Porch Swings, Fireflies, and Jelly Jars: Possible Stafford Connections for Azariah Holcomb's Wife Susan

Friday, December 25, 2020

Possible Stafford Connections for Azariah Holcomb's Wife Susan

Family tradition holds that Azariah Holcomb's wife Susan was a Stafford. However, to date, no primary documentation has been found to support that.

According to the Holcomb bible, Azariah Holcomb married Susan on 20 April 1819. At that point, Azariah Holcomb was probably living in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, and likely married Susan there.

Many researchers claim without documentation that Susan was the daughter of William Stafford who married Leah Westervelt or Westerfield. Leah (Westerfield) Stafford died in Scott County, Kentucky in 1817. William Stafford died in Kentucky in 1820. It would seem that they did not migrate to Missouri during their lifetimes. If Susan was a daughter of William and Leah Stafford, she would have needed to travel to Missouri with a sibling or other relative, but none of the children attributed to William Stafford seem to have gone to Missouri. I find it difficult to believe that a young woman would have struck out for Missouri on her own in that time period. I think it would be much more beneficial to research Staffords who were in closer proximity to Azariah Holcomb.

While the household of Azariah Holcomb is not on the 1818 Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri census, the household of Benajah Brown is. Brown had presumably married Hannah Holcomb, widow of Nathaniel Holcomb by 1818 when son James Brown was born. The older, unmarried Holcomb children were likely still living at home in 1818. The household of Noah Stafford was near Benajah Brown in 1818. He had married Sarah Blackwell in Roane County, Tennessee on 5 November 1806. Noah Stafford eventually removed to Crawford County, Missouri. He was born in South Carolina in about 1782, which would make him fourteen years older than Azariah's wife Susan, who was born in 1796 in Kentucky.

At fourteen years older than Susan, Noah might have been her older brother. Alternately, he could have been a cousin or a young uncle. There were no other Stafford households in Ste Genevieve, but Noah could have been surrounded by married sisters and/or a remarried mother.

It is not inconceivable that Noah Stafford was born in South Carolina and that his family moved to Kentucky where Susan was born. Then as a young adult, Noah removed to Tenessee before his final move to Missouri. The question is if he had a younger sister with him or a remarried mother, moving in tandem with him.

The obituary of Noah Stafford's son, Richard Stafford places the Stafford family in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri as early as 1815 when Richard was born there.

The obituary of Noah Stafford's son Samuel Ellison Stafford indicates that the family was still in Ste Genevieve County, Missouri in 1824 when Samuel was born there. It also indicates that they did not relocate to Crawford County, Missouri until about 1833.

An additional obituary for Samuel Ellison Stafford names Noah Stafford as his father.

The eldest child that I have found attributed to Noah and Sarah (Blackwell) Stafford is Elizabeth Stafford who was born in Missouri in 1807 or 1808. This would mean that Noah Stafford removed to Missouri almost immediately after his 1806 marriage to Sarah Blackwell.

Another Stafford married in Roane County, Tennessee, near the time that Noah Stafford married. Thomas Stafford married Rosey Baskin on 22 November 1803 in Roane County, Tennessee. I have not found any additional information on this Thomas Stafford.

Noah Stafford signed a petition from the [Louisiana] Territory on 9 September 1811 asking for the rights of citizens, essentially, statehood. This was the area of the Missouri Territory. Notable among the other signatures were the names of a John Stafford and Titus Strickland. So far, I have not found any additional information on John Stafford.

To date, I have not been able to make a connection between Noah Stafford and Azariah Holcomb other than proximity.

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About Me:

My favorite memories from childhood include visits to my grandparents in East Texas. At dusk we'd run around my grandparent's yard, catching fireflies and putting them in jelly jars. When darkness descended, we'd return to the porch. It was a special treat to sit in the porch swing. Inevitably, the adults would launch into family stories of Pink Kelley's brush with Sherman's troops, of Great Uncle Hood Brown's tragic death, and of the Kelley family's wagon trip to Texas, among many others. The stars on those nights were magical.

I began my genealogy research in the summer of 1975, less than a month after my high school graduation. When I married in 1983, I started researching my husband's family as well. I was fortunate to start this hobby as a youngster because it gave me an opportunity to correspond with researchers who are long gone; to ask questions of family members -although not enough, never enough; and travel a bit. The result is a lot of information. I've come to the realization that I will probably never be able to afford to publish, so this is my publication.

This blog contains a mixture of information on my husband's family and mine. I've expanded into a second blog called Flimsies and Frippery with the intention of focusing on quilts and dolls, but I have several historical research entries there with more planned, which is why I don't get more quilting done.

Ultimately, genealogy is my passion. This is where I plan to record family stories, research adventures and misadventures, and those serendipitous moments that happen out of the blue. You should be warned that I have a bad habit of going back and adding information and links to individual entries, so it is beneficial to check back often if there is a family of particular interest to you. If you wander in and discover that you are a cousin, please contact me.

Since many younger family members who are new to genealogy are starting to contact me about their ancestors, I've started adding family trees to help them see how everyone is connected. The trees are divided between my family and my husband's. You will find them below under the label's Family Trees - My Husband's Side and Family Trees - My Family's Side.

For better or worse, this blog reflects the research, thinking, and writing of a human.