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County, MD. The above mentioned Rewastico Creek is located near the town of Vienna, Dorchester County, MD, on the west side of the Nanticoke River about 12 miles northwest of Salisbury. Early land records of Wicomico District, Somerset County show our John Stanford’s ancestor, Joseph Stanford, Sr., owned land at “the head of Wicomico Creek.” Wicomico Creek is located near the small community of Trappe, MD, empties into the Wicomico River, and is approximately 11 miles from Salisbury, MD. Ij: is this area, south-west of Salisbury, in Somerset County, Maryland, that our John Stanford, Sr., his father, Joshua Stanford, Sr., John’s Grandfather, Jonathan Stanford, Sr., as well as John’s Great-grandfather, Joseph Stanford, Jr. were, in all likelihood, bom. These ancestors of John Stanford, Sr. will be discussed shortly.
To clear up some confusion, we find a John R. Stanford that was a lieutenant in the Warren County, GA Militia that served from March 22, 1824, to June 22, 1828, (Georgia Militia Records, 1808 - 1829, p. 120). This John R. Stanford is found in the 1850 Warren County census as “John R. Stanford,” born in 1804 with wife Elizabeth, born in 1805 with 10 children, all bom in Georgia. They married on July 31, 1823, in Warren County, and she was listed as Elizabeth Smith. Their descendants on Ancestory.com identify this JohnR. Stanford as the son of William Stanford (1770 -1839) and Ellenor Ray who married in 1803 in Warren County. Even though considerably younger, this John R. Stanford has been misidentified as our John Stanford, and he is clearly not. Other researchers have given our John Stanford the middle name of “Francis,” but offer no sources, and we have yet to find a source for this claim.
In all of our research, we have never found our John Stanford using a middle name or middle initial. This includes his Bible record, census records, records made by his children to include his son, John Stanford, Jr., military records, and even his own signature.
Getting back to Joshua Stanford, we find him on November 3, and November 6, 1802, when he sells his land in Wicomico District, Somerset County, MD, apparently making his move from Maryland to Georgia. Next we find Joshua Stanford, Sr. purchasing land in Warren County, GA, on November 29, 1803, from John Landrum, Sr. He sells 550 acres located on “Upton’s Creek” to “Joshua Stanford, Sr.” (Deed Book B, page 306). With this, we can estimate Joshua left Maryland for Georgia in or around 1803 and that was around three years after his son, John Stanford, made his move to Georgia. It should be noted that Upton’s Creek (now called Maddox / Mattox Creek) is located north of Thomson, McDuffie County, GA, while Whites Creek and Sweetwater Creek are located near the county line in south-west McDuffie County, GA. In 1870 McDuffie County was made from east Warren County and west Columbia County.
Joshua Stanford next shows up in the “1805 Tax Digests” of Georgia where he paid property taxes in Captain James Wilson’s District in Warren County. Listed as living next door or nearby to Joshua Stanford with 280 acres on Upton’s Creek is John Stanford, Leven Stanford, Levi Stanford, and Josiah Draper. These were three of Joshua’s children and Draper was one of his son-in-laws. The next Warren County tax list available is for 1817. In this list of taxpayers, in “Captain Roland’s District,” we again find Joshua Stanford living on Upton’s Creek next to his son-in-law, Jesse Ansley. Nearby on “Childer’s Creek” is his son, Levi Stanford. Also listed in these same tax rolls in Captain Roland’s District is Jesse, Reuben, Elijah, and Benjamin Stanford, all living on “Sweetwater Creek” in Warren County. Same District and tax year, we find Josiah
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