Individual Details

John Shackelford Stamps was born Sept 03, 1798 in Kentucky; probably in Bourbon County. There is some controversy concerning John's actual middle name. Actual records, thus far located, indicated that he has no middle name. More research is needed to piece together all the facts of his life. Therefore, some of what follows may be considered as conjecture.

John married Jane Henrietta Bunch on Feb 21, 1821 in Jefferson Co., MS. She was born Nov 02, 1801 in Mississippi. John and Jane lived at Grand Gulf in Claiborne Co., Miss.; one hundred miles from where his parents and brothers lived in St. Louis.

1830 Census of Claiborne Co., Mississippi: John and his wife were 20 to 40 years old. Children: 1 son, under 5; 1 daughter under 5; 1 male 5 to10.

John and Jane owned land in Quachita Parish, Louisiana which they sold in 1841 and in 1842. In Hinds County, Miss., they purchased 40 acres in the Mt. Salus Community from Wilson F. Dillon and William McGuffee. 1 On Oct 29, 1835 they sold 235 acres in Hinds County to Joseph Morrison. The acknowledgment was taken before his brother, Probate Judge Volney Stamps.

On Oct 20, 1837, John wrote his uncle, William Stamps of Walnut Lea, nearParis, Bourbon County, Kentucky>, that his father, John Stamps, loved William as much as one brother could love another; that his brothers in St. Louis were adding to their wealth; that his father spoke of going to Texas, but that their mother wouldn't go; that he purchased 1700 acres in the Cowles Settlement in Texas; that he had purchased 10 negroes but was going to buy another 12; and that Moina Stamps was born Nov 2, 1837.

About 1838 John Stamps moved to Texas. He was a tax payer in Washington Co., Texas for the years 1838 and 1840. In 1840-41, Judge Stamps built a two story home on the Brazos; naming it Mr. Vernon, after the home of George Washington, which was near the home of his great grandfather,Thomas Stamps. A community soon grew around Mt. Vernon and it became known as the Mount Vernon Settlement. Through his influence, Judge Stamps was able to have Mt Vernon selected as the county seat of Washington County. After some two years, "the people of the county were not satisfied with the location and prevailed upon the Congress of the Republic at its Eighth Session in 1843 and 1844, of which Judge Stamps was a member, to submit the location of a county seat as the issue in a special election by the citizens of Washington County. The Act was passed and the issue submitted, and in the heated contests that followed,Brenham...won.

The mansion, restored by the Woody Museum of San Antonio, is said to resemble the restored home of William Stamps, Judge John Stamps' uncle, which is called Walnut Lea in BourbonCounty, Kentucky.

1850 Census of Washington County, Texas 11/50: John Stamps, 58, born Tenn, $10,000; Jane Stamps, 40, born Miss; J.C. Stamps (son), 20, born Miss.; H. Stamps (dau), born Miss; C.M. Stamps (dau), 7, born Texas.

From what appears to be an excerpt from a newspaper column, Supper Table Talk by John Ayres, entitled "Records tell of old Sabine Pass Railroad", comes the following information about Judge Stamps:
"The Southern Pacific's records show that Sabine Pass was never served by a railroad until the early 1880's when one of its predecessors laid tracks to that port from Beaumont. The years afterward they were extended to Sabine. The whole route was abandoned south of Port Arthur in 1932. ... Considerable data supports Mr. Block conviction that the early-day line was built and did operate, even though briefly. The U.S.Census of 1860 lists two railroad contractors as Sabine Pass residents,J.D. Kirkpatrick and John Stamps, the latter being the second wealthiest individual in Jefferson County, and its largest slaveholder." The article goes on to suggest that this rail line was destroyed during the Civil War.

Jane Henrietta Stamps died Aug 06, 1857.
On March 25, 1858 John married Jane Ann Graham, daughter of Joshua Graham, the first commissioner of Brenham, Washington Co., Texas.

John died at the age of 68 years, on Sept 24, 1867. He was a contractor, built railroads and the first brick penitentiary at Huntsville. His wealth included land and stock. He was one of the wealthiest men of the pioneer citizens of Texas. He and members of his family were buried at Gay Hill. However, his son-in-law, Jerome B.Campbell, husband of Moina Stamps, caused that John's body and the bodies of other family members, to be reburied in Prairie Lee Cemetery in Brenham. Their graves are situated in the most prominent spot in the cemetery, on a little knoll. Their graves face south. Mr. Campbell felt that since no one knew from which direction Jesus would return, facing their graves south was a good idea. Louise Mills stated that her mother thought this was a nice thing for her step father to do. Mrs.Juanita Brock McEntire wrote the following: "All other graves are facing east. I suppose this was because they were early graves (the Stamps'graves) and possibly the cemetery then was not laid out true----but they told me it was because they were such strong Southerners and believe in the South so strongly; THEY BELIEVED THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN.

Jane Ann Graham Stamps died in December of 1873. Her will was probated on Dec 15, 1873. Assets consisted of the following houses in Brenham: House and lot on Public Square $2500; The Woods Place $1200; Home and lot on Sandy Street $2500; The Red Top house $1400; The Cassidy House $700; House and lot $1800; The Finney House $1800; 2 lots $4000; 19 1/2 acres $1500; 1756 acres $1757.

SPECIAL NOTE OF INTEREST, from Louise Mills of 1265 Cherokee Lane; Beaumont, Texas; August 28, 1972 -- explains the "strange" names of many of John Stamps' descendants:

"One of my most treasured possessions is a small morocco Bound volume of Ossian's poems, printed in 1815, from which Grandfather Stamps (JudgeJohn Stamps) selected the names of his children -- Cathmor, Moina and Malvina; also the name of his home, Morven (in Mississippi), so Mother said."

from Biographical Directory of the TEXAN CONVENTIONS AND CONGRESSES,1832-1845
STAMPS, John, was a resident of Washington County, Texas, for a number of years. In 1843-44, he represented the county at the Eighth Congress, House of Representatives. A son, John C., was an orderly sergeant on the Sommerveil Campaign, and a member of Captain J.B. Robertson's Company G, 1st Regiment, Volunteers and Drafted Militia, on the Vasquez and Woll Campaigns in 1842. The elder Stamps probably devoted all of his time to farming, the agricultural census for 1850 showing him to have been the owner of an extensive farm, equipment, and valuable livestock in Washington County. On November 10, 1853, both father and son were still living in Washington, John Stamps having acted as a witness on that date to an instrument signed by John C.

TWO TEXAS FEMALE SEMINARIES by Mabelle Purcell; MidwesternUniversity, Wichita Falls, Texas. pages 58 and 59.
The father of the Stamps sisters, Judge John Stamps, lived six miles west of Brenham, near both Mt. Vernon and Long Point. No vestige of the former settlement remains although it was once, through his influence the county seat of Washington County. These two communities were the center of population in those days.
Judge Stamps came to Texas in the early forties and was a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. He was also a contractor and built everything from railroads to the first penitentiary at Huntsville,Texas. His property, including land and livestock made him among the wealthiest of the pioneer citizens and his home has been said to be one of the finest in the country.

Moina (Mrs. James Holt) and Malvina (Mrs. John Whitaker Morris and later Mrs. J.B. Campbell) daughters of the judge, were the classmates mentioned by Dr. Graves' daughters. Mrs. Holt died without issue, however, Mrs.Morris' children, Nettie (Mrs. Edw. Mills of Beaumont), Mallie (Mrs. Wm.D. Jones of San Angelo) and Collins, one of the few male boarders, all attended their mother's school. Moina Stuart Campbell, daughter of the second marriage, was a pupil at Stuart's Seminary. Mrs. Mills wrote of the original institution:
"I was a student at the Live Oak Seminary and never
attended any other school. My mother was one of
the first students there. We loved the school and all
the teachers. She and I were very proud of the fact
that we had the same teachers which was very unusual."

Birth	3 Sep 1798	Bourbon County, Kentucky
Death	24 Sep 1867	Texas

Father	John Stamps (1764 - 1845)
Mother	Mary "Polly" McGrew (1766 - 1845)
Sibling	Living
Sibling	Nancy Stamps (1793 - 1845)
Sibling	Elizabeth "Betty" Stamps (1797 - 1868)
Sibling	Willis Braziel Stamps (1797 - )
Sibling	Angeline Stamps (1805 - )
Sibling	William Shackelford "Shack" Stamps (1807 - 1893)
Sibling	Volney Stamps (1808 - 1879)
Sibling	Charles Fox Stamps (1809 - 1890)