The R. D. Clark Letter – Stout

The R. D. Clark Letter – Stout

This entry is part [part not set] of 4 in the series Clark Letter

The parents of Hannah (Stout) Clark, the wife of David Ward Clark, were: Anthony Stout and Sarah (Royal) Stout. They settled in Green Co. Penn. where their daughter
1 – Hannah was born Thursday, December 27, 1810.
They moved to Ohio and the other three children were born there.
2 – Thomas married Elizabeth Williams
3 – Mary ” John McKinsy[?]
4 – Matilda ” James Parish
Anthony Stout died in Middletown, Ohio when the children were small. Sarah Stout married Isaac Clark5 July 7, 1821 in Miami Co. Ohio. Isaac Clark was a son of David and Sarah Clark4, and he was an uncle of David Ward Clark6, the husband of Hannah Stout.

I do not know the names of Anthony Stout’s father nor mother, nor of any of his brothers nor sisters, if there were any.

My mother told me he was a small man and that he was a Penn. dutchman. The family may have come from N.J. to Penn. as there were many there by the same name.

The following notes were prepared by me and given, in part, to the Historical Society at Springfield, Illinois.

My father left many notes in regard to the Royal family, which together with what was related to me by my mother, have been very helpful.

I have also corresponded with many of the descendants of Thomas Royal in several different states, which has enabled me to give fuller details than those which I learned from my parents.

A short sketch of him and some of his descendants may be found in a work entitled “A History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, 1836.”

Among the many correspondents was the Rev. Stanly [sic] O. Royal to whom I wrote many years ago, and sent him what I then had of the Royal family which he copied, and to which he added a great deal that I did not have at that time and returned it to me.

He was a District Superintendent of the M.E. Church in Ohio and a grandson of Rev. William Royal who crossed the plains from Illinois to Oregon in 1853.

He had intended to publish a book for the benefit of the descendants of Thomas Royal but he died April 13, 1914 before he had completed it, and his widow wrote me some years ago that he had not gone far enough with the book so that they could go on with it and she doubted if any of the family would ever do so.

The following may be of some interest to the descendants of Thomas Royal who was a soldier in the American Revolution.

There are doubtless many hundreds of them now living in the west and northwestern states and probably many of them live in the southern and eastern states as well.

The church records in England show that the parents of Thomas Royal were Thomas and Sarah Royal (then spelled Royle). They also show that Thomas was baptized March 27, 1752, and that at a very early date the name was spelled Ryle but gradually the spelling was changed to Royle.

Sometime after Thomas came to America, he spelled his name as Royal. Thomas and Sarah Royle, the parents of Thomas Royal, lived in England about half a mile from Cheadle and two miles from Stockport, Cheshire, and five miles from Manchester.

Thomas Royal had a sister, Elizabeth, born 1750. His other brothers and sisters were probably John, Ann, James, Charles, Mary, Sarah and Joseph but I have no record that any of them ever came to America but they may have done so later.

The Sangamon County Illinois History states that Thomas Royal came to America with a comrade about his own age near the beginning of the war for independence.

They both volunteered in the army of the Colonists and his comrade at his side had his head blown completely off.

About the same time Mr. Royal was severely wounded by a charge of buckshot entering his ankle, some of which he carried to his grave. So far as I know, that statement is correct, but I do not know who his superior officers were nor from what colony he enlisted.
After the war Mr. Royal married Miss Hannah Cooper in Philadelphia.

The following is a copy of his marriage certificate, the original some years ago being in the possession of Rev. T. R. Royal of Portland, Oregon and some of his descendants no doubt still have it.
“Philadelphia June 29, 1782
“These are to certify that on the 29th day of June in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-two, Thomas Royle and Hannah Cooper are joined together in Holy Matrimony.
So witnesseth my hand,
John Kunse
Protestant Minister.”
[a rule appears here]

The above shows that Thomas Royal was first married in Philadelphia, but he settled in Virginia where the children by his first wife were born.

Thomas Royal’s son, Rev. William Royal, died in Salem, Oregon, September 29, 1870. I have his obituary which states that he was born in Monongahela County, West Virginia.

There is a Monongahela River and also a Monongahela city in that part of the country, but I find no record of any county by that name.

There is, however, a Monongalia County in West Virginia, which no doubt is the county in which William was born and where his father lived until he moved to Ohio.

My mother was born in Green County, Pennsylvania which adjoins Monongalia County in West Virginia, which was formerly a part of Virginia.

Her mother was Sarah (Royal) Stout, a daughter of Thomas Royal, and she might have settled near her parents, and may have gone to Ohio about the same time he did.

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