STIMPSON, STIMSON, STINSON Patriots of the American Revolution. The only STINSON from Buckingham County that was ever documented for National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was the Alexander STINSON illustrated above from “The DAR Patriot Index” of 2000. The DAR daughter who submitted his papers long, long ago was Sue Annie STINSON of Alabama, born 1897. She submitted the same spelling for her patriot’s surname as did I: “STINSON.” In that seemingly ancient time of indexing “by hand,” the DAR cataloged her Ancestor under the name “STIMPSON,” even whilst retaining her preferred spelling of “STINSON.” When I submitted my STINSON papers, the DAR kept this same order, as my STINSONs were of the same family, and I was able, with no problems at all, to order my DAR pins with the names spelled as “STINSON.” (See Image Here: My DAR Ancestor Bars)
Since Miss STINSON documented her patriot ancestor in 1969, ten descendants of Alexander STINON Junior have joined DAR on his service. I have personally perused a number of their applications, and all spelled the STINSON name as “STINSON,” just as I and Sue Annie STINSON did on our papers. For those who are suffering disconcertion over the DAR’s spelling of their STINSON surname, I direct you to the FAQ page of the NSDAR Office of the Registrar General’s web page at www.dar.org:
“8. How does NSDAR decide how a patriot’s surname is to be spelled?
“NSDAR combines similarly spelled or sounding names under a common spelling for the clerical convenience of our staff. This in no way indicates that the spelling is a correct or preferred one. Each member should list her ancestor in her chapter yearbook and on her ancestor bar with the spelling which she prefers. In addition, each membership certificate will/should reflect the spelling of a the patriot ancestor’s name which the member listed on page one of her application.”
The next edition of the DAR Patriot Index will include my two ancestors from Virginia, Alexander STINSON Senior, father of the listed Alexander STINSON (c1733-a1813) above, and his son David STINSON, both of Buckingham County, Virginia.
After gathering together all the historical documents necessary to prove my STINSON lineage to NSDAR standards, no easy feat in a Virginia burnt county, I decided to write a book on the STINSON family of Buckingham County. It is SO OBSCURE A PERSON – The Story of Alexander STINSON and His Virginia Descendants. In that book, on pages xvi and 1, I explained the spelling patterns of this name and more. ~~Edna Barney
RSS Feed. ~~Neddy
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Hello, Neddy…
Since the surname “Stinson” is the Scottish vernacular for “Stephenson”, I was wondering if you have any Stephenson members in your early Virginia families?
Our James and Robert Stephenson were both born in Virginia; James Stephenson in 1776 and Robert Stephenson at an earlier and unknown date.
The children of the above Robert and Elizabeth Whitley Stephenson family used the surname of Stinson. Robert Stephenson also used the Stinson surname on occasion. In the 1808 records of Mississippi Territory, in what was to become Madison and Limestone County, Alabama, robert Stephenson is shown as “Robert Stinson”.
I would appreciate any information you might have. We have been looking for our early Virginia Stephenson contingent for many years.
Thanks,
Marlene Stephenson
Marlene – I do not recognize James and Robert from the Buckingham County STINSONS. We do have one family that went south to Georgia and were later in Henry and Barbour Counties, Alabama, but they don’t seem to have a Robert or James that fit your dates. Or I don’t know of a Robert STINSON from the Buckingham STINSONS.
I noticed several names on your list of men who supplied or served the Rev War army from my family tree. I would love any data on them. Alexander Smith, Littleberry Patteson (indirectly), William Phelps, and maybe one other.
There’s a middle name for men and women in my tree of Lumpkin, but I can’t discover how they are involved. Do you have any Lumpkins in your tree?
My ggfather’s middle name was Patteson and two generations before him.
Thank you so much for sharing your research with others.
Sharon – The three patriots you mention were related by marriage. William Phelps was the father-in-law of Alexander Smith, who in turn was the father-in-law of Littleberry Patteson. They were from the Buckingham County area of Virginia. I found “Lumpkin” used once as a middle name in this line but I do not know why.