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

---

Draper and Jonathan Stanford, Sr. living on “White’s Creek.” This “Jonathan Stanford, Sr.” is very interesting. As we will discuss later, we believe Joshua’s father was Jonathan Stanford, Sr., who we estimate later in this report, was bom around 1720. In 1817 he would have been approximately 97 years old. While this could be our Jonathan Stanford, Sr., we suspect he may be his son, Jonathan Stanford, Jr., who started using the suffix “Sr.” after his own father died. Some researchers claim Jonathan, Jr. married Grace Phillips on June 28, 1767, in Worcester County, MD and had several children to include Jonathan Stanford, HI, but unfortunately, no sources.
Please note our John Stanford is not listed in this 1817 tax record. He was already in Mississippi because we know his daughter, Delila Stanford, was bom there on August 16, 1816.
Then in the 1823 tax list for Franklin, County, GA, in “Captain Hooper’s District,” we find “Joshua W. Stanford” (W. for Whipps?) who was paying his taxes.
Also listed were his assets of $5,000 for “stock in trade.” Stock in trade is defined as “the merchandise and equipment kept on hand and used for carrying on a business.” This is the person many Stanford researchers incorrectly identify as our Joshua Stanford, and we will not attempt to identify who he is. We have never found our Joshua Stanford using a middle initial or middle name. That includes census records, land records, tax records, and his own Will.
The earliest census record for Georgia is the 1820 Federal census. In this census, in Captain William’s District of Warren County, we find Joshua Stanford living there with 5 adults and 3 children in the household. Also in this Warren County census is Levi Stanford living near Joshua. Living in another part of the county that year is Jesse, Benjamin, and William Stanford. Also in the 1820 census of nearby Columbia County, GA, we find a different Joshua Stanford with 3 adults and 7 children in his household. In this same 1820 census of Columbia County, we also find Nancy Stanford, William Stanford, and Jonathan Stanford. It is obvious the Joshua Stanford in Warren County is our Joshua. The Joshua in Columbia County could be the above discussed Joshua W. Stanford.
Warren County today is a small county located in west-central Georgia. It is a thinly populated rural area with an 1820 population of 858 “white males and females.” In the early 1800s, everybody in Warren County knew each other. It should be noted that there were several Stanford families living in Warren and surrounding counties in the early 1800s. We have the Wills for Joseph Stanford, Jesse Stanford, Robert Stanford, and, of course, our Joshua Stanford that name heirs, property, etc. These “other” Stanfords are most probably related to our Joshua Stanford in some way, but we will not attempt to make the connection.
We will now discuss the Will of our Joshua Stanford, Sr. which is cited in “Some Georgia County Records, Vol. 1, page 349, by Lucas,” and also found on various sites on the internet in the original handwritten version. The Will was written in Warren County, Georgia, on May 4, 1825, and Probate was opened on May 1, 1826. It gives his “landed estate,” meaning the farm, to his son, Joseph Stanford. Joshua also gave his “granddaughter, Harriet Dashiel, one cow and calf.” He gives each of his other eight children, the remainder of his estate. The children are named as Levi Stanford, John Stanford, Joshua Stanford, Sophia Draper, Levin Stanford, Mary Wilson, Ellender
6