The Stapleton Name

James Stapleton Lewis’ birth name was James Lewis. When his marriage record was recorded in 1833 in Jackson County, Missouri, he gave his name as James Lewis. He added Stapleton as a middle name after he settled in Utah.

In a letter written from Utah Territory to his brother Joel Lewis in 1855 James wrote, “I have by the advice of the governor taken my mother’s name for a middle name on account of others here of the same name. Be sure to notice this in directing a letter or I may not get it.” He signed the letter James S. Lewis.

Writing of his mother, James said:

              “My mother, Rachel Stapleton Lewis, was born 1773 in the state of Maryland. Was early left an orphan, the youngest of four daughters. Her parents were slave holders but when she was of age there was but little left for her. She was baptized in the Church of England, taught her children to believe the Bible. She had eight children, only four that lived to be grown, two sons and two daughters. Died near Logansport, Indiana. Was seventy-three years old.”

That is quite a brief summary of a life lived for more than seven decades that included:

• Birth just before the Revolutionary War in Maryland  
• Marriage in 1795 in Rowan County, North Carolina
• Giving birth to four children in North Carolina and losing two of them as small children
• Traveling as a pioneer from North Carolina, through Kentucky and having at least one child and possibly two while enroute on the pioneer Wilderness Trail
• Living on the frontier in Greene County, Ohio during the time of the War of 1812
• Having two more sons and losing two sons in Greene County
• Moving to settle in Cass County, Indiana, again creating a home on the frontier
• Living as a widow for six years after the death of her husband Joel Lewis

When James left the family home in Indiana to strike out on his own, his mother gave him a Bible which he cherished and carried all his life. When he began to listen to Mormon missionaries James noted that as they quoted scriptures, he “was careful to see every one of them with my own eyes and knew they were in my mother’s Bible.”

Speaking of his parents, James Stapleton Lewis praised, "Civilization has followed in the path of the brave pioneers and leaves the world to write their history which to say the least alas. . . Who can write the fearful facts of those early pioneers or give the credit that is due to them - impossible. My father, Joel Lewis, was there - my mother was there."

What else is known about Rachel Stapleton and her family? Actually, from court and other records we can make an outline of her life and the lives of her sisters and parents.

In 1898 James corresponded with Arthur Kennedy Love, a descendant of James’ brother Joel. Arthur quotes from that correspondence:

              “My mother, Rachel Stapleton Lewis was the youngest of four sisters that were left orphans at an early age. Her sister Hannah married father’s great uncle Daniel Lewis (junior) My mother’s sister Nancy [Nancy Anne] married Cyrus Sackett well known in Greene County before it was a county. My mother’s sister Avis married Abram (Abraham) Van Eaton. She died in Greene County, Ohio, in a very early day.” “The Stapleton name is from England. At an early day they pioneered from the old world to the new. My mother’s people were slave holders in the State (then Colony) of Maryland but lost all their property in the Revolution.”

The parents of the four Stapleton girls were Joseph and Sarah Stapleton. Some online family trees give Sarah’s maiden name as Lewis, but I have never seen any proof of that and think they might be mixing Sarah Stapleton with JSL’s grandmother Sarah Lewis Hendricks. Researchers have identified other Stapleton family members also. More on that in another post.

Land deed records for Rowan County, North Carolina detail land transactions by Joseph as early as July, 1774. However, in October 1776, Sarah Stapleton sold the land. Sarah had become a widow sometime between those two dates. 

Evidence of her impoverished condition and the difficult decisions that were required of her are found in Rowan County Court records for August 6, 1777.

• Ordered by the Court that Hannah Stapleton, orphan of Joseph Stapleton be bound to Hugh Cathay, she being 11 years old and to serve until she be 18 years of age, said master to give to said orphan 6 pounds, one spinning wheel, and what the law allows. [He got the land and the daughter.]
• Ordered that Avis Stapleton, orphan of Joseph Stapleton, be bound to James Bailey, being 8 years old, and to serve until 18. Said master to give her 6 pounds, a spinning wheel and what the law allows. [His property adjoined the Stapleton land.]
• Ordered that Anne [Nancy Anne] Stapleton, orphan of Joseph Stapleton be bound to John Lowry, she being 9 years 6 months and to serve until she be 18. Said master to give her 6 pounds, one spinning wheel and what the law allows.

Apparently Rachel was too young to be bound out and remained with her mother. While it can be hoped that the neighboring families who took the three Stapleton daughters as bound servants treated them with kindness, no records survive to tell the details.

The Stapleton girls obviously remained close because, following their marriages, all four migrated to Greene County, Ohio.

In the next blog posts I’ll give more information on the other Stapleton sisters.