| Notes |
- The only known child of Absalom Stafford was a daughter named Sarah who married Andrew Dials, was widowed at a young age, then married Michael Stump. John Miles Stafford, who married Nancy Runyon, may have also been a descendant. For various reasons, researchers think that John and Absalom were probably related. Absalom was possibly John's grandfather, uncle, or some other close relative. It appears that Absalom was at least 44 years older than John.
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"Early Adventurers On The Western Waters" Vol. II 1982 by Mary B. Kegley:
Montgomery County marriages 1777-1830
"Aug. 20, 1788 Michael Stump, son of Catereen [Catherine] Stump who gave consent, and SARAH Dials, widow of Andrew Dyals and DAUGHTER OF ABSLUM STAFFORD who gave consent, sur. George Hansley [Hensley]."
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Both Sarah and her husband Michael Stump obtained the consent of a parent when they married, indicating that they were both under age 21. Sarah's birth date has been shown as 1768, and Absalom's as 1738, but no proof of those dates has been found. It does seem reasonable that Sarah was 20 when she married Michael Stump in 1788, since she'd already been married and widowed, yet she still needed her father's consent to marry.
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Sarah's first husband Andrew Dials was killed by Indians in April 1786, outside his home where Sarah was preparing to cook a meal. This was about 1½ miles east of where the town of Tazewell, Virginia now stands. The account of his death is given on the Russell County Virginia GenWeb. The first part says "a man of the name of Dial" and the second part shows that it was Andrew Dials. The youngest child of Andrew Dials and Sarah Stafford was a daughter named Polly. She may have had one or more older siblings.
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Dial and Thomas Killed In Tazewell
By Emory L. Hamilton
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From the unpublished manuscript, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, pages 153-154.
Benjamin Thomas settled in the year 1773, near the forks of Clinch River, in what is now Tazewell Co., VA, and was a near neighbor to Captain Robert Moffett whose two sons were captured by the Indians in 1782.
Pendleton, History of Tazewell County, page 459, states:
On April 11, 1786, two men were killed by Indians within half a mile of William Wynn's Fort at Locust Hill, and near the forks of the Clinch, about one and a half mile east of Tazewell.
Matthias Harman and Benjamin Thomas were returning from a scouting expedition, as there were reports current the Indians were prowling around the neighborhood. The scouts stopped at John Peery's near where a man of the name of Dial was living. Dial, it is said, had liquor for sale, and he, and Thomas and Harman imbibed so freely that they became intoxicated. Harman and Thomas had come from their scouting expedition very hungry, and they requested Mrs. Dial to prepare dinner for them. Dial and Thomas started to the woods to get the fuel, and when they got to the end of the lane, about two hundred yards from the house, they were fired upon by six or seven Indians, who had been lying in ambush. Three balls entered Dial's body, but he was able to run to his house, pursued by one of the Indians, who was anxious to kill and scalp him. When they got near the house, the Indian saw other men there and he ran swiftly back to his companions. Dial fell against the chimney corner from exhaustion and died in a few hours from his wounds. Only one of the Indians shot at Thomas and he was so close that Thomas struck the gun up when it was fired. The ball struck an oak tree several feet above Thomas' head. He was knocked down by a war club by one of the Indians, and was scalped and left for dead. Harman, a son of old Henry Harman, ran out of the house, mounted his horse and pursued the Indians for some distance. He dared them to stop and fight, but they were too near Wynn's Fort to accept the challenge, and made their escape as rapidly as possible.
Thomas was supposed by Harman to be dead, and was left where he had fallen until the next morning, when he was found by the kind old Quaker, William Wynn. Thomas was taken to Wynn's Fort and every effort was made to save his life, but he died after lingering several days.
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This file contributed by: Rhonda Robertson
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Additional Information has been submitted by Dorsey Jude, Jr. regarding this incident: from the book "Archives of the Pioneers of Tazewell County, Virginia" by Netti Schreiner-Yantis page 83, Tazewell County Order Book No. 1, October 1807: "(271) It is ordered to be certified to the Register of the Land Office that Polly Dials is the youngest child of Andrew Dials, Dec'd. and that she is now 21 years of age and that the said Andrew Dials was killed by the Indians in the year 1787."
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Note: According to this, Andrew Dials died on April 11, 1786, and he and Sarah Stafford Dials had at least one child, a daughter named Polly, who was 21 years old in 1807. If Polly Dials was 21 years old in 1807, she was born about 1786 and was just a baby when her father was killed. Since it says "youngest child of Andrew Dials", he may have also had other children.
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After her first husband died, Sarah Stafford Dials married Michael Stump in 1788 in Montgomery County. Michael Stump and Absalom Stafford had adjoining land on the Clear Fork of Wolf Creek. While they lived there, new counties were formed, so their property was in Montgomery, then Wythe, then Tazewell counties. Michael Stump and Absalom Stafford are both on early tax lists in Wythe and Tazewell Counties. Michael and Sarah Stump lived the rest of their lives in Tazewell County, Virginia. In about 1805, Absalom Stafford moved to the area where Williamson, West Virginia now stands.
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Abt 1768 - Bef 1829 (~ 60 years)
(Age ~ 88 years) 