Born: about 1766 in Scotland
Died: 1841, age 75 in Canada
Married Jane Higgins (? in Ireland-died 1825) who is said to have been Irish.
Children:
Charles Stinson (died Chicago, IL)
James Stinson
Margaret Stinson married Mr. Knight
Sally Stinson (died Ireland) married Mr. McManus
* William Stinson, Jr. (Oct. 1819-Feb. 12, 1909) married Jan. 30, 1857 at Ridgetown, Helen Stewart. My line, see below.

William Stinson, Sr. is said have been born in Scotland, moving to Ireland where he farmed and married Jane Higgins. One daughter is listed as having died in Ireland. The couple were members of the Presbyterian church.

Family oral tradition says 3 brothers came out from Enniskillen, in Ireland. One went out west. The second no one seems to know what happened to him. The third is William Stinson.

A review of the LDS microfiche dated 1992, shows a number of Stinsons in Ireland as early as 1698 and as late as 1920. Most of the listings for Enniskillen are later, in the 1860's. In the 1860's there were 9 or 10 Stinson families in Enniskillen, and there were Stinsons living in Enniskillen in 1993.

In the Christian Guardian for Oct. 22, 1831 (L-3) an ad ran: "If James Brook, 14 yrs from Ireland, Co. Monaghan, is in America, he is informed that his brothers-in-law, the Messrs. Stinson, reside in Haliton, Gore Dist., and he will confess a favour by writing to them letting them know where he is."

There seem to be several Stinson families not immediately related to ours in Ontario. In Victoria county, twp of Emily, there are some Stinsons with a birth place listed as what appears to be Poland(?). The handwriting is hard to read and it maybe a district or town in Scotland or Ireland. Stinson is not an uncommon name in Canada, so it is unlikely we will be able to track any descendants of his relatives unless they are also searching for us.

The newspaper listings at the Chatham Library list many Stinson events from 1876 to present. The Christian Guardian on Sept. 8, 1852 ran what might be the obituary for the wife of James Stinson listed above: Stinson, Mrs. Elizabeth, wife of James, born Tolleybeylin, Donegal, Ireland in 1798, came to Canada with her husband and family about 4 years ago, died Asphodel Twp Aug. 14, 1852, survived by husband and 6 children.

In the Nov. 14, 1849 issue: Stinson, Thomas, native of N. Ireland, died Toronto, Nov. 8th age 35.

Born: October 1817 to 1820 in Enniskillen, North Ireland
Died: Feb. 12, 1909 (age 92,per tombstone) Palmyra, Ontario, Canada
Buried: Greenwood Cemetery, Ridgetown
Married Helen Stewart January 30, 1857 by Rev. W. Dignam in Kent Co., Ontario, Canada.

The family oral tradition says that William could neither read nor write when he came out from Ireland. He could quote the Bible from memory. He purchased a team of horses and traveled around the countryside selling kitchen utensils. In a local hsitory it states that he was twenty when he left home and "located in Gananoque, Ont. where he remained 6 months in the employment of the Hon. Sir John Alexander MacDonald. The next 3 years he spent on farms in Howard Township, County of Kent. He then went to Fingal and began a career as a traveling salesman for an implement and engine concern, which covered a period of fifteen years. He was very successful, and when he retired from the road it was to take possession of a very fine 200-acre farm he had purchased in Howard Township." In 1899 he moved to Palmyra. In that book, Helen is listed as Ellen and Jennie is listed as Jane married to Caldwell Wilson. These inaccuracies suggest caution in using the other information. His politics were listed as Reform. Eventually he bought two farms, leaving one to each of his sons.

William was active in the Methodist Church at Troy and later Morpeth. At Morpeth the congregation decided to build a church of brick rather than the usual frame church. In the church's centennial history, Morpeth United Church 1877-1977, it says that they are uncertain as to what the actual cost of building the church was back in 1876-77, but in 1856 a frame church at Blenheim was $700, and in Duart was $800. A new church was required because, with the union of the two existing Methodist churches, the combined congregation no longer fit into one building. (Sadly, when we attended in 1994, the church seemed too big for a congregation which has dwindled as the older generations have passed away and the younger generations have moved away - physically and spiritual. The town of Morpeth is now almost completely gone and Ridgetown, which got the railway, is the largest city in the immediate area.) It is estimated that the brick church at Morpeth would have cost in excess of $5,000. William Stinson was chosen to lay the corner stone for the church at Morpeth on May 7, 1877. Whatever, the estimate, it cost more to construct than anticipated and the members of the congregation were hard pressed to come up with the necessary funds. Some took out mortgages on their farms and at different times two mortgages were taken out on the church itself. The debt was completely paid off in 1901. William Stinson's picture is among those displayed in the history case in the church.

William's granddaughter Gertrude Street (1899) remembers that he nearly always carried peppermint candies in his pocket for the grandchildren. In 1881, his farm was listed as lot 1, CON TLR, 150 acres, settled 1857. On the application for a century farm sign, it states Howard Twp., NE 1/2 Lot #1, TLR, 100 acres, 7 Nov. 1851. He moved into town and lived in the house which was (in 1994) numbered 31.
Children:

Helen Willson married Earl Church. They ahd two children: Kenneth Church and Wenola Church. For a picture of this family to include "Grandfather Church" click here

Leila Willson married, but no children

Statira "Statie" Willson was single and taught kindergarten in Port Huron, MI.

Mable Willson married Charles Ringler, a doctor. After Mable died, he remarried to her sister Ruth. Charles and Mable had one daughter: Helen Ringler

Margaret Jane Stinson who married Thomas William Street.

Stinson farm house.