Submitted by Joanne
DeShong
Stanfield
Information
(William Wall Oliver Stanfield
& Descendants)
Born—29 July,1809 in Halifax County, Virginia (Undocumented)
Died—20,
March, 1886, in Aurora, Wise County, Tx.
Married
Mary Ann Ramsdale, 1836, at “Old Ferry House” on the Sabine River, near Marshall, Tx.
Founders
and Patriots of Texas
Texas Pension Application
Abstracts
1836,
Spring: Served in Captain Bill Scurlock’s company.
“ pvt. Scy to Gen. T.J. Rusk”
Muster Rolls of the
Texas Revolution
1836,
July 6—mustered out of Captain Hooper’s company at San Augustine
Texas State Archives, Austin, Tx.
Document
dated December 14, 1836
Transferring a bounty of land from Robert Mayes to himself for the
amount of $100.
First Settlers of
the Republic of Texas, Vol 2, #194
1838,
Feb. 9 Won
unconditional certification of land grant for 1 league and 1 labor of land in Shelby County.
Texas State Archives, Austin, Tx.
(Original
in General land Office, Austin, Tx)
Petition
From Shelby County (April 7th, 1838)
Asking
for a new county to be formed from part of Shelby County
Signed
by Wm. W. Stanfield
and his brother-in-law and father-in-law, John and Francis
Ramsdale
(I
have reproduction of document.)
Citizens of Texas land Grants
1840—class
1, 1 league and 1 labor, Shelby County, unconditional certification
Citizens of Texas Tax Rolls
1840--#S-2360
recorded deed, Shelby County—vol. 2: (Harrison 0.)
1
poll—2360 acres of land (land in acres) under survey, based on a grant, not yet
patented.
Post Office Papers
of the Republic of Texas, 1836-1848
1841--Appointed
Postmaster at Marshall, Tx, Panola County, by Sam’l Roberts, Secretary
of State.
Texas State Archives, Austin, Tx.
Document
of Appointment of W.W.O. Stanfield to Post Master of Marshall, Panola County, Tx.
September 13, 1841
Several
letters concerning post office business in Stanfield’s handwriting dated 1842,
1845 and undated.
(I
have reproductions of those documents.)
Compiled Index to Elected and Appointed Officials of the Republic
of Texas, 1835-1846, vol. 1-310
1841,
Jan. 1—elected District Clerk, panola Co.—date elected, 4-5-41, date
commissioned 10-6-41
The
New Handbook of Texas, Vol. 1
Aurora, Texas
Settlement
began there in the late 1850’s.
Impressed by the beauty of the place, William O. Stanfield suggested Aurora for the name of the
community.
Stanfield Masonic
Lodge #217 History
“On October 14th, 1857, a dispensation was granted by Deputy Grand
master john E. Cravens for a Masonic Lodge at Denton, Tx.,
to be known as Stanfield Lodge”.
“The
Lodge was named in honor of W.W.O. Stanfield, who was one of the charter
members, and a pioneer Mason in Denton County, and was largely
instrumental in the organization of the Lodge.”
A
short history of Stanfield’s life is included, stating, among other things,
that Stanfield was born in Fairfax County the 29th day of
July, 1809. He came to Texas in 1834. In 1836 he joined the Texas army and was a member of
Captain Bill Scurlock’s Company under General Sam Houston. He lived at Marshal, Tex. Until
1856, when he moved to Denton County, living on
Denton Creek in the west part of the county.
He
served as County Clerk of Denton County in 1858.
He
died at age 77, March 6th, 1886 and laid
to rest with Masonic honors.
Pioneers of Wise County,
p.5
“William
W.O. Stanfield (1809-1886) was a native Virginian who brought an expertise in
local government to Wise County when he settled northeast of
Newark in the late 1860’s.
he had served as a judge and justice of the
peace during the days of the Republic of Texas and after his military
service. After leaving his home in Harrison County, Texas in the late 1850’s, he
lingered a short time in Denton County before moving on to Jack County by 1860. he was a justice of
the peace in Jack County before moving for the last
time to Wise County. His son, Thomas L. Stanfield, was an elected
official of Wise County during the late 1800’s
Texas land Office Archives, Austin, Tx.
W.W.O.
Stanfield had a large number of land grants, certificates, bounties, donation,
pre-emptive—etc.
Unknown sourse, newspaper clipping
Xeroxed copies of 1910 Obituary for
Captain Thomas L. Stanfield
Wise
County USGenWeb site for transcript
(I
have these copies)
Undocumented
These
are tidbits I
have run across that I’ve forgotten to document, or deduced from books about Texas history:
According
to his son, Robert’s written history, W.W.O.
“crossed the Red River into Texas with General Sam Houston on
the first day of January, 1834” ( You can find the transcript of that, and a
list of W.W.O. and Mary Ann’s children on the Wise County website). From reading Houston’s autobiography, and a
biography of his life, I found no mention of W.W.O., but nothing to disprove
the above statement. Houston did, in fact, cross the Red River into Texas about the 1st of January, 1834.
A
lot of Stanfield’s living in Virginia were Quakers, who did not approve
of slavery. In 1850, in Panola County, there were 2 free blacks
and 193 slaves. By 1860 there were 3,727
slaves and no free blacks. It is
possible that’s why Stanfield moved his family away from S.E. Texas. My grandmother once told me her family had
never owned slaves. She also refused to
discuss whether or not her grandfather was a Confederate or Yankee. I know now from research that Texas, and particularly Wise County were firmly
Confederate. Persecution of Unionists
was severe. Five men were hanged in Wise County for being Unionists.
Sam
Houston was very sympathetic toward the Cherokees, and, judging from their
proximity to the Cherokee lands in S.E. Texas, the Stanfields were also
sympathetic to them.
On March 14, 1866, Stanfield’s son, Thomas was admitted to the bar at
Decatur, Wise County, texas. He practiced criminal law. The next year he married Emily Beeson!
Thomas
L. Stanfield practiced law at Decatur for many years, then moved to Rockwall County where he was elected
Prosecuting Attorney. After resigning
his post there, he moved to Terrell and became an attorney for the Texas & pacific Railroad. He died at Terrell on Dec. 30, 1910, at the age of 72.