The Stanley Family ~ The "Gump" Family Line.

 

 

     Working on my genealogy I have learned to study what is going on in the world to help piece together unread information about my family.  As an example that doesn't relate to my family a person can look and see that their ancestors came from Europe to America in the late 1930's.  If a person doesn't dig deeper than that date only stays a date without an explanation.  But as a person digs deeper in learning about history during that time they will discover that Europe is on the brink of WWII and tension was in the air.  People over in Europe, who were able to, started to leave and come to America.  So a person can then say that WWII caused their family to immigrate from Europe to America.  It puts more feeling into it that simply saying "my family came to America in 1939."

     For those who have not had the privilege of watching the movie Forrest Gump a brief summery is about a man named Forest Gump growing up and interacting with different points of American history such as getting his name from a KKK leader, meeting Elvis, going to school while blacks tried to attend an all white school, going off to serve in Vietnam, meeting a few presidents, and buying stocks in Apple corporation without realizing what it is.  Recently I discovered one branch in my family tree that was around during some interesting times in America.  I jokingly call it the "Gump" line because this line has pretty much seen it all in America just like Forest Gump's character in the movie.  The correct name of the particular branch in my family tree is the Stanley (Standley originally but they dropped the D in the early 1800's) line.  It is from my mother's father's mother's line of the family and goes back 11 generations.  I wanted to highlight some of the important parts of history that my ancestor's were around to see and their connection to it.

Standley family was known to be in Massachusetts in1635.
Pictured above is NOT family but used to represent family in
that time era.



Map of New England in 1640

     It all starts with the pilgrims.  Okay, not exactly THE pilgrims but that is around the time frame I traced my roots back to.  George Standley was born about 1635 and lived in Massachusetts and married and died in Salem, MA..  The Mayflower came to America (Plymouth, Massachusetts) in 1620 - only 15 years BEFORE George Standley was born.  I haven't reached on who is parents were or where they were from.  That is another brick wall for another day.  On the map you can see Plymouth near the Cape Cod area (the hook part on Massachusetts).  Boston is further up north and Salem is just north of Boston still along the coast.  They could have taken a boat a few years after the pilgrims and entered through Boston and traveled north.  Perhaps this line came down from Canada.  I still haven't discovered that part of WHEN that line came to America.  I just know it is documented that he lived in Massachusetts from about 1635 to 1698.  I guess I will add that bit of thanks to my ancestor next Thanksgiving.

Salem WitchTrials in Salem Massachusetts.





    
     Salem.  Yes, that is right.  George Standley was living in Salem during the famous Salem Witch trials.  No, he or his family are not listed among the 200 that were accused of doing the Devil's work but that doesn't mean he didn't know of someone.  These people lived in the same town.  He had to of had commerce with them and trade.  This was a huge deal in this town.  I can bet he was reading up in the newspaper of what was going on and he and his wife, Bethiah, could of been there at the hangings.  The Salem Witch Trials happened during 1692 and 1693.  George didn't die until 1698, 5 years after the Salem Witch Trials.  Some of his adult children where there witnessing this event unfold too.  When George died in Beverly, MA., Salem annexed out a part of their town to create Beverly.  There were about 4 people right from his area!  George's son, Johnathan (still part of my line) married an Elizabeth Foster.  There is an Ann Foster listed as an accused.  Could Ann and Elizabeth be related?  Mother? Sisters? Cousins?  I don't know.  They were in the area and had one son in Beverly, MA..    http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/accused.html  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials 

     George Standley wasn't without sin either.  In the Salem Quarterly Court Records and files on January 26, 1668 he was fined for fornication before marriage with his future wife, Bethiah (Lovett).  They did end up marrying in 1670 and had a child soon afterwards.  November 13, 1672 for breach of the peace. On June 24, 1673, George was fined again, but this time it was for being a cheat and extortion when it came to selling cloth.  December 3, 1677 he had taken an oath of fidelity (swearing allegiance to the lords or state).  September 25, 1679 when he was around 44 years old he testified about the time Salem new meeting house was built.  There was an argument over who had the bell and he claimed he never received the bill of lading nor did he pay for the freight of it but claimed that he brought the bell to his home.  (I need to dig deeper into that one to fuller understand it) and he was summoned the 29th of April in 1681 for Ephraim Herick in telling a pernicious lie. 

     Overall, George Standley had 11 children between 1670 to 1693 all in Beverly, Massachusetts before he died in 1698.  I am a descendant from his 5th child, Jonathan Standley born January 18, 1679 and died unknown in North Carolina.  It was through Jonathan that my family traveled down the coast to stay in North Carolina for a few generations.  I don't know why he made the move south.  His wife, Elizabeth Foster (mentioned above) was from the area.  They married in 1704, had a son in 1706 in Beverly but the following year in 1707 there is a land deed registered to Jonathan Standley in North Carolina.  Something happened during that time that caused them to move.  Better job opportunity?  Maybe Elizabeth's sister was accused and now the pressure was starting to focus on Elizabeth and her son.  This move could be means to escape.  Those questions have yet to be answered. 

Greene County, NC.  My ancestor lived
somewhat in that area.

     Jonathan Standley was a Mariner and had 3 children.  One son with Elizabeth and two sons with another wife.  The lived in Dobbs County, NC.  Dobbs County no longer exists but became part of Wayne County, Greene County and Lenoir County.  Registered in April 15, 1707 for 28 pounds he bought 316 acres.  On April 1, 1713 Jonathan purchased 313 acres for 35 pounds.  He started buying up a lot of land throughout his life.  Mariner life and the land was good to him and it all was starting to pay off.  The Standley's became a prominent family in North Carolina. 



An image of what a slave auction would look like.

 

      With owning much land in North Carolina during the 1700's usually comes with a sad price to operate it.  Slavery.  International Slave Trade didn't happen until 1808 so slavery was in full swing at this time.  Between 1701 and 1760, 189,00 slaves were brought to America.  Majority of slaves captured at that time.  Overall, 12 million slaves were taken from Africa but the colonies only got 5% of that.  Most were used in the Caribbean and Brazil.  Jonathan's oldest son, Jonathan Jr. (brother of my direct ancestor) in his will to his children willed some of his slaves to his children. 

Son David Sandley ~ Land I bought of Moses Hare on Roquis, Negro Sue, bed cows, calves which he has already received.

Son Edmond Standley ~ Land I bought of Dillard Harris and my land in Piney Woods that I had of John Barnes Jr also cows, calves and Negro Sam.

Daughter Elizabeth Roades ~ mulatto Cate, bed, cows, and calves.  

Daughter Jemima Kittrell ~ Negro Nance and an equal part of my estate for her lifetime and at her death the said Negro will go to her son Joshua Spivey.

Daughter Esther Spivey ~ Negro Dina and her three children which she now has.

Daughter Susanna Baker ~ Negro Jenney, bed, etc.

Daughter Mary Stallings ~ Negro Jada, bed, etc. which she has already received.

Daughter Martha Standley ~ My manner plantation where I now live and 50 acres of land that I bought of John Crickett, also Negro Sarah, bed, etc.

Goddaughter Sarah Thomas, junr, ~ The child my Negro Rose now goes with, but if Sarah should die without issue the Negro will go to my children. 

Wife Ann Standley ~ Lend 200 acres at Lumber Bridge, Negroes Mingo, Peg, and Nance, Cows, Walnut Chairs, Smoking Chair, ect.  Profits of the orchard are to be divided between my daughter Martha and my wife.

His wife Ann's dad Martin Gardner also left a will on October 6, 1755. 

Wife Annah ~ Negro Jim , bed

Son Jame Gardner ~ Negro Pompe, Ben, Bed and plantation, and land where I now live.

Son John Gardner ~ 440 acres adj my land on Deep Run and Cashy.

Daughters Ann, Annah, and Jane ~ cows and calves.

Daughter Ann ~ Negro Peg

Daughter Annah ~ Negro Ward

Daughter Jane ~ Negro Beck

Son William Gardner ~ Heifer

Daughter Catron ~ Mare

 Daughter Elisebeth ~ cow and calf and that is to be their shares.  

     Notice in the first group there was a mulatto slave that was willed to Jonathan's daughter.  Could this girl, Cate, be the daughter of Jonathan and another slave or could they have purchased her from an auction?  I am interested in the fact that Ann's dad didn't leave his younger 3 children a slave but instead farm animals.  I wonder if they were too young to receive slaves where the other children could have been married and out of the home.  Slave ownership is a black eye in the American culture.  Many look down about that era.  However, it was the culture back then whether we agree with it or not.  I was very surprised to learn about slavery being a part of my heritage.  I am not overly proud of it but I cannot pretend that it wasn't there. 

     My line, however, carries on from Jonathan Jr.'s younger half brother, Sands Standley.  Not much is known about him except he had two sons. Sands jr. and Shadrack.  There is a book titled "Sands Stanley of the Pee Dee Valley" written by Haywood Stanley in 1978.

     His son Sands jr. married a lady by the name of Zilpha Edwards around 1759.  Her name is also spelled Zilphah in the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) application National #486112.




Sands Stanley fought in the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in 1776 near Wilmington, North Carolina.  It was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War that was fought in North Carolina.  He served in the Dobb's Militia. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moore%27s_Creek_Bridge_NC

A: Moore moves from Wilmington to Rockfish Creek
B:  MacDonald moves to Corbett's Ferry
C:  Caswell moves from New Bern to Corbett's Ferry.
Sands was in the "C" movement.

Moore's Creek Bridge where the battle took place.

Zilpha's father, Colonel Thomas Edwards was shot and killed by a slave. This generation slowly started to wean the "D" letter from Standley to Stanley.  In 1733 Sands served as a member of the Committee on Claims of the North Carolina Assembly at New Bern.  It was documented that in 1792 and in 1793 there was a bill of sale for purchase of a slave.  Between 1760 and 1778 they had 13 children.  Again, our line continues from the 5th child, William Stanley. 

Shadrack Stanley served under
"Swamp Fox" Francis Marion.

     Before I go down my 5th great grandfather's line I want to take a moment and mention William's brother, (Sands jr. second child) Shadrack Stanley who was born 1761.  He served under General Francis Marion (aka The Swamp Fox) in 1782 as a private for 30 days.  He was around 21 years of age.  But his tale doesn't end there.  Soon after the Revolutionary War in 1803, the United States made a huge land purchase commonly known as the Louisiana Purchase.  At the time the boundaries of Louisiana and Florida were not clear.  Squabbles and feuding started to take place.  Finally in 1821 and with negotiations from Spain Florida became a U.S. Territory.  Shadrack owned land along the St. Mary's River where a lot of the squabbling took place.  Shadrack's son Shadrack was a surveyer and was told to go to Florida with 101 men near Gainesville, Fl.  They were supposed to be given 500 acres of land and supplies for one year.  Indian's attacked after a few months and they were told to get off their land.  Spain told them to forget the land and head back.  To make a longer story short by 1815 the King of Spain had given Shadrack 300 acres of land He also claimed an additional 640 acres which he improved.  He signed petitions for against Indians to roam around Florida in 1825.  In tax records lists Sands with 1120 acres of pine land, 150 acres of oak and hickory land, and 18 negroes.

     Back to William Stanley.  He ended up moving from North Carolina to Kentucky with the Transylvania Company.  Just before the Revolutionary War occurred there was another war called Lord Dunmore's War.  In a nut shell it is about the governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, wanting to acquire more land that is now present day West Virginia and Kentucky.  This was the Indian's hunting ground.  Daniel Boone, trying to set up this area for settlers also came under attack.  Boone's oldest son James and another boy were captured and tortured to death in 1773.  In 1774 the Treaty of Camp Charlotte the Shawnee Indian's agreed to stop hunting south of the Ohio River and to stop harassment of the settlers coming into the land.  In 1775 the Cherokee Indians sold Kentucky to the Transylvania Company. 

Wilderness Road in 1785
Daniel Boone led settlers through this path to settle in Kentucky.

     The Transylvania Company was started in 1774 by a judge out of North Carolina by the name of Richard Henderson.  He was able to get wealthy North Carolinians to help support him by joining up and moving out to Kentucky. 

Daniel Boone and a few settlers overlooking a ridge
over by the Wilderness Road.

     William Stanley, being a planter in North Carolina became involved with the Transylvania Company that moved into Kentucky.  He wasn't one of the first families from North Carolina to go as he had a son, Mark Stanley, that was born in 1791 in North Carolina.  The next documents I can find
William Stanley is death in 1823 in Hopkins, Kentucky.  Somewhere between 1791 and 1823 made a journey with the Transylvania Company to take an adventure over through the Cumberland Gap on the Wilderness Road and made his way to Kentucky. 

     Mark Stanley, born in North Carolina, made the journey across the country, stopped in Tennessee and ended up in Williamson County, Marion, Illinois.  He was a farmer, had 11 children and his youngest two sons served in the Civil War.  My line continues on through one of his daughters, Mary Jane, his 6th child.  I wanted to focus on her younger brothers who fought and gave their lives in the Civil War, Charles Stanley and Elias Stanley.



     The brothers were born a year apart.   Charles was born 1837 and his brother Elias in 1838 both in  Tennessee.  The war between the states was going on.  Elias signed on with the Union Infantry 31st

Regiment Illinois, Company C at the age of 23.  He was married to Nancy Chitty at this time and had one child.  He was in the Battle of Vicksburg having served under U.S. Grant Union forces.  He was injured at a small battle at Hill's Plantation, near Bear Creek, on June 22, 1863 and died a few days later on June 25th.  Eight men were killed, 16 wounded and 23 went missing.  Out of all the Vicksburg's battles 10,142 Union soldier's perished including the two Stanley brothers.  I am not sure what happened to Charles Stanley.  I just know that he, too, died at the battle of Vicksburg. 

     It is bad enough for a mother to hear about the tragic news of losing her two youngest sons in a war battle.  But her sorrow's didn't end there.  Her husband, my 4th great grandfather died a month later on July 10, 1863 at the age of 72. 

I had family that fought on both sides of the Civil War.
More direct line fought for the Union.
Distant line fought for the Confederacy.



     Other distant cousins from the same family line also fought in the Civil War.  Hosea Stanley was in the 42nd Regiment under Major General E. Kirby Smith in March 1862 in Georgia.  So I had distant family also fighting for the Confederacy.  He ended up dying due to sickness in Gwinnett, GA., October 1862.  Another relative Henry S. Stanley was a private in Company of 16th Georgia Volunteers and took part in many battles in Virginia.  On June 1, 1864 he was captured by General Sheridan at Front Royal, Virginia.  He was exchanged on October 29, 1864 at Point Lookout, Maryland.  He was admitted in Wayside Hosptial in Richmond, VA. for being wounded.  He died at age 70. 

     Even though I have family on both sides of the Civil War I wonder if they knew of each other from letters from their parents send off to their siblings.  Did they even realize they were fighting against their distant cousins?  I may never know the answer to that but it is interesting to see how the family back in North Carolina forked by having some family go Northwest to Kentucky and some family went Southwest to Florida and Georgia. 

     A few more generations later from Mark Stanley and his daughter Mary Jane and we start getting closer to me.  The trials and historical events still surround my family from the Great Depression, to suffering and death of TB, and the rise of the auto industry in Michigan. 

     Like in the ending of Forrest Gump we are all feather's blowing in the wind of time.  Where will the wind of time take my siblings, take my nieces and nephew's, take my children, and take me?  We are just a speck in a moment of time.  It is what we do with that time that can make that moment memorable.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



      

An Interest In Genealogy

     As a young child I have always been interested in history.  I am not sure how that interest arose in me.  My mom never really was interested in the past nor were my sibilings.  Sometimes when I was little I would daydream about who, in the past, walked the same earthly grounds as I was walking.  Who would walk the same grounds after me?  We are only here on the Earth a short time.  Is it important to find out where we came from to let future generations know how they came to be?  I believe so.  We are only a small link in the chain of time from the past generations linking together the future generations. 

     My mother's mother (Nonnie is what we called her) used to have a Family Bible.  I am not sure if she bought it on her own to put newspaper clippings in or if her mother bought it for the same reason.  However she came to have the Family Bible wasn't important.  I just knew it wasn't that old.  But what it contained was the real treasure.  I remember going over to her apartment and thumbing through the newspaper clippings and reading old obituaries of distant relatives.  There was even a picture of a young girl who was probably a year or two older than me.  I asked Nonnie about this girl.  She would tell me she was related and that she died of leukemia.  Nonnie added on that due to chemotherapy she lost her hair.  She finished treatment and her hair finally started growing back and that picture was when her hair was somewhat long enough to look feminine even though it was still on the short side.  I would look at that picture and feel sad for her that she had to battle cancer at a young age and die.  I was still at the age where I pictured my Nonnie and Grandpa being one - having one family and not coming from their own families.  Being of a young age I was ignorant of the type of questions I needed to ask.  Sadly, Nonnie and Grandpa passed away before I became knowledgeable in the type of questions I needed to ask. 

     In that Family Bible a newspaper clipping caught my attention.  It was about a Levi or Lester Holbrook.  It was a good half page article about him.  I am trying to remember it now but it was an article celebrating a milemarker birthday and the things he has lived through.  That article has been misplaced through time but that was the key ingredient which started my journey on the family tree.  I remember it talked about either him or his dad fighting in the Civil War.  I remember he mentioned about the first house he had with his wife and how cold the winters were.  Snow would come in through the roof and in the morning him and his wife had to shake off the snow from their blankets.  They kept chickens in the crawl space between the ground and the floor.  I couldn't imagine having to live like that.  But people did back then.  But the name Holbrook stuck in my mind.  Who were the Holbrooks and how where they related? 

     I must of been 11 or 12 when I started my search.  Back then I didn't have the aid of computers like we do today.  The only way I could search was to ask family or go to the library.  The only family that was around was my great Aunt Elaine (Nonnie's sister who lived nearby where Nonnie and Grandpa used to live).  But I still didn't properly know what question's to ask.  I did make a list of questions about what school she went to, did she use horse and buggy (she laughed at that question) and if anything interesting happen in her life.  I should of asked her more about people, places and dates but I was still learning.  My great Aunt Elaine did tell me she was a journalist for the school newspaper and she got to interview Amelia Earhart when she came to Michigan.  How interesting that would of been!

     I dabbled on and off with the family tree during my adolescence.  I would go to the Hoyt Library, which is known for it's genealogy collection, and find information and take notes.  Sometimes years would pass before I would begin my search again on the family tree.  Each time I started to research my line I would pick up new information and clues as to who the Holbrook's were.  I finally discovered Holbrook was my grandfather's mother's maiden name.  I was so excited when I made that connection.  You would of thought I won the lottery by the way I was dancing around with merriment. 

My son Levi is named after the man sitting in this picture - Levi Holbrook (1859-1955)
His wife is Cynthia Jane (Burpo). 
My great grandmother, Opal Holbrook, is standing in front of her mom, Cynthia, just to the left of her dad.

     I seriously took another dive into family trees after I was married with children.  This time computers and the internet was well in use.  I bought a membership to Ancestry.com (you do not need a membership to get started if interested in doing a family tree of your own) and transerfer my written notes to the computer.  I would look at census records and find sibilings, where they lived, where they were from, etc.  I purchased birth and death certificates to aid in my search.  I even requested transcripts from Nonnie's old school and I was able to get a copy of it.  I was having a hayday finding out more and more information.

     Along my search I came in contact with my great Aunt Elaine's daughter who was also working on the family tree.  She shared so much information with me and I shared pictures I had of her and stories I knew.  She had notes back to a person from 1810 in Canada.  She also discovered that through marriage we were related to the Zehnder family.  Zehnder's is a very popular restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan famous for their chicken dinners. 

     On my mother's father's side I was able to trace it currently back to 1763.  I have been searching Revolutionary War records and I may have found that someone in the family fought for the Loyalist (The British) but I am still trying to confirm it.  That family really moved about from North Carolina to Kentucky to Illinois and finally to Michigan. 

     My dad's side came across Ellis Island in 1906 from Germany.  With the use of the computer I was able to discover what ship she was on and to see a picture of the ship.  We even had someone stay at the Ellis Island Hospital because she came down with the chicken pox and wasn't allowed entry into the US until she was cured. 

The Ship Patricia in 1909
 This is the ship my great grandmother rode
 on when she came to the United States.

     My husband and I started to work on his side of the family tree.  On our own we discoved that his roots started  in 1869 when an ancestor came from Norway.  We, too, came across a cousin who was also working hard with that line of the family tree and we exchanged notes from her.  She has gone far back in the line to 1570 in Norway and found we were related to the last nobleman of Semelenge in Norway.  In other words we were relaed to one of the old Viking Kings of Norway.


After Lars died in 1867 his wife, Anne, immigrated from Norway to North Dakota in 1869.



My son Halvor was named after Halvor Stensland,
son of Lars and Anne Stensland.
He was about 16 years old when he came to the US.
Halvor (1853-1922) is in the front row second from the right.



     You never know who you may run into while working on a family tree or what stories you may discover.  These stories, dates, and people are now going to be passed down to my children and to their children in case they every wonder how they came to be.  

     A family tree is never really finished.  People are born, people get married and people died.  It is forever changing.  New names and dates of events are constantly being added.   If you know the history around the time the ancestors were living you can get a bigger picture of their lives.