Henry Morgan Stedman

Other Events:

• Name: Henry Morgan Steadman
• 1900 Census: 7 Jun 1900
• 1900 Census: 11 Jun 1900
• Occupation: 1920; Farmer
• 1920 Census: 30 Jan 1920
• Occupation: Apr 1930; Farmer
• Residence: Apr 1930; Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA
• 1930 Census: 16 Apr 1930
• Alt. Death: 1 Apr 1942, West Springfield, Hampden Co., MA

Notes:

1900 Census:
Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA, ED 552, sheet 10B

1900 Census:
Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA, ED 551, sheet 10A

1920 Census:
Russell, Hampden Co., MA, ED 85, sheet 14B

1930 Census:
Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA, ED 184, sheet 9A

Henry married Elizabeth May Phillips 30 May 1888, South Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA; divorced Yes, date unknown. Elizabeth was born Abt Feb 1866, North Vassalboro, Kennebec Co., ME; died 1949, 40 High Street - Springfield, Hampden Co., MA; was buried Aft 1949, Forestdale Cemetery, Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

1. Ernest Fremont Stedman was born 5 Apr 1889, Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA; died 3 Apr 1954, Wilbraham, Hampden Co., MA.
2. Arthur Phillips Stedman was born 30 May 1890, Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA; died 1940, Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA.
3. Lawrence Stedman was born 31 Mar 1894, Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA; died 27 Nov 1976, Stamford, Fairfield Co., CT.
4. Leon Francis Stedman was born 25 Jul 1895, Granby, Hampshire Co., MA; died Apr 1975, Strasburg, Shenandoah Co., VA.
5. Mildred Ann Stedman was born 29 Jul 1897, Granby, Hampshire Co., MA; died 1946.

Henry married Minnie Ethel Dayton 30 Nov 1903, Hartford, Hartford Co., CT. Minnie was born Abt 1886, Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA; died 1955, Springfield, Hampden Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

1. Anna May "Annie" Stedman was born 13 Aug 1905, Russell, Hampden Co., MA; died Unknown.
2. Robert Dayton Stedman was born 4 Mar 1907, Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA; died Dec 1980, West Springfield, Hampden Co., MA.
3. Morgan Dayton Stedman was born 4 Mar 1907, Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA; died 11 Nov 1998, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA.
4. Ensign Leslie Stedman was born 15 Sep 1908, Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA; died 12 Aug 1909, Woronoco - Russell, Hampden Co., MA.

Other Events:

• Alt. Birth: 1833, West Springfield, Hampden Co., MA
• 1850 Census: 19 Aug 1850
• 1860 Census: 5 Jul 1860
• 1880 Census: 1880

Notes:

Lawrence Stedman resided in Tyringam, Monterey, and other places in southern Berkshire County.

During the Civil War, he served in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery.

Later in life, he was a driver of a stage between Tyringham and Montery.

According to Bertha Stedman Rothwell, Lawrence Stedman came to California in 1885.  He was on a visit to his brother Stephen and family.  While there, he became interested in the lumber business and spent many months working for his brother.  He left to return to Massachusetts with the firm determination of bringing his family to California with him.  His plan was then to enter in partnership with his brother Stephen in Marin County, California.  He never again returned to California.

In 1885, while he was working in California, Bertha Stedman, Margaret, and Edna were sent each day to take him a warm lunch in the woods.  It was on one of these trips that the sisters found a nest of pretty little kittens and each day stopped to play with them.  They were very wild and would spit at them and try to resist their advances.  Stephen, hearing them tell of the kittens they had found, became suspicious and investigated.  He found that they had been playing with four wildcat kittens.  They were fortunate that they had never encountered the mother cat, or they would have been viciously attacked by her.  Wild animals will fight for their young.

For verification of the date when Lawrence was in California, Julia Sturtevant had an autograph album.  On one page Lawrence Stedman wrote his name and signed the date, April 20 1885.

Data concerning this branch of the family was supplied largely by Lily Mabel (Stedman) Nobles in 1950 to John J. DeMott.
___________________________________

1880 Census Place: Holyoke, Hampden, Massachusetts National Archives Film T9-0535     Page 342D

               Relation  Sex  Marr Race Age  Birthplace
Lawrence STEDMAN    Self M    M    W    46   MA  Occ:  Janitor        Fa: MA   Mo: MA
Ann S STEDMAN       Wife F    M    W    45   MA  Occ:  Keeping House  Fa: MA   Mo: MA
Eva STEDMAN         Dau  F    S    W    22   MA  Occ:  At Home        Fa: MA   Mo: MA
Florence STEDMAN         Dau  F    S    W    19   MA  Occ:  At School      Fa: MA    Mo: MA
Henry M. STEDMAN    Son  M    S    W    16   MA  Occ:  Assists His Father      Fa: MA    Mo: MA
Robert B. STEDMAN   Son  M    S    W    11   MA  Occ:  At School      Fa: MA   Mo: MA
Lily STEDMAN        Dau  F    S    W    8M   MA             Fa: MA    Mo: MA
Kate JOHNSON        Other     F    W    W    28   VT   Occ: Servant      Fa: VT    Mo: VT

1850 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51, w/Robt Stedman, age 16, b. MA, as Laurence Stedman

1860 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 619

1880 Census:
Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA

Lawrence married Ann Sylvinia Kinne 10 Jan 1855, South Lee, Berkshire Co., MA. Ann (daughter of Ashbel Kinne and Eveline Phillips) was born 23 May 1835, West Stockbridge, Berkshire Co., MA; died 29 Aug 1919, South Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA; was buried Aft 29 Aug 1919, Forestdale Cemetery, Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Ann Sylvina Kinney
• Alt. Birth: 23 May 1835, West Springfield, Hampden Co., MA
• 1900 Census: 11 Jun 1900
• 1910 Census: 28 Apr 1910
• Alt. Death: 1918, South Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA
• Alt. Death: 29 Aug 1929, South Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA

Notes:

1900 Census:
Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA, ED 551, sheet 10A

1910 Census:
Ward 7 - Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA, ED 574, sheet 14A, w/Charles E. Nobles

Other Events:

• Residence: 1832; Lee, Berkshire Co., MA
• 1850 Census: 19 Aug 1850
• Occupation: Jun 1870; Shingle Maker
• 1870 Census: 13 Aug 1870
• Alt. Burial: Aft 19 Apr 1875, Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery, Marin Co., CA

Notes:

Robert Stedman had a long and active career in both New England and California.  According to his son Byron, who recorded much of the biographical data which follows, Robert began working as a paper maker, millwright, and carpenter, serving an apprenticeship of seven years.

As can be seen from the list of children, the first four were born 1833-1841, considerably earlier that Robert's departure for the West, in 1849.  Also it will be notices that Robert and Elvira apparently moved about rather frequently, as Lawrence was born in 1833 in Otis; Julia Ann in 1836 in Blandford; Stephen in 1838 in New Marlborough; and Robert, Jr. in 1841 in Lee (or South Lee).  Byron, the fifth child, was born in 1851 in Lee after his father's return from the first gold rush trip.  All of these locations are within a comparatively small area in southwestern Massachusetts.

In addition to the trades mentioned above, Robert, before going tot he gold diggings, furnished teams for drawing charcoal from Otis and other nearby places to Lenox Furnace (now Lenoxdale).  He had three teams, two of which were driven by his sons Stephen and Lawrence.  His son Robert was too young to drive, so he brought water for the horses.  On the road to the charcoal pits, Lawrence and Stephen would start at two o'clock in the morning, sleeping in their wagons as the teams followed each other.

Robert determined to seek his fortune in California and went by steamer, via Panama, in 1849.  On this trip he was in the company with several other men from the vicinity of Lee and Stockbridge.

Arriving on the Pacific Coat, Robert operated placer diggings at Marysville on the American River.  He was not especially successful and came home via Panama about the latter part of 1850.  He is recorded in 1850 Federal Census in Lee, Massachusetts, on 19 August 1850 with his family and his parents.

He then built and operated the El Dorado Hotel, at Lenox Furnace (Lenoxdale).  Here he boarded the glass blowers from the Lenox Glass Works.

Byron Stedman was born on November 13, 1851.  This was after his father's return from the first trip to California, but evidently before the completion of the El Dorado Hotel.  Byron stated that he was born "on Bradley Street" and "by the brook".  Bradley Street in Lee was so called because various families of that name lived along the road.  It is between Lee and Lenoxdale on Stedman's Brook and in the general locality of the monument marking the site of the early schoolhouse.  Presumably, when the El Dorado was completed, Robert and Elvira went there to live.

Robert returned to California about 1854, taking his sixteen-year-old son Stephen with him.  They went via Panama, and, during the voyage while crossing the Gulf of Georgia, they ran into a storm.  Stephen was washed overboard.  They searched all night for him and found him at daybreak with both arms locked around the roots of a tree trunk that had been washed into the sea.

Stephen had on his father's outer coat as he was cold and when in the water he discarded the coat and other clothing, as he was an expert swimmer.  His father had important papers and family pictures in the pocket of the coat that were lost.  When he was found, he was unconscious but had his arms locked about the tree roots in such a way that they had become locked.  Bertha can remember hearing her father tell of the beautifully colored birds (parrots and parakeets) talking and chattering on the trees when they came over the Isthmus of Panama by mule back.

(There is a long interesting account of travel to California via Panama in 1853 that was published in the New York Herald Tribune on Saturday, June 19, 1937.  A clipping of the article is included in the Berkshire Athenaeum manuscript but it was too fragile to copy.)

A summary is that the method of travel across the Isthmus of Panama in those days was sketchy at best.  The French government was engaged in trying to build a canal from the Atlantic side to the Pacific side of Panama.  They had built a crude railroad part way that Robert and Stephen took as far as it went.  They then resorted to mule back riding or on foot.  It was a wild jungle, and Stephen was intrigued by the chatter of monkeys, parrots, and the black natives dressed only in a breechcloth.

Sailing vessels plied between San Francisco and Panama to connect with passengers brought down by ship on the Atlantic side.  This saved months that would have been spent coming around Cape Horn.  Traveling by ship was slow in those days as they were at all times at the mercy of the wind.  Speed, if the wind was favorable, and lack of it sometimes added weeks enroute.

They landed in San Francisco on 5 January 1855 and went immediately to the gold fields at Marysville.  Again they were not especially successful.

Then came the excitement of the Frazer River gold discovery in British Columbia.  Robert and his son were in a party of eighty who started overland, by foot, to reach the new diggings from Marysville.  Only twenty of them survived the journey, the others perished from Indian attacks and hardships on the way.  Neither father nor son was injured, but Stephen killed one Indian.

They operated a mine in Caribou, British Columbia, in the summers.  In winter they went down to Vancouver Island and made shingles by hand, also hunting deer for the market.  They sold their shingles and venison in Victoria.  After doing this for several years without getting ahead, they sold the claim to an English firm who went a little deeper and struck it rich.

It should be noted that after leaving Lenox Furnace about 1854 for his return to California, Robert Stedman put the El Dorado Hotel under the management of his son-in-law, Leroy S. Kellogg.  The latter continued in charge for a few years, during which Robert's wife Elvira lived there. Afterwards she lived with her father until her death in 1858 (or 1860).

It was apparently sometime in the 1860s that Robert Stedman moved south from British Columbia to Marin County, California.  Here in the redwoods, on White's Ranch, which was an old Spanish grant, seven miles square, he built his own cabin and lived alone until visited by his son Stephen in the summer of 1869.  The community is known as Lagunitas, and in Robert's day was marked by the fact that the Pacific Powder Mills were just below his home.

Robert operated for himself, producing shingles, shakes and pickets for the neighboring ranchmen, who were all dairymen.  The standard dimensions for shingles was 4" x 16"; shakes 6" x 36"; pickets 2" x 72".

In the fall of 1869 Robert found it necessary to rebuild his old cabin into a house, for Stephen returned from a quick trip to the East, bringing his bride Lucy Jane (Hall) Stedman.  Also came Byron Stedman, now grown to young manhood.  In converting the old cabin into a house for his augmented family, they used studs and shakes made from a single redwood tree, from which Robert, Stephen, anf Byron together cut 100,000 shingles by hand.  The bark from this same tree built tow or three bridges.  The tree was eight feet in diameter and Byron Stedman recalled that, in addition to the finished lumber, a number of cords of wood were cut from the top.

In reviewing the scene fifty years later, Byron Stedman - then living in Mechanicville, New York - recalled that in front of the Lagunitas home was the stump of another tree that Robert had previously cut down.  A party from San Fransisco used this stump, nine feet across and about eight feet high, as a dancing floor for a quadrille.  When, in 1919, Julia Ann Sturtevant, Robert's granddaughter, sent a photograph of this latter stump to Byron Stedman, the latter recognized it as practically unchanged.

The home at Lagunitas continued until 1874, with Robert living with his son Stephen and his wife and babies, together with Byron, who made it his headquarters when he was not busy with jobs on neighboring ranches.  Then came word that Julia Ann (Stedman) Kellogg, daughter of Robert, was ill at South Lee, Massachusetts, and not expected to live..  So on January 7, 1874, Byron started from San Francisco for the East, where he remained. Stephen and family stayed in California, as did Robert until his accidental death in the spring of 1875.

One of the Marin County papers had this article in their March 20, 1875 edition.  It showed that up until his death on April 19, 1875, Robert Stedman had been a hail and hearty old man.

"Nicasio, March 20, 1875

"Uncle Bob Steadman was the champion Irish jigger at Nicasio Monday night.  Uncle Bobby's locks have waved some seventy odd summers, but he is still young in spirit and heels."

Both Robert and his son Stephen were wonderful jiggers.  They were both said to be as light as a feather on their feet.

Death of Robert Stedman: (from Bertha Stedman Rothwell)

"Robert Stedman was driving with his son Stephen Stedman home to Lagunitas from a trip to San Rafael on April 19, 1875.  While passing over the crest of White's Hill there was a Chinese rice sack lying in the road.  As they neared it, the wind caught the sack and raised it in the air.  The horse Stephen was driving was a very high-spirited animal and before he could control her, she shied and bolted over the steep embankment some fifty feet below, taking wagon and occupants with her. Grandfather's back was broken, and he told father that he was dying. Father wanted to go for help, and he asked him to remain with him as he was dying.  He died in a few minutes in father's arms, this closing a long and colorful career.

"He was first buried in the cemetery in San Rafael.  Years after, the town wishing for a high school, condemned the cemetery and father had his grandfather removed to Mt. Tampalias cemetery, three miles out of San Rafael.  Stephen was also buried with his father in 1901, but later in Mrs. Stedman's life, when the trip was too hard for her to make, she bought a family plot in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, San Mateo County, and had both her husband few remaining bones and his father removed to Cypress lawn.  My mother and the nephew killed in France are also buried in this plot.  The headstone covering the family plot has the following names inscribed on it: Robert Stedman Sturtevant - Robert Stedman - Stephen Stedman - Lucy Jane Stedman."

1850 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51, as Robt Stedman, age 41, b. MA

1870 Census:
San Rafael PO - Nicassio Twp., Marin Co., CA, p. 20

Robert married Elvira Dorman 29 Jan 1833, Otis, Berkshire Co., MA. Elvira (daughter of Clark Dorman and Phoebe Smith) was born 13 Jul 1813, Blandford, Hampden Co., MA; was christened 12 Sep 1824, Otis, Berkshire Co., MA; died 4 Jan 1860, Lee, Berkshire Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Alt. Birth: 13 Jun 1813, ____, ____, CT
• Alt. Birth: 13 Jul 1813, Otis, Berkshire Co., MA
• Alt. Birth: 13 Jul 1813, Wilbraham, Hampden Co., MA
• Residence: 1832; Otis, Berkshire Co., MA
• 1850 Census: 19 Aug 1850
• Alt. Death: 21 Jan 1858, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA
• Alt. Death: 21 Jan 1860, Lee, Berkshire Co., MA

Notes:

Records are not wholly in agreement as to the date and place of Elvira Dorman's birth.  Notes by her son Byron say that Elvira was born June 13, 1813, at Wilbraham, Massachusetts.  As against a Kellogg family Bible (in the possession, as of 1951, Louise Stedman of Mechanicsville, NY) that states she was born July 13, 1813, at Colebrook, CT.

This disagreement is more apparent than real, for while Byron Stedman's notes say that Elvira was born "June 13, 1813, at Wilbraham," they show that the next child in the family, Orvel Sidney Dorman, brother of Elvira, was born March 29, 1815, at Colebrook River, Mass." and that the following five children in the same family were born, 1917-1830, at "Hartland, Conn."

Supposing that Byron Stedman should have said "Colebrook, Connecticut", instead of "Colebrook River, Massachusetts", the uncertainty is merely whether Elvira's parents moved from Wilbraham before or after her birth. Wilbraham is some fifteen miles east of Springfield.  Colebrook River is a village just south of the MA-CT boundary, so close to the line that the name might be applied to a neighborhood in either state.  Colebrook is about eight miles south of Colebrook River.  The villages of West and East Hartland are located about six miles south of the border and ten to twenty miles east of Colebrook River.  Thus the move from Wilbraham represented the real undertaking, but the Colebrook River-Colebrook-Hartland communities were near together.

To further complicate the matter, Mrs. Isabell Kellogg Thomas, a granddaughter of Robert and Elvira, said in a conversation with John J. DeMott, about 1931, that "Elvira was born at Blandford, Hampden County, Massachusetts, four miles from Russell Station on the Boston & Albany Railroad.

Blandford is perhaps twenty-five miles north of the Colebrook area.  Mrs. Thomas recalled, as a girl, having visited Blandford, at a Boice (or Boise) home, as she was descended from the Boice family through her father Leroy Seth kellogg.  She described this home as being "very old and interesting, and containing many antiques and family papers, in the possession, as of 1931, of William Fitzpatrick Boice."

Mrs. Isabell Kellogg Thomas also referred to a Mrs. Hannah (Gardner) Ross, of South Lee: the Gardners being a well-known South Lee family." This Mrs. Ross was a "first cousin of Robert Stedman who went to California."  Mrs. Thomas stated that this Mrs. Ross "claimed Tory Governor Ward as her ancestor.  Presumably, this was on the Stedman line, for Mrs. Thomas further stated that Elvira (Dorman) Stedman had in her possession  the silver cuff-links and knee buckles of Governor Ward of Rhode Island."

Other details supplied by Mrs. Thomas were that "Elvira's oldest son Lawrence and his wife Ann Silvinia (Kinne) Stedman, left their home in Green River, Massachusetts, and came home to Lenox Furnace (Lenoxdale) to take care of Elvira while Robert was in California."  Also, that "Elvira's death was due to appendicitis" and that "she was buried at Lee, not South Lee, her grave being marked by a stone just inside the fence."

In spite of the above description, Elvira's burial place was not found by J. J. DeMott as of 1951.
_______

Lee death record gives date of death as 4 January 1860 with name Alvira Steadman and birthplace of Wilbraham.

1850 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51, w/Robt Stedman, age 41, b. MA, as Elvira Stedman

Died:
The death of Alvira Steadman was registered at Lee, Vol. 138, p. 39. She died at Lee on 4 January 1860 at age 47 years of Ulcers. She was born in Wilbraham to Clark and Phebe Dorman.

Notes:

Married:
They were married by the Rev. Rufus Pomeroy.

Ashbel married Eveline Phillips 1827. Eveline was born 1803, Winchester, Litchfield Co., CT; died 20 Oct 1870, Great Barrington, Berkshire Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• 1800 Census: 1800
• 1810 Census: 1810
• 1820 Census: 1820
• 1830 Census: 1830
• Residence: Abt 1839; Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA
• 1840 Census: 1840
• 1850 Census: 19 Aug 1850
• Alt. Death: Aft 1850, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA

Notes:

Oliver Stedman was born in 1780 in South Kingstown, RI, a son of William Stedman and Hannah Scranton.

He probably migrated to Tyringham with his father in 1802.   Unlike the rest of his family, he settled in Lenox, Massachsetts.

The records of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox help document Oliver Stedman in Lenox.   (see Records of Trinity Episcopal Church, Lenox, MA, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield).  His name does not appear in the first act of incorporation for Trinity, 4 March 1805.  (See History of Trinity P. E. Church, Lenox, Massachusetts, by C. J. Palmer, 1895)   His name appears as a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church, Lenox, in 1806-1807.   The earliest entry is "June 29, 1806.  Child of Mr. Stedman died."  This was likely the first Robert, who died prior to the birth in 1809 of the second Robert.

Robert was undoubtedly named for Oliver's brother Robert who died at sea about 1798.

On 20 June 1807, the Massachusetts Legislature passed "An Act in addition to an act" extending the corporate boundaries of Trinity Parish to the extent that certain persons were exempted from taxes to support other ministers because they were paying toward Trinity.  The list of those affected by this legislation includes sixteen names in Stockbridge, twenty-three in Lenox, and one in Pittsfield.  One of the Lenox names on this 1807 list is that of Oliver Stedman.

The records of Trinity Church also show the following entries which probably account for two of the undocumented children:
   -- " Nov. 2, 1822.  Child of Mr. Stedman died."
   -- " Aug. 2, 1824,  Child of Mr. Stedman died."

On 1 October 1839, Olver Stedman - describing himself as "residing in Lenox" - petitioned the Court of probate in connection with the settlement of his mother's estate.  Various steps showing the progress of this business, up to 5 January 1847, when Oliver ws included among the beneficiaries, are reviewed separately .  (Berkshire County Registry of Probate, Pitsfield, File 6080)

The death of Oliver Stedman does not seem to appear in Lenox records, but can be closely placed from an entry in the Farm Diary of George Walker, of Lenox (mss. in Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield): "April 12, 1853.  Old Mr. Oliver Stedman died last fall at Unionville, Ct."  Unionville is in the town of Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut, about 10 miles west of Hartford.

He probably died late in 1852, at Unionville, Hartford Co., CT, at the home of his daughter Harriet and her husband Josiah B. Hinckley who ran a hotel there.  Elizabeth survived until at least 1860 as she is recorded with Josiah and Harriet in the 1860 census.
________________________________________________________

Census Analysis :

As we have not yet determined the dates on his children, we can use the census to guide some of our thinking.

1800 Federal Census, South Kingstown, Washington Co., RI, p. 704 : 00100-20100-00

Male     16-26 : Oliver Stedman, b. 1780
Female 16-26 : Elizabeth ?, b. 1775-1780
Female   < 10 : Abigail Stedman, b. bef 1800
Female   < 10 : Sarah Stedman, b. abt 1800

He was first recorded in the census in South Kingstown, RI in 1800.  This shows that he had not yet moved to Berkshire County.  He is recorded as having two daughters under 5.  One of these daughters is likely Sarah who married Nehemiah Webster.  The other daughter is thought to be Mercy; however, as both Mercy and Sarah were married before 1820 and one of these daughters was still in the family in the 1820 census, then it becomes more like that Mercy is not a child of this family.  I suspect that the other older daughter is Abigail.

From 1810 to 1840 he is recorded in the Census in Lenox, MA.

1810 Federal Census, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 116 : 10010-32010-0

Male     26-45 : Oliver Stedman, b. 1780
Female 26-45 : Elizabeth ?, b. 1775-1780
Female 10-16 : Abigail Stedman, b. bef 1800
Female 10-16 : Sarah Stedman, b. abt 1800
Female   < 10 : Lucina Stedman, b. abt 1807
Female   < 10 : Hannah Stedman, b. abt 1809
Female   < 10 : ? Thankful Stedman
Male       < 10 : Robert Stedman, b. 1809

In the 1810 census, Oliver is recorded as having one son under 10, two daughters 10-16, and three daughters under 10.  The son is the second Robert.  One of the older daughters is Sarah, the other may be Abigail; the younger daughters were Lucina, and maybe Hannah and Thankful.

1820 Federal Census, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 103 : 100010 - 41110 - 1

Male     26-45 : Oliver Stedman, b. 1780
Female 26-45 : Elizabeth ?, b. 1775-1780
Female 16-26 : Abigail Stedman, b. bef 1800
Female 10-16 : Lucina Stedman, b. abt 1807
Female   < 10 : ? Hannah Stedman, b. abt 1809
Female   < 10 : Nancy Stedman, b. abt 1813
Female   < 10 : Mary Stedman, b. abt 1817
Female   < 10 :
Male       < 10 : Oliver Stedman, b. abt 1814

? Robert
? Thankful
? Patience

In the 1820 census, he is recorded with one son under 10, one daughter 16-26, one daughter 10-16, and four daughters under 10.  It is interesting that from this point until 1850, Robert does not show up with the family; he was apprenticed and is probably recorded with whomever he was appenticed to.  The son listed is Oliver.  The oldest daughter listed is probably Abigail, Lucina is the 10-16 daughter, and Hannah, Nancy, and then two of Mary, Harriet, Thankful, and Patience as the four youngest daughters.

Thankful and Patience die before the next census

1830 Federal Census, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 406 : 111 000 010 0000 - 001 230 010 0000

Male     50-60 : Oliver Stedman, b. 1780
Female 50-60 : Elizabeth ?, b. 1770-1780
Female 20-30 : Lucina Stedman, b. abt 1807
Female 20-30 : Hannah Stedman, b. abt 1809
Female 20-30 :
Female 15-20 : Nancy Stedman, b. abt 1813
Female 15-20 : ? Mary Stedman, b. abt 1817
Male     10-15 : Oliver Stedman, b. abt 1814
Female 10-15 : Harriet Stedman, b. abt 1820
Male       5-10 : ?
Male         < 5 : ?

In the 1830 census, he is listed with one male under 5, one male 5-10, one male 10-15, one female 10-15, two females 15-20, and three females 20-30.  The two younger males are a puzzle; one could be an appentice. The oldest male is son Oliver.  The youngest female is probably Harriet and Lucina is one of the oldest females.

1840 Federal Census, Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 155

In the 1840 census, he and his wife are listed with no children.

1850 Federal Census, Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51 : with son Robert

They were recorded in the 1850 census in Lee living with their son Robert.

1800 Census:
South Kingstown, Washington Co., RI, p. 704, as Oliver Stedman, 00100-20100-00

1810 Census:
Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 116, as Oliver Steadman, 0010-32010-0

1820 Census:
Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 103, as Oliver Steadman, 100010-41110-1

1830 Census:
Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 406, as Oliver Stedman, 111 000 010 0000 - 001 230 010 0000

1840 Census:
Lenox, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 155, as Oliver Stedman, 000 000 001 0000 - 000 000 001 0000

1850 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51, w/Robt Stedman, age 70, b. RI, as Oliver Stedman

Oliver married Elizabeth "Betsey" [--?--] Bef 1800. Elizabeth was born Abt 1779, ____, ____, RI; died Aft 9 Jul 1860. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• 1850 Census: 19 Sep 1850
• 1860 Census: 9 Jul 1860

Notes:

The family identity of Elizabeth, wife of Oliver Stedman, is not known. As Oliver's children considered themselves cousins of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, it has been speculated that his wife was a sister of Commodore Perry's mother.  However, a study of that family shows that to be unlikely.

There is a speculation that she was descended from Governor Ward of RI:

Oliver Stedman (b. 1780, SK) married an Elizabeth (b. abt 1779, RI) before 1800.  It has been a mystery for years as to the identity of his wife Elizabeth.  In a manuscript Stedman genealogy in the Berkshire Atheneum from the 1950s, several researchers had done much work to identify her.

A prevalent theory was that she was a younger sister of the Sarah Wallace Alexander, mother of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.  I located a genealogy of that family and proved to my satisfaction that such was not possible.

In a careful review of the manuscript, I came across a remark made to one of the researchers almost 70 years ago that sparked this investigation.

One of Oliver's grandaughters, a Mrs. Hannah Gardner Ross, claimed Tory Governor Ward as her ancestor.  She also claimed that Elvira (Dorman) Stedman - Oliver's son Robert's wife - had in her possession the silver cufflinks and knee buckles of Governor Ward of Rhode Island.

Oliver's parents are William Stedman, s/o Thomas Stedman & Hannah McCoon, and Hannah Scranton, d/o Thomas Scranton & Deborah Dudley.  It is unlikely that a Ward connection exists there.  Consequently, the only place a Ward connection could come up is on Elizabeth's side.

There were two colonial governors of Rhode Island: Gov. Richard Ward (1689-1763) of Newport and his son Gov. Samuel Ward (1725-1776).  I have not been able to find on-line a thorough genealogy of these families although a book on the family has been alluded to.
I am looking for an Elizabeth (Ward or it could be an Elizabeth in a daughter line), descended from Gov. Richard, and who was born about 1779 in RI.

I found a 1787 will of a widow Rebecca Scranton of Newport.  She mentions a sister Elizabeth Ward, w/o Richard Ward of South Kingstown, and that she has nieces Rebecca, Mary, and Elizabeth Ward.

[The name Scranton is intriguing given that Oliver's mother was a Scranton.  But I have not found out how she relates to Hannah Scranton. Based on the presumed ages, her husband might have been a brother.]

The 1782 census for RI lists a Richard Ward in SK with 2 males under 16 and 3 females under 16, along with a male and female 22-50.

In 1790 census a Dick Ward of SK, has one male over 16 and 4 males under 16 and 5 females.

Samuel, s/o Richard, had a son Richard who was born in 1764 who is unlikely to be this Richard of SK, as he was not 22 in 1782.  So, who can he be?  Another grandson of Gov. Richard, undoubtedly.

BTW, one of the grandsons of Oliver Stedman was named Richard W. Stedman.

1850 Census:
Lee, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 51, w/Robt Stedman, age 71, b. RI, as Elizabeth Stedman

1860 Census:
Unionville PO - Farmington, Hartford Co., CT, p. 586, w/Josiah B. Hinckley, age 78, b. RI, as Betsey Stedman

Other Events:

• Alt. Birth: 1774
• Alt. Birth: 11 Feb 1785, East Windsor, Hartford Co., CT
• Alt. Birth: 11 Feb 1788, ____, ____, CT
• 1850 Census: 16 Sep 1850

Notes:

1850 Census:
Otis, Berkshire Co., MA, p. 143

Clark married Phoebe Smith 2 Jun 1812, Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., MA. Phoebe (daughter of Capt. Benjamin Smith and Phebe Smith) was born 19 Jun 1793, Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., MA; died 12 Jul 1865, Otis, Berkshire Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Alt. Birth: 1778
• Alt. Birth: 19 Jul 1793, Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., MA