Revision as of 07:20, 15 May 2009

William Stoughton was born about 1742 - 1745 in New York and is reported to have been in the Revolutionary War, serving with troops from New York until the close of the war. Per the research of Jeanne Eichelberger, "He served in Washington's Army in the battle of Monmouth and was with Lee's division when Lee ordered a retreat. He is said to have related afterward that the only time he ever saw Washington angry was when he came upon Lee's retreating division. He asked "What means this ill timed prudence?" They were turned back to the charge and victory finally was won."
William Stoughton moved to New Jersey where in about 1770 he married "a Voorhees woman" who was also originally from New York. It is possible that these two families knew each other in New York and migrated together to New Jersey, although that is speculation. William and his wife had nine children, all born in New Jersey.
The older children were of marriagable age before the family left New Jersey. The oldest son, William Stoughton Jr., is thought to have possibly married and stayed behind in New Jersey when the famiy migrated westward, as he has not been found in the records.
The second son, John Stoughton, married Catherine Covert in New Jersey. Catherine was of Dutch heritage, though her famiy had lived in New England for two generations. Catherine's father, Lucas Covert, moved westward to Northumberland County, PA, after the Revolution, and in 1796 settle near Slippery Rock Creek in Butler County, PA. He was one of the first white settlers in the area.
The Stougnton parents and children, excepting possibly the oldest son, followed his lead. They resided for a time in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (then in Northumberland County, now in Union County). William Stotan (sic) is recorded as an inhabitant of West Buffalo Twp. in 1796; Lucas Covert appears on tax rolls for East Buffalo Twp. in 1793 and 1796.
The Stoughtons continued west in 1802 to Butler County (six years after the arrival of Lucas Covert), and by 1804 were in Middlesex Township. Members of the Voorhees family also migrated westward to Butler County. They were part of a migration of several of the old English and Dutch families of New England, moving westward in search of land for their growing families. These included the Stoughton, Covert, Wigton, Vorhees, & VanZandt families.
William was a farmer, and a shoemaker.(See his grandson Barnard VanZant Stoughton, also a shoemaker.) He died without a will in April of 1822, and an inquest of sudden death was held. Families besides Stoughton mentioned in his estate settlement were Timblin, Gilgrist, Badger, Thompson and Rose. Some of these names are no doubt his sons-in-law.
(Click here for complete biography & Stoughton name background)

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 7         Generation 8            Generation 9
 
                                          +-- [unknown]
                                          |   (????-????)
                  +-- William Stoughton --+
                  |   (1742-1822)         |
 John Stoughton --+                       +-- [unknown]
 (1773-1833)      |                           (????-????)
                  +-- [unknown] Vorhees
                      (????-????)

Sources: ^[7]

Children

(all children with [unknown] Vorhees)

Places of Residence

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1810 United States Federal Census, Center Twp, Butler Co, PA Page 2. Census is not dated. Lists family headed by W. Stoughton: 1 male 10-15, 1 male 16-25, 1 male >45, 1 female 26-44. Families headed by J. Stoughton, J. Timblin, and T. (or J.) Timblin also on page. May correspond to above William Stoughton, age 68, son Samuel age 15, son James ~28. All daughters are absent; youngest would be 17. The census does not appear to be for his son William, age 39 in 1810.
2	Estate File of William Stoughton, "Vendue paper", (this title implying a public auction), names Sally Timblin, Joseph Timblin, (Alexander) Gilgrist, Esther Badger, Ann Timblin, Andrew Stoughton, William Thompson, Jacob Rose, Edward Timblin, John Timblin,as recipients or purchasers of listed items, along with their value.	(Transcript, Wm. Stoughton Estate 1822)
3	Inquest re. sudden death of William Stoughton filed 4 Apr. 1822, Center Twp., Butler Co. PA. Document lists bill of costs of David Shannon, corroner, for inquest performed on 3 April 1822; William Campbell Prothonotary; John Coovert for making coffin; and John Timblin, administrator of the estate. Second document reads "April the 1st 1822 Estate of William Stoughton deceased, to John Coovert, __ To Making a Coffin...$4.50. Rec'd of John Timblin administrator the above mentioned estate the ___received in full. John Coovert. Third document, dated 15 Aug. 1823, reads "Rec'd the within amt. in full from John Timblin, Esq. David Shannon.	(Transcription, Inquest papers, Wm. Stoughton)
4	1803 Tax List Middlesex Twp., Butler Co. PA: William Stoughton, 400 Acres, 2 cows, 2 horses or oxen, Valuation 360, Tax 1.08. 1895 History of Butler Co.PA, p. 58
5	1895 History of Butler Co., Brown & Co., p. 614 Chapter 59 Brady Township: "The development of coal deposits at Coaltown, begun some years ago ... the coal banks on the Hines, Boyd and Douglass, William Badger, William Stoughton and Louis Martsolf lands, and the old Cornelius, D.K. Graham and James Martin banks, now abandoned, are well known as fuel suppliers of the past and present.
6	Early Settlers of Butler County, PA. 1800-1806 ed. John F. Gall & David K. Webb. Chillicothe, OH 1934, p.4 Early Settlers - a list of names appearing in early Butler County records indicating residence: Stouton, Wm. 1806.
7	Jeanne Bortmes Eichelberger, correspondence, 2006
8	Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams, gr-granddaughter of Elizabeth A. Stoughton.
9	Deeds transactions of John Stoughton in which John Timblin serves as a witness.	(Transcript) (Transcript)
10	Stoughton Family Genealogy and History research manuscript by Burke Stoughton, Apollo, PA, May-October 1996; G929.2 Butler Area Public Library, Butler, PA. (This source erroneously lists the father of the children on this page to be John Walker Stoughton (1767-1833), descended from a Jonathon Stoughton, Timothy Stoughton etc. family from E. Windsor, CT.) Notification by email Jan 2008 from the author, Burke Stoughton, indicates that the name John Walker Stoughton was erroneous, and that no connection to the Connecticut Stoughtons is presently known to us. He does however believe that such connection does exist. Burke Stoughton cautions that his now outdated publication at Butler Library should be used with caution, as it contains several errors. Samuel Stoughton, for example, was the son of William Stoughton(1745-1823) (not John Walker Stoughton), and was a brother of John W. Stoughton. Samuel Stoughton names a brother Andrew as an executor of his will. This Samuel Stoughton's 2nd wife's name was Catherine McCune, and would be the Catherine mentioned in his will. Burke Stoughton's research forward from this point (ie. the Stoughton family in Butler Co. PA) agrees with our findings and he has useful additions. He lists families co-migrating to western PA as Covert, Wigton, Van Zandt and Vorhees. For the children of John W. Stoughton he lists: Luke (died 1838/39), married Margaret unknown, resided Muddy Creek; his will mentions 6 minor children age 1-16. Andrew (born 1802); John (born 1805); Barnard (born 1817); Jacob (died ~1841); Euphama married unknown Logan; Hannah (died ~1845); Jane. We are in communication with Burke Stoughton, and anticipate additional new documentation per his research of this family.
11	Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania, Vol. 3, ed. John W. Jordan, 1840-1921, pg. 1272-1274. John and Catherine (Covert) Stoughton, both born in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Stoughton was of Holland descent, her mother's maiden name being Van Zant, a family that had settled on Manhattan Island, New York. Mr. Stoughton was of English decent, became a farmer, and owned three hundred and fifty acres of land, in three farms. Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton had children: William, a farmer, lived in Clay township; Luke, a farmer in Worth township, was in active service in the war of 1812; Andrew, a wealthy and prosperous farmer of Clay township; Jacob, a farmer, who died unmarried; John, also a participant in the war of 1812, lived on a part of the homestead, and married Nancy Boyle; Barnard, a farmer, died in Kansas; Jane, who married Mr. Boyle, as above stated; Hannah, married John Patterson, and lived in Worth township; Effie, married Robert Logan, a farmer, who was killed during the Civil War; Polly, died young.	See full text
12	History of the Stoughton Family, written out by Eva Coulter Conlan from information given her by Nancy Stoughton Patterson at her home in Lawrence Co., PA, date unknown. Manuscript not published; now owned by Holly K. Anderson. [Family source: the introductory text on RootsWeb implies that Nancy Stoughton Patterson's great-grandfather was William Stoughton, born 1742-43.] See RootsWeb's World Connect Project: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hollykat&id=I474 William Stoughton was born~1742/43 presumably in New York State; from there he enlisted the War of the Revolution, serving with Washington in the battle of Monmouth. After the war he moved to New Jersey where he married a Miss Voorhees from Albany New York, of Holland Dutch descent. Their children were William, John, Andrew, James, Effie, Delilah, Sarah, Ann, and Samuel the youngest, who was born 27 Aug 1795. William Stoughton moved to Lewisburg, PA, then in 1802 to Butler Co. PA. He was a shoemaker by trade. Samuel Stoughton was a Baptist Minister, licensed on Nov 30, 1822; ordained 28 Nov 1823; preached until his death in 1862 for the same church, possibly Muddy Creek Baptist Church. He married 1st in 1816, to Isabel unknown. Their two sons were: James Stoughton, b. 13 Jan 1817 - d.1875 Morgan Stoughton b. 13 Apr 1819 - d.1858. Samuel Stoughton married 2nd Catherine McCune in 1821. Catherine McCune (Stoughton) died 15 Jan 1865. Their children were: Lucinda Stoughton (June 19, 1822 -June 13, 1858) Sarah Stoughton ( Nov 22, 1824 - Sept 1, 1849) Nancy Stoughton (Feb 12, 1827 - ??) Samuel K. Stoughton (July 29, 1830 - Sept 16, 1849) Mary Jane Stoughton (Dec 29, 1832 - May 15, 1905) Emily Stoughton (June 30, 1836 -~ 1908) Julia Stoughton (Sept 21, 1838 - ??) Lavina Stoughton (Sept 16, 1840 - March 22,1802) Isabel Stoughton (Aug 31, 1842 - Sept 21, 1893) Elvina Stoughton (July 28, 1844 - Dec 25, 1906) Lewis Cass Stoughton (June 27, 1846 - Sept 1, 1849). Catherine McCune (Stoughton)'s mother Lucinda "Lucy" Moore was born about 1762 in Virginia or Maryland. She was ten years old the time of "The Boston Tea Party". Lucinda Moore married a Mr. McCune. Her children were: Samuel McCune Jane McCune William McCune John McCune Mary McCune Robert McCune Claypool (twin) Catherine McCune Claypool (twin) The twins were born August 18, 1802 just after their fathers death. Lucinda Moore (McCune) married 2nd a Mr. Claypool, so the twins were generally called Claypool.
14	20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens, by Hon. Aaron L. Hazen, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908, pg. 939. William E. Patterson, grocer & resident of New Castle since 1894, was born Butler Co. PA in 1850. His grandfather Thomas Petterson and his maternal great-grandfather both served in the Revolutionary War. His mother was Hannah Stoughton, descendant of New England settlers including Dutch settlers of Manhattan.	(See complete text)

Source notes

• Can not find William Stoughton in 1790, 1800, or 1820 cencus.
  
• Do not find Joseph, Edward of John Timblin born before 1800 in 1850 census Butler Co. PA.
• Photocopy of estate record received 2006 from Jeanne Eichelberger,with notation "Estate of William Stoughton, Dated 4-1-1822, No Will on record, filed 10-11-1822, Robert Scott, Recorder."
• Recipients/purchasers named in the estate sale record of William Stoughton include his son Andrew Stoughton, son-in-law Jacob Rose (husband of Effie Stoughton). Sons John, William and Samuel are not named. Preponderance of items to Timblin individuals (Ann Timblin, Sally Timblin, Edward Timblin, John Timblin and Joseph Timblin) suggest that perhaps two Stoughton daughters (Ann and Sarah (Sally?)) may have married Timblin brothers. Daughter Delilah Stoughton is not named. Others of unknown relationship: Alex'r Gilgrist, Esther Badger, William Thompson.
  Photocopy of estate of William Stoughton, and of inquest papers, received from Jeanne Bortmes Eichelberger 2006.
• Per Jeanne Eichelberger, the earliest Stoughton ancestors came from England in about 1591, settling in Connecticut, later in New York, and then in New Jersey. Our documented line came from New Jersey to Butler County, PA in 1802, settling in Middlesex township where William Stoughton appears in the tax list of 1804.
• 1895 History of Butler Co. Pa p. 614 reference to coal banks on land of Wm. Stoughton is unclear whether to original homestead, or to a Wm. Stoughton producing coal in 1895. If the latter, possibly William Stoughton born 1851, son of Andrew Stoughton per the 1860 census.

Conjecture

• Per P.K. Heckathorn, our William Stoughton was in the census of Greene Co. PA, Cumberland Twp. in 1800. This William Stouton is age 26-45, his wife age 16-26, and 2 daughters are aged under 10 years. There are no sons present. The age for William is within reasonable range, but the lack of sons is hard to overlook. We doubt that this is the same William Stoughton documented by this page; it could however be his son, William Stoughton, Jr.

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