My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD JUDSON STANNARD, one of the prominent farmers of Whitpain township, is the son of Heman and Minerva Stannard. He was born at Fairhaven, Vermont, December 12, 1829. He attended school at that place in the intervals of work on the farm, and at sixteen years of age entered Castleton Seminary, at Castleton, Vermont. After spending a year at that institution, he returned to the farm and again took up the work of assisting in farm management until the death of his father, when he assumed its management.

In 1869 Mr. Stannard married Mary Jane, daughter of Oliver and Edith (Shaw) Child, he originally of Carthage, New York, and she of Quakerstown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Stannard was born August 26, 1838. Their children are Ethelyn Minerva, born July 7, 1870, unmarried, resides with her parents; Oliver Edward, born November 2, 1871, married, March 24, 1897, Emma, born April 18, 1877, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Sheild) DePrefontaine, of Blue Bell, their children being, Clara Elizabeth, born January 3, 1898: Ethelyn Minerva, born December 29, 1898, and died January 10, 1899; Mary Jane Child, born July 26, 1901; and one died in infancy; Lewis Judson, born May 2, 1875, married Bertha Elizabeth, daughter of Albert and Mary (Craft) Rile, residing in the vicinity, and having two children, Mary Elizabeth, born June 13, 1898, and Edith R., born May 18, 1900; Edith B., born February 18, 1877, died August 26, 1877; Edward Judson, born February 20, 1881, died August 30, 1881.

In the spring of 1876 Edward J. Stannard left Fairhaven, having purchased the farm on which he now resides, which is known as South View, the name being suggested by the slope of the land in that direction, and the great extent of country that can be seen from the house. The farm contains seventy acres of fine land. It was formerly the property of William Zorn, who was a relative of Mrs. Stannard.

Heman Stannard (father) was the son of Samuel and Jemima (Wilcox) Stannard. He was born in Collingsworth, Connecticut, December 27, 1780. He married, September 5, 1809, Minerva, daughter of Samuel Smith, a farmer of Fairhaven, Vermont. Their children: Betsy, born June 23, 1810, married Almon Bartholomew, of Whitehall, New York; infant, born June 23, 1812; Samuel, born December 29, 1813, died September 15, 1815; Eliza B., born May 15, 1816, married Satterlee Miller, of Fairhaven, Vermont; Julia B., born April 4, 1820, married Edmund Kirtland, of Grandville, New York; Mary Ann, born April 20, 1823, unmarried, and resides at West Poultney, New York; Heman, born February 3, 1826, married Maria Kirtland; Edward Judson, subject of this sketch, and Charlott, deceased.

Samuel Stannard (grandfather) was born in Collingsworth, Connecticut in 1749, the family having long been residents of that place. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He removed to Fairhaven, Vermont, and became a valued member of that community, much interested in its prosperity. In 1770 he married Jemima Wilcox, born in 1746. Their children: Betsy, born August 12, 1771, married Ansel Merritt, and removed to Pottsdam, New York; Daniel, born January 14, 1773, married Mary Davidson, of Fairhaven, Vermont; Charlotte, born November 23, 1774, married Rohan Sheppard, and was left a widow with several children; Eliza married Oliver Childs, whose first wife was Edith, daughter of John Shaw and Elizabeth (Ball) Shaw, of Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and mother of Mary Jane Child, wife of Edward J. Stannard; Samuel, born October 1, 1776, married Reubena Petty, of Georgia, Vermont, their child being General Samuel George Stannard, of St. Albans, Vermont, who lost an arm at Gettysburg; Heman (father) born in 1780, died May 16, 1863.

Edward J. Stannard is a Republican in politics and has always taken an active interest in party success. In Fairhaven, where he resided the greater part of his life, he was more prominently identified with politics than he has been since his coming to Pennsylvania. He became a member of the party on its organization in 1856, having prior to that time supported the principles and candidates of the Whig party. The Stannard family are Episcopalians in religious faith and they are members of St. Thomas’ Episcopal church, of Whitemarsh. Samuel Stannard (grandfather) enlisted in the Revolutionary war in the Seventh Regiment, Connecticut Troops, under Colonel Charles Webb, and Captain Nathaniel Tuttle, July 14, 1775. He participated in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth. He was at the Valley Forge camp ground during the winter of 1778-9 and at Morristown, New Jersey, in 1779-80. He became a sergeant, August 18, 1780, and at the close of the Revolution returned to Fairhaven, Vermont and received the appointment of captain of the Vermont state militia.