Jeremiah Stillwell (bef. 1715 - aft. 1790)

Ancestors

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bruce Maple [send private message]

Biography

John E. Stillwell wrote: ^[1]:

"Jeremiah Stillwell, supposed son of Elias Stillwell, 4, was a pioneer settler in Pennsylvania, with Elias and Richard Stillwell.

1744, Jan. 7. I suspect that he was the Jeremiah Stillwell who had a warrant issued to him, at this date, for a survey of one hundred and forty-three acres, in Lancaster County, which land, in 1806, was owned by John Mummart, and called Aberdeen, Berwick Township, Adams County, Penn.

1775. Jeremiah Stillwell was one of the Freeholders of Berkeley County, Virginia, who petitioned the Virginia Convention in 1775. Virginia Magazine of Hist, and Biog., Vol. 13, p. flf.

1782-1785. In the Virginia State Census of this date appears in Pittsylvania County:

Jacob Stillwell—6 whites in family in 1782.

Jacob Stillwell, Jr.—3 whites in family in 1782 and 1785.

1790. In the United States Census of this date appears in Burke County, North Carolina:

John Stillwell—1 white male over 16 years, 3 do under 16 years, 3 white females.

Jeremy Stillwell—1 white male over 16 years and 1 white female.

Jacob Stillwell—2 white males over 16 years, 1 do under 16 years, 1 white female.

In December, 1880, Dr. Joseph A. Stillwell, of Brownstown, Ind., supplied the following information to B. M. Stilwell, Esq., which, from the similarity of names and locality, leads me to believe that this branch descends from Elias Stillwell, 4, of Middletown, N. J., who died 1715:

“Jeremiah Stillwell and his sister Karien Happuch, were born and raised in Eastern Pennsylvania. He (Jeremiah Stillwell) left his family on account of the law of primogeniture, took a horse he claimed as his, but knew him to belong to his oldest brother under the law, and went to Fairfax, Va., where he married Rachel Reynolds, an Irish woman. He either preached there or became a preacher, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and emigrated South, and went through Virginia, Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky to Clark’s grant, in Indiana, where he farmed and raised one daughter and five sons.”

Issue:

79 Thomas S. Stillwell married and had a large family

80 Margaret Stillwell married Mr. Tanner and had a large family

81 Jacob L. Stillwell married and had a large family

82 Samuel Stillwell died single

83 Charles Wesley Stillwell had a son: Dr. Joseph A. Stillwell born about 1831; of Brownstown, Ind., in 1880, when he wrote: “I am living within two miles of my birthplace, practicing medicine at the age of 49 years.”

So singular is the name Karien Happuch that I venture the suggestion that it should be Marion, instead of Karien. If so, it would at once suggest an alliance to the family of Elias Stillwell, of Hancock, Md. Phonetically the name Karien has an alliance to Catharine.

The following Jacob Stillwell is also allied to this group of Stillwells.

Jacob Stillwell, resident of Troup County, Georgia, aged 77 years, made application for a pension Jan. 7, 1833. He was born Jan. 25, 1755, in Bedford County, N. C. [I find no county of that name in North Carolina, and it probably should read Bedford County, Pa. or Va.], and moved at a very early age to Petsylvaney [Pittsylvania] County, Va. That deponent had a record of his age which was recorded by the deponent’s father and was by the deponent transcribed in his family Bible. The deponent was living in Caswell County, N. C., when he entered the service of the U. S. After the war he settled in Pitsylvaney County, Va.; moved to the County of Green, in Ga., to the County of Jones, to the County of Monroe, and then to the County of Troup, where he now resides. Enlisted in the 1st N. C. Regiment under Col. Thurston, Henry Dixon, Captain, and was stationed at Wilmington near six months. [His further movements are given in detail, having service in North Carolina, in Virginia, in Maryland, at Philadelphia, Trenton, at the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, etc.] He was inoculated for Small Pox, helped to build bridges, boats and breastworks. He was a fifer for four years and received a commission as fife-major, and served as such three years and over. Also further service in South Carolina. His total service covers seven years. At the date of his application he resided at Henry County, N. C., and he signed it with a trembling hand. It would have been favorably acted upon but he died Oct. 11,1834. Pension Bureau, Washington, D. C. "

Sources

1. ↑ John E. Stillwell, "The History of Captain Nicholas Stillwell", New York, (1929)

• Stillwell, John E.. The History of Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family in America. New York: 1929.