Steiner and Stoner
A family history
Dear Readers and surfers, this is a brief history of the Stoner family as it relates to the Taylor Family of Missouri and of course beyond. All credit must go to those researchers before me, I am just the putter downer of the message.
May it suffice that the history of any family might contain some discrepency to the true history, so please dont shoot the messenger.
The black sheep of the familyThe list of Historians behind this document is found on Page 13
THE STEINER FAMILY OF GERMANY
Background
The following pages of history of the early Steiner (Stoner) family in Germany are an exact reprint from a book entitled The Descendants Jacob Steiner Family Genealogy by Lewis H. Steiner, M.D., and Bernard C. Steiner, Ph.D. This book gives the history of the Jacob Stoner family, he being the immigrant ancestor who probably arrived in America at Philadelphia in the vessel Pennsylvania, September 11, 1731. He settled in Frederick County, Maryland, soon after, and lived there until the time of his death.
The above Lewis H. Steiner and Bernard Steiner were father and son and they were both librarians at Enoch Pratt Library at Baltimore, MD., where they had opportunity to do a great amount of research. The early history work seems to have been done principally by the father, Dr. Lewis H. Steiner, who translated all the foreign records. After his death, his son, Bernard D., completed the history of the family, securing the family data. He says in the preface to the book: "Among the papers of my father, the late Lewis H. Steiner, were several pages of notes towards a genealogy of our family. These have been taken up and much amplified, and the work is now issued, as it is not likely that further delay would elicit many more facts of importance. It has been a pleasant task for me to search out the various branches of the family tree."
Sketches From The Early History Of The Steiner Family In Germany
The family arms of the family of Steiner von Steindorf consists of a silver shield, in the middle of which is displayed a red bear in an erect posture. A closed helmet covers the shield, having, as a crest, a red boar's head looking to the left. The ornaments of the arms consist of foliage, half red and half gold, the same being placed on a stelle with white small pearls. Below the shield there sweeps a white band with a red back (Mappenband), bearing the name Maximilian Steiner in red ecclesiastical letters. The whole constitutes a true representation of the arms which Ludwig of Bavaria presented to the ancestor of the Steiner family at the tournament of Goslar.
The diploma of nobility, as well as the letters, which were confirmed by Emperor Sigismund in 1397, and announced at Erfurt July 26, 1397, are to be found in the original in the imperial chamber at Wetzlar. A copy is in the archives of family arms (Familien-Wappen-Archiv) at Vienna.
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The imperial archives of the nobility of the empire at Wetzlar and the registry office of family ancestry and arms at Vienna contain, with reference to origin of the noble family of Steiner, the following material, the correctness of which is made clear and evident by reference to the books of heraldry and tournaments at Speyer and Frankfort-on-the-Main.
These show that the family of Steiners appear for the first time as a noble house in one of the archives of the Reichskammer of the Elector of Saxony, which is dated "Regensvurg, 22d of the month of August in the year of our Savior 1340." As the cause of this record appear the decrees of the Criminal Court (Halsgerichtserdnung), from which it appears that Ludwig van Steindorf had been cited from his seat at Steindorf in the Oberlausitz in consequence of a quarrel with Uffo von Benkenburg, by the Superior Court at Regensburg, for a breach of the Landfriede, and that,
through the management of Anselm, placed under the imperial ban, and, in consequence of this, his family castle confiscated and the possession of the same was adjudged to the complainant, Uffo.
Ludwig van Steindorf went into a monastery at Goslar and died in the same, March 27, 1342, from grief and anguish at the rendition of so unjust a judgment. It a~upears that after some months the Emperor, by a decree of December 31, 1341, three months before the death of the condemned, had annulled the imperial ban. But the edict was concealed and held back by the trickery of the revengeful Bishop of Wurzburg, who
. bore the responsibility of the same readily on account of the great influence he possessed at court.
It appears from the records of this court that the father of Ludwig van Steindorf -- the head of a family (Stammvater) so widely distributed -- was named
I. Maximilian Steiner
He was made a knight (Ritter) on the 26th day of November, 1311, by Ludwig of Bavaria. A singular circumstance was to be thanked for this good fortune. He was a squire (knappe) of the Count of Mansfield and saved the life of his royal highness, Ludwig of Bavaria, in a boar hunt, having freed him from great peril of life by seizing a boar that rushed at him and strangling it with both hands. The king created him knight at Goslar at the next tournament, and presented him with a silver arrner (Rustung) and a costly shield, the arms of which exhibited a red bear on a silver shield. But as Maximilian was without property and possessed nothing besides his gigantic strength and bravery, his brave and fearless heart, his king and lord gave him a knight's castle which he had won from Gunther, the Bishop of Wurzburg,
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at draughts (Breitspiele). This Maximilian made his family castle (Stamm-SchIess), and changed its name from Guntersburg which it had been called before to Steindorf.
He married shortly afterward Margaretha von Bassenheim, the daughter of his neighbor, Gottfried von Bassenheim. But in the midst of the happy days of his marriage, the duty of gratitude and the voice of his father called him to the battlefield for his king. He collected from his neighborhood a small company (Fahlainschaft) of 60 brave lancemen, and, as their captain (Feldhauptman), fought under Ludwig and fell in the battle against Frederick of Austria at Muhldorf at the head of his faithful followers. His widow renounced the pleasures of the world and entered the nunnery of Munsiedl, known as Maria Schutz, where in a short time she gave birth to a son, to whom she gave at baptism, the name of the king in whose cause her faithful spouse had fallen. Grief for her lost husband did not permit her to live to see the coming year, and she died December 29, 1312. Her only son
II. Ludwig
In accordance with the wish of his grandfather, was surrendered to the same, who managed also most faithfully his castle of Steindorf. But Ludwig had scarcely attained the age of youth when his grandfather, Gottfried von Bassenheim, died, and, as no other heirs had legal claim, the knight's estate of Bassenheim fell to him. Uffo von Benkenburg set up unfounded and illegal claims to a part of the landed property 'belonging to Bassenheim, which Ludwig would not recognize.
This state of affairs led to much quarreling and contention. His antagonist at length knavishly played the part of peacemaker, and declared that all ill-will should be done away with and all claims be relinquished if Ludwig von Steindorf would marry Gertrude, the only daughter. But Steindorf married'a poor but virtuous maiden, the daughter of the sacristen (Kuster) of the cathedral of Sancta Clara, and gave, as a bridal gift and as dower at the same time, the castle of Bassenheim with all its enclosures, grounds and cattle. From this time on the quarrel with his ancient enemy broke out anew.
Ludwig's spouse, Adelgunde, bore him three sons, Ludwig, Bernhardt, and Roland, and died at the birth of the last, who were twins. As if anticipating her own death, she bequeathed to her children, ten days before the day of their birth and her death, the castle of Bassenheim with all the grounds
thereto belonging, by a will written by the abbess of the Sancta Clara Chapter. Her corpse was scarcely interred in the convent vault when Uffo von Benkenburg once more broke the solemn oath Ludwig von Steindorf, and het the continual disturber of the Landfried, relying on the power which at
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that time his brother Anselm, Bishop of Wurzburg, possessed at court stepped forth as complainant, knowing he could not affect his courageous opponent by force of arms. As was mentioned before, Ludwig lost, by declaration of the imperial ban, his family possessions, and these fell, by the cunning influence of the Bishop of Wurzburg, to his brother Uffo, whilst Ludwig died in the cloister. Before he had determined to carry out this so incomprehensible resolution -- to terminate his life within the walls of a monastery -- he committed the care of his children to the abbess of the neighboring convent of Sancta Clara, and the superintendence of their education to his tried friend, Cesar Bentivoglio, whom he constituted guardian of his sons, and who for some time had been castellan of the castle of Steindorf. He faithfully performed his duty as friend, and died at an advanced age, after he had experienced the pleasure of having the twins that had been entrusted to his care educated and accomplished in tournaments and the use of arms.
III. Ludwig
the eldest of the sons, on the day of his wedding with Agnes von Hohenburg-Kolbina, gave his lawful name of Steindorf to the castle heretofore called Bassenheim. He had with his consort two daughters and one male heir.
At the end of the Thirty Years War, 1618 - 1648, whose bloody effects left traces for more than half a century afterwards, a general census was taken in Germany, and it appears from various summaries and registers that there then lived, 1652, in the German States, 94 male and 109 female owners of the name of Steiner von Steindorf.
The desolation produced by the French toward the end of the 17th century, and especially the invasions into the Rhinelands in 1686, called forth such horrors as all wars are accompanied with. Among the unfortunate who lost their property and estates and were obliged to seek safety in flight were many of the Steiner family; many of these fled to Switzerland, and at the present time some of this family still live there.
Furthermore, these are to be met with very numerously in Bavaria, wurtemburg, Saxony, Rhine-Prussia, and in the Austrian Monarchy; but the numerous researches which have been conducted by separate members of the Steiner family can detect no connected line of descent, as most of them had lost their records in the war periods since 1625. It appears from old documents that many of the Steiner family living in the Rhine Palatinate, as well as in Austria and Steinermark at the end of the last century or the beginning of this, emigrated to America.
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Between the years 1660 and 1685 the horrible devastations of the French through the firebrand of bloody war, drove thousands of families away. The Steiner family was also so scattered that any further connected account of it cannot be given.
The foregoing account is of historical interest and is worthy of printing, if for no other reason. It does give a background of the Steiner (Stoner) family origin. This account was given to me by Dr. Jean E. Taylor. Much of the Stoner family research was done by Vilas Young of Maryville, MO., Alva L. Preston Jr. of Columbia, MO. and Amber Stoner Culp of Bethany, MO. They are all Stoner descendents. We are now ready for the Steiner-Stoner families in America.
The records of Germany are apparently not complete enough to prove an unbroken line from Maximilian to Frederick von Steiner who lived in the middle 1600's. Nor is there any assurance that the Steiners who emigrated to America from Germany in the early to middle 1700's were descendents of either. However, most of the Steiners of record had their beginnings in the same general area of Germany. Lacking proof to the contrary, perhaps it is fair to assume that we have a bit of Royalty in our background and that it was earned as a result of bravery.
The early history of the Steiner-Stoner family in America is clouded in uncertainty. There is no clear record of the first lineal ancestor who came to this country. Steiners came early to both Philadelphia and Baltimore. One family legend says that five brothers, Issac, Heinrich, Christian, Jacob and Johannes Steiner came from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania. Actual records show that the ship "Neptune" arrived in Philadelphia October 25, 1746. Among the passengers were Issac, Heinrich, Christian, Jacob and Johannes Steiner. We do not know if we are speaking of two different groups or one group.
Another version of legend has six brothers: Christian, Jacob, Abraham, John, Henry and Rudolph Stoner-Steiner settling in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Christian supposedly carne first about 1717, the others in the 1720's.
All the legends have similarities and differences.
Evidently there are insufficient records in existence to ever reach definite conclusions. One family researcher reports that in 1790 there were 51 Stoner families in Pennsylvania and 17 of them were in Lancaster County. Their affinity for using the same Christian names further complicates efforts to trace lineage and establish records with certainty. We will list excerpts from some of the research.
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A Christian Steiner was naturalized October 14, 1729.
He bought in Strasburg Township in Lancaster County and built a mill. He had sons Jacob, John and Christian.
Abraham Steiner settled in Lancaster County and had land granted him October 7, 1735 and December 12, 1739. In 1755 John Stoner, a miller, sold land in Lancaster County to John Newcomb. Was John, the miller, the son of Christian who bought land in 1729 and built a mill?
In 1756 John Stoner of Connestoga having died, his children executed a deed of partition of their father's land. Their names were Abram, Christian, Catherine and John.
An Abraham Steiner bought 63 acres of land in Conestoga Manor in Lancaster County on May 3, 1740 and 200 acres in 1762. In the same place Christian Steiner bought 244 acres in 1761.
John, David and Abraham Steiner described as farmers of Antrim Township, Cumberland County, pennsylvania also owned land in Frederick County, Maryland. Joh~u Sr. sold land called "Egypt" on the North side of Antietam Creek near Steiner's Mill as early as March 18, 1750. John Sr. and his wife Catherine had a son named John described as their heir in 1771 and was then unmarried. He could be our John Steiner ancestor born in 1762.
An article from the Waynesboro, Pennsylvania "Sunday Patriot News" describes "The Old welty Mill" as being on land settled by John Stoner before 1740 and claimed at that time by'both William Penn and Lord Baltimore of Maryland. It is less than a mile from what is now the Mason-Dixon line. In 1759 John Stoner sought legal deeds to the property by purchasing tracts called "Little Egypt" and "Content" from Lord Baltimore. After the Mason-Dixon survey was completed in 1766, it was established that the land lay in Pennsylvania. Stoner then purchased the same land for the second time from Thomas and John Penn. They were the sons of William Penn.
Records in Lancaster, York, Bedford, Cumberland and Somerset Counties and perhaps others in Pennsylvania abound with the names Steiner and Stoner. To this time, none of them have yielded information that allows tracing of our family beyond the John Stoner who was born in 1762. From this point we can be definite as our information comes from family records and other authenticated records.
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Generation I
John Stoner (Johannes Steiner) was born in 1762. He married his cousin Catherine Stoner in 1786. They lived in Southampton Township of Somerset County, Pennsylvania (a part of Bedford County). John received a grant for two tracts of land in Somerset County. One grant was for 50 acres and one grant for 150 acres. This land was granted in 1793. Apparently, they lived on this land until 1806 when they sold it and moved to MuskingumCounty, Ohio.
April 21, 1806 John executed a land deed for 50 acres to Jacob Reiver. This was recorded in Somerset County. The body of the instrument is written as John Stoner. However, he signs it "Johannes Steiner". We find that February 18, 1811 John Stoner Sr. of Muskingum County, Ohio gave to John Stoner, Jr. a power of attorney for the express purpose of collecting money owed by Jacob Reiver of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Evidently, Reiver had never paid for the land sold to him in 1806. This power of attorney was registered in Muskingum County, Ohio 'February 18, 1B11. Also on July 3, 1811 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
We have no further information but presume that John Jr. made a trip to Pennsylvania and collected the debt while there.
John Stoner, Sr. and Catherine were the parents of eight
Stoner, Sr. and Catherine were the parents of eight children, all born in Pennsylvania before 1806:
all born in Pennsylvania before 1806: George Newton B. Feb. 22, 1787 D. Aug. 12, 1869 Age 82
B. Feb. 22, 1787 D. Aug. 12, 1869 Age 82 John Jr. Oct. IS, 1789 Dec. IS, 1875 85
Oct. IS, 1789 Dec. IS, 1875 85 Jacob Oct. 8, 1791 Dec. 29, 1855 64
Oct. 8, 1791 Dec. 29, 1855 64 Sarah 1793 About 1876 83
1793 About 1876 83 Mary Magdalene July 13, 1795 Oct. 10, 1884 89
July 13, 1795 Oct. 10, 1884 89 Daniel Jan. 23, 1797 Dec. 23, 1878 81
Jan. 23, 1797 Dec. 23, 1878 81 'Elizabeth 1799 1831 32
1799 1831 32 Catherine 1801 Aug. 1887 85
1801 Aug. 1887 85 1. George. Married Elizabeth Shirer - twelve children - ten girls, two boys. Three girls died in infancYi one son died age 22, unmarried. The seven girls entered a pact to never marry and six of them kept the pact. Only one married.
2. John Stoner Jr. Married Anna Mary Shurtz -eight children.
3. Jacob. See Generation II later.
4. Sarah. Married James Marsh - six children.
Mary Magdalene. Married Samuel Shurtz - eight children. Daniel. Married Mary Baker - four children. 7. Elizabeth. Married John Shurtz - records are vague.
8. Catherine. Married John Hershman - ten children.
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This is a brief sketch of the family of John and Catherine Stoner.
Records in the national archives show that John Stoner Sr. served briefly in the War of 1812. He was a member of Captain James Downing's company of infantry in .the Ohio Militia commanded by Colonel John Hindman from August 26, 1812 to February 24, 1813. His rank was private, and the record notes the rate of pay as $6.66 per month. Remarks on the company muster roll state "Deserted the 23rd of October, 1812." There is no further record of penalty or other action. It was not uncommon for a militia member to simply walk off when needed at home. He was 50 years old at the time.
John Stoner Sr. and Catherine had bought land in Ohio when they arrived. It was near what is now the town of Adamsville. His homestead was the S.E. quarter of Section 32 in Township 3 Range 7 in Madison Township. He received this land by letters of patent by President James Madison on the 17th day of July, 1813. He owned this land at the time of his death, and the same was deeded by his heirs to other persons later. John and Catherine deeded in perpetuity a small parcel of land for a church and cemetery. This deed was made April 30, 1831. It named George Stoner, John Shurtz and Alexander Struthers and their heirs or successors in office as trustees. The sum of five cents was paid to John Stoner to legalize the deed. The church was never built. John Stoner Sr. died July 3, 1838 and was buried in this cemetery. Catherine died in 1848 and presumably was buried there, although no record or gravestone has been found.
In doing family history, C.A. Stoner of Bethany, Missouri visited the above area in 1933. He found the old cemetery deserted and almost destroyed. However, he did find John Stoner's headstone. We owe much of this research to C.A. Stoner and to his daughter, Amber Stoner Culp, who consolidated his work into a book.
Although we could trace scores of the descendents of John and Catherine Stoner, we will confine our work to Jacob Stoner and his descendents.
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Generation II
Jacob Stoner was the third child born to John and Catherine Stoner. He was born in Pennsylvania October 8, 1791 before the family moved to Ohio. He died December 29, 1855 in West Lebanon, Warren County Indiana, while the family was migrating to Missouri. Note: When the Stoner families stopped at West Lebanon, Indiana that winter on their way to Missouri, they were less than 75 miles north of Bowling Green, Clay County, Indiana where the John Taylor family lived. There was no connection between the two groups •. However, Jacob Stoner and John Taylor were destined to become Great Grandfathers to me, Pierre Taylor, when Rachel and Edmund met two years later in Missouri.
Records in the National Archives show that Jacob Stoner served in the War of 1812 as a private in Captain Richard Sunderland's Company of 2nd Regiment Ohio Militia from February 16 to August 15, 1813. For his service of about six months he was paid $39.48 or about $6.66 per month.
Sometime after the war, Jacob Stoner went to work on the farm of Caleb Jordan. He courted and married Caleb's daughter, Nancy. Family legend has it that her parents felt it unseemly that she be courted by the hired man who was also eight years older than she. Nevertheless, they were married February 11, 1819. There seems to be evidence in family history and legends that Nancy was a person of strong character and her influence on the Stoner line was considerable.
In the records of Muskingum County, Ohio, we find a record of their marriage in the book of marriage records 1818 to 1836 at page 13 as follows:
Jacob Stoner to Nancy Jordan
The State of Ohio) SSe Muskingum County )
I do hereby certify that marriage was solemnized between Jacob Stoner and Nancy Jordan on the 11th day of February last by me. Given under my hand and seal this 12 day of April 1819. Signed
We have little knowledge of the early life of Jacob and Nancy. We know they were farmers and started housekeeping as any young couple did at that time. We do have record of various land sales made through the years. Some wer the heirs' intrst in land left by their parents.
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From the time of their marriage in 1819 Jacob and Nancy Stoner lived in Muskingum County, Ohio until 1855. During this period their ten children were born. Jacob was 27 years old and Nancy nearly 20 when they married. Their youngest child, Augustin was born in 1843 when Nancy was 44 years old. Following are the names of the children:
1- Hezekiah Stoner B. Oct. 7, 1819 D. July 1890
Hezekiah Stoner B. Oct. 7, 1819 D. July 1890 2. Levi Harrison Stoner Nov. 6, 1821 Oct. 28, 1853
Levi Harrison Stoner Nov. 6, 1821 Oct. 28, 1853 3. Jerush Stoner (Young) Aug. 29, 1824 Mar. 1, 1907
Jerush Stoner (Young) Aug. 29, 1824 Mar. 1, 1907 4. Caleb John Stoner Jan. 11, 1828 Aug. 1861
Caleb John Stoner Jan. 11, 1828 Aug. 1861 5. Sarah Ann Stoner (Stiner) April 1, 1830 June 22, 1913
Sarah Ann Stoner (Stiner) April 1, 1830 June 22, 1913 6. Jonathan Jackson Stoner Aug. 11, 1832 Dec. 10, 1910
Jonathan Jackson Stoner Aug. 11, 1832 Dec. 10, 1910 7. Rachel Catherine
Rachel Catherine Stoner (Taylor) Feb. 26, 1835 Dec. 22, 1928 8. Thomas Jordan Stoner Aug. 1, 1837 May 6, 1927
Thomas Jordan Stoner Aug. 1, 1837 May 6, 1927 9. Isaiah Spencer Stoner June 1, 1841 Dec. 15, 1924
Isaiah Spencer Stoner June 1, 1841 Dec. 15, 1924 10. Augustin Washington
Augustin Washington Stoner Oct. 17, 1843 Jan. 17, 1931 We could continue and tell much about the marriages of these ten people, their children and their wanderings. Suffice it to say that the ten of them produced for Jacob and Nancy Stoner 61 grandchildren and 198 great grandchildren.
I, pierre Taylor, am one of the 198. To follow on to 1987 would mean people by the hundreds and surnames by the score. Both Vilas Young and Amber Stoner Culp have written in-depth articles on the family.
We would leave the Stoners for a moment and look at the background of Nancy Jordan (Stoner).
The Jordan, Mercier and Allied Families
John Jordan: The life of this ancestor was filled with unique experiences. He was kidnapped in England and brought to New York about 1755. He was sold as an indentured servant for a seven year term to pay for his passage. It is believed that he was about eleven years old at the time and that he arrived about 20 years before the Revolution. His later life suggests that his master saw to it that he received some education or training. After serving his bondage, he located in Baltimore where he reared a family and spent the rest of his life. We do not have the name of his wife. He lived to the age of 105.
John's son, Caleb Deacon Jordan, was born July 18, 1773 in Baltimore. He married Rachel Wagers (B. 1778 - D. 1856) who was also born in Baltimore County, Maryland. It seems they lived in the same neighborhood and grew up together. They were married in Baltimore August 11, 1798.
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There were three apparently prosperous families living close together: namely the Jordans, the Wagers and Merciers.
My great-grandmother, Nancy, was the eldest child of Caleb and Rachel Jordan. There were eight children. According to Vilas Young in his history of the Stoner family, Caleb Jordan and his family moved from Maryland to Belmont County, Ohio in 1817, but shortly after they settled in Muskingum County.
The Mercier-Jacques and Related Families
Our information is limited, but research by Vivian Nation Pritchard and Amber Stoner Culp has given us some family details.
Elizabeth Powell was married February 16, 1696/97 to Christopher Waters. He was military officer of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Two children, Anna and Christopher Jr. were born of this marriage which ended in his death prior to 1704.
Elizabeth married the second time to Thomas Jacks (or Jaques) September 9, 1704. Children were Thomas Jr., Elizabeth, Barbara and Richard. Barbara Jacks was baptized September 11,"1712. She married Luke Mercier August 1, 1738.
Luke Mercier was the son of Francis Mercier who was born in Versailles, France. When Francis arrived in America is not known, but he served as the Secretary of a committee that established the first conformed free school in Maryland. He married Margaret Wildon in 1713. She is shown on Hugenot papers as a Hugenot Refugee.
The Jacks family were also Hugenot. Luke Mercier was born in Maryland in 1714. His marriage to Barbara Jacks gave birth to six children: Francis, Richard, Andrew, Weldon, Ann and Elizabeth.
Ann Mercier married William Wagers. Their daughter, Rachel Wagers, married Caleb Jordan. They were the parents of eight children: Nancy Jordan (Stoner), John Jordan, Mariah Jordan, Rebecca Jordan (Darner), Harriet Jordan (Porter), Agustine Jordan, Catherine Jordan (Winn), and Caleb Jordan Jr.
Much of this research was done by Amber (Stoner) Culp and Vivian Nation Pritchard. Amber was the grand daughter of Augustin W. Stoner, the youngest child of Jacob and Nancy. Vivian (Nation) Pritchard is the great grand daughter of Rachel Catherine (Stoner) Taylor.
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The ~u To Missouri
In 1855 the Stoner family began a move which ended a year later in Harrison County, Missouri. The reasons were probably the lure of new lands. Levi Stoner, the second son, had moved his family to Warren County, Indiana in 1849. Apparently his Uncle Daniel Stoner was also there. Levi died there is 1853. Sometime during 1855 Jacob and Nancy, with their five unmarried children, Hezekiah and his wife and four children, Jerusha and Frederick Young and their four and Sarah Ann and William Stiner and five children began the trek westward. A total of 26 people.
Presumably, they traveled by wagon train. They spent the winter at West Lebanon, Indiana and in 1856 comple~ud the trip to Harrison County, Missouri. Today it seems ironical that they crossed miles and miles of rich prairie in Illinois and eastern Iowa -- what is now the heart of the corn belt.
An early resident of Harrison County, Missouri describes the surrounding country as fertile and beautiful, sufficiently rolling without being hilly. The hills were covered with prairie grass and timber with timber predominating. Settlers looked for timber and water rather than good agricultural land. Timber was needed to build homes, fences and furniture. There was no market for excess grain and livestock, so a few cultivated acres could supply all the grain and garden produce for man and beast. Pigs, chickens, a few sheep for wool and a milk cow or two were the ordinary livestock. They were mostly self-sustaining. The few things they needed to supplement what they could raise --salt, sugar, tea, coffee, a few articles of clothing and farm implements -- they traded or bartered for. Major items used for trade were honey, beeswax and tallow. The timbered areas were excellent sources for honey and beeswax. Beef had not yet become a favorite of the American diet and we are told that the hide and tallow of a cow were considered more valuable than the meat.
On September 11, 1857 Nancy Stoner, a widow, purchased forty acres of land from Jacob Oxford. She was then in her 59th year. This land was in Madison Township of Harrison County, Missouri. This land is presently owned by a great grandson, Vern Young. A part of it has been in the family continuously for 119 years. When the 1860 census was taken, Nancy was living on this land with her two youngest sons, Isaiah Spencer and Augustin Washington Stoner.
When my father, Charles Denver Taylor, married Essie Schooler in 1893 this same A.W. Stoner, a justice of the peace, married them. A.W. was the uncle of Charles Denver Taylor. The marriage was witnessed by C.A. and Minnie
Stoner, the groom's cousins. The bride and groom drove to the Stoner home in a buggy and were married while sitting in the buggy.
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In 1870 Nancy was a member of the Frederick Young household, her son-in-law. In the 1880 census she was listed in the home of her eldest son Hezekiah. Nancy died January 1, 1884 at the age of 84 years, seven months and twenty days. She was buried in the Stoner-Lloyd cemetery at Mt. Moriah, Missouri more than a thousand miles, ten children and a full and busy life from the place of her birth.
We have spent considerable time with Nancy Stoner, but as mentioned before, she left 61 grandchildren and 198 great grand children to leave their impression on the world. She was a dominant factor in the family.
On April 12, 1857 Nancy's youngest daughter, Rachel Catherine, married Edmund Taylor. They lived on a farm about three miles northwest of Mt. Moriah until his death in 1898. Attached are some charts of the variou~u families which help to clarify the relationships.
My Stoner story ends with this marriage as it now becomes the Taylor story and I, Pierre Taylor, am the grandson of Rachel (Stoner) Taylor.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was done by various members of the family most of it by the following:
Pierre Taylor
Vilas Young Maryville, Missouri
Maryville, Missouri Amber Stoner Culp Bethany, Missouri
Bethany, Missouri C.A. Stone Bethany, Missouri
Bethany, Missouri Alva Preston Jr. Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, MissouriJean E. Taylor Bethany, Missouri
Bethany, Missouri Vivian Nation Pritchard Yakima, Washington
Yakima, WashingtonMy thanks to all of you. John Jordan, kidnapped in England, 30 to 40 years prior to the .American Revolution,
aqe about 11, brought to American, served bondage,
moved to Maryland, lived to age of 105 years wife unknown.
sonCaleb Jordan (Deacon) > 1773-7-18, 1845Married > in Baltimore 8/11/1798 Rachel Wagers 1778-1856 moved to Muskingum Co., Daughter Nancy Jordan (1799-1884) . John Stoner 1762-1838) of Somerset County, Pennsylvania,
married his cousin Catherine Stoner (1848) Muskingum County, Chio about 1808. Son Jacob Stoner, b. 11/8/1791, d. 12/29/1855 Married 2/11/1819 ?????DaughterRachel Catherine Stoner b. 2/26/1835d. 2/24/1928 - Married. 4/4/1857 Edmund Taylor b. 10/9/1835, Ind. d. 6/22/1897, MO. SonCharles Denver Taylor b.10/12/1872 -Married 12-3-1893Essie Louise Schooler b.10/10/1876- Sources:
Past & Present of the City of Zanesville and Muskingum CO., Chio,
by J. Hope Sutor, 1905
page 635,
Mlskingum CO., probate Qourt Records Book 2.
Volume VI, page 547, Compendium American Geneology,
Virkus, 1937
Vivian Nation Pritchard
