| Notes |
Served in the Union Army prior to coming to Tennessee.
My great grandfather carried the name Thomas Stafford. Some family info used Luther as his middle name but no confirmation of that has been found. Family history says he was born in Virginia about 1816 and died in Stiversville (Maury County) Tennessee in 1888. The story goes that he left Ireland as a stow-away aboard a ship and was caught, then sold into indentured servitude upon arrival in the US to pay his passage. It goes on to add that he was trained as a stone mason and released after only a couple of years. The next part of the story is that he married and raised a family, left for the Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865, (we have a photo of him in uniform), and upon his return from the war, found his family gone. We figured they may have thought he was dead. After that, he met and married Sarah Ann Brown about 1867 (she went by Sally or Sallie and born about 1839 in North Carolina). She had a son she brought into the marriage named Walter Brown. (Ref: 1870 Census) He often went by Walter Stafford in life. They settled down in the area of Spring Creek, Madison County, North Carolina, had a son they named Luther. Then they moved to Stiversville, (Maury County), Tennessee around 1871 They had several more children before they died. Sarah (died 1915) is said to be buried in next to Grissoms in an unmarked grave in Lynnville, TN and Thomas (died 1888) is said to be buried in the New Ramie Cemetery in Culleoka, TN. No marker can be found on him there, either.
THOMAS & SARAH ANN (BROWN)STAFFORD CHILDREN:
Walter Brown, son of Sarah, seemed to have disappeared. No futher record has been found on him that can be confirmed as yet.
Luther W Stafford (The Thomas and Sarah Stafford family bible showed his middle initial as W but he used S for some reason thoughout his life) moved west, married Nancy LaRue, and is buried in Oklahoma.
Ervin M. (went by Robert and Bob) Stafford moved west, then met and married Martha E. Blankenship, and is buried in Oklahoma.
Martha H Stafford (used Lucinda as her middle name and went by Mattie) met and married William R Grisson and remained on the old farm in Stiversville, TN and is buried in Lynnville, TN.
Almond Dugger Stafford also remained in Stiversville, met and married Mattie Lou Barrett, and is buried in Lynnville, TN.
The family bible also contained a record of children born named Allen and Mary C. Allen is shown on one Census record in 1880 as 7 months old. Mary does not appear on any of the Census reports. Sarah is shown on the 1880 Census record as 11 years old but is not listed in the Thomas and Sarah Stafford family bible. It is believed that all three of these children of Thomas and Sarah died at an early age.
Our family has spent years trying to find some documented evidence of who and where Thomas and Sarah were and where they came from (parents, siblings, etc). The Civil war photo of Thomas is all we have. No one in our family has been able to find one of Sarah. The only close evidence is the Census reports showing Thomas born in Virginia (no evidence if that is Virginia, USA or Virginia County, Ireland) and Sarah born in North Carolina. There are numerous Thomas Staffords and Sarah Ann Browns but none ever match the birth and location dates accurately.
Born:
- 1880 Census has him and his parents born in VA.
Emigration:
- Came to the U. S. as a stowaway on a ship from Ireland at about 16 years of age. He was caught and sold as an Indentured Servant.
Census:
- Listed as Thomas Stafford, a farmer b. VA, with wife Sarah and children Walter and Luther Stafford.
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Abt 1816 - 1887 (~ 71 years)
