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- John Stafford came from Staffordshire, England in the year 1765 with an uncle (John) who left him at Kesington, PA - the uncle returning to England. John came to NJ about 15 Aug 1773 and settled near Glendale, NJ.
Revolutionary War Service - Continental Army - PA S#33732 - NJ # 19,260 - a private in company commanded by Capt. Stewart of the regiment commanded by Colonel McGaw in the PA Line for the 4 years to 1781.
My cousin Sandy Vignali Stafford gave me your email address. She said you have information on the Stafford Genealogy? My Great. Great, Great, Great Grandpa was John Stafford-from Staffordshire England, fought in the American Revolution and then Married Hannah Collins Matlack. If you have any information on this lineage, please contact me, thanks so much!
Rebekah Stafford
[email protected]
The jewel of the township's parkland and open-space program began more than 220 years ago as a gesture of gratitude from one man to another.
The man imparting thanks was Gen. George Washington, one of America's foremost founders who would later become the nation's first president.
After the Revolutionary War, Washington gave considerable land to John Stafford, his loyal bodyguard and a Quaker who had fled religious persecution in England, as a gift for his meritorious service, said Pete Stafford, a descendant. John Stafford (person i.d. l064) acquired even more land through marriage.
The sprawling property, a 140-acre piece -- now at Evesham and White Horse roads -- stayed in the family and was passed down from generation to generation. That practice ended Jan. 6, 2004, when Pete Stafford and his five younger brothers sold the tract for $20.6 million in the interests of its open-space and farmland preservation program.
At the time, then-Mayor Harry Platt said the corner would forever be known as Stafford Farm so people would always know the family's contribution to Voorhees and land preservation.
"We were very proud as a family to be able to do that and we felt good about it," Stafford said. "But it was a sad day for us because after so many years the farm was going out of our family's hands."
Today, half the property remains a private working horse farm, while the other half is a passive recreation area open to the public and maintained by the township.
For most of its history, the Stafford Farm was used to raise crops such as wheat, barley, rye, peaches, apples, tomatoes, corn and hay. But by the early 1960s, the family turned what had been an avocation -- racing standardbred horses -- into its primary vocation.
Stafford said his father, Randall Jr., got his love of standard bred race horses from his own father, Randall Sr. These types of horses race with sulkies, or light carriages big enough to fit one person. The family raced horses up and down the Mid-Atlantic region, Stafford said. At first, the family owned all the farm's horses. But then it began to train horses owned by other people, he said.
When the brothers sold the farm, there were as many as 65 horses in some type of training, Stafford said.
The 70-acre horse farm is now owned by Ken Kazahaya and his wife, Amy. But Alvin Stafford, one of the brothers, continues to train horses there along with his family members.
Last March, the township's zoning board unanimously rejected a controversial development plan to build a drugstore and shopping center along Evesham Road next to the farm. The developer, however, intends to submit another plan for the property.
"We worked very hard to preserve the farm for open space and the community really does value it," Pete Stafford said. "I've never had anybody tell me that we did the wrong thing."
Purported to be a cousin of John Stafford Sr. by Montgomery Stafford son of John Stafford Jr.
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1753 - 1828 (75 years)
