Tag Archives: Ohio

Freegift Stout and His Children: Generation 3 and 4

Freegift Stout (1693-1769), Generation Three

Other Freegift Stout offspring obviously were named for this one, but the name does not show up frequently. Where did his name come from? There must be a meaning for the name Freegift. I’m guessing religious roots. (Most obviously, “Gift of God.”) However, Mr. Google is failing me on this one. Have you heard the name before? Do you know what it means?

Freegift Stout, my 6th Great Grandfather was the father of my direct ancestor Isaac Stout (1740) along with a large number of other children.

What I know of Freegift leads to the conclusion that he led a quiet life as a successful farmer in New Jersey. As documented in his will, he acquired a widespread holding of lands in New Jersey. He did not wander, although one of his sons settled very early along the Ohio River and grandsons and great-grandsons of Freegift scattered across the land, creating new communities everywhere they went. For a summary of what we know so far, see my story about Isaac Stout (1740)

Freegift was the eldest son in the family of David Stout and Rebecca Ashton Stout, born in the area they called Clover Hill in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He had two older sisters. At the age of twenty-one, Freegift moved along with his father and mother and the rest of the family to the rich farmland of nearby Amwell. Wikipedia describes Clover Hill: “Clover Hill, named for Peter C. Clover, was previously called Koughstown (pronounced kuestown) after Casparus Kough, Jr. and was located on Amwell Road and Clover Hill Road. The village was home to a tavern, store, church, hotel, blacksmith, post office and eight or nine houses. ” See more about Amwell Valley at Wikipedia, where I found this topographic map. Sources describe the valley as rich agricultural land.

Location of the Amwell Valley where David Stout settled and Freegift Stout spent his life.

Freegift Stout and his Family, Generation Four

In 1720, Freegift married Mary Higgins (1699-1773), daughter of Jediah and Mary Higgins. Mary Higgins and her family probably deserve a separate analysis. Most Ancestry trees, based on Find a Grave, say Mary was born in Eastham, Massachusetts. I was scratching my head trying to figure out how Freegift (New Jersey) met Mary (Massachusetts). It turns out that Find a Grave made a mistake. Mary’s father, Jedidiah Higgins moved with his family to Piscataway, New Jersey from Massachusetts, where her grandfather Richard Higgins had emigrated in the early 1600s. Her mother, Mary Newbold came with her family from England and also lived in New Jersey. So Mary was born in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Freegift and Mary lived in Clover Hill the rest of their lives, raising crops and a very large family. Pinning down those family members presented a real challenge. Freegift’s will, written 9 June, 1763, gives the best evidence for names of children, but of course that does not include dates of birth and death. Fortunately, in this case, the women’s husbands are listed, but we have to go elsewhere to find out who the Stout men married.

Sources

I have not found any birth records for any of this family. I compared sources, to see which might be the most authoritative. There are endless books on the Stouts and on the places they lived. Here are the major ones I looked at:

The History of the Stout Family: First Settling in Middleton and Somerset Counties, State of New Jersey, by Nathan Stout (1823)

Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol. I/II and Vol. IV, by John Stillwell, M. D. Vol 1/II (1904) Vol. IV (1916)

Two books by Herald F. Stout, USN. Staudt-Stoudt-Stout Families of Ohio and Their Ancestors at Home and Abroad (1935) and Stout and Allied Families Vol. 1 (1951)

Since Nathan Stout’s book was the earliest, naturally he became a main source for the other two authors. Comparing lineage lists from the four sources backs that up. Although I assume the information in the book came from family records with limited research, he does not specify, so the foundational information on the Stout line is suspect. I found the most thoroughly researched and documented information in Historical and Genealogical Miscellany. Bless his heart, Dr. Stillwell explains everything in great detail and includes in his book things like lists of cattle brands and marriage licenses, etc. to back up.

Generation Four

Jedidiah Stout , ??-1782(?) Named for maternal grandfather. Married Phillena Chamberlain Daughter Rebecca born before June 1763; Ann, born before 18 May 1766.

Rebecca Stout (Taylor) Married Edward Taylor

Freegift Stout, Jr., 1724-1798 Married Elizabeth Stout , a second cousin.

Mary Stout B. Circa 1726 Married Richard Chamberlain, brother of Jedidiah’s wife Phillena.

Rachel Stout ??-After January 1777 Married Richard Rounsaville

Joshua Stout ?? – 1806

Obadiah Stout 1735-1830. Married Mary McBride

*Isaac Stout 1740-1823 born and died in Clover Hill New Jersey. Married Mary Quimby.

James Stout, married Mary Mattison and had one son, Samuel. Wife died in 1764. Married second Rachel Higgins (d. 1782) in 1765, and had a family.

Sarah Stout (Oliphant) ??- Bef. 1768.

*My 5th great grandfather

Freegift Stout and all of his offspring except one were born and died in New Jersey. These children of Freegift lived through power struggles between the Dutch and the English in New Jersey, the Revolutionary War, and the aftermath of economic problems. Obadiah, born in 1735, fought in the Army and took the land grant to which that entitled him and went West.

Obadiah, the 2x great uncle of my great-grandfather Isaiah was one of the first, if not the first of Isaiah’s Stout uncles and cousins to land in Ohio. Am I getting closer to finding out why my great-great Grandfather settled in Guernsey County, Ohio?

To review, The generations are (1) Richard, (2) David, (3) Freegift, (4) my ancestor Isaac and his brother Obadiah (5) Isaac’s children including my ancestor Isaiah and his brothers Josiah and Aaron, (6) Josiah’s and Aaron’s children.

I last wrote about Josiah and then about Aaron and Aaron’s children, most of whom were restless travelers. Now, having introduced Freegift, I will move back one generation to the children of Freegift–Generation Three. Next I will talk about Obadiah who spawned a family of settlers in the Northwest Territory and beyond.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’ll come along for the ride as more and more Stouts leave New Jersey and head West.

HOW I AM RELATED

  • Vera Marie Badertscher is the daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson Kaser, who is the daughter of
  • Vera Stout Anderson, who is the daughter of
  • William Cochran (Doc) Stout, who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1822), who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1800), who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1773) who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1740) who is the son of
  • Freegift Stout

NOTES ON RESEARCH

A partial genealogy of the DeWitt, Boss, Chamberlain, Cromwell, D’Arcy, Cockey and allied families , Albert Lilborn DeWitt , 1956 Accessed at Ancestry.com

New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817, Ancestry.com, 2011

New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890 , Ancestry.com 1999

FindaGrave.com, Freegift Stout, Sr. # 7350252 . However, based on the dates in the New Jersey abstract of Wills, FAG is mistaken about his date of death.

Hopewell Town Records https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x001174960, page 135.

Aaron Stout: New Jersey Stouts Scatter

Aaron Stout 1780-1864

Last time, I talked about a great uncle (Josiah Stout) of my great-great grandfather Isaiah Stout (1822). Another brother, Aaron Stout wound up closer geographically to the location of my great-great grandfather Isaiah, but Aaron traveled from New Jersey perhaps before Isaiah was born. Aaron Stout’s children scattered throughout the Midwest.

To keep the generations consistent, I am using the system of numbering starting with Richard Stout, the founder of this Stout family in North America. The generations are (1) Richard, the first to come to North America, (2) David, (3) Freegift, (4) my ancestor Isaac and his brother Obadiah (5) Isaac’s children including my ancestor Isaiah and his brothers Josiah and Aaron, (6) Josiah’s and Aaron’s children.

Generation FIVE: The Children of Isaac Stout (1740) – Aaron Stout

The birth of Josiah in 1780 and Aaron in 1781, might have come as a surprise to parents Isaac Stout (1740), and Mary Quimby Stout. The couple had reached the top edge of middle age, as reckoned in that period when the two were born. The two youngest boys turned out to be the restless ones in the family of six children. Their elder brother Isaiah(1740) (my ancestor) and their sisters all remained in New Jersey.

I have found it difficult to find official records of Aaron’s life. that no doubt at least partly stems from his migration to the still wild lands of Ohio about 1820.

The Historic and Genealogical Miscellany compiled by John Edwin Stillwell from the mid 1850s into the early 1900s provides most of the information I have about this family.

Stillwell tells us that Aaron, son of Isaac and Mary Qumby Stout, married a daughter of Nathaniel Hixson, Mary, but I have not found a record with the exact date. I believe the name of his wife is correct, because Nathanial Hixson’s will was administered by Aaron Stout, and the oldest son of the couple bore the name Nathaniel Hixson Stout. Nathaniel (the son of Aaron) born in 1806, leads me to assume that the couple married about 1805.

Aaron Goes to Ohio

Five of the children of Aaron Stout and Mary — Nathanial (1806-1867) Moses (1808-1887), Ebenezer (1810-1877), Isaac (1817-1891), and Theodore (1819-1907) list the birthplace of New Jersey on Census reports. A sixth child, Rachel Hixson (Biggs) (1824-1876) is recorded as born in Okeana, Butler County, Ohio. Stillwell (mentioned above) also says there was another daughter named Tacey and a daughter named Mary. I cannot verify either of these. Stillwell lists Mary and Rachel as the two youngest children, both born in Ohio. Logic says they would name a daughter Mary, but because there are so many Mary Stouts, I am not willing to spend the time it would take to verify her information.

The birthplaces of the children gives us a clue as to when the family moved to Ohio. It had to be between the birth of Theodore in 1819 and Rachel in 1824 (or earlier if Stillwell is correct and daughter Mary also first appears in Ohio.) Aaron’s biography in Find a Grave states that he migrated to Morgan County, Ohio in 1820, but I do not know their source.

Okeana in Butler County grew up on the Western side of Ohio, not far from Cincinnati.

Aaron Stout gravestone
Presumed gravestone of Aaron Stout in Butler County, Ohio

Whenever he specifically arrived, Aaron stayed put in Okeana, Butler County Ohio for the rest of his life. His children on the other hand, inherited his wandering gene. The two oldest sons wasted no time becoming independent.

Generation SIX: The Children of Aaron Stout

Missouri, Tenessee, Illinois, and Kansas

On this map, I have added the migration of Aaron and his children to that of his brother Josiah and his children. As we have seen, Aaron went to Ohio, from the Stout home base in New Jersey which is marked in red. If you follow the link to the map, you can click on each marker and see the name of the place, the name of the person who settled there and the year that I believe they first settled. I left out some locations where the stay was brief, and left out most of the stopping places of the rolling stone, Isaac Stout.

Nathaniel: Born in New Jersey, according to Find a Grave bio, he moved to St. Louis in 1828 when he was 22, and on to Memphis Tennessee in 1833. He died in Memphis Tennesee in 1867, and his wife is listed as a widow in the Memphis city director in 1883.

Moses: Born in New Jersey, Moses succeeded as a merchant in St. Louis. According to Find a Grave his move to St. Louis occurred in 1828 at the age of 20. In 1830 he married in St. Louis. One book says that Nathaniel and Moses went into business together in St. Louis, and in 1833, Moses bought out his brother Nathaniel. That is when Nathaniel supposedly moved to Memphis. Moses lived as a widow with a daughter’s family in St. Louis in 1880. He died in St. Louis in 1881.

Ebenezer: Born in New Jersey, he would have been about ten when his parents moved to Ohio. Like his brothers, his interests ran to commerce rather than farming. Records show that he married in Fayette Illinois in 1843. By 1850 when he was 40 years old, he and his family lived in Springfield, Illinois, where he worked as a store clerk. His brother Isaac and his mother-in-law live with his family. By 1855 he had moved to Bloomington Illinois. In the 1860 census, that job designation has changed to Merchant. He died in Bloomington in 1877 and his widow still lived in Bloomington when the 1889 city directory was published.

The Rolling Stone, Isaac Stout (1817)

Isaac: Born in New Jersey, Isaac Stout had more trouble finding himself than any of the other children of Aaron Stout, judging by the census record trail he left behind. We first see him aboard a ship sailing from Galveston Texas to New Orleans at the end of November 1839. The ship’s manifest lists the young adventurer (twenty-two years old) as a merchant. In 1850 we see him living with his brother Ebenezer and working as a clerk in Springfield, Illinois. In 1860, he has returned to Ohio, where he works as a merchant in Preble, Washington County, Ohio. He lives with his mother Mary, who is 76. His mother died at 78 years old, and Isaac, the rolling stone, returned to Illinois.

Before he showed up on the 1870 census, however, he married Matilda Montgomery, probably soon after his mother died, and they had three children. The family on the census includes a boy named Benjamin Stout, 13, but Matilda is too young to be Benjamin’s mother. Besides, at the time she was born, she was still living with her family. I have no idea who Benjamin belongs to. Isaac has reached the age of 53 before he has established a family with his much younger wife. Matilda is now 27. They live in McLean, Illinois and Isaac has fallen on bad times. He works as a laborer.

You might think things are looking up for Isaac, the rolling stone, when you see that in 1880, at 63 years old, he has found work as a school teacher. However, school teaching in that period was women’s work, and for men, teaching school probably came as a last resort to someone who couldn’t succeed at anything else. The family has grown by three–now six children. and they have moved to another town, Mt. Pulaski, Illinois.

St. Anthony Home for the Insane and the Aged, Dubuque, Iowa

The sad end for Isaac comes in 1900 when the census shows him listed as an “inmate” a Catholic Institution, St. Anthony Home, located in Dubuque Iowa. St. Anthony’s was Home for the Insane until 1897 when it was expanded to include a Home for the Aged. Those listed at the address include a lot of Sisters and then a list of inmates. Isaac died in 1901. Why Dubuque? I am puzzled because his wife proves hard to trace and I would have expected her to outlive him by many years. I cannot find her in the records after 1880, but perhaps she remarried when or even before Isaac died.

The Daughter, Rachel Stout

Rachel: Not to be outdone, the daughter in the family, Rachel Hixson Stout (Biggs), the only child of Aaron that I know for a fact to have been born in Ohio, ended life in Missouri. Rachel married Hamilton Biggs in 1842 in her family’s home county of Butler in Ohio. However, by 1850 she and her husband had moved a short distance away to Israel Ohio and then moved to Eaton Ohio. She lived in Fairview Kansas in 1870 and died at the age of 52 in Medoc Missouri, in 1876.

P. S. If I were following this family for one more generation, I would have to add Oklahoma to the map. But I am not.

How I Am Related

  • Vera Marie Badertscher is the daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson Kaser, who is the daughter of
  • Vera Stout Anderson, who is the daughter of
  • William Cochran (Doc) Stout, who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1822), who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1800), who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1773) who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1740), who is also the father of
  • Aaron Stout (1780)

Notes on Research

U. S. Census 1830, 1840 Morgan, Butler County Ohio; 1850 Israel, Preble, Ohio; 1850 Bloomington, Sagamon, Illinois; 1860 Bloomington, McLean, Illinois; 1860 Eaton, Washington, Preble, Ohio; 1860 & 1870 & 1880, St. Louis Missouri; 1870, Bloomington, McLean, Illinois; 1870 West Township, McLean, Illinois; 1870, Fairview, Labette, Kansas; 1880, Mt. Pulaski, Logan, Illinois; 1900, Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa;

New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1945 The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902; NAI Number: 2824927; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Record Group Number: 85; Isaac Stout, Departure from Galveston Texas; 28 Nov 1839 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965 ; Hunterdon County, New Jersey; Nathaniel Hixson Stout and Catherine Brewer, 25 Sep 1833 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

Ohio, County Marriages, 1774-1993; Butler County, Ohio; Rachel Stout and Hamilton Biggs; 29 Apr 1842 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

Illinois, Marriage Index, 1860-1920 ; Fayette, Illinois, Ebenezer Stout and Huldah Briggs, 18 Apr 1843. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 ; Probate Records (Shelby County, Tennessee); Author: Tennessee Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions (Shelby County); Probate Place: Shelby, Tennessee Nathaniel Hixson Stout, 11 Oct 1867 Accessed at Ancestry.com

Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988: Author: Missouri. Probate Court (St. Louis City); Probate Place: St Louis, Missouri : Moses Stout, 3 Feb 1881 , Case Number 13863. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Historic and Genealogical Miscellany : Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol. IV, John Stillwell M.D. , Self Published, New York: 1903 , Digital edition available at archive.org

Stout and Allied Families,Vol. I, Herald F. Stout, Capt. USN , Dover Ohio: Eagle Press:1951, Accessed on Ancestry.com

The history of the Stout family : first settling in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Nathan Stout, 1823. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Find a Grave website Aaron Stout; Mary Hixson; Nathaniel Hixson Stout; Moses Stout; Ebenezer Stout; Isaac Stout; Rachel Stout.

New Look At Ohio History By David McCullough

The American history author, David McCullough hunkered down in Marietta Ohio, on the Ohio River, to write about the lesser-known pioneers who first settled the Northwest Territory.

Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West

Pioneer Association of Washington County
Meeting of the Pioneer Association in Marietta in 1870. Augustus Stone, one of the sons of my pioneer family, would be here. Photo from Washington County Public Library

Anyone with ancestors in early Ohio will find this book helpful. In fact, it’s way of showing how national events affect individual families could be useful to anyone who wants to understand their ancestors’ lives between 1788 and the early 1800s.

McCullough has chosen to focus on one town–Marietta–and a handful of the leaders who made the settlement possible. General Rufus Putnam, who led fellow veterans of the Revolution westward and meticulously planned the “New England on the Ohio” town takes main stage, of course.

But McCullough also gives mini-biographies of lesser known figures who were essential to the founding of Marietta. Manasseh Cutler, a New England preacher who tirelessly campaigned for federal support of the Northwest settlement and against slavery; his son, Ephraim Cutler who settled in Ohio and held important positions; General Tupper, another Revolutionary War veteran; Joseph Barker, builder responsible for many of the homes on land and boats on the river; and Samuel Hildreth, Physician.

These men are very interesting, however, rather than spend a chapter on the shenanigans of Aaron Burr, and another on a visit by John Quincy Adams, I wish that he had spent more time on the “ordinary” people rather than only on the leaders. Of course it is hard to see ANY of the pioneers who took the chances they took to settle this new land as “ordinary.” As intriguing as Aaron Burr is and as much as I admire John Quincy Adams, their connection to the Northwest Territory was tenuous.

The Challenges

A catalogue of problems faced by the pioneers, makes me wonder if I would have left civilized New England for that unknown territory. We are reminded, however, that after the Revolution, the new country’s economy took a dive and since few of the soldiers ever received pay, the heroes of the Revolution were in serious financial trouble after the war. They believed, with typical American optimism, that the wilderness of Ohio Country promised a rich new life. All they had to do was work hard and the land would reward them.

Although that was the case, first they had to get across the mountains of Pennsylvania on foot or in oxcart, and down the Ohio in flatboats that they built themselves. Then they had to clear forests of trees larger than they had ever seen before, build forts, houses, and stores and churches.

Picketts Point monument to recall the Indian Wars along the Ohio River.
Picketed Point, reminder of the Indian Wars along the Ohio River 1791-1796 Photo by Photo by Richie Diesterheft, Flickr.

Meanwhile, they would be fighting off clouds of gnats. Listening to the wolves and panthers every night in the “howling wilderness,” and waiting for an Indian attack. For the first couple of years, The Ohio Company were ignored by their government in Washington, until a particularly onerous massacre woke up the law makers and George Washington himself stepped in to assure adequate funding and troops to establish a peace with the Indians.

My Family Arrives

1789 brought a harsh winter that killed crops prematurely and a measles outbreak adding to starvation. Next small pox hit the settlement. But in the summer the famine ended and General Putnam went back to Ohio to collect his wife and children and bring them West, along with fifteen other settlers. My 8th cousin, once removed, Israel Stone and his family added a considerable portion of that fifteen.

Benjamin Franklin Stone
Benjamin Franklin Stone

Of course I was disappointed that “my” family didn’t make it into McCullough’s book, particularly since one of the sons, Benjamin Franklin Stone wrote a journal detailing their journey and settlement in Rainbow, up the river from Marietta. McCullough also does not mention Rainbow. Among many interesting tidbits, Benjamin tells with how the family made it through the starvation times–PUMPKINS. Since another son, Sardine Stone held elected office for many years,I thought the family might have warranted mention.

Note: You can read New England Magazine, Vol. 16 1897(starting on page 210) with most of Benjamin Franklin Stone’s Journal in a digital copy on Google Books (FREE).

At the least, it would have been helpful to have a list of the settlers that came in the original caravan and in the later caravans led by Putnam. I doubt anyone could complete a totally accurate list, since McCullough reports that there were new people arriving every day. Naturally some of those people moved farther west after a brief stay, and some gave up and returned to the East.

Basic Principles

The dedication of these early pioneers to certain American principles, makes me proud to be an Ohioan. From the beginning their compacts included wording insisting on fair treatment of the Indians (although they were not totally successful), a ban on slavery and inclusion of all religions. From the very first year, they established schools, even Ohio University at the idealistically named new town of Athens, Ohio got their early attention. And every family in the Ohio Company was required to plant fifty apple trees. Johnny Appleseed was not the alone in carrying the gospel of the apple throughout Ohio.

I came away thinking that these people had both a phenomenal ability to believe in the future, together with some failings to see how things would change. They somehow knew that the towns they established would become cities of great importance, but they overestimated the lasting importance of river trade. Even after the invention of the steam engine and railroads started crisscrossing the country, they were slow to see the change. They wisely built roads much wider than needed by their carts and pedestrians, but of course had no clue that those roads would one day carry motorized vehicles. And flying machines? A fantasy. .

But whatever advances civilization made, those Pioneers were right about one thing–education.