Coming Soon......
Standefer/Standifer
Family Ancestry
Introduction to the book
The Standefer Family: The First 900 Years
by Fletcher Standefer Crowe, PhD
1041 Riverbend Club Dr.
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-530-0020
FSCrowe@AOL.com
(*Dr.
Crowe has spent twenty years researching the origins of our families
and soon his well-documented book will be for sale. He has
generously provided us with an Introduction.
I will list this exciting new book on the Website when it is available.)
Standifer/Crowe
Family Ancestry
Early de Sandfords: King’s Agents
¨ 1066 – William of Normandy conquers Britain; William’s wife Queen Matilda gives the manor of Sandford to the Bishop of Exeter. Manor located in Devon county, in southwest England.
¨ Some time after 1086 a family member is given the manor of Sandford, and the name de Sandford is originated.
¨ First known reference to a de Sandford is Thomas de Sandford, Magistrate to King John, signer of the Magna Carta, May 14, 1204. Seems to have lived in Portsmouth, England.
¨ In 1275 John de Saunford appointed by King Edward I to handle lands issues for the King in Ireland.
Thomas de Saunford: The Scourge of Braveheart
¨ Commander of a contingent of English troops in Scotland that quelled the uprising of William Wallace (“Braveheart”).
¨ Given a commendation by King Edward I in June of 1297 for his military service under the command of Sir Hugh Percy of Northumberland
¨ In the 1320s, served as a Magistrate in the king’s courts in and near Portsmouth.
William de Sandford: Warden of the Forest
¨ Named Warden of the Forest of Jedburgh, Roxburgh Co., Scotland, in 1337 by King Edward III.
¨ Given the Wheel Chapel (“Whele Kirk”) in 1347 as a source of revenue by Edward III.
¨ May have lived 9 miles south of Jedburgh on the Scottish-English border.
¨ Was an attorney at Westminister (London) in the 1350s.
John Sandford: Woolen Magnate (?? – 1559)
¨ Leased a woolen mill in Stonehouse, Gloucester Co, Eng., near Gloucester in 1525, and then purchased it outright in 1544.
¨ Lived in Kings Stanley, near Stonehouse; was quite wealthy.
¨ Became a friend of Protestant Bishop John Hooper; was an early Protestant.
¨ Was Mayor of Gloucester in 1533.
¨ Was a major exporter of textiles; had offices in Germany and Switzerland.
¨ Died on voyage returning to Bristol on way back from Germany, 1559.
John Sandford2 of Bristol
¨ In his will in Bristol, he said he had come from Stonehouse.
¨ Appears to be the progenitor of the Sandfords in Bristol, but this is as yet still unequivocally confirmed.
¨ Lived on the Grand Quay in Bristol, England, the country’s second-largest city in 1600;
¨ Was a prominent and influential merchant in the city.
¨ Owned several barks, three-masted sailing ships that traded goods with Ireland, Spain and France.
Thomas Sandford: Barbados Planter (c. 1610 -- 1666
¨ Born in Bristol about 1610; lived in London as a young man.
¨ Sailed for Barbados about 1629; became one of the most prominent and wealthy plantation owners on the island
¨ Married to Margaret; built “Margaret’s Fort” on the northwest coast of Barbados, next to his plantation.
¨ Negotiated with the leader of the armed forces loyal to Parliament (supporters of Oliver Cromwell) in 1651 when the island was invaded by Parliamentary forces during the English civil war.
¨ In 1651, helped write a stirring declaration of liberty for Barbados that was later used by Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence.
¨ Had eight children; oldest son Thomas2 inherited family landholdings through primeogeniture and became a prominent “gentleman.” Other sons emigrated to the English colonies in America.
John Sandifor: Family Progenitor (c.1640 – 1691/2)
¨ Born on Barbados to Thomas and Margaret Sandiford c. 1640.
¨ Emigrated to New Poquoson Parish, Yorke County, Virginia in 1658
¨ Raised tobacco on about 100 acres;
¨ Wife was Joannah (also spelled Joane); they had two children, John Jr. and Maryanne.
John Sandiford Jr.: Virginia Cavalier (1666 – 1714)
¨ Born in New Poquoson Parish, Yorke County, Virginia in 1666.
¨ Purchased 94 acres of land for a tobacco plantation in southeast Middlesex Co. VA in 1687, and remained there the rest of his life with 130 acres.
¨ Was a smalltime Virginia Cavalier at Christ Church parish with 130 acres, a friend of wealthy landowners such as the Churchills, the Kemps, and the Wormleys.
¨ Wife was Sarah, possibly the former Sarah King. She had three children: John III, in 1691, Mary b. 1693; and Sarah, b. 1696. Daughter. Sarah married a Kemp.
¨ Sarah died in 1706; son John sent to live with a relative, William Standifer, in the Gunpowder Hundred, near Joppa, Baltimore Co., Maryland.
John Standiford III: Maryland Planter (1691 – c. 1753)
¨ Born in Middlesex Co. Va. In 1691 to John and Sarah Sandiford
¨ Moved to the plantation of relative William Standiford in 1706 at the age of 15 when his mother Sarah died. Lived on north side of Gunpowder River near Old Joppa at confluence of the Falls of the Gunpowder River and the Little Falls of the Gunpowder River
¨ Married Margaret Skelton in Yorke Co. Va. in 1711. Two known sons, James, and Israel, plus a stepson Skelton.
¨ Israel Skelton had come to the Gunpowder area of Maryland from the World’s End plantation on the Sassafras River in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
¨ Tobacco planter near Joppa in Baltimore Co. Md. Joppa was the major tobacco port of that part of Maryland. Attended St. John’s church in Joppa.
¨ Leased lands for his son James at Blethyn-a-Cambria manor, 15 miles inland from Joppa, and for stepson Skelton in Clynmalira Manor, Baltimore Co. and for son Israel in My Lady’s Manor, north of Blethyn-a-Cambria and Clynmarlia.
¨ Born in Joppa, Maryland, 1715; became a lawyer.
¨ Married Martha Watkins in 1737; had ten children including Luke, Israel, James and William. The Watkins family had been prominent in Maryland for 100 years
¨ Leased land in Blethen-a-Cambria manor, 8 miles north of Baltimore 1738 – 1756; attended St. James Church in My Lady’s Manor.
¨ Became a frontier settler on the Blackwater River in southwest Virginia in 1756, now Franklin County) during the French and Indian War. A battle of the war took place at his home on Standiford Creek.
¨ Owned a horse race track and became quite prosperous.
¨ Provided provisions to the Continental army during the Revolutionary War.
¨ Died 1807 on Story Creek, Henry Co. Va.
Luke Standefer (1745 – 1734)
¨ b. St. Johns Parish, Joppa, Baltimore Co., Md., Jan. 25, 1745
¨ Moved to Franklin Co., Va. (10 mi. east of Rocky Mount), 1756, age 11
¨ Officer during Revolutionary War.
¨ Had a stagecoach stop and managed an iron smelter along Story Creek, 10 mi. southwest of Rocky Mount, Va.
¨ Marr. Mary Anne Price Jan. 15, 1787, Franklin Co. Va. Her family was quite wealthy and prominent from Cumberland and Buckingham counties.
¨ Moved family to Mt. Airy, Tenn. 1810
¨ Moved with family to Monroe County, MS., 1818 at age 73
¨ d. Monroe County, Miss., c. 1834; buried at New Hope cemetery
William Price Standifer (1798 – c. 1860)
¨ b. Franklin County VA, 1798
¨ Moved family to Monroe County Miss. in 1818, age 20
¨ Speculated in cotton lands; owned 13,000 acres in SW Itawamba Co., MS. by 1860
¨ Marr. “a Gideon” c. 1830; ; had one surviving daughter, Ruth
¨ Probably fought in the Texas war of independence
¨ Arrested for killing his overseer, but got off on a technicality
¨ Had 23 slaves in 1860
¨ Built an ante-bellum mansion at Ironwood Bluff on Tombigbee River near New Salem
Ruth
Hester Standefer (1833 – 1905)
¨ b. Aug. 25, 1833, Itawamba County, MS
¨ m. Addison Fletcher Burdine Mar. 24, 1853, Monroe Co., MS. He fought for the Confederacy at the Battle of Atlanta
¨ Daughter Mary Leona Burdine married Henry Pleasant Crow(e) in 1892
¨ Lived in southwestern Itawamba County, MS., New Salem District where husband farmed.
¨
¨ Born 1866 near Guntown, MS (Itawamba County)
¨ Father Reubin assassinated 1870 and mother Mary Jane remarried Wm. Cain
¨ Married Mary Leona Burdine Jan. 5, 1892, Itawamba Co, MS
¨ Methodist minister in Mississippi at Verona and New Salem
¨ Methodist minister at Sikeston, Fredericktown, and St. Louis Missouri
¨ Methodist District Superintendent Farmington, Charleston, Dexter, Poplar Bluff MO,
¨ Financial Secretary, Marvin College, Fredericktown MO.
¨ . Died June 9, 1935, Bloomington, Mo; buried in Sikeston, MO
Rev. Fletcher Standefer Crowe
¨ Born Nov. 27, 1892, Amory, Miss.; chaplain during W.W. I
¨ Married Virginia Whitener March 20, 1916
¨
Attended Marvin College,
Vanderbilt, and Washington Univ., St. Louis MO.
¨
Methodist pastor, Arlington
Hgts. Christy Memorial and Shaw
Ave., St. Louis
¨
Methodist minister at
Tahlequah, Duncan, Muskogee, Enid , OK
¨
District Superintendent
Muskogee, OK., and Poplar Bluff, MO.
¨ Died Jan. 28, 1965, Fredericktown.
