John Stansbury of Leominster
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THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN STANSBURY OF LEOMINSTER COMPILED BY FREDERlCI{ HO\VARD WINES }"OR 1'IIE INFOR~IATION OF THE FA~HLY SPRI N<i l•'J ELl>. 1 LL.: Ttn: JI. W. IWKI,.f,;lt l'HISTl:NG IIOl::il-:. Desce·ndants of John Stansbury of Leominster 1670=1895 PREF,ACE. :Mr. Paul Bourget laughs at the Americans, because they desire to know who were their grandfathers. Let him laugh. The desire is the indication of a wish to escape the unrest of American life. All intelligent people instinctively feel that, in a world where every thing changes-residence, fortune, occupation, friends-one thing can not change, namely, one's place in the social organization as shown by one's birth and family connections. ~or is the knowl edge of one's family any less important in ,t republic than whern rank is recognized. frdeed; it is in a sense more important. Its prospective is even greater than its present utility; and, if the record is not now made up, while the country is still young, while the traditions of the elders are fresh in our recollection and the ramifications of relationship are not yet too multiplied to be man ageable, the origin of American families must be forever lost to those who come after us. Especially are we concerned to know how om lifo is connected with the life of the nations from which our n,ncCJstors emigrated, n,nc1_ ,vhat is the precise admixture of blood in our hereLlitary composition. The interest in genertlogicoJ re search, unde1· existing corn1itions, in the United States, is therefore not only n11turnl but commendable. 'rhe notion that tliis interest has its origin in a rlesire to estttblish a cl11im to superior considera tion on the ground of inherited rank, is absurd. It rests in fact upon family affection, which is no less strong in the humble tlrnn in the gren,t. This rc:con1 of one family is, as ·will be seen, an international re cord, anc1 in that respect it is somewhat unique. It is believed to . JV ~'rANSHURY PAMJLY. be exceptionally complete. In its preparation the author has had posterity in mind, and he cherishes the hope that its publication will have the· effect of stimulating the younger members of the family to greater emulation in the effort to achieve nobility of character. For, where rank does not exist, the only earthly honor is in self-conquest and achie:vement. The consciousness that the conduct of a.a.ch individual member of a family necessarily reflects credit or discredit upon all its members, is a powerful stimulant to integrity and 1>urity of life. The past we can not alter, but the future is ~easurably in our control, and our motto must be, Ad astra per aspera. The family of which a list is given in this pamphlet is not the only family of the same name in the United States; but the con nection, if any, pet ween this and the oth~rs can .not be traced. They may be connected through some remote ancestor in Eng land. There were Stansburys here fo:r · at least a century before Joseph Stansbury landed in Philadelphia in 1767. Some of them can be named, as follows: 1H78. In an "Act for 1>n.y1n~t & assessing the puhlicke charges of this province,'' by the General Assembly of Maryland, Novem ber, 1678, three hundred pounds of tobacco were ordered to be de~ livered to John Stanbury, of Chester county. (Archivesoj·-'-llary land). 1681. By a similar act, in September, 1681, two hundred and sixty. pounds of tobacco are or<lered to be delivered to ToLias Stan Lorrow. (Ibid). 170-!. Na.than Sta.nbury or Stansbury (the name is spelled Loth ways)' was appointed .by the Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsyl- vania, April -1, 170!, justice of the county court; he was ap- pointed, Septe1nhor 1, 1'717, ju~tice of the peace. (Colonial lfr cord.~, v. 2, P~ 15!); v. 3, p. 28). 1750. l~lisha. Sta.nshnrry, a. prisoner of war at l\Iontrcal, ,vas surrendered, Ly the n1ilitary authorities of ~ew France, to Lieu tcuant Stu<l<lcrt, of_ tho Ne.w York I11fa11try (British colouial), aud PREFACE. V he left l\fontreal, June 26, 1750, for Fort St. Frederick. Presum ably this is the same person reported as a mem·ber of Col. John Parker's company, on an expedition to Ticonderoga, who was miss ing, and probably killed, at Sabbath Day Point, July 26, 1757. (V. Y. Colon·ial llecords, v. 10; J>ennsylva.nia A rchi·ves, v. 3). 17GO. Tobias Stansbury (son of 'fobias Stanborro,v ?) was cap tain in the l!al~imore militia. (Archives oj· .Jlargla11d). 17;j6. General rr.obias E. Stansbury, born in 17:iU, was·Speaker of the l1ary1and House of Delegates, B1·igadier-General of lfilitia in the War of 181 :! against England, and commanded n brigade· in the Lattle of Inadeusuurg and the defence of llalti1nore. He died in Baltimore county, October 2!':i, 184!>. ( Drake's· Dictionary of A,nerican Biography, p. 860). --. Adonijah Stansbury, of Delaware, was a loyalist in tbe An1erican Revolution, and is said to have become a settler at \Vyoming, Pa., "where he ,vas soon recognized as a disguised ent:nny." (Sabine's American Loyalists, p. 629). To the names above cited m;i.y be added others of later date: A sol<lier in the Revolution, \Villia1n Stansberry, in the Fourth Company of the First Regiment of the New Yo1·k Lii~e, was made . a corporal, November 21, 177U; taken pris~ner of war, OctoLer. 2a, 1777; and deserted, No,re1:11her ~G, 17RO. (Pennsylvania .Archives).· Joseph Stansbury an.a Benjamin Stansbury were ensigns in the llalthnore County ~Iilitia, in 1 77U, from the J~ack River Lower Country. (A 1·chii:es of 1\larylantl). J. J. Stn.ushury was a privateer on the Chnsseur, in the \Var of 1811. (Scharf's Chronicles of 13altinwre, p. 372). Charlt3s Stnnsbnry was cou11nissionecl in the Arn1y, 1 H1 ~L (Ibid. p. 34:fi). Daniel Sta11shury was the author of Nautical rraLles, New Yorli, 1822. I>hilip Stnn~Lury, born at New York, 1802, (crroneonsly state<! Ly Appleton to have l,ocn a t,OH of JoBoph Htaut;l,ury, of Philu,tlcl- . VI STANSBURY FAl\IILY. phia), was author of "A Pedestrian Tour of Two Thousand Three Hundred Miles in N o.rth America, to the Lnkes, the Canadas, and the ~ew Euglautl States,'' published in New York, in 1822, which was caustically handled by Edward Everett in the North American llcview. Ile died about 1870. \Villiam Stansberry, born in Essex ·county, N. J., was a Repre sentative in Congress from Ohio, 1827-1833, \Vhe1·e a personal assault was made upon him by Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas, for ,vortls uttered in debate. James B. Stansbury was a Director of the Baltimo1·e and Sus quehanna Railroad,, 1829. (Scltarf's Chronicles, p. 431.) - · John E. Stansbury was Mayor of Baltimore in 1849. Smith Stansbury, born in Louisiana, was appointed cadet, from }.faryland, at "\Vest Point, 1837; comn1issioned, 1841, brevet Sec ond Lieutenant of Ordnance, U. S. A.; resigned, 184-!; clerk in a Baltimore banking house, 1848-1861; served in the Coofeder ate Army, dur_ing the Ci_vil ,var; died, 186!, at St. John's, N~ B. Henry StaD:bery, born at New York, February 20, 1803, was a son of Dr. Jonas Stanbery, who removed from Ne,v York to Zanes ville, 0., in 1814. Ho "'as made Attorney-General of the United States in 1866, and acted as counsel for !>resident Andrew John son, when an attempt ,vas made to impeach him before the Senate. He was an eminent memLer of the Ohio bar, an<l resided at Cin cinnati, where he <lied, 1881. The existence of more than one Stansbury family in England is shown by the following extract from the Encyclopedia of Heraldry: '' STANilRJtY. Per pale argent and or, a. lion rampant, sable. "8TANHUHY or ST.\NIII~HIE. (8tnubcri.iu ?\[orwiustow, County of Cornwall; tho heiress of tho clllcr lino 111.. :Munning; a younger l>ru.uch was of \rest Stanberie, and another of Cliff; Richard Stanberie, bisllop of Hcrcforcl, was a younger son of this fan1ily). Per pale azure and or, a lion rampant, couutcrchangcd: crescent, a lion ran1punt. "STANBUUY. J>er pulo argent null or, a lion passnut, between three torteaux. H ~TANBUUY or HTF.YNnUnY. Per po.lo nrgcut and 01·, n lion rampant, per fess gnlG~ a11d i;al>ln." .. PHEF.!CE. Vil · The similarity in these coats of arm~ is striking. The four shields are <li vided per pale, that is, perpendicularly;. three of them are argent and or, the fourth azure and or; three of them have a, lion rampant, the fourth a lion passant. One of the lions is sable, one counterchanged. One shield bears in addition to a lion three torteaux, an(l one is divided both per pale aud per fess. 'fhe near resemblance, however, suggests the probability of a blood connection between the four families. The large family of Stansburys in the United States not con nected, so far as kn~wn, with the American descendants of J·obn of Leominster, is probably a. branch of the Steynburys mentioned above. They have a tradition that t~ey are of German origin, and that their German name was Steinberg. Prof. Recompense Stanbery, of Dallas, Texas, had, at the time oJ his death, collected a mass of material concerning them,_ numbering several thousand names, which, it is to be hoped, may be published at some fut~re day.