George Austin STAFFORD^[1]

1851 - 1935  (83 years)

• Name	George Austin STAFFORD
  Born	12 Sep 1851	Moore Co., North Carolina   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Census	1880	Montague Co., Texas
  Census	1900	Montague Co., Texas
  Census	1920	Sour Lake, Hardin Co., Texas
  _UID	AC08459A38AC974297415162FB0FB857F43B
  Died	31 Aug 1935	Sour Lake, Hardin Co., Texas
  Buried	Montague Co., Texas
  Person ID	I1768	Branch 030 Jesse Stafford 1790 NC
  Last Modified	13 Apr 2011

  
  

  Father	Isaac STAFFORD,   b. 13 May 1823, North Carolina ,   d. 7 Aug 1898, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 75 years)
  Mother	Sarah Ann WILLIAMS,   b. Abt 1814, North Carolina ,   d. 8 Sep 1881, Montague Co., Texas  (Age ~ 67 years)
  Married	Abt 1843	North Carolina
  Family ID	F13874	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Eliza Ophelia HILL,   b. 5 Apr 1858, Columbia Co., Florida ,   d. 29 Jul 1950, Corpus Christi, Nueces Co., Texas  (Age 92 years)
  Married	1 Feb 1876	Montague Co., Texas
  Children	1. Sarah Estelle STAFFORD,   b. 16 Feb 1877, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 14 Jan 1964, Tillman Co., Oklahoma  (Age 86 years)   2. Austin McQuinnie STAFFORD,   b. Aug 1879, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Hester Mattie STAFFORD,   b. 20 Sep 1881, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. Jul 1978, Frederick, Tillman Co., Oklahoma  (Age 96 years)   4. Daisy Genevieve STAFFORD,   b. 15 Sep 1886, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 10 Jan 1982, Caldwell, Burlington Co., Texas  (Age 95 years)   5. Roy Madison STAFFORD,   b. 2 May 1889, Raton, Chavez Co., New Mexico ,   d. 19 Aug 1969, Jefferson Co., Texas  (Age 80 years)   6. Annie Ophelia STAFFORD,   b. 14 Dec 1892, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 20 Sep 1955, Corpus Christi, Nueces Co., Texas  (Age 62 years)   7. Addie Lorena STAFFORD,   b. 17 May 1895, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 17 Apr 1976, Cooke Co., Texas  (Age 80 years)   8. George Ezra STAFFORD,   b. 6 Jan 1899, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 31 May 1971, Beaumont, Jefferson Co., Texas  (Age 72 years)   9. Jessie E. STAFFORD,   b. 15 Aug 1901, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 25 Sep 2001, Cisco, Eastland Co., Texas  (Age 100 years)   10. Georgia M. STAFFORD,   b. 28 May 1883, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 13 Mar 1886, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 2 years)   11. Vera A. STAFFORD,   b. 25 May 1885, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 25 Oct 1885, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 0 years)   12. Willie H. STAFFORD,   b. 14 Sep 1890, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 14 Sep 1891, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 1 years)   13. Effie J. STAFFORD,   b. 16 Jan 1898, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 3 Feb 1898, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 0 years)   14. Bessie A. STAFFORD,   b. 15 Aug 1901, Montague Co., Texas ,   d. 11 Nov 1902, Montague Co., Texas  (Age 1 years)
  Last Modified	24 Jun 2020
  Family ID	F726	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  They had 14 children. George Austin Stafford was also a mechanical whiz and inventor. He created a harvesting machine that apparently pre-dated the McCormick invention but he didn't patent it in time to make his fortune from it. As a young man he lost his arm in a threshing machine (I wonder if he was tinkering with it at the time). To eat his meals one-handed, he invented a "knife-fork", a double-sided implement. I have a photograph of it, given to me by his granddaughter. On the 1930 census, he gives his occupation as "inventor". His sons often list occupations that have to do with mechanics or engineering. And the youngest brother of the bunch, Isaac Branson "Branty", also worked with machinery in a planing mill. Either it's genetic or Isaac (their father) had a huge influence on the proclivity of his sons, eh? It has come down to my generation. Lorenza Derwin Barnett, George's grandson, was always figuring out ways to make things run better or jury-rigging apparatus on the farm. My dad, Harold, has been the same way his whole life -- there was always something disassembled on the kitchen table on weekends. He, like George Stafford's sons, worked in the oil business, hands-on machinery and equipment work. And my little brother, Bill, was a gifted auto mechanic until his death at 42. How incredible to get this story from you. I am so, so grateful for your compilation and sharing. This is what family research should look like. Bless you. -- Meg Barnett George A. Stafford moved to Texas with his parents from North Carolina by horse and covered wagon, settling in Montague Co. where he owned the Circle S. Ranch. The family moved to Belcherville from Montague around 1903 or 1904, and lived there until around 1912, when they moved to Sour Lake, Texas in Hardin County. One source says he is buried in Sour Lake, Hardin Co., TX; another says he is buried in Beaumont, Jefferson Co., TX. George A. Stafford was an inventor, co-owner of the Stafford and Robinson Straw Binder Harvester Manufacturing Company which sold shares in 1891 in Montague Co., TX. Some reports states this binder was in operation before McCormick started manufacturing their bind that mechanized agriculture. He lost his arm at "65 years of age, July 10, 1935, at 5:00." Family story says he lost his arm to the strawbinder machine -- didn't see a doctor right away, blood poisoning set in and he had to have it amputated. George was, according to one family story, a gambler and won a saloon in Raton, NM which he ran for a while but sold because "he saw too many men spending money on booze when they had hungry children at home." He was buried on 1 September 1935 in Beaumont, Jefferson Co.,TX Census: Listed as G. A. Stafford, a farmer, with wife E.O., daughter S. E. and son A. M. Parents born in NC. Justice Precinct 4. Listed as George A. Stafford, a farmer, with wife Eliza and children Austin M., Hattie M., Daisy G., Roy M., Annie O., Addie L. & George E. Wife had 12 children with 8 surviving. Listed as George Stafford, an oil pumper, with wife Eliza, son George and daughter Jessie. Died: After George's death, his widow moved to Corpus Christi in Nueces Co., TX

  
  

• Sources

  [S92] Stafford Data Branch 62. [S4865] Bible Record (Reliability: 2).