John Stafford Sr. (abt. 1669 - bef. 1735)

Born about 1669 in York County, Virginia Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Wyatt) Stafford — married before 1693 in York County, Colony of VIrginia [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before Mar 1735 before about age 66 in Bath, Beaufort County, North Carolina Colony

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Biography

John Stafford Sr. was a Virginia colonist.

John Stafford was born about 1669 in York County, Virginia Colony. He was the son of William Stafford and Jane Brown.^{[citation needed]}

There are a number of printed secondary sources which assert that John Stafford I, was the son of a William Stafford II and the grandson of William Stafford I. ^[1][2][3][4] However, none of these documents provide any convincing proof that John Stafford was indeed a grandson of the above William Stafford and his putative wife, Ann Mason.

John married Ann Wyat, daughter of John Wyatt, before 1693 in York County, Colony of VIrginia.^[5]

Indeed, there is no consensus as to the identity of William I's wife.

Their known children (first three born in York Co., Virginia; remainder in Bath County, North Carolina):

1. William
2. John
3. Joshua
4. Edward
5. Thomas
6. Dinah.

By 1700 the family had moved to Bath County, North Carolina in the area that later became Beaufort County.

By at least 1714 they were living in Beaufort County, North Carolina.

"At a court held the 17th day of xber [December] anno dom 1714 Present His Majesties Justices....Granted John Stafford and Ann his wife, Daughter of John Wyatt, William Cording as intermarrying the widow of the said Wyat deceased 14.8.3 appearing due for the said Ann's part, and ordered to be paid the same out of the Estate of Deceased," and "Received of William Cording, Executor of the estate of John Wyat, the sum of fourteen pounds, eight shillings, and three pence, being the full sum due to the daughter Ann of the said John Wyat in Virginia as her part of the appraisement, and by order of Court, (which said Ann Wyat is now my wife) we say received by us this 5th day of August 1715." It is signed by the marks of John Stafford and Ann Wyatt Stafford.^[6]

On June 7, 1727, James Welch sold to John Stafford 381 acres in Bath County on the north side of Pantigo Creek, according to Beaufort County, NC, Record Book I (Real Estate Record I 1696-1729), p 534. John Stafford's will is dated May 15, 1733, Bath Co., NC., and was probated March 13, 1736 before Jno. Collison. The son William received a plantation on the south side of Broad Creek; John received "my plantation I now dwell on" 100 acres; Joshua received 100 acres of land; Edward was willed 180 acres on Creek Swamp; and Thomas got land on the north side of Broad Creek. The daughter Dinah Stafford received a box of irons and heaters. The remainder of the estate was to be sold and proceeds equally divided among the children, except for William. John Stafford, Jr., was Executor of the will. Thomas Batters was appointed to oversee the estates of the four youngest children which raises an interesting question. The Franklin book's birthdates for the children shows that the youngest was 28 when her father's will was written. According to Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Vol. 8, p. 324, the son Joshua was b. ca. 1725.

Death and Legacy

John passed away before March 1735 in Bath County, North Carolina. Last Will & Testament of John Stafford, written 15 May 1733, probated March 1735.^[7]

In the name of God amen. The fifteenth of May in the year of our Lord, 1733. I, John Stafford, in the County of Bath (North Carolina) being in good health and in perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto God. Therefore, calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, I make and ordain this my last will and testament, that is to say, principally, and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it, and for my body, recommend it to ___ the earth to be buried in a Christian-like and decent manner at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the general resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the might power of God. And as touching such wordly estate where with it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give denise? and dispose of the same in following manner and form:
I give and bequeath to my son, William Stafford, all my land lying on the south side of Broad Creek.
I give and bequeath to my son, John Stafford, my plantation I now dwell on, containing one hundred acres.
I give and bequeath to my son, Joshua Stafford, one hundred acres joyning to the hundred acres that belongs to the plantation part.
I give and bequeath to my son, Edward Stafford, one hundred and eighty acres of land lying up the Creek Swamp, being the upper part of the tract.
I give and bequeath to son, Thomas Stafford, the remaining of that tract of land that I gave to my son, William Stafford, lying on the north side Broad (Creek).
I give and bequeath to my son, William Stafford, five cows and calves and four three-year-old steers.
I give and bequeath to daughter, Dinah Stafford, one box iron and heaters.
And the rest of my estate, I give to be equally divided between my son, John Stafford, and my son, Thomas Stafford, and my son, Joshua Stafford, and my son, Edward Stafford, and my daughter, Dinah Stafford.
I likewise constitute, make and ordain, my son, John Stafford, to be my whole and sole Executor of this my last will and testament by them freely to be passed, and do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul and every other former testaments, wills and legacies bequests executed by me in any was before this time named willed and bequeathed notifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day above written.
I make and appoint my trusted briend, Thomas Batters, to have the overseeing of my four youngest children and their estates.
John Stafford (His Seal)
Mary Batters
Larkis? Batters
Thomas Batters

Sources

1. ↑ Frances Sample Franklin, The Ancestry of Frances Sample Franklin (Wolfe City, TX: Henington Publishing Co, 1972; pages 70, 71,72
2. ↑ G. M. G. Stafford, General Leroy Augustus Stafford, His Forebears and Descendants (Baton Rouge, LA, 1969, reprint)
3. ↑ Annie Elizabeth Miller, Our Family Circle (Macon, GA, 1931)
4. ↑ Stafford Chart, compiled by Margaret Davis Cate, Sea Island, GA, 1952.
5. ↑ Joel Hager's Research; Gencircles Online Database (www.gencircles.com); 23 January 2002. BETTER SOURCE SOUGHT.
6. ↑ "North Carolina Marriages, 1759-1979," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F895-1J7 : accessed 26 November 2015), John Stafford and Ann Wyat, 1715; citing Beaufort Co. North Carolina, reference deed book p 303 1701; FHL microfilm 18,192.
7. ↑ Abstract of will posted on NCgenweb.

See also:

• Descendants of Haute Wyatt