Thomas Stansifer

Thomas was the first born child of John Stansifer (1774-1827) and Rosey Powell. The information from one family bible gives his birth as July 10, 1806. However, another bible that was in the possession of his son John gives his birth as June 2, 1807. Thomas was born in Kentucky, probably in Campbell County. His mother's death occurred about the same time as the death of his grandfather John Stansifer in 1823. In February, 1825 his father married Sarah Herod who was only a few years older than Thomas.

On June 25, 1832 Thomas married Permelia Hamilton in Campbell County, Kentucky. The 1840 Federal Census shows them living down the Ohio River in Gallatin County, Kentucky. Between 1848 and 1850 Thomas and Permelia moved to Shelby County, Indiana with their six children. Two more children were born in 1850 and 1852. They settled on a farm less than two miles west of the town of Waldron in Liberty Township. In 1854 Thomas left his wife and eight children between the ages of 2 and 21. A great-grandson-in-law said that when Thomas was leaving he asked one of his sons, Thomas J., to go with him, but Thomas J. who was 15 at the time, declined the offer. His fate remains unknown. In 1863 guardians were appointed by the state for the minor children. Permelia remained on the farm until her death in 1884 and is buried across the road in a small cemetery (known as Knight's cemetery) with her mother and one of her sons, Isom.

The children of Thomas and Permelia Stansifer were:

  1. Henry (1833-1886) married Martha J. Martin in Shelby County, Indiana in 1859. They moved to Bloomington, Indiana. They had eight children who lived to adulthood. There are many Stansifers still living in the Bloomington area today.
  2. John (1835-1835) died as an infant.
  3. Samuel (1837-1915) married Jerusha Martin, sister of Martha, in 1860. They had seven children and remained in the Shelby County area.
  4. Thomas J. (1839-1920) married Lucy Adaline Newton in 1864. They had four children. They lived in Waldron. Lucy died there in 1941.
  5. John P. (1842-1924) married Elizabeth Youngman in Shelby County in 1866. He stayed and helped his mother until her death in 1884. Then John and Elizabeth went to Haskell County in southwestern Kansas. They had seven children when they went to Kansas and Benjamin was born in 1888 after they arrived there.
  6. Isom (1845-1885) was the only one of the seven Stansifer boys to serve in the Civil War. He joined Company L of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry. While serving in Northern Georgia he met Mary Jane Roberts. They were married in 1865. They had seven children. Most of their descendants are living in Chattanooga, Tennessee today. Isom died of TB while visiting his mother in Indiana and is buried there.
  7. George W. (1848-1920) married Margaret Cannon in 1871 and remained in the Shelby County area.
  8. Elizabeth (1850-1904) the only girl, married only after her mother's death. She married John C. Marsh. They had no children.
  9. William M. (1852-1935) married Laura Arnold in Shelby County and they remained there until Permelia died. Then they left for Kansas also. They settled in Chautauqua County in southeast Kansas. Laura died about 1899 and William married Sallie Clayton in 1901. They had one son, William Alexander. Many of his descendants found work in the oil fields and are now scattered throughout Oklahoma and Texas.

Elizabeth Youngman is the daughter of Jesse Youngman (1810-1888) and his first wife Maria Spurgeon (married 9 Mov 1831 in Shelby County, Indiana) was born in 1847.

Permelia's Obituary

The Republican recently announced the death of Mrs. Permelia Stansifer, of Liberty township, but the following additional particulars of her life will be found of interest to her many friends: She was born June 11, 1811, and died November 24, 1884, aged 73 years, 5 months and 13 days. She moved from Boone county, Kentucky, to Liberty township in this county in the fall of 1847. Mrs. Stansifer was the mother of nine children, one girl and eight boys, of whom all but one are living at this time. She was the grandmother of forty-four children, of whom thirty-eight are now living, and great-grand-mother of one child. Mrs. Stansifer was noted as a very kind and affectionate parent. She joined the United Brethren church in 1848 and subsequently united with the Baptist church in the fall of 1866. She bore with her final sickness all the way through without complaining in the least and at the end of life expressed herself as perfectly willing to die. Shelby county has had no more worthy female citizen than the lamented Permelia Stansifer.

From the Republican (Shelby, Indiana), Tuesday, 4 Dec 1884

Knight's Cemetery

The following description is from "Cemetery Records of Shelby Co., Indiana," book four, 1982, compiled by Maurice Holmes. This is the better of two descriptions of the same cemetery from the looseleaf notebook found in the Shelby County library. This cemetery is on private property and does not appear in the USGS NGIS database. It is completely overgrown. I have added a few of my own notes. 
KNIGHT CEMETERY
Liberty Twp.
Shelby Co., Ind.

Mings, Margaret  b. Sept. 24, 1805 d. April 16, 1870        [wife of Joseph Mings]
Avery, Mahala wife of Herman  b. 1820 d. Jan. 19, 1845
Avery, Herman  (died?) Sept. 10, 1847 2 months
Avery, Jefferson  (died?) July 15, 1847 1 yr. & 8 mo.
Mary wife of O. J. Knight  d. Nov. 10, 1835 aged 30 yrs.
Margaret daughter of Levi & Barbara Knight died Feb. 1845 (aged) 1 mo. and 4 days
Knight, Levi  b. November 4, 1803 d. Sept. 7, 1891.          [came from KY in 1833]
Knight, Barbary Ross  b. March 1, 1890 [sic; 1809?] d. January 8, 1879  [maiden name Ross?]
Knight, Aaron  Sept. 18, 18?
Knight, William  b. 1782 d. 1871
Stansifer, Isom  Co. L 3rd Inf.  (Civil war?)                  [son of Permelia Hamilton and Thomas Stansifer]
Bless, Nancy-consort of William  b. 1790 d. April 8, 1845 aged 55 yrs
Hamilton, Ursula  d. Aug. 8, 1846 aged 65 yrs. 5 mo. 17 days   [mother of Permelia Hamilton]
Infant twins of John & Margaret Mings  d. Jan. 21, 1842
Mings, Aaron B.-son of Joseph & Margaret  d. April 11, 1856 aged 10 days
Mings, William-son of Jos. & Marg. d. Apr 11, 1837 age 17 days
Rayens, Sara Ann-consort of John  d. August 11, 1838 aged 26 yrs. 5 mo & 3 days
Raynes, James O.-son of John & Manervy  d. Jan. 20, 1849 aged 3 mo. 2 days
Raynes, Robert D. son of John & Manervy  d. Oct. 21, 1852 aged 7 mo. & 13 days
Haymond, Alfred  b. July 7, 1826  d. June 29, 1867              [son-in-law of Levi Knight; http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=101429&id=I47176]
Smith, Elizabeth A. F.-daughter of C. J. & D. Smith d. Oct. 8, 1856 aged 1 yr. 1 mo & 2 days
Hollister, Joseph  b. July 31, 1855  d. Jan. 14, 1861
Biggs, Aaron  b. 1779  d. 1856
Newton, James T.-son of Isaac & Elizabeth d. Aug. 25, 1852 aged 2 yrs. 1 mo. & 6 days
[Isaac Newton b. 10 Feb 1810, OH, d. 22 Sep 1889, Shelby Co; Elizabeth Gray b. 21 Jan 1815, PA, d. 28 Aug 1894, Shelby Co.]

Trowbridge, Harriet A.-dau. of Chas. & Ann.  d. Aug. 8, 1854 aged 11 mo. & 11 days
Trowbridge, Loranzo S.-son of Chas. & Ann d. Aug. 21, 1854 aged 3 yrs. 4 mo. & 11 days.

    Several markers are missing or defaced
    This cemetery is in section 31 in Liberty Twp. just
    a short distance west of Waldron some distance south
    of the County Highway 500S.
  Copied from the Sesquicentennial Scrapbook of the Waldron
  Methodist Church made up by Kenneth Sever and others.

                                                     MH
Ryan Stansifer <ryan@cs.fit.edu>
Last modified: Fri Sep 26 19:13:10 EDT 2008