Stanbrough Stancliff was born Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut, December 18, 1762 son of James Stanclift and his second wife, Mary [Lewis] Stanclift. In a family that used names such as George, Thomas, James and William, his name was unusual. He had been named after his great grandfather, Perigrine Stanbrough of Long Island, New York. The family moved shortly after his birth to Woodbury, Connecticut. Stanbrough's father was a stone mason and gravestone carver, carrying on a family tradition.
The family is descended from James Stanclift, English stone mason and carver, born 1638, Halifax, North Yorkshire, England. He left England in 1680 and came to Connecticut where he married and settled in East Middletown, Connecticut by 1690, founding the Stanclift Brownstone Quarry in that area. His eldest son William was also a gravestone carver and passed this skill on in turn to his eldest son, James, the father of Stanbrough Stancliff. There were no less than eight gravestone carvers in the early Stanclift family. Each had a unique style of carving, which has been a great asset in tracing the movements of various members of this family.
Stanbrough lived in the Woodbury area, but returned to Simsbury to marry his cousin, Sibbel Davis, on May 5, 1784. Sibbel was the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth [Lewis] Davis of Simsbury. They were married by the Rev. Roger Viets, rector of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Simsbury. Rev. Viets was in prison during part of the Revolution as an acknowledged Tory. This led to conjecture that possibly Stanbrough or Sibbel had families with Loyalist views. This does not seem likely, however, as Sibbel's father and brother both saw service in the American forces during the conflict and Stanbrough's family sent five sons to fight in the war. Three of those sons died, and Stanbrough who must have been little more than a boy at the time, was wounded in the leg and referred to in family stories as "crippled". Considering his accomplishments in later years, a strong and resolute character must also have been part of his nature.
It seems probable that the couple left Connecticut shortly after their marriage and started their trek to new frontiers. The rapid advance of these pioneer families exceeded, that of the church. When Stanbrough and Sibbel stopped their travels for a time in a German community at Palatine, Montgomery County, New York in the winter of 1792, they had four children who had not yet been baptized. They baptized these children born between 1786 and 1792 at St. John's Dutch Reform Church at St. Johnsville, New York.
Stanbrough must have heard about the grants of land that were to be made available in Canada. He had Stancliff cousins who moved to Loughborough and Kingston about this same time. Family history states that David Stancliff, son of'Stanbrough, was born 1795 "near Niagara Falls". It is possible that the family may have been in the area as they waited for land to be assigned in Northumberland County. It is not unlikely that a considerable amount of time passed between the initial petition for land and the granting of that land. One source reported that "tent cities" sprang up as hopeful pioneers settled in for the long wait. Stanbrough Stancliff and his family may have been living in such a "tent city" in the Niagara area when David was born.
Agents for the Associated Townships of Haldiman, Hamilton, Percey and Cramahe presented on June 17, 1797, to the Council on Crown Lands a list of settlers for those townships. Stanbrough P. Stancliff was listed as having broken front Lot # 14, 1st concession in the township of Hamilton. On July 1, 1799 it was decided that all warrants were to be suspended until July 1800, at which time it would be determined whether the applicant had cleared or improved five acres of land and built a house, when these qualifications were satisfied the Warrant would be confirmed. In 1799 Stanbrough Stancliff had cleared only three acres of land.
Stanbrough's sons were 11, 7 and 4 years of age at this date, certainly of limited help in clearing land, and Stanbrough was said to be crippled to some extent. It must have taken him a long time to clear those three acres, but he must have fulfilled the requirements of the grant as the report of Council in August 1800 did not list Lot 14 as being "open" and available.
When the first rumblings of the War of 1812 began, Stanbrough left Canada. He was quoted as saying "I fought to free this country and I cannot stay in Canada and fight against it". Stanbrough and Sibbel Stancliff's two oldest sons died in that war.
By 1813 this family was established in a sparsely populated area of Ohio. Shortly thereafter Stanbrough built the first house in McArthur, Athens County, Ohio. This town came into being because it was located at a cross road where burr stones from the nearby quarry were shaped and shipped west to the emerging communities. Since one of the first enterprises of a new area was to establish a grist mill, the burr stones were in demand. Farming was not established until later, and at this time burr stone production was the primary occupation of the residents of McArthur. Stanbrough probably worked in his father's quarry as a boy in Woodbury, and had again gravitated to stone work.
Stanbrough went on to become the first Justice of the Peace in his locality, and in 1817 he was elected an Athens County Commissioner. In 1819 Sibbel was the first woman to serve on the County Grand Jury. In the spring of 1820, Stanbrough Perigrine Stancliff died.
CHILDREN: Stanbrough P. and Sibbel [Davis] Stancliff
First four children all baptized Dec. 30, 1792 at the St. Johns Church, St Johnsville, NY. The remainder born Canada.
1. MARY/POLLY STANCLIFF b.Feb. 15, 1786. She married DANIEL TRIPP who was listed as being in Elk Twp, Athens County in 1820 Census. The family lived Washington Twp, Jackson County. There Daniel died in 1828.
2.THOMAS STANCLIFF b. August 27, 1788. He died during the War of 1812 in the service of the United States.
3.BETSY/ELIZABETH STANCLIFF b. October 8, 1790 She died in Jackson County in 1835. m. probably in Canada 1. _______ PORTER and was living in that portion of Athens County that later became Jackson County when she m. 2. DANIEL DUHADWAY.
4.PERRY STANCLIFF b.Aug. 20, 1792 died during the War of 1812.
5.DAVID STANCLIFF b. 1795 "near Niagara Falls" d. Feb. 13, 1849 in Ross County, Ohio. He m.1. July 20, 1820, AMY MILES b. 1780 in New York State d.1828 in Ohio. m. 2. November 1, 1829 LEAH BURCH in Hocking County. m. 3. Oct. 22, 1839 MARY [LANE] TAGG b.1804 Greenbriar, Virginia d. Feb. 21, 1889 Ross County, Ohio.
6.LUCINDA STANCLIFF m. April 27,1820, ISAAC HAWLEY, License dated Feb. 21, 1820, Athens County. Lived Hocking Co by 1839.
7.SARAH STANCLIFF born in Canada and probably about 1800 at Cobourg, Hamilton Twp, Northumberland County, Ontario where the family lived between 1797 and 1812. She m. ELIJAH GILLET THROCKMORTON and lived McArthur and Ross County.
8.ANN STANCLIFF m. 1. GEORGE GRANT July 6, 1825 in Jackson County m. 2. Jackson Co Oct. 8, 1835, JOHN WINTERS of Athens Co.
9.HANNAH STANCLIFF b. according to the 1850 census in 1804 in Upper Canada. m.1. Athens County, NATHAN LOVELESS, Sept. 14, 1819. She m. 2. by 1839, ANDREW MCPHEETER. Lived Jackson and Ross Counties.
10.JAMES STANCLIFF b. 1805 in Canada m. HANNAH and lived 1839 in Noble, Wabash County, Indiana. He died during the Civil War at Gallatin, Tennesee Dec. 24, 1862.
11.0LIVE STANCLIFF m. TRIPP and was deceased by 1839.
NOTES:
I have found some seventeen variations on the spelling of the name. The preferred English spelling predominantly STANCLIFFE. The immigrant ancestor, James of Middletown, Connecticut used STANCLIFT. Stanbrough and brother James changed their spelling to STANCLIFF about 1785. These three spellings are used in various branches of the family today, but unfortunately not with a consistency that would provide a clue to the identity of newly discovered individuals.
In the neighboring Township of Haldimand was Moses Hinman and sons homas and Moses Junior. Moses Hinman bpt. 1755, was the son of Gideon and Hannah [Curtis] Hinman of Woodbury, CT. He was then, a contemporary of Stanbrough Stancliff and came from the same hometown.
In the neighboring Township of Percey was Barnabas Brounson and his son Amasa. Barnabas was b. Nov. 10, 1744 son of Roger and Ruth [Castle] Brounson of New Milford, CT. Both Roger and Ruth Brounson are buried in the New Milford Cemetery under unusual granite stones cut by one of the Stancliffs, perhaps even Stanbrough. The cemetery has a number of brownstone tombstones cut by Stanbrough's father James Stancliff.
Sources:
1. Report of the Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario 1930, Sessional Paper # 46
2. Report on Canadian Archives by Douglas Brymner,Archivist 1891, Ottawa: Printed by S. E. Dawson 1892.
3. Map of Province of Upper Canada,prepared by D. W. Smith, Chief Surveyor of lands Upper Canada 1798.
4. Land Surveys of Southern Ontario, An Introduction and Index to the Field Notebooks of the Ontario Land Surveyors 1784-1859 by Louis Gentilcore and Kate Donkin- Monograph no. 8, Cartographica, Toronto.
5. Loyalists in Ontario by Reid. 6. Canada: Past Present and Future, by W. H. Smith Vol I & Vol II with maps of the Counties late 1800s. Thomas Maclear, 45 Yonge St. Toronto.
7. Upper Canada, The Formative Years 1784-1841 by Gerald M. Craig-Oxford University Press 1963.
8. Historical Atlas of York County, Ontario - Miles & Company, Toronto 1878.
9. Historical Atlas of Frontenac,Lennox and Addington Counties,Ontario-J.H.Meacham & Co 1878.
10. Minutes of the Council on Crown Lands Canadian National Archives: Microfilm # C-I0229
11. Historical Atlas of Northumberland & Durham Counties-H. Belden & Co 1878
12. Public Archives of Canada Microfilm, Rolls C-100 through C- 105, containing Land and State Books of Upper Canada, Volume A commencing July 8, 1792 through Volume R (page 428) ending May 26, 1836.
SHERRY S. STAHCLIFF
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