George Washington Stamper

GEORGE WASHINGTON STAMPER 2nd/James W. "John" Stamper 1st George Washington Stamper "G. W" was born June 4, 1821, Cherokee or Ashe County, North Carolina, son of James W. ( John Stamper) and Sarah Sallie Stamper. G. W.,a Democrat farmer, married October 24, 1844, Carter County, Kentucky, to Catherine Dyer. G.W. served as justice of te peace several years. 13 children were born to this union. G. W., 82, died at home December 6, 1908, Grassy Creek, Lewis County, Kentucky. G.W. is buried Stamper Cemetery, Emerson, Lewis County, Kentucky. Sources: Carter County, Kentucky marriages 1838-1875 & 1841-1852; 1850, 1960 & 1880 Lewis County, Kentucky Census (ages 39, 48 & 59) & monument

General Notes: Stamper Cem., Lewis Co, KY Farmer/Store Owner/Justic Lewis Co, KY George Stamper, age 28 KY, wife is Catharine 22, ch; Eliza be th 3, and William T? 2, all b. KY Lewis Co, KY; hh 1349-1349; George W. Stamper, age 38, wife is Katie 3 3, c h; Sarah E. 12, William F? T? 11, Geo W. 9, James M. 7, Andr ew J. 5, Phile na 4, Sylvanie 2, and Joshua? John? 4/12, all b. KY Lewis Co, KY; Laurel, hh 94-94; Geo W. Stamper, age 48, b. KY Lewis Co, KY; Laurel; hh 45-46; George Stamper, age 59, b. KY Lewis Co, KY George W. STamper, head, age 78, b. Jun 1821KY, md 4 yr s, wi fe is ARlena, age 64, b. 1836 KY, she has had 8 ch/6 livin g, no ch in th is hh from Carolyn Wilson Dyer: George was born June 04, 1821 in Swain C o. N C, a nd died June 17, 1908 in Lewis Co, Kentucky. He married Catheri ne Dy er Oc tober 24, 1844 in Carter County Kentucky, daughter of Franc is Dyer a nd Bet sy Logan. Other records show April 6, 1821 in Carter C o, KY The re were a lso a couple of days difference in George's death da te and marri age dat e. She also show's George's father, John 'Pewter Joh n' as son of R ichard a nd Martha 'Patsy' (Carter) Stamper. She does N OT list Catheri ne Dyer (Sta mper?) or H. Dyer as a children of George & C atherine. Also n ot list ed in the 1870 Lewis Co Census are children: Ma ry Alice, H. Dye r, or Parthenia. Perhaps these chi ldren are attribut ed to the wrong pare nts?

See Census records 1860-1870 Lewis Co, Kentucky (limited to Stamper/ Dy er C onnections). Stamper Cemetery, Lewis County Kentucky, and from pr ima ry re search of Carolyn Wilson Dyer, and her personal DYER family File .

Kay's note: Regarding the wives of George. It appeared to me (at fi rs t) th at Sally (surname unknown) would have had to be George's 2nd w if e. The lo gic being, (a) there is only 1 child with a birthdate (A mo s, b. 1880) which is 7 yea rs AFTER George & Catherine's last child w as b orn. (b) George was b. 182 1, md Catherine in 1844 (he was then a ge 23) w hich would seem unlikely (b ut not impossible) that he could ha ve had 5 ch ildren by a former wife. Aft er further analysis, the logic ge ts a litt le murky. The confusion I se e, is that Catherine did not d ie (accordi ng to the records at my disposa l) until 1895. Therefore, t he only oth er possibilities are that (a) Geor ge never had a wife named S ally and the se are not THIS George's children. (b) Sally was a concubi ne and they A RE this George's children. (c) Sally WAS the first wife a nd the birthda te of AMOS is wrong. (c) He may have left Catherine for Sal ly? Not likel y. George & Catheri ne are buried together. He, June 14, 1 908, and she A ug 10, 1895, Stamper C emetery, Emerson, Lewis Co, KY The re may be somethi ng else missing.

Posted by Sandi Gorin on Fri, 14 Aug 1998; contributed by Judy Brannon; HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes, Lewis Publishing Co, New York & Chicago, 1912. Common versio n, Vo l. II I, pp. 1318-19. Lewis County. GEORGE W. STAMPER. Vigor, enterprise and persistency--these are t he qu al ities which make for success and these are the characteristics w hi ch ha ve dominated the career of George W. Stamper, who through his o wn ef for ts built the ladder by which he has climbed to affluence. He h as be en iden tified with farming, blacksmithing, merchandising, lumberi ng and b anking a nd in each of these enterprises his success has be en on a pari ty with h is well directed endeavors. He has also been an imp ortant fact or in connec tion with public utilities and as a citizen hol ds a high pla ce in the conf idence and esteem of his fellow men. George W ashington Stam per was born on a farm in Lewis Co, Kentucky, on t he 26 th of December, 18 50, and he is a son of George W. and Catherine (D ye r) Stamper, the form er of whom was a native of NC and the latter of Mo rg an Co, Kentucky. Jo hn Stamper, grandfather of him whose name initiat es th is review, was bor n, reared and married in NC and in the early '2 0s he emi grated to Kentuck y, locating on the Kentucky river in Wolfe C o, where he e ngaged in farmin g. He and his wife, whose maiden name w as Sallie Stampe r, and who w as a cousin of her husband, raised a fami ly of ten children, m ost of wh om were born in Kentucky. The father of Ge orge W. Jr., was the fi rst bo rn and he was an infant at the time of h is parents' removal to the B lue G rass state. When he was fifteen yea rs of age the family home was est abli shed in Carter Co, and there he g rew to manhood, married, and in 18 45 e ngaged in agricultural pursui ts on a farm near Olive Hill, Lewis cou nt y. He was very industriou s, an excellent farmer and business man a nd in d ue time he accumulat ed a competency. About 1865 he opened a sto re on his farm, c ontinui ng to be identified with the general merchandi se business for the e nsui ng twenty-five years. His death occurred on h is old homestead in 1 90 5, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. He w as a stalwart Demo cr at in his political convictions and he served for sev eral years as jus ti ce of the peace. His wife was summoned to eternal re st in 1898, at t he a ge of sixty-eight years. She was a daughter of Franc is Dyer, of Morg an C o, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Stamper became t he parents of tw elve c hildren--five boys and seven girls, nine of whom a re living in 191 1, a nd of the number the subject of this review was the t hird in ord er of birt h. George Washington Stamper, Jr. passed his you th in a mann er simil ar to that of the farmer boy of that day, attendi ng the distri ct scho ol during the winter months and working on the ho me farm duri ng the summ er seasons. When he had attained to the age of si xteen yea rs he entered h is father's store, where he learned the detai ls of gener al merchandisi ng and he continued an inmate of the parental h ome unt il he had reached h is legal majority. Thereafter he worked in a b lacksm ith shop for a time a nd was engaged in farming on his own accou nt f or a couple of years, at t he expiration of which he started a gener al s tore on a small scale on Gr assy creek. This store, which he still owns and operates, has been doi ng bu si ness for the past thirty-five years. For thirty-three years Mr. S tamp er w as the able incumbent of the office of postmaster at Head of Gr as sy a nd he was one of the oldest postmasters, in point of continuous se rv ic e, in this section of the state. He also became interested in the s ta ve bu siness which located on Grassy creek, and he was for many years e ng ag ed in the stave business and in other enterprises most successfu ll y. In 18 88 he established his residence at Vanceburg and in the follo wi ng ye ar he organized the Stamper Stave & Lumber Company, which car ri ed on an ex tensive trade for nine years, at the expiration of whi ch th at firm was dis solved and Mr. Stamper continued in the lumber business in partnership with his brother, Joshua Stamper. Two yea rs la te r, in 1900, he became a member of the firm of Johnson & Stampe r, who a re s uccessors to the Elliott Tie Company, which conducts its ope rati on on t he Little Sandy river. The annual output of this concern is f rom t wo hundr ed thousand to five hundred thousand ties. In September, 18 89, M r. Stamp er laid the foundation of his present large mercantile esta blishm ent at Va nceburg by opening a general store in one room. This conc ern h as gro wn to such gigantic proportions that it now occupies space eq uivale nt to n ine ordinary store rooms, the stock consisting of everything found in a modern department store except h ar dw are. All Mr. Stamper's successes are due to his indefatigable ener gy a nd g reat business ability and it is no exaggeration to say th at he is o ne of t he greatest hustlers in the state. In addition to his o ther intere sts he o wns several fine farms in the Ohio valley and he h as extensive re al-esta te holdings in Vanceburg, where he has construct ed a number of res idenc es and the majority of the business block he n ow occupies. He was o ne of t he organizers of the Deposit Bank at Vancebu rg, of which he is pre side nt at the present time and in which he is o ne of the heaviest stockho lder s. At the time of the building of the loc al electric plant he was ele ct ed president of that corporation, of whi ch position he is still incumb en t. He is a man of tremendous vitality a nd most extraordinary executi ve cap acity. Beginning with practically not hing in the way of worldly go od s, he has grasped his opportunities as th ey appeared and made of succe ss n ot an accident but a logical result. To day he is recognized as o ne of the biggest financiers in eastern Kent uc ky and his fair and honorab le methods in all his business dealings ha ve ga ined to him the highest re gard of his fellow citizens. Mr. Stamp er is a lo yal Democrat in his polit ical proclivities, but he has not h ad much time f or political activity, h aving been a member of his first c onvention in 191 0, at which time his in fluence was felt in no slight deg ree. In the Mason ic order he has pass ed through the circle of the York R ite branch, holdi ng membership in Pol ar Star Lodge, No. 363, Free & Acce pted Masons; and Ma ysville Commander y, No. 10, Knights Templars. He a nd wife are devout membe rs of the Christ ian church, to whose chariti es and benevolences he has ever been a liber al contributor a nd in who se faith his children have been reared. In 18 72 was solemnized t he marri age of Mr. Stamper to Miss Sophia W. Staffor d, a native of Cart er coun ty and a daughter of Sylvester Stafford, a farm er who served in t he Uni on army in the Civil war and who died in servic e. Mr. and Mrs. Stamp er h ave eight children, namely--Rebecca, Cinda, Will iam J., James E., Co ra M ae, Julia, Bessie L. and Marie, all of whom we re born in Lewis coun ty a nd all of whom were afforded excellent education s.[James.FTW]

See 'History of Lewis Co, KY' by Ragan, pp. 437-440 for biography. Accor di ng to Ragan, GW owned a farm near Olive Hill ca 1845; info. on his fa mi ly provided by Mrs. Donald Danner, Vanceburg, KY; Mrs. Dorotha Kidwe ll Now el (grandaughter of Fairlena Stamper); Bruce Logan; Laura Noland; 1 880 F ed Census Lewis Co, KY; see 'General Index to Real Estate Conveyance s, Lew is Co, KY' for extensive real estate records for this family and so n, G.W ., Jr.

Noted events in his life were:

• Census: 1850.

• Census: 1860.

• Census: 1870.

• Census: 1880.

• Census: 1900.