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certified copies of the most important pages of the John Stanford, Sr. Bible that were made on November 17, 1972. The Sr.’s Bible was in the possession of Mrs. L.T.
Simpson of Poplarville, MS. She was formerly a Stanford, and a daughter of David Dewitt Stanford, and a granddaughter of John Stanford, Jr. At the time, she had an excellent memory and was of tremendous help with tracing the descendants of John Stanford, Sr. and Jr. The John Stanford, Jr. Bible was in the possession of Mrs. R A. Sowell of Picayune, MS, when we made a certified copy on March 27, 1973. She was the daughter of Richard H. Ward who lived near Columbia, MS, and was also a descendant of John Stanford, Jr. Richard, and his brother, Robert “Haskell” Ward of Columbia, were also of great help in tracing the descendants of John Stanford, Jr. and related lines.
Another serious researcher of our Stanfords was Mrs. Calvin (Pauline) Entrekin. She lived in Ocean Springs, MS, and her husband was a descendant of John and Delila Stanford. One other person doing some research on this family, and who is also a descendant, is Mrs. Wade (Julia) Guice, of Biloxi, MS.
An interesting story was told to us by Mrs. Nancy Smith, a Stanford descendant, of Picayune, MS. She said that one of the old Stanfords (John Stanford Sr.?) had a brother that went to, and settled in Texas, but she had no specific name or city. Nancy was told that Harriet Stanford Davis (daughter of Noah Stanford) had a daughter that married a Stanford in Texas, and they were supposed to be “cousins.”
It appears that the father of our John Stanford was Joshua Stanford, Sr. There is a common assumption that our John Stanford was the son of Joshua Stanford, Sr. based on Joshua’s Will dated May 4, 1825, in Warren County, GA, that names his children to include, “John Stanford.” We will discuss this Will in more detail shortly. We believe this relationship is correct based on the evidence that we will now present.
First we note that several of our John Stanford’s children and grandchildren carry many of the same names as found on Joshua’s Will to include: John, Joshua, Joseph, Mary, Harriet, Sarah, etc. Next we found John Stanford’s War of 1812 military records that clearly connect him to the Stanfords of Warren County, GA. John applied twice for government “Land Bounty” for his service. His first application was filed on May 18, 1851, (application #301-760) from Marion County, MS. He said:
1.	He was age 83.
2.	Was an “Ensign,” which is equivalent to a second lieutenant.
3.	Assigned to the Company of Captain James Neal, and 3rd Regiment of the Georgia Militia, Commanded by Colonel Ignatius Few.
4.	Drafted at “Warrenton, Georgia” on September 1, 1814, for 6 months and mustered into the service of the United States on September 23, 1814.
5.	He was Honorably Discharged on March 10, 1815, at Waynesboro, GA.
He placed his own signature on the application, and his application was witnessed by Noah Stanford, his son. On October 2, 1854, 80 acres of Bounty Land was awarded to his “grandson, Sharrard Entrekin,” based on John Stanford’s service in the War of 1812. This information is found on the Land Bounty Warrant, #32,960. We do not understand this because there is no mention of this grandson in the documents from John’s government file.
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Stanford, John John-Stanford-and-Family-of-South-Mississippi---Ancestors-and-Descendants-04
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