Introduction

It's worth a diversion into source information because verifiable documentation is the only way to be sure the correct family is being traced. The approach I followed for this web site was to provide most of the source information and to try to obtain, as much as possible, original source materials (birth, death, pension and deed records are good examples), which may contain either primary or secondary information. There are many situations, however, where indirect evidence is used; indirect evidence being that information exhaustively assembled from a number of sources and used to infer a reasonable conclusion1,2. See, for example, the web site page on Event Timelines.

I've also used and cited information from various web sites but many of these sites do not list sources or the author simply notes that the data came from some person's GEDCOM file, with no comment on the quality of the source. I've tried to state in the source citations what I believe is the quality of the information, particularly that for the web sites, and allow the reader to draw conclusions on what trust to put in the information provided. Unfortunately, too many web sites (and older books) have questionable data and non-verifiable sources. Even census information should not be taken at face value and should be questioned to see if it is consistent with other information and see if it passes a "common sense" test.

Viewed from the beginning of the 21st Century, the Stoy family of Northern Virginia and its allied lines can be traced more than 200 years to the 1700s in New Jersey. But in only a few cases can we locate an ancestor across the Atlantic in his/her country of origin (for example, the Sayre line in England and the Maffett line in Scotland). The material in this web site focuses on the families in the US, their earliest appearances on the eastern seaboard, and their movements in a fairly narrow geography from the 1700s to the middle of the 20th Century.

The two tables below (arranged in generation order) describe the primary movements of the families on the paternal and maternal direct lines along with the last female on the direct line having the surname (with her birth and death dates). Alternate spellings of the surnames are also listed. Some of these families are explored in other parts of this web site.


Paternal Family
Surname Migrations Female Given Name Birth Date Death Date
Stoy
(Stoydja?)		 ? > NJ > VA
Caylor
(Kälor, Calor, etc)		 Ger? > PA > VA Maria Mount 1877 1941
Edwards ? > MD > VA Laura Virginia 1851 1905
Kelley ? > PA > OH > WV > VA Phebe Ann 1844 1903
Sayre
(Sayer, Sayers)		 Eng > NY > NJ > PA > OH > WV > VA Aminda 1824 1885
Dove ? > VA Mary c.1822 c.1887
Maffett
(Moffett, Moffet)		 Scot > VA Mary Eleanor 1807 1862
Winget
(Wingate, Wingett)		 Eng? > NJ > PA > WV Margaret 1798 1849
Primm
(Prim)		 ? > VA Lydia Dent 1785 1871
Etcher
(Oatyar, Oatyer)		 Ger? > PA > NJ > VA Elizabeth
Catherine		 1779
1781		 1839
1850
Hampton ? > NJ > PA Nancy 1768 1844
Simpson
(Simson)		 ? > NY > NJ > PA Lydia 1765 1841
Mulford ? > NJ Mary 1745 1774
Goble ? > NJ ? c.1720 c.1760
Welch Eng > VA Margaret 1709 1770
Hull ? > NH Hope 1677 ?
Nutter ? > NH Mary 1633 bef. 1677


Maternal Family
Surname Migrations Female Given Name Birth Date Death Date
Young ? > TN > GA Mary Louise 1917 1977
Rudd Eng? > VA > TN Grace Argyle 1889 1948
Morrison Ire > WV > TN Anna Roberta 1867 1926
Simmons ? > NC > GA Sarah Elizabeth c.1852 1892
Fleming Scot > WV Mary c.1844 1916
Ross Scot or Ire > WV Mary c.1821 1900
Brown ? > TN Mary A c.1835 c.1865
Powell ? > GA Jane A c.1827 c.1857
Alley ? > VA > NC > GA Oney Lucinda 1825
Poston ? > NC > GA Martha 1787 1862
Cunningham ? > NC Sarah c.1764
Hayes ? > VA > TN Sarah c.1755 1846
Price ? > VA > NC Mary c.1754
Douglass ? > VA > TN Phebe c.1743 1810
Whittaker ? > VA Avis c.1685 1760


For example, the Sayre family has a lengthy history of migration on the paternal direct line and is treated in more detail in the section on Sayre Migration. The first Sayre family member appeared on Long Island, then there was migration to New Jersey, then another migration occurred in 1790 to western Pennsylvania, a move of a short distance to Ohio took place in 1830, then another short move to West Virginia (Virginia at the time) in 1839 and then to Virginia (Fairfax County) by 1870. Sayre family members that are allied, but not on our direct line, have remained in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states and some moved further west to Ohio and Iowa as new land opened.

The Alley, Rudd and Young families on the maternal side are extensive; the Alley and Young families have been reasonably well-researched but the Rudd family has not faired so well. Although there is some information on the family, there are many mistakes in the records, especially for the Tennessee families. The origin of the Rudd family in Virginia is uncertain and not well-proven before John Rudd (c.1678- c.1748). There was an interesting comment on four original Rudd immigrants in 2001 on a Rudd Family Genealogy Forum, although no support or sources were cited.

The fact that the families have roots in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and other states of the thirteen original colonies helps in locating documents. The state archives in Trenton (New Jersey), Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Richmond (Virginia) and Raleigh (North Carolina) as well as the National Archives have helped tremendously in uncovering deeds, wills, court documents and military records, not to mention census records. The greatest help in tracing people through the census records has been the Ancestry.com web site, owned by The Generations Network, Inc. - their indexes and images of census pages are invaluable and save untold amounts of time in this area of record examination.

Several locations stand out in the Stoy family history: Loudoun County, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia; Washington County, Pennsylvania; McMinn County, Tennessee; Camden County, New Jersey; and Essex County, New Jersey. I've included a section on each location and try to show not only the family events that took place but also some of the local history that shaped these families and that may have precipitated some of the migrations.


Endnotes

1. Donn Devine, "Evidence Analysis," Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians, Elizabeth Shown Mills, editor (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001), 327-342.

2. Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007).