Watch a slide show of photos from the 2010 Buckingham Stinson reunion, Sunday, June 6.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sawney Stinson
I may have stumbled upon the answer to Alexander Stinson, Senior’s country of origin.
In 1785 Alexander, Senior was among about 500 Buckingham County residents to sign a petition to the Virginia House of Delegates objecting to an assessment on the people to support the ministry.

However, he did NOT sign as “Alexander.” He signed as “Sawney Stinson, Sen.” I’ve always assumed that Sawney was, indeed, our Alexander, because of the other Stinson signatures surrounding it: Alexander, Jr., Cary and George. (No idea why Alexander’s other sons, David, John, and Joseph, didn’t sign the petition.) I’ve never paid much attention to the Sawney mystery, assuming it was some sort of anomaly.
But recently, on a slow genealogy research day, I casually “Googled” the word Sawney. To my delight I found this entry from Wikipedia: “Sawney was an English nickname for a Scotsman, now obsolete, and playing much the same linguistic role that "Jock" does now. Variations included Sanders and Sannock. The name is a Lowland Scots diminutive of the favourite Scottish first name Alexander.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawney Eureka!
There's also significant family lore that Alexander's grandsons (by Cary) who emmigrated from Buckingham to Alabama were named George and "Saunie". (Thanks to cousin Nina Stinson Kellog for sharing her family history notes.) And Frances Stinson's self-published family history "Alexander Stinson Sr. of Buckingham County, Virginia (With Some Descendants) states the grandsons' names were George and his brother, Alexander.
Was Stinson Changed From Stevenson?
While we’re on the Scottish trail, here’s some information from cousin Charles Stinson who contacted the Scottish Ancestor Service in 2001. Charles received this letter from Mr. Brian Thompson, SSc, PhD, in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, dated March 10, 2001. It addresses the question I hear most often: did Stinson used to be Stevenson?
Dear Rev. Stinson,

Attached is the report on the records of all Alexander Steinson (and spelling variants) born and baptised in Scotland between 1700 and 1710.
The exact transcription of five of these Parish records is provided for those records in 1702 and 1703 as being nearest to the presumed date of your ancestor’s birth.
The information in them may help you make a judgement as to which one best fits your ancestor, either with family information you now know, or might glean in the future.
The surname Steinson is derived from an old spelling of Stevenson. It first appears in written records in Scotland when John Stenson is recorded as a burgess of Glasgow in 1455. Willie Stensone was a tenant under the Abbey of Kelso in 1567.
As can be seen from the 1700 records the name while never common, was not restricted geographically. Steinson families occurred in central Scotland in the counties of Ayr, Clackmannan and Peebles (Traquair) in the Borders, but with a particular concentration in the north-east county of Banff (Fordyce, Brechin, Deskford, Marnoch and Cullin parishes).
So, yes, it looks like Stinson was once Stevenson, but the change evolved long before Alexander came to Virginia.
Stinsons Own Piece of Alexander's Land
Cousin Dwayne Stinson in Richmond sent this message following my last post with the Google Earth images of Alexander Stinson’s property:
Interesting maps! You might find it equally interesting that one Stinson still owns a small portion of Alexander's original holdings. Gerald Phaup Stinson (my father's first cousin; son of Elijah, son of Junius Stinson and Mary Lou Stinson. Junius was the son of George Watson Stinson; Mary Lou was the daughter of Wingfield Stinson; George and Wingfield were sons of Joseph Carrington Stinson, son of Archibald… ). Gerald died last year, but leaves behind a wife, Donna, a son, John, and a daughter, Lindsay (now Hopkins).
Their property sits at the intersection of Route 600 and Plank Road. Since our family sold our holdings some years ago, I believe this is the last Stinson who holds any of Alexander's property. It had passed out of Stinson hands, however, and came back into Gerald's hands through his mother, a Phaup.
Gerald’s line to Alexander: Gerald Phaup Stinson was son of Elijah, son of Junius, son of George Watson, son of Joseph Carrington, son of Archibald, son of David, son of Alexander, Sr.
My sister, Rainnie, and her husband, John Cunningham, once owned and ran a farm in Buckingham County. They sold the property a number of years ago and have since learned the land was part of Alexander's property near Willis Mountain. At the time, they had no idea they were working land once owned by our 5th great grandfather.
2010 Stinson Family Reunion
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Stinson Cousin Wins Ms Senior California Title!
Peggy Stinson Padilla, now of Carlsbad, California, was crowned Ms Senior California in August. Peggy grew up in Norfolk, the daughter of Harry Stinson, granddaughter of John Thomas Stinson, and g-g-g-g-g-granddaughter of Alexander Stinson, Sr. A dancer all her life, Peggy is the first Ms Senior California to use dance as her talent in the 23-year history of the pageant.
Self-proclaimed as "definitely not the beauty queen type" the attached article is worth the read to see how Peggy transformed herself into the pageant winner. To quote a good friend, "Peggy is a ball a fire. She's like a Timex watch that keeps on ticking." http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/article_7634fae0-64de-51d0-ad3e-9658ff941300.html
Personally, I'm hoping all that energy is genetic.
Alexander Stinson's Property -- Today!
It's difficult to see, but the image above (see the pink outline) shows the 400-acre property deeded to Alexander on November 25, 1743. There appears to be a small farm on the north end. State Route 600 runs through the property with an entrance to the farm. State Route 654 runs through the Northwest part of the property.
Five years later, on July 20, 1748, Alexander acquired this property (above) consisting of 385 acres. It lies immediately to the West of and adjacent to the 400 acres shown before. Cattail Creek runs East-West through both properties.
Also on July 20, 1748 Alexander recieved this property (above) consisting of 395 acres. It's not contiguous with the other two deeds and lies a short distance to the Northwest. Willis Mountain is just outside of the picture to the North. Note that Route 15 and State Route 600 run through the property.
Finally, to give some perspective, this image (above) shows where in Buckingham County the properties lie.Sunday, July 19, 2009
Hannah Stinson Sues the Family
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What's Up With the Buckingham Stinsons Website?
kathy-stinson@cox.net
Sunday, June 28, 2009
A Correction to "So Obscure a Person"

The papers of this deposition have scribed "David Mary STINSON, parties in the trial," which seems to meant to be written as "David and Mary STINSON," hence giving the first name of the wife of David STINSON.
Interestingly, according to his will, not only did James' daughter, Anne, marry a Stinson, whom we now know was David, he had a grandson named "Stinson Bryant." Obviously there was another Stinson connection through one of James' sons.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Thanks Peggy, Nina and Jane!
Cousins Peggy Overstreet, Nina Kellogg and Jane Smith gallantly responded to the call for photos of the Stinson reunion. Click on the "Reunion Photos" link on the left to be taken to my Picasa Website. Be patient, it may take a minute or two to load, but you'll be richly rewarded. The slide show may pop up automatically or you may have to click on the "slide show" link. Either way, sit back and enjoy 129 reunion photos. You can stop the slide show at any time, right click on your mouse and save that photo to your computer. It's free! Save one or two, or save them all.
Cousins in England?
A while back I wrote about a Catherine Stinson who lives in Virginia on the Eastern Shore. Catherine told me that her Stinson family came to
Maryland in the 1600s, but, alas, that's not the case. She sent me her Stinson family history report and it states that her great grandfather, a Walter Stinson, and his family left England about 1878, settling in Cordova, Maryland on the Eastern Shore. They've remained in that area ever since. Walter Stinson's family emigrated from Leicestershire, England, shown in red on the map. Catherine has documented her Stinson line back to 1740 in Leicestershire.
Mystery Lady at the Reunion
A pretty brunette, with a Mona Lisa smile, was an unexpected guest at the Stinson reunion on June 1st. Arriving with cousin Kenneth Bryant, she quickly became the center of attention w
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Calling for Reunion Photos
The weather was perfect as the cousins, many of
Best of all, Ida Estelle Benson, the surviving child o
And, oh, the food! The tables of casseroles, chicken, barbeque, country ham, cakes, and pies were as long as a football field. Well, it looked like it, anyway. Charles Stinson offered the blessing and he must have been as hungry as the rest of us, because it was a mighty short prayer for a Baptist preacher!
The bad news is that I only got six good photos during the reunion. The good news is that lots of folks were snapping photos. So, if you have pictures you'd like to share, please send them to me. Paper, e-mail or by CD, it doesn't matter. You can see the ones I took on the Buckingham Stinsons Website. Click on "Reunion '08 Photos" on the left menu.
Next year we promise to do a group photo, and have a loud speaker so Marvin won't have to whistle to get everyone's attention. Although, the whistle worked pretty good!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Stinson Potpourri
Happy Birthday, Ida Estelle!
All birthdays are special, but when you reach 87 years and are still doing your own shopping and hanging out with the kids, they're super special. Ida Estelle Benson, John Thomas and Ida Stinson's youngest child, will celebrate her 87th on May 4th! Send me an e-mail (kathy-stinson@cox.net) and I'll send you Estelle's address and phone number. Send a card! Give her a call!
17th Century Stinsons in Maryland
Last week I spoke (by phone) with a woman named Catherine Stinson, who lives in Onancoke, Virginia on the Eastern Shore. A couple of months ago Charles Stinson's son was in the Starbuck's near Longwood University in Farmville and paid for his coffee with a credit card. The cashier (oops, I mean the Barista!) noticed his name and mentioned that her mother was also a Stinson. As they chatted Charles' son learned that her Stinson line had been traced back to the 1600s on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The mom, Catherine Stinson, told me that she had a genealogy report "somewhere" that her father had done years earlier. She confirmed that her Stinson line did go back to the 17th century in Maryland, but she didn't have any more details. I asked for a copy of the genealogy report, but so far haven't heard back. We did note that our lines share some common first names, including "Aubrey" which was my father's name and also Catherine's great uncle's name. I wouldn't be surprised if we share a common ancestor prior to Alexander. Perhaps Alexander came to Williamsburg from Maryland, not directly from England as we have always assumed.
A quick search on Ancestry.com showed me that a John Stinson arrived in St. Mary's County, Maryland on the Bachelor of Bristol on 2 Nov 1674. There are several other references to John Stinson, including a survey of his land on 21 February 1685. He owned 618 acres in Anne Arundel County, Maryland which he called "Stinson's Choice." I found references to two other 17th century Stinsons, both living on Maryland's Eastern Shore on the Chesapeake Bay.
Buckingham Stinsons Reunion, 1 June
Stimpson vs. Stinson, a follow-up:
My most recent blog entry reported that the DAR had recorded our patriot ancestors, Alexander, Sr. and his son, David as "Stimpson" not Stinson. Edna Barney responded to my query and I'm sharing it here. I encourage you to visit Edna's Website. You can start by clicking the link at the end of her message.
"Kathy - I contacted DAR about the name difference as soon as my papers were approved and they did not consider it a "biggy," as I can order my pins with the STINSON name and all indexing will take one to STINSON. Actually, I have a suspicion that they are in the process of changing the name to STINSON.
The reason I suspect that is that neither of my STINSON patriots were published in the last issue of American Spirit, as they should have been.
When I contacted NSDAR about that, all they told me was that they would be in the next issue. I believe DAR is being consistent, as that is the spelling they used for the
only other Buckingham County STINSON - Alexander Junior.
I wrote about that here with an image from the Patriot Index:
http://neddysnook.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/dar-patriot-index/ "Edna Barney
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Alexander Stimpson???
I have good news and bad news to share with Buckingham Stinsons.
The good news is that our distant cousin, Edna, in Northern Virginia successfully documented her lineage to both David and Alexander Stinson, Sr. for the DAR. Her documentation met the DAR's gold standard for genealogical proof. This is very significant because Edna's lineage includes Archibald Stinson, our most elusive ancestor. Her application proved -- to the DAR's satisfaction -- that Archibald was the son of David Stinson, that he was married to Elizabeth, and that his children included Mary Stinson. We've been struggling for years to document those generations. Congratulations to cousin Edna!
The bad news is that the DAR registered both ancestors, David and Alexander, Sr., with the surname of STIMPSON. John Cunningham and I have examined Edna's documentation (available to the public for a research/copying fee) and see no reference to anyone named Stimpson. I've asked the research librarian who assisted me with the file search why the DAR changed our surname, but have yet to get a satisfactory answer. John, Rainnie and I believe it was simply a mistake by the Genealogy Department staff. I've asked that they review Edna's documentation and consider changing their new patriots' names to David and Alexander STINSON. I may have a response by e-mail tomorrow. If they refuse, one of us may be the first to document David and Alexander Stinson as DAR patriots after all.
You can see Edna's documentation here. Click on the full screen icon in the upper far right corner (almost obscured) to view the document in a separate window. There are 15 pages.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A Proud, New DAR Member
application was approved by the National Society (NSDAR.) One of the reasons we've both been pursuing DAR membership so vigorously is to have the satisfaction of knowing that our genealogy research truly proves our lineage -- and the DAR is the gold standard for genealogical proof. Sunday, December 9, 2007
Charles Stinson's Book Available for Sale
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Proof That Archibald was David (& Anne's) Son?
Those of us researching our Buckingham Stinsons are challenged at every turn. The courthouse fire in 1869 makes genealogy research difficult, sometimes impossible, for all Buckingham families, but I think it's extra hard for us Stinsons. It's not fair! I envy my genealogy friends who breeze through proving their generations like picking goodies from a cruise ship buffet.
Like me, many of this blog's readers descend from Archibald Stinson, Alexander, Sr.'s grandson. Proving Archibald's kids has been a multi-year project. (Scroll down to see the Sept 29 blog, "John Cunningham Proves Archibald's Kids!") And now our proof is being challenged by my local DAR chapter's registrar.
But what about Archibald's father? I came into the Stinson research hobby (Sten would say "obsession") believing that it was David, but I knew of no proof. Some researchers hold the theory that his father was Cary. It matters little to me as long as we can claim lineage to Alexander, Sr.
But a tiny bit of proof linking Archibald to David Stinson does exist . It's from Buckingham County's personal property tax record of 1769. There, in faded script, is the name "Archer Stinson" listed as a second tithe in the household of David Stinson. (I've posted an image of the whole page on the Buckingham Stinsons Website. ) At that time in Virginia a young man had to be at least 16 years old to be listed as a tithe, in other words, taxable. It's not an exact science as many families would postpone their sons' 16th birthdays a year or so to delay the tax. But we can assume that Archer Stinson was born about 1753 to David Stinson.
When I showed this proof to my local DAR chapter registrar she immediately asked if I knew if there was another Archer or Archibald Stinson in the county at that time. Indeed, there was another Archibald who was a grandson of Alexander, Sr. Archibald Baker Stinson was the son of Alexander Stinson, Jr., but he wasn't born until 1773 so couldn't be the Archer listed on David's tax record in 1769. I believe our Archibald Stinson was the only one by that name in Buckingham. By the way, my reference for the info on Archibald Baker comes from the book "Alexander Stinson, Sr. of Buckingham County, Virginia (With Some Descendants)" by Frances L. Stinson (deceased) of Dallas, Texas. This self-published book is available at the Library of Virginia and is short enough to be copied.
The registrar told me that I was right to be concerned about the proof for both Archibald's father and his children, implying that she didn't think either generation would stand up to a review at the National level. However, this is not the last word and I'm determined to continue the research on this line. I truly think that our case for Archibald's children can hold up under full review.
In the meantime, a distant Stinson cousin, Edna of Northern Virginia, a long-time DAR member, has recently submitted a supplemental application based on her lineage through Archibald to David to Alexander, Sr. Her submission is still under review at the National DAR, but she's confident it will be approved. I'm really rooting for her! If Edna's application is approved, we'll be able to use her documentation to prove our own lineage for those three generations.
Even if you're not interested in joining a historical society like the DAR, it's nice to have the documentation for your family's lineage. I'll keep you posted on Cousin Edna's application.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Which Stinson Boy Did Anne Bryant Love?
It was a frustrating week of genealogy research. My sister, Rainnie, and my brother-in-law, John, were visiting Virginia Beach last week for John’s reunion with his U.S.S. Diablo shipmates. We took the opportunity to do some serious genealogy research. The goal: to prove that Anne Bryant married David Stinson, son of Alexander, Senior.

Anne Bryant was a daughter of James Bryant of Cumberland County, VA. In his will, dated 1783, James refers to his daughter, Anne Stinson. [Some transcripts interpret the name as Anne Steinson, but I assure you, the original document clearly says Stinson.] Unconfirmed records say that Anne was born about 1743, making marriage likely between 1760 – 1770.
Between the three of us we scoured the Manakin Huguenot Society Library (the Bryants were Huguenots,) The Virginia Historical Society and The Library of Virginia for a clue about which handsome Stinson boy Anne married. David is the likely candidate as most of Alexander, Senior’s other sons’ brides are accounted for.
I thought for sure a review of the microfilmed marriage records at the LVA would turn up a bond or license for David and Anne. But the only county with records dating back that far was Cumberland, and though it was a likely wedding site, we came up empty. No Anne & David. The other possible counties where the marriage may have taken place, Powhatan, Chesterfield and Henrico, don’t have records back to 1770. And, of course, Buckingham records were burned.
I’ve posted queries on three Internet genealogy discussion lists and have received two responses from kind readers. Both agree that Anne married David, but neither have sources.
Why the search for proof of Anne’s husband? Documentation that Anne married one of Alexander Sr.’s sons would authorize many of us to join the Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin In the Colony of Virginia and the National Huguenot Society. (See link under Stinson History Online at left.) If you don’t remember your high school early American history, the Huguenots were Protestants who were driven out of France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. They went first to England, then to the Colonies in their quest for religious freedom. They offer us yet another proud Stinson heritage. Any research ideas from my Stinson history buddies? Jack? Kenneth? Carolyn?
The Buckingham Stinsons Blog Has a Little Sister!
Introducing the Buckingham Stinsons Website!
http://www.buckinghamstinsons.com/
This Blog will be the place to go for up-to-date family history news. The Website is more static, a repository for Buckingham Stinson information, photos and documents. Take a look and please offer suggestions and material you’d like to see posted. The Website is still in its beta stage, so be patient. I’ll be refining and adding content regularly.
UPDATE TO LAST WEEK’S ENTRY: Unfortunately, Ancestry.com won’t allow non-subscribers to view posted family trees unless the author (me) issues an invitation. The Stinson tree is pretty cool, so if you want an invitation to view it, send me a message and I’ll add you to the list. It’s free!