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Note: burial Scotch Plains Baptist Church Cemetery
Margret was born (date given in Ida Frost Robinson's Items of Ancestry) as July 20, 1729 to Jonas and Mary (Morse) Wood, who had a plantation in Elizabeth, NJ. Sometime after her little sister, Sarah, was born, her mother died, and Jonas remarried a second Mary, a widow Winans. There were no children by this marriage. Perhaps Margaret didn't get along too well with her step-mother, as Margaret named no child for her own mother, whose name was also Mary (unless a child died we don't know about). When Margaret was 17 or 18, her step-mother died (1747) and shortly thereafter in 1747 or 1748 Margaret was married to widower Recompense Stanbery Jr., probably by the minister of the Scotch Plains Baptist Church. He was 38 years old. She therefore moved into a well-established household with Recompense's sons by his first wife, Joseph, 10 years old,and Issac who was eight. Jacob would have been seven, although he may have died in infancy. Margaret undoubtedly led a busy life cooking over the fire in the fireplace, making soap, dipping candles, spinning wool and flax, and knitting stockings, to name a few of the chores expected of a housewife. No doubt she also taught the children their lessons, as records show the offspring of Recompense were well educated for their day in reading and writing. Children were taught at home in those days. We think her husband was often away from home, so that she had to manage alone. Records show that Recompense transported "provisions and necessaries" to Savannah, GA., in 1737 and 1739 and probably continued to do so throughout his career and to visit other coastal cities. He may, in fact, have been away when quite a few of his offspring were born, leaving Margaret with the responsibility of naming them, as she invariably chose those names from her own family. She presented Recompense with nine children, five girls and four boys. When her youngest child, Jacob, was five, her husband died (May 20,1777). She was 48, and the American Revolution was in full swing. Two of her sons went to war, Samuel and Recompense III. On Sept. 2, 1780 she married Capt. John Darby and lived the rest of her life in the Darby home. She died on "Jann ye 18th 1812" in the 83rd year of her age. "Far from this world of toil and strife They're present with the Lord The labors of this mortal life End in a large reward." (Inscription on her tombstone in Scotch Plains, NJ)
"I note in marriages sent by Mr. Greaves in 1946, that a Sarah Wood married a Josiah Stanbery of Mendham, NJ, Feb. 17, 1751, some three or four years after Margaret married Recompense Stanbery. This could have been Margaret's little sister, but who was this Josiah? Recompense had a brother Josiah, was this he?"
We are descended from Woods NOT Searings! The mystery of Margaret's maiden name solved at last, February 20, 1992
In the 1930's and 1940's a Mr Richard P. Greaves of Scotch Plains, NJ, slipped the Stanbery descendants a red herring when he asserted that the wife of Recompense Stanbery Jr., was named Margaret Searing. I was surprised, to say the least, that at last we knew Margaret's maiden name, as none of the sources I had checked gave her family name. But when I pressed Mr. Greaves for his source in 1946, he could only state that "someone told (him her name), so he put it down, hoping that further study might prove it to be correct".(Why did he want her name to be Searing?) This when he had been circulating the name as Bible truth! I now think no one "told him" at all, but he saw the name Joseph Searing in Recompense will of 1777 (NJ Archives XXXIV p.492-493, Recompense had bought property from Searing) and later put "Searing" down, not realizing where he had come across it. Unfortunately, he circulated this Surname far and wide to many diverse Stanbery descendants across the United States, with the result that we almost came to accept the name simply on the basis that it appeared in so many cousin's records (without any source named). I remember felling very angry when Mr. Greaves letter arrived in 1946 admitting there was no source for the name "Searing". Perhaps Margare was communicating with me somehow that her name had been no such thing, and I was not to swallow it hook, line and sinker. Thus I did not provide a surname for Margaret when writing to relatives unless I cautioned that it was suspect and bore no proof. It was a relief to me, therefore, when evidence turned up almost 50 years later to prove Mr. Greaves was wrong and my instinct correct. Although I have found no Bible or marriage records to back up my allegations ( there simply aren't any) -- I think my assertion that Margaret was a Wood can be at least partly backed up by internal evidence, as the Margaret Wood of whom I an speaking had a father named Jonas, and Margaret had a son named Jonas. Furthermore, Joseph Searing died leaving a will which proved he had NO DAUGHTER NAMED MARGARET. Nor did I find any other Searing wills that mentioned a Margaret. A Mrs. Fratt, a volunteer of the Genealogical Society of the West Fields in New Jersey, was the kind person who called our attention to the fact that a Jonas Wood-- who had property adjoining that of Recompense Stanbery--mentioned an unmarried daughter Margaret in his will of 1745. Mrs. Fratt suggested that the name "Jonas" was at least "provocative" in view of the fact that Margaret named a son Jonas. I had noticed in Rev. Hatfield's History of Elizabet, NJ that a Jonas wood was one of the original "Associates" of Elizabeth. I knew there had to be a relationship because the name Jonas had been used widely in the Stanbery family--but where did the Woods fit in: as ancestors of Sarah, wife of Recompense Sr. or of Margaret, wife of Recompense Jr? The clue should have been, had I been perceptive enough to register the fact, that the name Jonas didn't appear in the Stanbery family until Recompense Jr. married Margaret! After being spurred into action by the suggestion that Margaret may have been a Wood, I consulted the New Jersey Archives (first series) and discovered will abstracts that back up my allegation that Margaret was a Wood. These are: 1.Vol.XXX p. 542: Will of Jonas Wood (a descendant of the associate) and of his widow Mary, and 2.Vol.XXIII p.330: will of Joseph Morss, father in law of Jonas Wood
Jonas Wood died in April 1745, leaving wife, Mary, a son Samuel, married daughters Anna and Phebe, and unmarried daughters Margaret and Sarah. He mentions property lying adjacent to that of Recompense Jr. Joseph Morss (Morse/Morris)Will dated 16 March 1726/7, proved 28 July 1729, names in his will not only his surviving children but also his grandchildren born to date. Among these are Mary (Morss), wife of Jonas Wood, and the mother of Ann, Phebe, Samuel, and Jerimiah Wood. Notice that Margaret Wood is not mentioned because she hasn't been born yet. Ida Frost Robinson in her 1894 book Items of Ancestry (including the Stanbery lineage) gives Margaret ----- Stanbery's dates as follows: born: 20 July 1729 died:18 June 1812 (tombstone says January) (Her tombstone states she "died in her 83rd year") Therefore Morss's will proves that Margaret Wood is the correct age to be Mrs. Recompense Stanbery Jr. and there fore must be the same person. Secondary proof lies in the fact that Margaret gave six of her Stanbery children names that "coincide" with Wood names. Jonas for her father and great-grandfather Phebe for her sister Samuel for her brother and grandfather Wood Margaret for herself(also grandfather Samuel Woode had a wife Margaret, NJA XXIII p 520) Sarah for her sister Anna for her sister
But why didn't Margaret name a child for her mother, Mary Morse Wood? I think the answer lies in the abstract of widow Mary Wood's will (same page as husband's) Mary, widow of Jonas Wood, late of Elizabeth, NJ, died in 1747. Her will names only children of a previous marriage (named Winans) and completely ignores the offspring of Jonas Wood. Perhaps Margaret Wood Stanbery didn't get along too well with her step-mother and thus wasn't too keen on the name Mary. I believe that Mary Morss (Morse/Morris) was the mother of Margaret Wood Stanbery because her son Samuel in later life adopted the name "Morris" for a middle name. For the above reasons I postulate that the maiden name of Mrs. Recompense Stanbery Jr. of Elizabeth/Scotch Plains NJ was Wood.
All of the above from Mary Ann Cummins, 25 Forest Ave, Delaware, OH 43015-1620
Find a grave Birth: Jun. 20, 1729 Elizabeth Union County New Jersey, USA Death: Jan. 18, 1812 Scotch Plains Union County New Jersey, USA
Daughter of Jonas and Mary Morse Wood
Wife of Recompence Stanbery and John Darby Sr(married 2Sept1780) Mother of nine children with Recompense, Phebe Stanberry, February 23, 1748/49 Rhoda Stanberry, April 05, 1752 Samuel Stanberry, June 26, 1754 Sarah Stanberry, June 23, 1756 Recompense Stanberry, September 23, 1758 Jonas Stanberry, January 25, 1761 Margaret Stanberry, April 04, 1763 Anna (Mary) Stanberry, December 23, 1767 Jacob Stanberry, June 08, 1772
Family links: Spouses: Recompence Stanbery (1710 - 1777) John Darby (1736 - 1820)
Margaret was a Midwife. She remarried to John Darby Senior after Recompence's death. John Darby Junior married her youngest daughter, Anna (Nancy) Stanbery.
Burial: Scotch Plains Baptist Church Cemetery Scotch Plains Union County New Jersey, USA
Created by: Treeclimber Record added: Jun 27, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 92661807
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