Name:

Name: John STANSELL

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Birth: 1662 England

Death: 1713 North Carolina

John STANSELL (1662 - 1713) & Katherine HARDY (1670 - 1719)

John STANSELL (1700 - 1750) & Sarah SMITHWICK (abt 1700 - )

Elizabeth STANSELL (abt 1725 - ) & Peter BARBRE (abt 1724 - 1770)

Jesse BARBRE (abt 1755 - abt 1804) & Gracey ?

Jesse B. BARBRE Jr. (11 Aug 1777 - 17 Dec 1832) & Sarah STANSELL (Sep 1772 - Jan 1841)

Jesse BARBRE III (25 Aug 1814 - 4 Apr 1870) & Susan WEEKS (24 Apr 1818 - 11 Jan 1872)

Malcena BARBRE (28 Mar 1855 - 12 May 1920) & William COFFEY (27 Oct 1848 - 16 Mar 1896)

Newton COFFEY (23 Sep 1875 - 26 May 1969) & Adelia Gertrude ROBINSON (1878 - 1973)

Leo Newton COFFEY (22 Jul 1901 - 26 Oct 1998) & Elsie Maureen WALKER (1903 - 1983)

Misc. Notes

CAUTION:

There is doubt that this person is actually an ancestor, because it depends on whether his descendant Elizabeth STANSELL, wife of Peter BARBRE, was Peter's first wife and the mother of Peter's son Jesse BARBRE. See discussion with file on Peter BARBRE.

Spouse: Katherine HARDY

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Birth: 1670 England

Death: 1719 North Carolina

Father: John HARDY (-1719)

Mother: Rebecca

See note with husband John STANSELL, there is a serious question whether these people are really ancestors..

For the moment I have not dug into the ancestry of Katherine as far as I might. The following discussion identifies some of the issues, which may eventually merit further investigation:

WHO IS KATHERINE HARDY?

I'm looking at some claims that our ancestors include a Katherine HARDY, who married John STANSELL Sr., and at claims that Katherine is descended from (or at least related to) a "John HARDY Jr. who died in 1719 in Chowan County, NC". This John HARDY (sometimes HARDEE) was a prominent planter and public servant, and much info is available about him and his father, John Sr. The question is whether we really have a connection to this family through Katherine!

BACKGROUND:

Let me start with Peter BARBRE, who married Elizabeth STANSELL. Note there is no question about Elizabeth being Peter's wife - - the issue is that evidence suggests she may be his SECOND wife, and not the mother of Peter's son Jesse (our ancestor).

Elizabeth's father is John STANSELL, who married Sarah SMITHWICK. Elizabeth is named in John's will, which refers to "my two beloved daughters Elizabeth Barbre and Marey Conteley…"

John's father is John STANSELL Sr., who reportedly married Katherine HARDY.

THE CLAIMS:

Mostly I'm looking at claims made on ancestry.com, and trying to judge if they have validity. There are quite a lot of sites that claim Katherine HARDY married John STANSELL. Of those, the largest number claim HER father was the John HARDY whose wife was Rebecca and who died in Chowan, NC, in 1719. (Some just say her father was John HARDY, which could possibly cover any of three generations in the same family:)

THE EVIDENCE:

As far as I can tell, the case for Katherine primarily rests on the will of the John HARDY who died in 1719. You can find the full text of his will at:

http://www.bjhughes.org/hardywill.html

And the connection to Katherine (Hardy) Stansell seems to rest on one entry in that will:

Item, I give unto katherine Stancell Widdow one cow & Calfe

Now, the Stancell (Stansell) family did live in the same neighborhood (around Albemarle Sound in NC), and the designation "widow" also ties in well. Katherine's husband supposedly died in 1713, and the above will is dated 1719, Unfortunately, John Hardy does not define his relationship with Katherine, although he does so for many other people!

The most common assumption of other "genealogists" seems to be that since Katherine is named, she MUST be a daughter. However there are at least two problems:

First, there is a problem with dates. I can dig into this aspect a bit more, but my impression is that our Katherine is much too old to be John's daughter.

Second, Katherine is listed after he names and designates gifts to three brothers, and before he gets around to gifts to his wife and two clearly identified and named daughters (who clearly appear to be quite young). Further, the gift to Katherine seems relatively minor, and is very similar in value to what he gave his brothers. When John finally gets around to his wife and (other) daughters, his gifts become VERY much more substantial. John was apparently quite wealthy, with a lot of land and a large number of slaves.

ALTERNATIVES:

FIRST: I suppose Katherine could indeed be his daughter, and some of the various dates I see quoted are incorrect. Her smaller inheritance could just reflect that he had provided for her at an earlier date, such as when she got married? Still, a "cow and calf" seems pretty weak when his youngest daughter Mary got "…640 acres, plus 4 slaves, plus an equal share in "my moneys in England… equal share in Cattle, horses and sheep…"

SECOND: More plausible is that Katherine is his sister. That ties in better with the size of the gift (roughly matching his brothers) and the various ages. Problems: John's father, John Sr., appears to have only identified one daughter, "Mary", when he entered America. (Actually this may not be a serious concern, I see claims that Katherine and John Stansell were actually married in England before everybody emigrated. I might be able to investigate this by looking for Stansell immigration records?)

THIRD: Possibly Katherine is his aunt, the sister of his father. John's grandfather also immigrated to America, and Katherine could have been part of HIS family?

FOURTH: Perhaps Katherine was married to a more distant cousin, before the Stansell and Hardy families left England together?

FIFTH: Perhaps Katherine is nothing more than a neighbor widow, whom he feels sorry for, and she is not even a relative? Perhaps the gift just reflects some friendship between the Hardy and Stansell families that goes back to England?