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STAFFORD COUNTY COURT HOUSE

STAFFORD, VIRGINIA

24 AUGUST, 1867

This deed made this 24th day of August 1867 between Wesley Taylor and Mary E. his wife of the one part, H. B. Barnes Trustee of the second part and Mary J. Stiars of the third part. Witnesseth that the said Taylor and wife in consideration of the sum of five hundred dollars do grant and convey with general warrenty unto the said H. B. Barnes Trustee a certain lot or parcel of land situated in the town of Falmouth & County of Stafford, known as the "Cooper's Shop" Lot adjoining the dwelling House Lot of the Misses Barnes on the one side the lot of Mrs. Stiars on the other & extending back to the Mill race. It being the same lot which was heretofore conveyed to said W. Taylor by Jas. B. Ficklin and wife by deed duly executed & recorded. In trust that the said H. B. Barnes Trustee as aforesaid shall hold the property hereby conveyed in trust for the sole & separate use of the said Mary J. Stiars wife of John H. Stiars, and free from all control of or liabilities for the debts of said John H. Stiars.

Witness the following signatures & seals.

Wesley Taylor (SEAL)

Mary E. Taylor (SEAL)

This is in Deed Book 26‑A, Page 441. On the same page is the following:

This deed made this 5th day of June in the year one Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty Seven between John Casey of the County of Stafford State of Virginia of the one part and H. B. Barnes of the same County and State of the other part ‑‑ Witnesseth, that the said John Casey in consideration of the sum of one hundred dollars doth grant with general warranty unto the said H. B. Barnes all his right title and interest in and to a certain sorrel horse aged about 6 years ‑‑ In Trust for the sole and separate use and benefit of Mary Jane Stiars, the wife of John Henry Stiars of the said County of Stafford, but entirely free and discharged from all debts or liabilities of the said John Henry Stiars.

Witness the following signature and seal.

John Casey (SEAL)

Mary Catherine Mitchell, born in Fauquier Co., married a Thomas Casey and had children. He was killed in the war of 1812, filing for a “Widow’s” pension in Stafford County Court in 1855.She remarried to John Henry Taylor in Caroline County on 8 October, 1821, with her father Caleb Mitchell as security. She had several children by Thomas Casey and at least four with John Henry Taylor. Two of her daughters, Martha Ann Taylor and Mary Jane Taylor, married brothers William E. Stiars and John Henry Stiars. I have not found marriage records of these unions as yet. However, there is enough evidence in other Stafford and Spotsylvania Court Records to prove the marriages. Not until Mary Catharine Taylor died in February, 1874, did we have written proof in the Stafford Death Records that she was, in fact Mary Jane’s mother, with John Henry as her son-in-law. This was further proved by Martha Ann’s Death Record of 30 May, 1882, listing Catherine Taylor as her mother, with William “E. Stiars being her husband and William Wesley Stiars being her son.

The two Deeds, noted at the beginning, therefore reflect these family relationships. The sale of the “Cooper’s” Shop was made by Mary Jane”s whole brother, Thomas Wesley Taylor; whereas the sale of the Sorrel Horse, was made by her half brother, John Casey. The 1861 Land Tax Records of Falmouth lists the following:

Note: There must have been two “Cooper’s” Shops in Falmouth at this time, since the records also show an Augustine Mason of Fredericksburg owning A cooper Shop part of Lot 80.