Person:Job Stafford (3)

Disambiguating Two Job Staffords

Source:Whitman, Roscoe L. Book of Appendices to the History and Genealogy of the Ancestors and Some Descendants of Stukely Westcott, 1592-1677, p. 142, conflates two separate men (uncle and nephew) into one person, when it says "Job Stafford, b-Feb. 11, 1767, d-Mar. 21, 1846; m-Chloe ---, b.-1755, d-Oct. 17, 1812." This appears wrong from the age at death on this man's gravestone (as reported in the Colrain, MA, VRs) giving his age as 66, i.e., born about 1780, not 1767. (Additionally, Chloe's death as reported in this source is off by thirty years, 1812 instead of the correct 1842, causing a similar discrepancy in her estimated birth year, 1755 instead of the correct 1785, possibly influenced by using the wrong birthdate for the husband. Note that Find A Grave has no image on its memorial page, presumably copied from the vital records and not providing what could have been a useful confirmation that the transcription in the VRs was correct.)

That the above source must be wrong seems obvious based on the age at death, but the possiblity that the transcription of the gravestones is wrong suggests further research is needed. And additional complications raise more doubts. First it appears by deeds that both men lived in Chenango County, NY. Or was it the same man? They had different wives, but records of the older man's wife and birth of his children stop before the presumed younger man married. Could Chloe be the second marriage of the older man?

As if often the case, once one clue sets one on the right path, more and more facts are found, and the answer becomes obvious. Eventually, in this case, the gravestone of the older man's first wife was found, which says she died in 1840. This proves the older man did not marry Chloe, whose husband must have been a different man. Also the older man's own gravestone is found, showing that while he ironically died the same year as the younger man, the location where he is buried, the day within the year of death, and his age at death were all different and not as reported by the Whitman source.

Documentation is posted on the various pages, but in summary:

So the older Job had a wife Amy before 1790 and resided in Rowe, MA for both the 1790 and 1800 census, moved to Chenango County, New York, by 1807 according to deeds there. His wife Amy died in 1840, and he married a wife Permelia (named in his probate) and died 30 Jul 1846, age 80 according to his gravestone, leaving a widow and 5 daughters. Meanwhile, his nephew, the younger Job, of Colrain, m. 1808 to Chloe, moved about 1813 to Chenango County, New York, was of Guilford, VT, in 1837, and back in Colrain apparently by 1842 when his wife died, he himself dying there 21 Mar 1846, age 66.

Note: the newer Source:Lewis, Edna Jay. Westcott Family Tree : Westcott Descendants from Stukely and Juliana, p. 14, though it gives the older Job the right wife, but still assigns the death date that belongs to the younger Job. Source:Slafter, Edmund Farwell. Memorial of John Slafter (published 1869! by far the oldest source cited here), p. 76, has the correct wife and correct death date for the older Job, but does not go into enough depth to mention his second wife, and of course, does not cover the younger Job Stafford.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Colrain, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Colrain, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1934)
   p. 183.

   STAFFORD, Job (Staford), widr., farmer, consumption [Mar. 21, GS5], 1846 [a. 66 y. GR5]
   [Note: GR5=Fulton Cemetery, Franklin Hill. Birth about 1780]

2.   Franklin County (Massachusetts). Register of Deeds. Deeds, 1787-1947 (bulk 1787-1910). (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972, 1991).

   Vol. 41, p. 47 23 Jan 1816: Job and Cloe Stafford of Preston, Chenango, New York, sell their right in the estate of Jesse Warrick late of Warwick deceased to John Burnett of Guildford Vermont for $100.
   Vol. 129, p. 74 29 Apr 1837: Job Stafford of Guilford, Windham, Vermont sells land in Colerain to Joseph Burrow Jr. of Guilford for $90.
   Vol. 135, p. 88 10 Apr 1845: Job Stafford of Colrain sells right to land in Leyden bounded by Joseph Burrows to Joseph Burrows of Guilford for $20.

3.   Chenango County (New York). County Clerk. Deed records, 1798-1905; index, 1798-1969. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Reproduction Systems for the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970).

   Vol. Q, p. 273 23 Apr 1813: Guy Richards Esquire of New London Connecticut sells north part of lot 83 in Preston for $48.
   Vol. T, p. 315 11 Nov 1815: Job Stafford & Cloe his wife of Preston in the County of Chenango and State of New York sells part of lot 83 in Prestonto Ephraim Curtis of Pelman County of Hampshire State of Massachusetts for $108 subject to a mortgage given to Guy Richards Esqr.