James Stinson, Sr. and Hannah Donaldson

---

---

Husband James Stinson, Sr. ^{1 2}

---

           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Hempfield Twp, Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

       Marriage:  - Westmoreland Co, PA

---

---

Wife Hannah Donaldson ^{1 3}

---

           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Hempfield Twp, Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

---

Children

---

1 F Betsey Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

         Spouse: King Caldwell (      -      ) 4

---

2 F Polly Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

         Spouse: John Bean (      -      ) 4

---

3 F Jane Stinson ⁴

---

           Born:  - Mercer Co, PA
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Robert Martin (      -      ) 4

---

4 M William Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

---

5 M James Stinson, Jr. ^{2 4}

---

           Born: 12 Aug 1803 - Hempfield Twp, Mercer Co, PA 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 13 Nov 1879 4
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Amelda Bean (Abt 1807-1871) 4
           Marr: 19 Jan 1826 4

---

6 M Samuel Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

---

7 F Hannah Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Joseph Gibson (      -      ) 4

---

8 F Julia Ann Stinson ⁴

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888
         Buried: 

---

---

General Notes: Husband - James Stinson, Sr.

---

The ancestor of the Stinson family in this county was James Stinson, a native of Ireland, who immigrated to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, when about eighteen years of age. In 1797-98 he visited the Shenango Valley as one of a party of twelve land prospectors. He selected a tract of land at "the Rocks," some two miles east of Greenville, in what became Hempfield Township, and spent the first night under the shelter of a tree, near where he subsequently built his cabin.

His mother died when he was still quite young. When eighteen years old he bade good-bye to his native land, and crossed the ocean to America, being the only member of his family to do so. After living in eastern Pennsylvania for a few years, he came with his family to Mercer County, Pennsylvania, making the removal on horseback, bringing not only his wife and three children, but all of his worldly goods. Buying land in what became Hempfield Township, he labored with true pioneer grit to redeem a farm from the wilderness. Indians were then very plentiful throughout that locality, and one day while he was chopping down one of the giants of the forest a red man made his appearance, and by signs indicated that he wanted to borrow Mr. Stinson's axe to make sugar troughs with, and also made him understand, by counting his fingers and looking at the sun, that he would return it the following Sunday. As Mr. Stinson was to be away that day, he instructed the Indian to leave the axe beside a log, and cover it with bark. This the Indian did, and later brought a cake of sugar to Mr. Stinson as a gift, and the two were ever after fast friends. James Stinson, Sr., succeeded in clearing a good farm, replaced the log cabin which was his first dwelling with a substantial frame house, and lived on his homestead until his death. [HMC 1909, 895]
He went to the defense of Erie in the war of 1812, and was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church.

1 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1160.

2 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 895.

3 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 896.

4 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1161.