Dr. James Stimson Sr. (c.1620 – ) and Dr. James Stimson Jr. (1640-90)

Typical 17th Century Doctor, Jamestown, Virginia

Dr. James Stimson Sr. was Aubrey Stimson’s 6th great grandfather.  Here's the lineage:

Dr. James Stimson Jr. (1640 - 1690) - Son of James Sr.

Solomon Stimson (1681 - 1726) - Son of James Jr.
Jeremiah Stimson (1725 - 1777) - Son of Elizabeth
Erasmus Benjamin Stimson (1762 - 1838) - Son of Jeremiah
Erasmus Benjamin Stimson (1781 - 1833) - Son of Erasmus Benjamin
Logan Wesley Stimson (1816 - 1872) - Son of Erasmus Benjamin
Wiley Fort Stimson (1856 -1920) - Son of Logan Wesley
Aubrey Vaughn Stimson (1900 - 1983) - Son of Wiley Fort

Dr. James Stimson Sr. was the first of our direct paternal line (with the surname Stimson) to live in North America. A couple of online genealogies trace his roots through John Stimson and Susanna Phillips of Norfolk, but upon examination, these sources seem to have gotten him confused with the family of a minister who settled in nearby Watertown in 1630.  Based upon the few facts available, the following seems to be the most reliable narrative:

Port of King's Lynn, Norfolk

At some point between 1620 and 1640, Dr. James Stimson boarded a passenger ship in the English port city of King’s Lynn, Norfolk and sailed to Massachusetts, most likely arriving in Boston, Lynn, or Salem.  The passage would’ve taken approximately 65 days.  James was almost certainly seeking refuge from the persecution of English puritans by King Charles I.  At some point James married a woman named Naomi, and in 1640 their son, James Jr., was born. 

The couple settled in Reading.  This village was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (a puritan settlement in direct competition with the pilgrims of Plymouth).  Originally known as “Lynn Village”, Reading was founded on the south shore of Lake Quannapowitt after a few citizens from Lynn petitioned Governor Winthrop for a “place for an inland plantation” in 1639. Since their son James Jr. was born in Reading in 1640, it’s reasonable to assume that James Sr. and Naomi were part of this group that founded the town.

The long winters were harsh and summers were dedicated to hard work.  A colonial male spent most of his day on subsistence farming, hunting and fishing, while his wife tended to domestic duties and crop gardens.  On Sunday Puritans dedicated their entire day to worship, prayer and hymns.  The experience was so intense that Saturday evenings were often spent mentally preparing for the Sabbath.

1630's Home, Plymouth

Their son, James Jr., learned medicine from his father and also took it up as a career.  Seventeenth Century doctors had some pretty strange beliefs about the human body.  There were four fluids or 'humours' in the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile). Illness resulted when you had too much of one humour; hence, all the bloodletting and fluid examination.  Doctors frequently doubled as barber/surgeons.  I’ll bet they spent a lot of time sharpening blades!

1630 Salem Village Puritan Homes

In 1661 James Jr. married Mary Leffingwell in Reading.  He was 22 years old and she was nineteen.  Their first child, Thomas, died soon after birth, but four healthy children followed.  James Jr. and Mary lived the rest of their lives in Reading.  Mary passed in 1681, and Dr. James Stimson Jr. died nine years later at the age of 50.



Multimedia Links:

Puritan Religious Beliefs and Values (interesting site)

Frederick Bird Smith Cocke (1813-1903)

Here’s a photograph of “Grandma Stimson’s” mother, Margret Ellen Cocke. Her large family included a fascinating collection of state and national politicians, military officers, and folk heroes too voluminous to mention here. Her father was Frederick Cocke …

Frederick Bird Smith Cocke (1813 - 1903) was Aubrey Stimson’s great grandfather
Here’s the lineage:

Margaret Ellen Cocke (1848 - 1890) - Daughter of Frederick Bird Smith
Cornelia Vaughn (1870 - ) - Daughter of Margaret Ellen
Aubrey Vaughn Stimson (1900 - 1983) - Son of Cornelia

Frederick Bird Smith Cooke was a Confederate officer, Texas Congressman, member of the Secession Convention, and delegate to the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention. He is listed as a significant Texan by the Texas State Historical Association. Yet today he rests in a forgotten grave near Buda, TX.

John Alexander Cocke

Frederick came from an illustrious political family. His father, John Alexander Cocke, was a colonel during the War of 1812 who later spent 45 years in the Tennessee Senate and House (where he was twice elected Speaker).  He also served three terms in the U.S. Congress. Frederick’s grandfather, William Cocke, was a Revolutionary War colonel and U.S. Senator from four different states.

Frederick was born on February 13, 1813 in Rutledge, TN.  He studied briefly at the University of Tennessee, where he developed a lifelong love of poetry, especially Sir Walter Scott.  

One contemporary said of him:

"While F.B.S seemed almost a moron in business, a University psychologist pronounced him 'the greatest example of a photographic brain of which I ever heard.' He memorized many whole books, all of Shakespeare's plays, and endless articles verbatim and repeated all of them well past his eightieth birthday. There are story after story from his grandchildren in their letters telling of this remarkable feat. It just absolutely has to be true. When asked how he did it, he said that from his earliest childhood, if assigned something to memorize, if he didn't like it, he could study for weeks and not retain it. However, if he liked it, all he had to do was read it once more and it was his forever."

        - from Hill Cocke's study of Naomi Greens Cones notes:

On October 2, 1832 Frederick married nineteen-year-old Eliza Malvina Rogers in Rogersville, Tennessee.  She came from a prominent Irish family; in fact, her father founded of the town of Rogersville.  The two settled into a large farm in Grainger County, Tennessee, where they started their family, which would eventually include fifteen children! 

But by 1854 they were both 41-years-old and ready for a change.  They sold their large farm for $15,000 and set out to explore the southwest. Frederick traveled on horseback, with the $15,000 in his money belt. They passed through New Orleans, before traveling on to Texas, the first of their family to do so.
His grandson William later recalled:
“On the trip, according to family legend, he met up with a like-minded fellow Mason who was also land-hungry. The story goes, that he opened his money belt and loaned his wandering friend a thousand dollars. Whether or not the money was ever repaid is not clear … The moving clan required the use of two mule-drawn wagons and a large handsome hack in which our grandmother rode in style with the young members of her numerous brood.”

Helena, Texas (late 1800s) 

The Cockes, with their six sons and five daughters in tow, wintered in Lockhart, TX. In the spring of 1855 they settled into a ranch near Helena in Karnes County, where their sixth daughter, Pauline was born. They were still living there when Texas seceded from the Union in 1861.

FBS Cocke -
Legislature Index

When the Civil War broke out, Frederick Bird Smith Cocke joined the “Helena Guards” of Karnes County as a captain under the command of Brig. Gen. James B. Slaughter. Since the Texas Legislature only held sessions every other year, Frederick was able to simultaneously serve as a member of the Texas House of Representatives during the 1862-63 session. Frederick’s five adult sons also served in the Confederate Army, and achieved high military rank, one becoming a state legislator himself.  Frederick Jr. participated in the last battle of the war at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, TX. Although the Texans won the skirmish, many of his fellow Confederates, including Gen. Slaughter, fled into Mexico.

But Frederick was needed at home.  Just as he and other defeated Texans were laying down their arms, his wife of 33 years died. Eliza Stantton Cocke was 52. There are few books written about strong frontier women like Eliza, but there should be. She successfully raised fifteen children on a frontier constantly harassed by drought, range wars and Comanches.  In fact, “one Saturday afternoon as (her son Gabe) was riding across the Government Flat homeward bound, Indians suddenly appeared on each side in full pursuit. As he was riding a spirited horse, (he) outran them; saving his ammunition against close attack if they had overtaken him", her grandson William later recalled.

Frederick settled with his five remaining children (Thomas, Gabe, William, Maggie and Ella) at Center Point, TX.  In 1870 Texas rejoined the Union and Ex-Confederates were granted amnesty if they promised to support the Union in the future. Fred took the oath and was elected to be a delegate to the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention at Austin. He once again served as a member of the Texas House in the 1879-80 session. At the end of the session the 68-year-old widower retired to his ranch to delight in the political exploits of his son Frederick Jr., who would also serve in the Texas House.

Frederick Bird Smith Cocke died on April 28, 1903 in Center Point, TX and was interned at the Cocke Family Cemetery in the Elm Grove community just off FM Road 967, outside of Buda, next to a subdivision known as Marlboro Country. It’s surrounded by a beautiful old wrought-iron fence.

Long after his death Frederick’s grandson recalled how his grandfather loved reciting poetry to him from memory, especially long passages from Sir Walter Scott and from Pollock’s “In the Course of Time.”

         Yet haply not rewardless we shall trace
         The dark disastrous years of finished Time:
         Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy.
         Nor yet shall all be sad; for God gave peace,
         Much peace, on earth, to all who feared his name

                     -Excerpt from Pollock’s “In the Course of Time”

Interesting Links:

Texas State Historical Association - F.B.S. Cocke

West Kerr Current - William A. Cocke Recollections

Wiley Fort Stimson (1856-1920)

Wiley Stimson was Aubrey V. Stimson's father. He was born on June 1, 1856 in Wilson Co., Texas, probably Sutherland Springs.  Wiley's father was Logan Stimson, a gunsmith originally from Virginia.  It's likely that his mother was Logan's wife, Mary Dugan, although she seems to have disappeared from public record by the time of the 1860 Census.  Life on the Texas plains was harsh, and perhaps she died in labor.  Wiley had an older sister named Harriet and a younger sister, Mary (or May). 

Wiley, Cornelia, and
baby Leta(circa 1897)

When Wiley was about six-years-old his father remarried a widow, named Mariah Hitchbum. In 1872 the family relocated to Kerr Co, Texas where Logan bought property worth $750.  A few months later Logan died, presumably leaving 15-year-old Wiley in the care of his step mother.  Wiley found work as a nurseryman and farmer in and around Kerrville, Texas, where in 1890 he met and married Cornelia Vaughn, the 20-year-old daughter of settlers from Tennessee.  Later known as "Grandma Stimson", she was to live until 1961.

"Fruit Tree" Ramsey

Wiley's traveling nursery trade kept him constantly on the move in different parts of the state.  At the turn of the century, he found work at the 430-acre Austin Nursery (located in Austin, TX on the present-day site of Ramsey Park).  It was owned by Frank "Fruit Tree" Ramsey who was the probably the foremost horticulturist in the state.  It was here in Austin that Aubrey Stimson was born in 1901.  The family moved to Hereford in Deaf Smith County around the year 1907.  However, by 1910 the Stimsons were living with their children (Leta, Edna, Aubrey, and Winnie) in Kerr County, where they owned a house and small ranch somewhere between Kerrville and Bandera.  It was here that their youngest child, Rupert, was born.

The family lived for a time on a 131-acre farm outside of Center Point, TX, which had been given to Cornelia by her father in 1909.  As part of the agreement they were to pay her siblings an inheritance of $100 a year for the duration of her father's life.  But, due to a terrible drought in 1916-17, Wiley and family were forced to relocate.  On Thanksgiving Day 1917 they moved to a new home in Kenedy, TX, where Wiley operated a small farm and sold tomatoes and watermellons out of his truck.

Congress Ave, Austin, TX  (c. 1901)

Early in 1920 Wiley returned to the Ramsey Nursery in Austin, leaving the family behind in Kenedy to await his call to join him.  When the call finally came, it stated that he had died while sleeping in an Austin boarding house on April 14, 1920.  He had been sharing a bed (as was the custom) with another tenant who had awakened and gone downstairs for breakfast.  When Wiley failed to join him, the man went up to check on him and found him dead.  Wiley Fort Stimson was 65 years old.  Cornelia received word of her husband's death at Center Point, TX, where she was visiting her ailing father, who was himself to die nine days later.

Welcome!

Our Stimson Family is predominately English.  Since ancestry.com utilizes an international database of family genealogies, I've had to use careful discretion when relying on these third-party sources.  If anyone has any photographs, stories, or family heirlooms (particularly Logan Wesley Stimson’s letters), I would appreciate your scanning and emailing them to me.


Thanks for stopping by!