HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: A look at the Allentown-Upper Freehold of the past.
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From the C.R. Hutchinson Collection, the following history of the Stafford Family:
"James B. Stafford appeared in Allentown about the year 1797, together with his wife, who is said to have been one Abigail Smith, of near Boston. His occupation was that of a school teacher, and he was for seven years principal of the Allentown Academy, besides teaching elsewhere at various times. He was postmaster for sixteen years, succeeding James H. Imlay in 1804, and being himself succeeded by William Imlay in 1820. He was also a justice of the peace, appointed March 12, 1806, and serving as such for many years.
Until 1818 he wore a blue coat with brass buttons, knee breeches, ruffled shirt, cocked hat, and hair long and tied in a ‘queue.’ Charles H. Fidler, in a recent article written for the ‘Allentown Messenger,’ gives the following account of him:
‘At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, James B. Stafford was in the mercantile business in the city of New York. He refused to take the oath of allegiance to George III, as was required by the British authorities, and went to Boston, where he assisted in fitting out the privateer ‘Kitty,’ commissioned by the Boston officials to cruize upon the high seas. He entered the service of the United States on the 18th of April, 1776, and served upon the said ship until captured by a British frigate and the crew of the ‘Kitty’ put in irons.
‘The latter vessel was soon afterwards recaptured by Commodore Paul Jones and the irons placed upon the British crew. This was about ten days before Jones’ great naval fight, in which his vessel, the ‘Bon Homme Richard,’ engaged the British ‘Serapis.’ During the engagement Jones’ flag was shot away and fell into the sea, when young Stafford leaped overboard and recovered the flag. He received a severe wound in the shoulder on this occasion from the sword of a British officer. The wound was well healed and in his old age caused him much pain.
‘Mr. Stafford continued in the naval service of the United States until the crew of the ‘Alliance,’ of which he was a member, was discharged per resolution of Congress. His discharge is dated Thursday, February 19, 1784, signed by Commodore John Barry. Under an act of Congress he received a pension of $120, per annum during his life. After the war Mr. Stafford devoted himself to school teaching, several years of which he spent in Allentown.
‘Before leaving here he opened a school in Imlaystown, walking the entire distance every day between the two places. Among his pupils at the last named school were the late Abel and Enoch Cafferty, who were then young lads living with their parents in Imlaystown. Mr. Stafford remained in Allentown until his removal to Trenton, where his death occurred on the 19th day of August, 1838, at a very advanced age."
The following biography of Sarah Stafford from Allentown is excerpted from the C. R. Hutchinson Collection:
Sarah Smith Stafford, born November 1802, began teaching at an early age. She was a shrewd, capable woman, but how much of her account of the Stafford history, or of other statements of hers which she succeeded in getting accepted as historical facts is truth and how much is fiction, it is impossible to tell. Many things which late writers have taken as true and which have accordingly become matters of history, have been either largely or entirely the product of her fertile imagination and will go down to future generations as truth because it will be impossible to prove the contrary.
"For years she haunted the various departments at Washington, where she became a well known figure and she eventually succeeded in procuring from Congress the grant of a large sum of money in consideration of her father’s Revolutionary services, by which she became a comparatively rich woman. Whether or not she was entitled to it I cannot say, but at least, she succeeded in convincing them that such was the case, or perhaps she tired them out by her persistence. She died, unmarried, January 6, 1880, and was buried in Riverview Cemetery.
"A Trenton correspondent of the New York Sun, in 1875, gave the following account of her: ‘Sarah Smith Stafford, of Trenton, is the daughter of Lieut. James Bayard Stafford, who served under Paul Jones in the ‘Bon Homme Richard,’ and who, in the memorable contest with the Serapis off the coast of England, on the 23rd of September 1779, distinguishing himself by jumping into the sea and rescuing the flag that had been shot away. While nailing to the mast he was severely wounded. He subsequently filled civil offices of distinction. … In after years Sarah went to Trenton and opened a school, receiving patronage from the influential families of the state. Her acquaintance became extensive and her friendship was much cultivated. She continued her school for twenty years, and in 1848 went to Washington upon a peculiar mission.
‘Her father, being a volunteer, did not receive any portion of the prize money allowed by Congress. Miss Stafford sought to secure his share. At the Capitol, she made friends in several of the influential families, and a school was established, by which she could help support herself while pressing her claim. For twenty four years this little woman worked on, being visited at times by Simon Cameron, Senator Edmunds, Ben Butler and others, but the bill did not reach final consideration until 1872. Then, after being amended by Mr. Hale, reducing the amount to $8,000, it was passed. Patriotism and pride of ancestry have ever been Miss Stafford’s characteristics. Among her ancestors she includes Sir Stafford Northcote of England, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and Michael Bacon the first who came over in the Mayflower.
‘What hurts the old lady more than anything else is the desire of many false pretenders to claim kinship with her. She exhibited a letter from the Bacon family of New England; wherein efforts are made to prove that the Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon is of kin, ‘but,’ said she, ‘they can’t fool me: I’m too well informed. I have a will dated 1600, which Leonard Bacon has tried to get possession of, but it will prove nothing for him,’ and she toddled off and produces a musty piece of paper which can be read only with difficulty.
‘Miss Stafford has accumulated $15,000 when the rebellion broke out. Public finances were in a deplorable condition, and Gov. Olden made a proclamation calling for the loan of a million dollars. Miss Stafford was the first to respond. Wrapping her money in an apron she hastened to the State House and laid it all before the Governor. ‘What’s this?’ he said. ‘It is every cent I have in the world,’ she replied, ‘but if my country needs it she can have it.’ The Governor endeavored to have her reconsider her action. ‘The war has commenced,’ he said, ‘and God only knows how it will end, and you may lose your all.’ ‘Governor,’ and she looked straight in the eyes, while her voice betokened great firmness, ‘my country is in danger. If I can have my country I want no money. Take this and use it as you will.’ The Governor took $6,000, and gave her voucher No. 1.
‘The voucher was subsequently paid in greenbacks and as she had lent the amount in gold the Legislature afterwards passed an act giving her $600, additional. She had about $16,000 in bonds &c, in the vaults of the Trenton Banking Company. On the 21st of January 1872, burglars entered that institution, gagged the watchmen, opened the vaults and escaped with much plunder, including all of Miss Stafford’s property. She has not received a cent’s reimbursement. The money she received from Congress was invested in Northern Pacific stock and that was wiped out by the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., so that today she owns nothing but the house she lives in.
‘It is a fine three story brick structure, situated in a wretched part of Warren Street. The windows are decorated with national colors, and a large medallion of Washington ornaments the door. Miss Sarah is short and well preserved, and enjoys all her faculties. Her face beamed with pleasure as she led the way into a wonderfully disordered room. Old muskets, swords, shot shell, uniforms, camp equipment and trophies were scattered everywhere.
‘Miss Sarah settled into an easy chair with a long sigh, saying: ‘I’m very tired: now what do you think I’ve been doing? Well, the Council has been petitioned to pave the street, and if they do, it will cost me $600, and I haven’t got the money. So I am getting up a counter petition:’ and she unrolled a paper containing 300 names, which this little old lady of 74 years had gathered by walking around town. She defeated a sewer job a year ago, and is confident of success against the pavement.
‘She is very voluble, but her intelligence makes her verbosity endurable. She said she had just returned from Washington, whither she had gone to see what can be done about her Northern Pacific stock, and in reply to a letter received from Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins, U.S.N. of the Government Board of Centennial Commissioners, who desired some of her relics for exhibition in Philadelphia. Then she brought in three immense paper boxes, littered with documents and letters, some of them of great value, and placed them before the reporter for inspection. There were letters from Sir Stafford Northcote, an engrossed copy of thanks from a former Legislature for a gift of a Bible to each member, an autograph letter by Commodore John Barry, recommending Lieutenant Stafford; court martial proceedings in the case of Benedict Arnold, tried in 1780 for fraud and delinquencies as quatermaster; photographs; original order by General Washington dated at Valley Forge, March 1778, relative to the reorganization of his body guard; and many other curiosities.
‘Then she exhibited a piece of a court dress and sash worn by the wife of Captain Miles Standish; the ‘sword of Bunker Hill,’ which originally belonged to Michael Bacon, who died in 1600, and was used at Lexington and Bunker Hill; photograph of the star spangled banner that inspired Key’s famous poem; General Washington’s bed curtains, imprinted with medallion portraits of distinguished generals of his time; a gun captured from the Serapis; piece of the old Alliance; original picture of Paul Jones, and a batch of Continental money.
‘The most important relic belonging to Miss Stafford is at Philadelphia, it being the first American flag recognized by foreign powers, and the one shot from the masthead of the Bon Homme Richard in the engagement with the Serapis. While its identity has never been assailed, there has been much discussion as to whether it was really the first American flag. Miss Stafford is positive, and has much evidence on her side.
‘Lieutenant Stafford was transferred with the flag to the Alliance, and the colors were used upon that vessel until the close of the war, when they were presented by act of Congress to the Lieutenant for his bravery, and have been in the family ever since. They were exhibited at the great Sanitary Fair held in New York and Philadelphia, and at Lexington last year. The flag was originally eleven feet long by six feet five inches wide, but the length has been reduced to nine feet. It is of bunting, with thirteen red and white stripes, and twelve stars upon a blue field. It was made in 1777, by ladies of the old Swedish Church in Philadelphia, and was presented to Paul Jones.’
"While the foregoing account is interesting there is no way of knowing how much of it is to be believed, for Sally was a great fraud, as well as a very shrewd woman. As regards the flag of Paul Jones above mentioned, the late Mrs. William Scudder, of Scudder’s Falls, a grand-daughter of Colonel David Hay, who was a captain in the revolution, always insisted that this was her grandfather’s flag, which Sally had in some way gotten possession of."
Charles Hutchinson’s doubt of the Sarah Stafford’s authenticity is understandable, especially in light of the sheer preponderance of souvenirs. Her real motives may never be known, but the enormous energy and enthusiasm that the woman possessed must still be admired. Future accounts will reveal that the Staffords were early victims of ridicule and discrimination in Allentown, which may account for Miss Sarah’s actions.
Historically Speaking is a regular feature presented by John Fabiano, president of the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society. For more information about the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society send e-mail to [email protected] or call (609) 259-9127.