Thomas STAFFORD, (Branch 002)^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

Abt 1605 - 1677  (~ 72 years)

• Name	Thomas STAFFORD
  Suffix	(Branch 002)
  Born	Abt 1605	Warwickshire, England   [5]
  Gender	Male
  Emigration	1626	Warwickshire, England to Rhode Island
  Occupation	Miller--first water powered mill in America
  _UID	950B58562DC99649ABF32AB3EF29A2CF2711
  Died	4 Nov 1677	Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island   [6]
  Buried	Old Stafford Cem., Conabicut Pt, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island
  Person ID	I18734	Branch 201 Thomas Stafford b. 1801 NC
  Last Modified	5 Mar 2018

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth RIPPON,   b. 1614, Warwickshire, England ,   d. 1677, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 63 years)  [7]
  Married	Abt 1633  [7]
  Children	1. Thomas STAFFORD, Jr.,   b. 1634, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 26 Jan 1723, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 89 years)   2. Samuel STAFFORD,   b. 1636, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 20 Mar 1718, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 82 years)   3. Hannah STAFFORD,   b. 1640, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 1692, Stonington, New London Co., Connecticut  (Age 52 years)   4. Sarah STAFFORD,   b. 1646, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 1669, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 23 years)   5. Joseph STAFFORD,   b. 21 Mar 1648, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 28 Jan 1731, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 82 years)   6. Deborah STAFFORD,   b. 1651, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island ,   d. 1706, Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island  (Age 55 years)
  Last Modified	25 Jun 2020
  Family ID	F7089	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  In John Osborne Austin's "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island"(GDRI) it is stated that Thomas first landed at Plymouth, Mass. His occupation is listed as a miller and he is said to have built the first mill for grinding corn with water-power. On May 20, 1638 his name appears on a list of inhabitants of Newport, Rhode Island. In Gary Boyd Roberts's "Genealogies of Rhode Island Families" quotes two other genealogy works that Thomas and his brother John arrived in The New World in a vessel of their own. I have not been able to find any other trace of John. It also states the Thomas and John were the sons of Lord Stafford of Staffordshire. In 1655 he was recorded in "the Roule of ye Freeman of ye Colonie" as "Freeman of the Towne of Warwicke" (GDRI). A possible clue as to Thomas's origins follows. According to Phillip Stafford, he obtained the following in Dec. 1934 from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 124 E. 56th St., New York City NY from records supplied to the Society by the late Martin H. Stafford of Albany NY: " Several branches descend from Sir John Stafford who held the manor of Bromshulf, County Stafford, in 1361. He had two sons, Sir Ralph Stafford of Grafton, County Worcester, and Sir Humphrey Stafford ofHook, County Dorset. Thomas Stafford who came to America in 1626 was descended from Sir Ralph Stafford of Grafton. Sir Ralph married Maud, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Hastang of Leamington, County Warwick. Ralph had two sons, Humphrey and John. Humphrey had three sons, John, Humphrey and William. John died without issue. Humphrey and William died in trying to quell Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450. Humphrey had four sons. William had one son, John, from whom Thomas, who came to America, was descended." In the publication "A Contribution to the Genealogy of the Stafford Family in America: containing An Account of Col. Joab Stafford, and a complete record of his descendents in the Male Lines." by Henry Marvin Benedict: published Albany ; Joel Munse It states the following: "The first Stafford who came to this country was Thomas born about 1605 in Warwickshire, England. He emigrated to Plymouth in New England, in or about 1626, and was among the inhabitants admitted "at the Toune of Nieu-Port Thomas Stafford is recorded, 1655, in "the Roule of ye Freemen of y' Clonie" as "Freeman of the Towne of Warwicke." In 1662 he was granted fifty acres of land in Connecticut by the General Court, and may possibly have stayed there for a few years In the will of Thomas Stafford, made Nov 4, 1677, just before his death and proved on 27 Apr 1678, mention is made of his wife Elizabeth, (and we know nothing further of her) to whom he left one half of his dwelling house, orchard, meadow and othe "The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island Comprising three Generations of Settlers who came before 1690" by John Osborn Austin (Albany 1887, Pg 219) says Thomas was a miller who came from England about 1626 to Plymouth, MA.

  
  

• Sources

  [S154] Imported GEDCOM file. [S345] Stafford Data Branch 4. [S7800] A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of. [S7906] Genealogy of the Stafford family in America contai. [S405] "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" by John. [S1504] Letter from Mike Stafford, Ltr Calvin Down. [S418] New England Marriages prior to 1700 by Torrey.