William Stogsdill and Malinda Couch
By Mike Landwehr
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of William Stogsdill and Malinda Couch is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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To provide some background on the family of William Stogsdill, we will briefly review our findings regarding William’s parents and grandparents. It is generally believed that William Stogsdill was the grandson of Morris Stogsdill and Sarah Williams. Researchers don’t agree when or where Morris Stogsdill was born. Most believe he was born in Essex County, Virginia, in 1737, or born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1847 or 1849. Most researchers believe that Sarah Williams was born in Suffolk County, New York, in 1740 or 1749. There seems to be agreement that Morris and Sarah were married in Rowan County, North Carolina, on March 4, 1768.
While there is disagreement among researchers about Morris Stogsdill’s death, most believe that he died in Rowan County, North Carolina, about 1789. There appears to be greater disagreement about Sarah’s death, as some researchers believe that she died before 1811 in Davie County, North Carolina, while others place her death in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in 1811 or later.
Vachel Stogsdill is believed to have been the eldest child born to Morris Stogsdill and Sarah Williams. It is generally believed that Vachel was born about 1768 in Rowan County, North Carolina, and that he was married to Susannah Bayles in Rowan County about 1785. Susannah is reported to have been born in Rowan County in 1770.
The “Vachel Stogdale” family is listed in the 1790 Federal census of Rowan County, North Carolina. The household consisted of one adult male, one adult female, and one male child. I assume that the members of this household were Vachel, Susannah, and their eldest son, Daniel.
The subject of our sketch, William Stogsdill, is generally assumed to be a son of Vachel Stogsdill and Susannah Bayles. There is substantial disagreement as to William’s birth, but the most plausible theory seems to be that he was born in Rowan County about 1792. However, it appears that the Vachel Stogsdill family migrated from North Carolina to Kentucky about that time, as the names of Vachel Stogsdill and Benjamin Stogsdill, believed by most Stogsdill researchers to be brothers, both appear on the 1792 tax list of newly-organized Clark County, Kentucky. The early tax records of Pulaski County, Kentucky, which was organized on December 10, 1798, indicate that the Benjamin and Vachel Stogsdill families were both among the earliest settlers of Pulaski County.
Most Stogsdill family researchers with an interest in Vachel Stogsdill believe that he died in Pulaski County about 1806. The Pulaski County marriage records include a record of the marriage of Susannah Stogsdill to James Fears on December 20, 1807. James Fears was a Baptist minister, and early settler in Pulaski County. When the Flat Lick Baptist Church was organized nine miles east of Somerset in January of 1799, James Fears was one of the nine charter members, and was named the pastor of the church. Research by genealogists interested in James Fears suggests that he was born in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1748, and that he and his first wife, Mary, had about nine children. Researchers believe that the Susannah Stogsdill who marrried James Fears in 1807 was the widow of Vachel Stogsdill.
There can be no doubt that Vachel Stogsdill had a son named William. Pulaski County court records document that a guardian was appointed in 1808 for the “orphans” of Vachel Stogsdill. The “orphans” were identified as Daniel, William, Polly, Archibald and Susannah Stogsdill.
The 1810 census of Pulaski County includes the James Fears household. The household consisted of one male aged 45 and over (probably James), one female aged 45 and over (probably Susannah), one male aged 16 through 26 (possibly William Stogsdill), one male aged 10 through 15 (possibly Archibald Stogsdill), one female aged 10 through 15 (possibly Polly Stogsdill), one male under 10 (unidentified), and two females under 10 (one might have been Susannah Stogsdill).
In 1813, at approximately 21 years of age, William Stogsdill volunteered at Somerset, in Pulaski County, for service in "the war with the British and Indians in Canada" (the War of 1812). William joined Captain Samuel Tate’s Company of the 7th Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia, and was among the 71 men who served for three months in this unit, from August 23, 1813, until November 14, 1813.
Less than two years later, William was married, in Pulaski County, to Malinda ‘Linny’ Couch, daughter of Moses and Elizabeth Couch. William and Malinda were married by a Baptist minister on June 17, 1815. For further information about Malinda and the Couch family, see “Section 1: Moses and Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch” on page 5.
William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill's eldest son, Josiah, was born in Kentucky on January 13, 1817. Less than nine months later, William and Malinda Stogsdill were among the heirs of Vachel Stogsdill who signed a deed selling land on Flat Lick Creek, in Pulaski County. This deed represents the strongest piece of evidence that I have seen regarding the parentage of William Stogsdill. On October 4, 1817, Susanna Stogsdill, as the Administrator of Vachel Stogsdill’s estate, along with Daniel Stogsdill and his wife, Henna; William Stogsdill and his wife Malinda; Polly Stogsdill; Arch Stogsdill; and Susanna Stogsdill, heirs and representatives of Vachel Stogsdill, sold 52 acres of land on Flat Lick Creek, in Pulaski County, to John Hughes for $400. The land was apparently a part of a larger tract of land that had been owned by Vachel Stogsdill and Benjamin Stogsdill, both deceased.
Archibald Stogsdill, the second son of William and Malinda Stogsdill, was probably born in 1819 or 1820. His 1850 census record indicates that Archibald was born in Kentucky, while his 1860 census record indicates that he was born in Tennessee. It is quite possible that his parents moved from Kentucky to Tennessee shortly before or after his birth, and Archibald may not have known where he was born. I am unaware of any other records which provide any clues as to Archibald’s place of birth.
I suspect that Archibald was born in Tennessee. A book entitled Early Unpublished Court Records of Lincoln County, Tennessee, by Helen Crawford Marsh and Timothy Richard Marsh, includes an entry indicating that “William Stogsdale” purchased a 15-acre tract and a 40-acre tract of land from William McGehee in 1819. Lincoln County is located just north of the Tennessee-Alabama border, and immediately north of some of the Cherokee Indian lands where Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill’s father and brother, Moses and Lindley Couch, were living in 1819.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate the William Stogsdill family in the 1820 census. The family may have been missed by the census, or William’s name may have been badly misspelled in the census record, or the family may have moved to Alabama with some of Malinda’s family (and there is no 1820 census for Alabama). But, there is evidence to suggest that William and his family remained in, or soon returned to, Lincoln County, Tennessee. Page 83 of Lincoln County Deed Book C reportedly includes a deed by which “William Stogsdill”, of Lincoln County, sold 15-acre and 40-acre tracts of land to John McGehee on November 7, 1823.
By 1830, William and Malinda Stogsdill were the parents of six children. William S. 'Billy' Stogsdill, was born on February 21, 1822. It has been reported by other researchers that William was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee. I am confident that William was born in Tennessee, and would not be surprised to learn that he was born in Lincoln County, but have not seen any direct evidence of the county in which he was born. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Stogsdill was born in Tennessee in 1824 or 1825. Daniel Newton Stogsdill was apparently born in Tennessee in 1826 or 1827. Some researchers report that Daniel was born in Alabama on Mar 24, 1827. I don’t know the source of this information. I suspect that date of birth is correct, but doubt that Daniel was born in Alabama. Mary ‘Polly’ Stogsdill was the last child born to William and Malinda. Her 1850 census record suggests that Mary was born in Alabama in 1829 or 1830. But that census record is the only evidence we have seen regarding Mary’s birth place, and I would not be surprised to learn that she was born in Tennessee.
We are confident that the William Stogsdill family was listed in the 1830 census of Lincoln County, Tennessee, under the name of "Wm Stockdale". The “Wm Stockdale” household in the 1830 census was comprised of one male aged 30-39 (probably William), one female aged 30-39 (probably Malinda), one male aged 20-29 (possibly William’s brother or a brother-in-law?), two males aged 10-14 (probably Josiah and Archibald), one male aged 5-9 (probably William), one female aged 5-9 (probably Betsy), one male under 5 years of age (probably Daniel Newton) and one female under 5 years of age (probably Polly). Only two households were listed in the census between the household of William and Malinda Stogsdill and the household of Malinda’s brother, Avery Couch. And, only seven household were listed between the William Stogsdill household and that of “Susanah Fears”, whom we assume to be William’s mother.
I am confident that William and Malinda Stogsdill moved their family across the state line into Alabama by February of 1834. Their new home was in Jackson County, Alabama, and was located was just a few miles south and a few miles east of Lincoln County, Tennessee. Jackson County was created on December 13, 1819, from lands recently obtained from the Cherokee Indians. It was created as a county in the Alabama Territory, but the Alabama Territory was admitted to the Union as a state the very next day. When Moses and Lindley Couch signed the 1819 petition as squatters living on Cherokee lands, they were probably living in the area that was organized as Jackson County later that same year.
The William Stogsdill home was located in the northwest corner of Jackson County, on Larkins Fork, a tributary of the Paint Rock River. My guess is that William and Malinda settled on Larkins Fork in late 1833 or early 1834. While living in Jackson County, the William Stogsdill family was affiliated with an early Primitive Baptist Church, which we believe to have been located on Larkins Fork, about three miles upstream from the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River. The early minutes of this church indicate that the church “received Sister Melinn Stogsdill by Letter” in February of 1834. A few months later, Malinda’s name appeared on a membership list as “Melinn Stogsdill”. In November of 1835, the church “opened a door for the reception of members and received Sister Susannah Fears by letter”. I assume that William Stogsdill’s mother followed, or accompanied, William and Malinda to the area, where she joined the same church.
The fact that Malinda Stogsdill and Susannah Fears were “received by letter” into the Primitive Baptist Church on Larkins Fork indicates that Malinda and Susannah came to the church with letters of recommendation prepared for them by another church, or churches, of the same faith. I believe that it was common practice for church members moving to new homes in other areas to take with them letters of recommendation prepared by their former churches.
We can only guess what brought William and Malinda Stogsdill to the Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County. One possibility is their connection to the Fears family through the marriage of William’s widowed mother to James Fears. Reviewing some of the work posted to the internet by researchers interested in the family of James Fears, it appears that one of James Fears’ sons, from his first marriage, was a Jacob Fears. Jacob Fears would have been William Stogsdill’s step-brother. Jacob is reported to have been born in North Carolina in 1785, and to have married Aisley Holt in Grainger County, Tennessee in 1812. Both “Jacob Fears” and “Ailcey Fears” were received into the Primitive Baptist Church on Larkins Fork in December of 1829, and were still active members of that church when William and Malinda Stogsdill arrived about 1833 or 1834.
In January or February of 1836, "Archibald Stogsdill" (undoubtedly the son of William and Malinda) was received into the church on Larkins Fork by baptism. In February or March of 1836, “Josiah Stogsdale" and "Elizabeth Stogsdale" (also, undoubtedly, the children of William and Malinda) were received into the church by baptism. An 1836 membership list for the church included the names of “Malinda Stogsdill”,“Susannah Fears” and “Elizabeth Stogsdill” among the female members, and “Arch Stogdill” and “Josiah Stogdill” among the male members of the church.
Malinda Stogsdill was apparently well-respected by the congregation of her church. The church minutes from the first Saturday in November of 1836 contain the following:
“Fellowship inquired for, and the Church took up accusation against Sister Manerva Moore and Sally Duncan and appointed members to go and talk to them and site them to come to next meeting and appoint Sisters Stogsdil and Bridges to talk to them and request them to come to next meeting.”
The sale of public lands in Jackson County first began in the summer of 1830. Land sales were brisk in the Paint Rock Valley. It was six years later, in April of 1836, that William Stogsdill purchased 40 acres of public land in Jackson County[1]. The land was located on the west side of Larkins Fork, about two miles north of the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River, and about one mile south of the spot where we suspect that the Primitive Baptist Church was located.
The minutes of the Baptist Church on Larkins Fork contain no mention of William Stogsdill as a member, even though Sarah Literal’s notebook indicated that William was, himself, a Baptist minister. However, on the first Saturday in March of 1837, there was a discussion about building a new meeting house. One possible site was discussed, and then two other potential sites were nominated. One site was on William Stogsdill’s land. Two months later, one of the other sites was selected as the favorite of the majority of the Church.
In March of 1838, William purchased an additional 40 acres of public land[2], situated immediately south of his first 40-acre tract.
I believe that two of the children of William and Malinda Stogsdill, Josiah and Elizabeth, were married while the family lived in Jackson County. Josiah Stogsdill married Lydia Hall about August of 1836. Elizabeth Stogsdill probably married Welcome K. Bennett about 1839. And William and Malinda were undoubtedly present at another family wedding in the late 1830’s. Malinda’s youngest brother, Benjamin Couch, was living with William and Malinda when he was married, at the William Stogsdill home, in 1838 or 1839. Benjamin’s bride was Celia Hall, who lived with her widowed mother about a mile west, and a half-mile north, of the William Stogsdill farm. Celia was a sister of Lydia (Hall) Stogsdill, the wife of Josiah Stogsdill and daughter-in-law of William and Malinda Stogsdill.
In the 1840 Federal Census of Jackson County, there are two Stogsdill families listed "next door" to each other. One was the William Stogsdill family, and the second the Josiah Stogsdill family. The census information for the William Stogsdill family matches our profile of the William and Malinda Stogsdill family rather well, and the census information for the Josiah Stogsdill family closely matches the information we have for the family of Josiah and Lydia (Hall) Stogsdill. These two families were enumerated with other families that lived in the Paint Rock Valley, in the vicinity of the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River.
We believe that, in 1840 or 1841, William and Malinda Stogsdill followed the migration path to be followed by many residents of the Paint Rock Valley--to Ripley County, Missouri. Their two married children, Josiah and Elizabeth, also migrated to Ripley County about the same time. In Ripley County, William and Malinda joined Malinda’s three brothers who were already living there—Lindley, Benjamin, and Avery Couch.
Soon after their arrival, William Stogsdill died in Ripley County, on July 13, 1841, at approximately 51 years of age. His death left Malinda with four children living at home—Archibald was about 21, William was 19, Daniel was 14, and Mary was about 11. Malinda and some of her younger children apparently remained in the area for several years after William's death. Malinda’s son, Archibald, was married in Ripley County on August 7, 1842. Malinda’s youngest daughter, Mary 'Polly' Stogsdill, was married in Ripley County on September 14, 1844. And Malinda’s son, William, was married in Randolph County, Arkansas (just across the state line from Ripley County, Missouri) on November 23, 1845.
Between 1845 and 1850, all of the children of William and Malinda Stogsdill, with the exception of Mary (Stogsdill) Lasley, moved further west, to Dade County, Missouri. Some of the Stogsdill children apparently made the move to Dade County in at least two steps. We believe that Josiah Stogsdill was living in Cass Township of Greene County in December of 1846, and that William Stogsdill was living in the same township in March of 1847. Malinda Stogsdill's brother, Lindley Couch, and his wife also moved to Dade County between 1840 and 1850, where the Lindley Couch family and the Stogsdill families settled as close neighbors. Malinda’s sister, Delila, and her husband, Charles Literal, apparently moved to Greene County between 1846 and 1849. After Charles died, Delila moved to Dade County by 1850, when she was listed as another neighbor of Lindley and Susannah Couch; Lindley’s daughter, Angelina Evans, and her family; and the Stogsdill families. Migration from Ripley (or Oregon) County to Dade County was commonplace among the former residents of the Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County, Alabama, who had earlier migrated to Ripley County.
We have not been able to locate Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill in the 1850 census. Having been a widow for nine years, we would expect to find Malinda living with one of her children in the 1850 census records. She was not. It is also possible that she remarried during the 1840’s, and was listed with her second husband in the 1850 census, but we have not found any evidence of a second marriage. I suspect that Malinda was simply missed by the census, possibly because she was moving around between the homes of her five children in Dade County and her youngest daughter in Oregon County.
Malinda’s youngest daughter, Polly, died during childbirth in April of 1851. We don’t know whether Polly was still living in Oregon County when she died, or whether she and her family had followed the rest of the William Stogsdill family to Dade County. We know that Malinda was a resident of Dade County in 1851, when she made an application for bounty land, on the basis of her husband's service in the War of 1812. Malinda's second application, completed in 1852, was also made while she resided in Dade County. Malinda's brother and sister‑in‑law, Lindley and Susannah Couch, witnessed her application.
Apparently, the Stogsdill family's move to Dade County during the 1840's did not prove to be entirely satisfactory to the family. The families of two of Malinda’s sons, Josiah and William, were still residents of Dade County in 1860. But, Archibald Stogsdill moved his family from Dade County back to Oregon County during the 1850's. Elizabeth (Stogsdill) Bennett and her husband, Welcome, may have moved back to Oregon County in 1853. The migration from Oregon County to Dade County and then back to Oregon County was a pattern that would become commonplace among the Missouri settlers from the Paint Rock Valley of Alabama. Daniel Stogsdill moved his wife and family east a shorter distance, from Dade County to Dallas County, during the 1850's.
Malinda apparently moved back and forth between Oregon County and Dade County with some frequency. We know that Malinda filed her second bounty land application as a resident of Dade County in 1852. In April of 1855, Malinda filed a third bounty land application from Oregon County, and stated in her application that she was a resident of that county. Malinda was back in Dade County when she made a fourth bounty land application in 1858. The witnesses were, again, Lindley and Susannah Couch. And, finally, in 1860, the census indicates that Malinda was again living in Oregon County. On June 19, 1860, 65-year-old “Linna Stogsdell” was listed as the only resident in her household, and was listed “next door” to the household of her recently-widowed daughter, Elizabeth (Stogsdill) Bennett, and Elizabeth’s six children. While Malinda reported personal property valued at $200, the census records indicate that she did not own any land, and it is probably safe to assume that she was living on her daughter’s farm.
The 1860 census record for Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, enumerated less than a year before the outbreak of the Civil War, is the last record that I am aware of that identifies Malinda. We don’t know what happened to her after that date. Some genealogists report that Malinda died in 1881, or died after 1881. I suspect that these dates stem from family lore related to me a number of years ago by Frank Watson, a great-grandson of Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill. Frank told me the family story that Malinda attended the wedding of her grandson, Jonathan Franklin Stogsdill, when he was married in Lawrence County, Missouri, on May 1, 1881. Though the story could be true, Malinda would have been about 86 years old when she attended that wedding, and it would mean that she lived for more than twenty years after the 1860 census was recorded without leaving any evidence of her existence that we have been able to discover. I believe that it is more likely that Malinda died in Dade County or Oregon County some time between 1860 and 1870.
[1] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 8 in Township 2 South of Range 4 East.
[2] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 8 in Township 2 South of Range 4 East.
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of William Stogsdill and Malinda Couch is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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To provide some background on the family of William Stogsdill, we will briefly review our findings regarding William’s parents and grandparents. It is generally believed that William Stogsdill was the grandson of Morris Stogsdill and Sarah Williams. Researchers don’t agree when or where Morris Stogsdill was born. Most believe he was born in Essex County, Virginia, in 1737, or born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1847 or 1849. Most researchers believe that Sarah Williams was born in Suffolk County, New York, in 1740 or 1749. There seems to be agreement that Morris and Sarah were married in Rowan County, North Carolina, on March 4, 1768.
While there is disagreement among researchers about Morris Stogsdill’s death, most believe that he died in Rowan County, North Carolina, about 1789. There appears to be greater disagreement about Sarah’s death, as some researchers believe that she died before 1811 in Davie County, North Carolina, while others place her death in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in 1811 or later.
Vachel Stogsdill is believed to have been the eldest child born to Morris Stogsdill and Sarah Williams. It is generally believed that Vachel was born about 1768 in Rowan County, North Carolina, and that he was married to Susannah Bayles in Rowan County about 1785. Susannah is reported to have been born in Rowan County in 1770.
The “Vachel Stogdale” family is listed in the 1790 Federal census of Rowan County, North Carolina. The household consisted of one adult male, one adult female, and one male child. I assume that the members of this household were Vachel, Susannah, and their eldest son, Daniel.
The subject of our sketch, William Stogsdill, is generally assumed to be a son of Vachel Stogsdill and Susannah Bayles. There is substantial disagreement as to William’s birth, but the most plausible theory seems to be that he was born in Rowan County about 1792. However, it appears that the Vachel Stogsdill family migrated from North Carolina to Kentucky about that time, as the names of Vachel Stogsdill and Benjamin Stogsdill, believed by most Stogsdill researchers to be brothers, both appear on the 1792 tax list of newly-organized Clark County, Kentucky. The early tax records of Pulaski County, Kentucky, which was organized on December 10, 1798, indicate that the Benjamin and Vachel Stogsdill families were both among the earliest settlers of Pulaski County.
Most Stogsdill family researchers with an interest in Vachel Stogsdill believe that he died in Pulaski County about 1806. The Pulaski County marriage records include a record of the marriage of Susannah Stogsdill to James Fears on December 20, 1807. James Fears was a Baptist minister, and early settler in Pulaski County. When the Flat Lick Baptist Church was organized nine miles east of Somerset in January of 1799, James Fears was one of the nine charter members, and was named the pastor of the church. Research by genealogists interested in James Fears suggests that he was born in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1748, and that he and his first wife, Mary, had about nine children. Researchers believe that the Susannah Stogsdill who marrried James Fears in 1807 was the widow of Vachel Stogsdill.
There can be no doubt that Vachel Stogsdill had a son named William. Pulaski County court records document that a guardian was appointed in 1808 for the “orphans” of Vachel Stogsdill. The “orphans” were identified as Daniel, William, Polly, Archibald and Susannah Stogsdill.
The 1810 census of Pulaski County includes the James Fears household. The household consisted of one male aged 45 and over (probably James), one female aged 45 and over (probably Susannah), one male aged 16 through 26 (possibly William Stogsdill), one male aged 10 through 15 (possibly Archibald Stogsdill), one female aged 10 through 15 (possibly Polly Stogsdill), one male under 10 (unidentified), and two females under 10 (one might have been Susannah Stogsdill).
In 1813, at approximately 21 years of age, William Stogsdill volunteered at Somerset, in Pulaski County, for service in "the war with the British and Indians in Canada" (the War of 1812). William joined Captain Samuel Tate’s Company of the 7th Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia, and was among the 71 men who served for three months in this unit, from August 23, 1813, until November 14, 1813.
Less than two years later, William was married, in Pulaski County, to Malinda ‘Linny’ Couch, daughter of Moses and Elizabeth Couch. William and Malinda were married by a Baptist minister on June 17, 1815. For further information about Malinda and the Couch family, see “Section 1: Moses and Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch” on page 5.
William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill's eldest son, Josiah, was born in Kentucky on January 13, 1817. Less than nine months later, William and Malinda Stogsdill were among the heirs of Vachel Stogsdill who signed a deed selling land on Flat Lick Creek, in Pulaski County. This deed represents the strongest piece of evidence that I have seen regarding the parentage of William Stogsdill. On October 4, 1817, Susanna Stogsdill, as the Administrator of Vachel Stogsdill’s estate, along with Daniel Stogsdill and his wife, Henna; William Stogsdill and his wife Malinda; Polly Stogsdill; Arch Stogsdill; and Susanna Stogsdill, heirs and representatives of Vachel Stogsdill, sold 52 acres of land on Flat Lick Creek, in Pulaski County, to John Hughes for $400. The land was apparently a part of a larger tract of land that had been owned by Vachel Stogsdill and Benjamin Stogsdill, both deceased.
Archibald Stogsdill, the second son of William and Malinda Stogsdill, was probably born in 1819 or 1820. His 1850 census record indicates that Archibald was born in Kentucky, while his 1860 census record indicates that he was born in Tennessee. It is quite possible that his parents moved from Kentucky to Tennessee shortly before or after his birth, and Archibald may not have known where he was born. I am unaware of any other records which provide any clues as to Archibald’s place of birth.
I suspect that Archibald was born in Tennessee. A book entitled Early Unpublished Court Records of Lincoln County, Tennessee, by Helen Crawford Marsh and Timothy Richard Marsh, includes an entry indicating that “William Stogsdale” purchased a 15-acre tract and a 40-acre tract of land from William McGehee in 1819. Lincoln County is located just north of the Tennessee-Alabama border, and immediately north of some of the Cherokee Indian lands where Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill’s father and brother, Moses and Lindley Couch, were living in 1819.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate the William Stogsdill family in the 1820 census. The family may have been missed by the census, or William’s name may have been badly misspelled in the census record, or the family may have moved to Alabama with some of Malinda’s family (and there is no 1820 census for Alabama). But, there is evidence to suggest that William and his family remained in, or soon returned to, Lincoln County, Tennessee. Page 83 of Lincoln County Deed Book C reportedly includes a deed by which “William Stogsdill”, of Lincoln County, sold 15-acre and 40-acre tracts of land to John McGehee on November 7, 1823.
By 1830, William and Malinda Stogsdill were the parents of six children. William S. 'Billy' Stogsdill, was born on February 21, 1822. It has been reported by other researchers that William was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee. I am confident that William was born in Tennessee, and would not be surprised to learn that he was born in Lincoln County, but have not seen any direct evidence of the county in which he was born. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Stogsdill was born in Tennessee in 1824 or 1825. Daniel Newton Stogsdill was apparently born in Tennessee in 1826 or 1827. Some researchers report that Daniel was born in Alabama on Mar 24, 1827. I don’t know the source of this information. I suspect that date of birth is correct, but doubt that Daniel was born in Alabama. Mary ‘Polly’ Stogsdill was the last child born to William and Malinda. Her 1850 census record suggests that Mary was born in Alabama in 1829 or 1830. But that census record is the only evidence we have seen regarding Mary’s birth place, and I would not be surprised to learn that she was born in Tennessee.
We are confident that the William Stogsdill family was listed in the 1830 census of Lincoln County, Tennessee, under the name of "Wm Stockdale". The “Wm Stockdale” household in the 1830 census was comprised of one male aged 30-39 (probably William), one female aged 30-39 (probably Malinda), one male aged 20-29 (possibly William’s brother or a brother-in-law?), two males aged 10-14 (probably Josiah and Archibald), one male aged 5-9 (probably William), one female aged 5-9 (probably Betsy), one male under 5 years of age (probably Daniel Newton) and one female under 5 years of age (probably Polly). Only two households were listed in the census between the household of William and Malinda Stogsdill and the household of Malinda’s brother, Avery Couch. And, only seven household were listed between the William Stogsdill household and that of “Susanah Fears”, whom we assume to be William’s mother.
I am confident that William and Malinda Stogsdill moved their family across the state line into Alabama by February of 1834. Their new home was in Jackson County, Alabama, and was located was just a few miles south and a few miles east of Lincoln County, Tennessee. Jackson County was created on December 13, 1819, from lands recently obtained from the Cherokee Indians. It was created as a county in the Alabama Territory, but the Alabama Territory was admitted to the Union as a state the very next day. When Moses and Lindley Couch signed the 1819 petition as squatters living on Cherokee lands, they were probably living in the area that was organized as Jackson County later that same year.
The William Stogsdill home was located in the northwest corner of Jackson County, on Larkins Fork, a tributary of the Paint Rock River. My guess is that William and Malinda settled on Larkins Fork in late 1833 or early 1834. While living in Jackson County, the William Stogsdill family was affiliated with an early Primitive Baptist Church, which we believe to have been located on Larkins Fork, about three miles upstream from the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River. The early minutes of this church indicate that the church “received Sister Melinn Stogsdill by Letter” in February of 1834. A few months later, Malinda’s name appeared on a membership list as “Melinn Stogsdill”. In November of 1835, the church “opened a door for the reception of members and received Sister Susannah Fears by letter”. I assume that William Stogsdill’s mother followed, or accompanied, William and Malinda to the area, where she joined the same church.
The fact that Malinda Stogsdill and Susannah Fears were “received by letter” into the Primitive Baptist Church on Larkins Fork indicates that Malinda and Susannah came to the church with letters of recommendation prepared for them by another church, or churches, of the same faith. I believe that it was common practice for church members moving to new homes in other areas to take with them letters of recommendation prepared by their former churches.
We can only guess what brought William and Malinda Stogsdill to the Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County. One possibility is their connection to the Fears family through the marriage of William’s widowed mother to James Fears. Reviewing some of the work posted to the internet by researchers interested in the family of James Fears, it appears that one of James Fears’ sons, from his first marriage, was a Jacob Fears. Jacob Fears would have been William Stogsdill’s step-brother. Jacob is reported to have been born in North Carolina in 1785, and to have married Aisley Holt in Grainger County, Tennessee in 1812. Both “Jacob Fears” and “Ailcey Fears” were received into the Primitive Baptist Church on Larkins Fork in December of 1829, and were still active members of that church when William and Malinda Stogsdill arrived about 1833 or 1834.
In January or February of 1836, "Archibald Stogsdill" (undoubtedly the son of William and Malinda) was received into the church on Larkins Fork by baptism. In February or March of 1836, “Josiah Stogsdale" and "Elizabeth Stogsdale" (also, undoubtedly, the children of William and Malinda) were received into the church by baptism. An 1836 membership list for the church included the names of “Malinda Stogsdill”,“Susannah Fears” and “Elizabeth Stogsdill” among the female members, and “Arch Stogdill” and “Josiah Stogdill” among the male members of the church.
Malinda Stogsdill was apparently well-respected by the congregation of her church. The church minutes from the first Saturday in November of 1836 contain the following:
“Fellowship inquired for, and the Church took up accusation against Sister Manerva Moore and Sally Duncan and appointed members to go and talk to them and site them to come to next meeting and appoint Sisters Stogsdil and Bridges to talk to them and request them to come to next meeting.”
The sale of public lands in Jackson County first began in the summer of 1830. Land sales were brisk in the Paint Rock Valley. It was six years later, in April of 1836, that William Stogsdill purchased 40 acres of public land in Jackson County[1]. The land was located on the west side of Larkins Fork, about two miles north of the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River, and about one mile south of the spot where we suspect that the Primitive Baptist Church was located.
The minutes of the Baptist Church on Larkins Fork contain no mention of William Stogsdill as a member, even though Sarah Literal’s notebook indicated that William was, himself, a Baptist minister. However, on the first Saturday in March of 1837, there was a discussion about building a new meeting house. One possible site was discussed, and then two other potential sites were nominated. One site was on William Stogsdill’s land. Two months later, one of the other sites was selected as the favorite of the majority of the Church.
In March of 1838, William purchased an additional 40 acres of public land[2], situated immediately south of his first 40-acre tract.
I believe that two of the children of William and Malinda Stogsdill, Josiah and Elizabeth, were married while the family lived in Jackson County. Josiah Stogsdill married Lydia Hall about August of 1836. Elizabeth Stogsdill probably married Welcome K. Bennett about 1839. And William and Malinda were undoubtedly present at another family wedding in the late 1830’s. Malinda’s youngest brother, Benjamin Couch, was living with William and Malinda when he was married, at the William Stogsdill home, in 1838 or 1839. Benjamin’s bride was Celia Hall, who lived with her widowed mother about a mile west, and a half-mile north, of the William Stogsdill farm. Celia was a sister of Lydia (Hall) Stogsdill, the wife of Josiah Stogsdill and daughter-in-law of William and Malinda Stogsdill.
In the 1840 Federal Census of Jackson County, there are two Stogsdill families listed "next door" to each other. One was the William Stogsdill family, and the second the Josiah Stogsdill family. The census information for the William Stogsdill family matches our profile of the William and Malinda Stogsdill family rather well, and the census information for the Josiah Stogsdill family closely matches the information we have for the family of Josiah and Lydia (Hall) Stogsdill. These two families were enumerated with other families that lived in the Paint Rock Valley, in the vicinity of the confluence of Larkins Fork with the Paint Rock River.
We believe that, in 1840 or 1841, William and Malinda Stogsdill followed the migration path to be followed by many residents of the Paint Rock Valley--to Ripley County, Missouri. Their two married children, Josiah and Elizabeth, also migrated to Ripley County about the same time. In Ripley County, William and Malinda joined Malinda’s three brothers who were already living there—Lindley, Benjamin, and Avery Couch.
Soon after their arrival, William Stogsdill died in Ripley County, on July 13, 1841, at approximately 51 years of age. His death left Malinda with four children living at home—Archibald was about 21, William was 19, Daniel was 14, and Mary was about 11. Malinda and some of her younger children apparently remained in the area for several years after William's death. Malinda’s son, Archibald, was married in Ripley County on August 7, 1842. Malinda’s youngest daughter, Mary 'Polly' Stogsdill, was married in Ripley County on September 14, 1844. And Malinda’s son, William, was married in Randolph County, Arkansas (just across the state line from Ripley County, Missouri) on November 23, 1845.
Between 1845 and 1850, all of the children of William and Malinda Stogsdill, with the exception of Mary (Stogsdill) Lasley, moved further west, to Dade County, Missouri. Some of the Stogsdill children apparently made the move to Dade County in at least two steps. We believe that Josiah Stogsdill was living in Cass Township of Greene County in December of 1846, and that William Stogsdill was living in the same township in March of 1847. Malinda Stogsdill's brother, Lindley Couch, and his wife also moved to Dade County between 1840 and 1850, where the Lindley Couch family and the Stogsdill families settled as close neighbors. Malinda’s sister, Delila, and her husband, Charles Literal, apparently moved to Greene County between 1846 and 1849. After Charles died, Delila moved to Dade County by 1850, when she was listed as another neighbor of Lindley and Susannah Couch; Lindley’s daughter, Angelina Evans, and her family; and the Stogsdill families. Migration from Ripley (or Oregon) County to Dade County was commonplace among the former residents of the Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County, Alabama, who had earlier migrated to Ripley County.
We have not been able to locate Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill in the 1850 census. Having been a widow for nine years, we would expect to find Malinda living with one of her children in the 1850 census records. She was not. It is also possible that she remarried during the 1840’s, and was listed with her second husband in the 1850 census, but we have not found any evidence of a second marriage. I suspect that Malinda was simply missed by the census, possibly because she was moving around between the homes of her five children in Dade County and her youngest daughter in Oregon County.
Malinda’s youngest daughter, Polly, died during childbirth in April of 1851. We don’t know whether Polly was still living in Oregon County when she died, or whether she and her family had followed the rest of the William Stogsdill family to Dade County. We know that Malinda was a resident of Dade County in 1851, when she made an application for bounty land, on the basis of her husband's service in the War of 1812. Malinda's second application, completed in 1852, was also made while she resided in Dade County. Malinda's brother and sister‑in‑law, Lindley and Susannah Couch, witnessed her application.
Apparently, the Stogsdill family's move to Dade County during the 1840's did not prove to be entirely satisfactory to the family. The families of two of Malinda’s sons, Josiah and William, were still residents of Dade County in 1860. But, Archibald Stogsdill moved his family from Dade County back to Oregon County during the 1850's. Elizabeth (Stogsdill) Bennett and her husband, Welcome, may have moved back to Oregon County in 1853. The migration from Oregon County to Dade County and then back to Oregon County was a pattern that would become commonplace among the Missouri settlers from the Paint Rock Valley of Alabama. Daniel Stogsdill moved his wife and family east a shorter distance, from Dade County to Dallas County, during the 1850's.
Malinda apparently moved back and forth between Oregon County and Dade County with some frequency. We know that Malinda filed her second bounty land application as a resident of Dade County in 1852. In April of 1855, Malinda filed a third bounty land application from Oregon County, and stated in her application that she was a resident of that county. Malinda was back in Dade County when she made a fourth bounty land application in 1858. The witnesses were, again, Lindley and Susannah Couch. And, finally, in 1860, the census indicates that Malinda was again living in Oregon County. On June 19, 1860, 65-year-old “Linna Stogsdell” was listed as the only resident in her household, and was listed “next door” to the household of her recently-widowed daughter, Elizabeth (Stogsdill) Bennett, and Elizabeth’s six children. While Malinda reported personal property valued at $200, the census records indicate that she did not own any land, and it is probably safe to assume that she was living on her daughter’s farm.
The 1860 census record for Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, enumerated less than a year before the outbreak of the Civil War, is the last record that I am aware of that identifies Malinda. We don’t know what happened to her after that date. Some genealogists report that Malinda died in 1881, or died after 1881. I suspect that these dates stem from family lore related to me a number of years ago by Frank Watson, a great-grandson of Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill. Frank told me the family story that Malinda attended the wedding of her grandson, Jonathan Franklin Stogsdill, when he was married in Lawrence County, Missouri, on May 1, 1881. Though the story could be true, Malinda would have been about 86 years old when she attended that wedding, and it would mean that she lived for more than twenty years after the 1860 census was recorded without leaving any evidence of her existence that we have been able to discover. I believe that it is more likely that Malinda died in Dade County or Oregon County some time between 1860 and 1870.
[1] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 8 in Township 2 South of Range 4 East.
[2] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 8 in Township 2 South of Range 4 East.
