Peter Stambaugh

Peter Stambaugh was born in the mid 1700’s to Jacob Stambaugh.  He grew up in Manheim Township in York County, PA where he married and raised at least eight children: Peter, Jacob, Barbara, Philip, Susan, Magdalena, Frederick, and Christian.  At some point he married a woman named Christina but it is unknown when he married her and if she was the mother of any or all of his children.

Peter and his family lived in a 24’ x 18’ one-story wood house with two windows.  It appears they may have lived on and farmed property owned by his father.  Peter first appeared in Bedford County, PA in 1808/1809 when he patented a warrant, shown below, for 278 acres that his father had applied for in 1767 and left to him in his will.  Peter’s warrant survey indicates that his warrant was disputed for interfering with land in another warrant.  After that time, he appears in tax and census records in St. Clair until his death in 1830.

I will note that early in my research, I came across the book “The Fisher-Stombaugh Families and Allied Lineages of Maryland and Pennsylvania 1715 – 1949” by Florence Hepp Petersen in 1950.  Ms. Petersen documented that Peter Stambaugh was the son of Lawrentz Stambaugh.  However, after researching the family property and the land warrant granted to Peter Stambaugh, it has been revealed that his father was Jacob Stambaugh from Manheim Township in York County, not Lawrentz.  It’s not surprising that Ms. Petersen’s information was incorrect given the number of Stambaugh families in Pennsylvania in the 1700’s and the fact that so many had the same names.  Always a reminder to double-check the work by others before relying on it.