This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

November 20, 1723 - Joseph Stanford bought 50 acres of “What You Please” plantation, located one mile north of “Long Ridge” plantation in Somerset County.
December 19, 1750 - Joseph Stanford gave 100 acres of “Stanford’s Finding” to his son Joseph Stanford. The gift has to be from Joseph, Sr., who would have been around age 76 at that time, and we are not aware of Joseph, Jr. having a son called Joseph Stanford (III).
The final question is, where was Joseph Stanford, Sr. bom, and who were his parents? At this time we have no answer. Looking back at some of the statements made by his later descendants, he could be our immigrant ancestor, possibly from England. We will leave this for some other researcher to figure out.
Some researchers claim that our Joseph Stanford, Sr. married Susannah Whipps who was bom on May 29, 1677, the daughter of John Whipps, Sr. and Elizabeth Madcaff. The 1716 Will of John Whipps, Sr. in Calvert County, MD, does name a daughter called “Susannah Stanford.” Earlier in 1701, John Whipps conveyed a piece of property to his “granddaughter, Philothea Stanford,” daughter of “John Stanford.” Philothea Stanford was bom on May 14, 1696 to “John and Susana Stanford” (Whipps) as found on her baptism record in St. James Parish, Anne Arundel County, MD. Other children bom to John and Susannah Stanford, and baptized in this same Church, were:
John Stanford-bom February 1, 1700 Elizabeth Stanford-bom September 5, 1703 Ursula Stanford - bom September 14, 1705 Richard Stanford - bom October 27, 1707 Benjamin Stanford - bom July 3, 1710 While Philothea’s name was spelled Stanford, the other sibling’s names were spelled Stanforth or Standforth. This clearly shows that Susannah married John Stanford sometime before 1696, and she did not marry our Joseph Stanford, Sr. (or Joseph, Jr. as some claim) or have any children by either.
We feel some Stanford descendants have mistakenly tied this John Stanford who married Susannah Whipps, to our Jonathan Stanford, Sr., the father of Joshua Stanford of Somerset County, MD. In the process, they gave our Jonathan and Joshua Stanford the middle name of “Whipps” and clearly, our Stanfords have no obvious connection to these Stanfords of Anne Arundel County, MD.
There was another John Stanford that married Elisabeth Merchant who made their home in Dorchester County, MD. This is based on the Will of William Merchant dated January 30, 1711, in Dorchester County that names his “granddaughter” as “Margaret Stanford,” the daughter of “John Stanford, Jr.” This John Stanford, Jr. wrote his own Will on April 17, 1725, in Dorchester County naming his wife as “Elizabeth Stanford,” (Merchant) and children John, William, Elizabeth, and Margaret Stanford. This John Stanford, Jr. does not seem to be the son of John Stanford and Susannah Whipps because their John was bom in 1700. When William Merchant made his Will in 1711, he listed his son-in-law, John Stanford, Jr. This means that this John Stanford, Jr. was married by
13