Stover Family
Early Stover Families of Obion County
Contributed by Robert & Kathy, <robkat (at) cddn.com>
Most of the Stover families who reside in the western part of Obion County descended from Valentine Stober (1692-1741) who was born in Staffort, Germany, a small village near Baden. Valentine along with his wife, Eva Bauer Stober, and their children, immigrated to America on 10 September 1737. Valentine’s eleven children scattered to many different states including Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and the Virginia’s.
One of Valentine’s great grandsons, Daniel Miller Stover(1781-1979) settled in Washington County, Indiana around 1820. By this time the spelling of the Stober name was changed to Stover. Daniel had married Mary (Polly) Frantz on 8 April 1806 in Botetourt County, Virginia. Daniel and Mary had nine children, Nancy, Mary, John, Daniel, William, Abraham, Susanna, Martin and Elizabeth.
The fifth child of Daniel and Mary Stover, William, married Frances Henley on 5 March 1835 in Washington County, Indiana. William and Frances (Fannie) lived a short period in Clark County, Indiana where they are listed in the 1840 census. On 1 February 1850, William and Frances sold their land in Clark County and they and their six children, Cynthia (1837-1897), Martha (1840-1880), William Henry (1841-1884), Martin V.( 1843-1902), George W. (b. 1844) and Morgan (1848-1899) settled in the 9th district of Obion County, Tennessee. Later two more children were born in Obion County. Francis (1850-1937) and Thomas J. born September 1854.
Two of the children of William and Frances married into the Huffstutter family who also settled in Obion County from Indiana. Cynthia married Adam Huffstutter(1828-1888), son of Lewis and Nancy Wilson Huffstutter, on 17 March 1859. Morgan married Deanna Huffstutter, daughter of John and Hannah Huffstutter, and after Deanna died Morgan married her sister Dulcenia (1854-1920) on 14 December, 1873.
Two of the children of William and Frances Stover married daughters of John (1817-1877) and Elvira (1820-1877) Mitchell who settled in Obion County from South Carolina around 1860. William Henry married Mary Jane Mitchell(1846-1928) on 23 December 1862. George W. married Adeline Mitchell (1851-1929) on 26 December, 1866.
William and Frances’ second daughter, Martha (Patsy), married John Wright(1829-1874), son of John P. and Rebecca Wright, on 16 June 1861.
Martin VanBuren, the fourth child of William and Frances, married Sarah Ann Barham (1834-1877) on 24 January 1869. After Sarah died, he married Josie P. Heskett on 16 January 1878.
Francis, the 7th child of William and Frances, married Margaret Cain on 4 January 1871. He later married Evie May Stanfield.
The youngest child of William and Frances, Thomas J., married Ann Webster on 11 April 1875.
Several of the children of William and Frances Stover, along with their children and allied families, are buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery which is located northeast of Elbridge, Tennessee.
Another Stover family, not related to this line, settled in Obion County between 1850 and 1860. Orville Henderson Stover (1826-1890) was born in Davidson County, Tennessee. Orville was the son of John D. and Kitty Garland Stover. He married Nancy A. Smith in Davidson County and they had six children, John B. born 1856, Nancy E. born 1858, Lucy Ann born 1860, Jacob D. born 1866, James W. born 1869 and Joanah born 1872. Orville’s wife Nancy died about 1872 and he later married Mary C. Fullerton in 1882. Orville and Mary Stover are buried in the Bell’s Chapel C. P. Church Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee. The Orville Stover family is listed in the 1860 and 1870 census of Obion County.
SOURCES:
- STOVER BRETHREN published by Richard R. Weber 2001
- Marriage records of Washington County, Indiana
- 1840 census records of Clark County, Indiana
- Land records of Clark County, Indiana
- 1850,1860,1870,1880, and 1900 census records of Obion County, Tennessee
- Marriage records of Obion County, Tennessee
- Dyer County Tennessee marriage records
- Cemetery records of Gibson County, Tennessee
I have recently come across the Will of Orville H Stover, which indicates that Nancy E Smith, his first wife, was still living at the time of its writing, 12 Nov 1890. I wondered if any further information has come to light on Nancy since this Stover Biography was written. The will can be found in Gibson County Will Books, either Vol G or H, 1862-1908, pg 117. Info at the top indicates Gibson County Court, Term, 1891.
Dear Robert and Kathy,
My name is John Stover, I am a descendant of George Washington Stover of Obion county Tennessee. I really enjoyed your article, it was very helpful to my own research. I saw that you cited in your bibliography a book called Stover Brethren by Richard R Weber. I was wondering if you knew where I could get a copy of that book these days? It seems to be out of print everywhere I look.
There are two copies of this book available on Amazon.
I am searching for information on a white Wilson family who may have owned slaves in Obion County. Armanda Wilson who was a slave and was born in 1830 and a gave birth to Robert Wilson in 1853. Robert married a Jennie O’Daniels on December 25, 1877 in Union City, Tennessee. These Wilson ex-slaves moved to Illinois in 1893. I would appreciate any information that you may provide. Thanks, Gary Butler