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.