both of these sons married and had children, but the children can’t be found in 1850.

Jacob Stufflebean is one of the biggest mysteries among John and Elsee Stufflebean’s children. Jacob was born about 1800 and only appears in three records – the 1830 and 1840 censuses of Randolph County, Illinois and in the 1850 mortality schedule of the same place.

No one would ever think to link this Jacob as a son of John and Elsee, except for the fact that Jacob’s parents came to live with his family and the old soldier died in Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois on 16 January 1844. It is 400 miles due west from Ravenna, Estill County, Kentucky to Kaskaskia, Illinois. Why did Jacob settle there? Another unanswered question is why John and Elsee traveled 400 miles to live with Jacob’s family (John was 84 in 1840) when he had Hiram close by?

Jacob Stufflebean married Unknown before 1830. In 1830, Jacob is 20-29 years old, with a female in the same age range and a male under 5. In 1840, the adults are both 30-39. There are two males, one 15-20 and the other 10-15.

  1. Male, born 1820-1825
  2. Male, born  1825-1830

The 1850 mortality schedule lists one Jacob Stufflebean of Randolph County who died in July 1849 of cholera. His age is recorded as 70, which is about 20 years too old and that he was born in Tennessee, but Jacob is the only Stufflebean there in 1840 and no Stufflebeans are in the regular schedule of Randolph County in 1850.

So, is this Jacob who died of cholera the same Jacob who is the son of John and Elsee? I don’t know, but I don’t know who else it could be. A 1780 birth date in Tennessee is not likely. There weren’t any Stufflebeans early in Tennessee. There is also no indication of who gave the mortality information to the census taker, either. Another possibility is that the census taker wrote down the wrong age. In any case, John and Elsee’s son, Jacob, and his family are gone by 1850 with no clues about their given names.

Hiram Stufflebean married Mourning McAllister on 14 June 1828 in Morgan County, Kentucky. She was born in Henry County, Kentucky about 1810. Hiram is enumerated in Estill County, Kentucky in 1830 with himself, his wife and a female born 1825-1830. He is still in Estill County in 1840 with a wife and three daughters.

  1. Female, born 1825-1830; died after 1840 census
  2. Female, born 1830-1835; died after 1840 census
  3. Female, born 1830-1835; died after 1840 census

By 1850, Hiram and Mourning are living in Breathitt County. However, instead of any daughters being in their home, we find Charlotte Banks, 12, Sally Bryant, 9 and Josiah Bryant, 7.

Their own daughters, if living, would be about 20, 18 and 16, all old enough to be married according to the culture of that area. Or, did all three girls die young? There are no marriages for Stufflebean daughters up to 1851. In fact, the only female Stufflebean listed in Estill County marriages is Mary, who married John Maxwell in 1826. These children in 1850 are too old to be grandchildren of Hiram and Mourning. This is a total mystery!

Hiram Stufflebean, aged 63, and wife Elizabeth, aged 60 and born in North Carolina, are found in the 1870 census of Wolfe County, Kentucky. They are the sole residents of the household. Neither Hiram nor Elizabeth has been found after 1870. They may have died in Wolfe County, Kentucky during the 1870’s.

Short sketches today because not much is known about these family branches. Next week, tune in for some more mystery with Mary and John Stufflebean.