"The funeral services were held at home and were conducted by Karl E. Anderson of Mt. Vernon. The attendance of neighbors and acquaintances was the largest gathering witnessed in many years. It was thought that there was not less than two hundred persons who followed the remains of the aged father to the earthlty resting place in the Campbell Cemetary."

The plot that Samuel purchased in the Campbell Cemetary for 50 cents was assigned to him and his heirs forever.

Samuel and Rachel's tenth child, George Washington Stambaugh, my great-grandfather, was born February 25, 1857 in Linn County, where he married Anibel Snyder and continued to work a farm. George and Anibel had five children: George, Ira (my grandfather), twins, Elva and Wilbert, and Sylva. Both Wilbert and Sylva were also the parents of twins. George Washington Stambaugh died on May 20 1941.

My grandfather, Ira Vernon Stambaugh, was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 11, 1894. Ira and his older brother, George, then went to Montana and took out government claims and worked for a lumber company.

In the fall of 1915, Violet Singrey came to Saco, Montana, where she taught school and boarded with the Callahan family. In the meantime, her brother, Paul Singrey, had gone into the transfer business with Ira. There were many town dances and celebrations, and Ira then began to court Violet in the true pioneer custom. One of the highlights of their courtship may have come from Ira's version of how he rescued Violet from the Indians. It seems there was a half-breed Indian named Pete who had taken quite an interest in Violet. He would come to her cabin saying he was looking for lost horses. Well, it didn't take long for Ira to figure out the "lost horse story," and so, as he later put it, he "rescued Violet from the Indians."

Ira and Violet, who was born February 14, 1897 in Argos, Indiana, were married on April 3, 1918 in Saco, Montana. Six weeks later, Ira went off to serve his country in France. He had purchased a transfer line by then, which was operated by Mr. Baum while Ira was in France for almost a year. Ira and Violet's first child, George Vernon, was born on February 5, 1919 in Saco, and was christened soon after Ira returned from France. Ira had only been home from the War for six weeks when he broke his ankle while working on the transfer line, but he didn't let that stop him for very long. Barbara Jean Stambaugh was born in Saco on August 30, 1921, and was christened by the same Scottish minister who had christened her older brother in the Saco Methodist Church.

Ira and Violet and their two children came to Huntington Park, California in the fall of 1922 and moved in with Violet's mother and grandmother. After another child was born, Paul David Stambaugh, my father, on March 27, 1925, they decided the house was getting a little too crowded, and they moved into a larger house in Huntington Park. Robert Alan Stambaugh was born on February 18, 1934, and was then followed by Richard Eugene Stambaugh on April 9, 1935. Ira had in the meantime gone to work for the Fuller Brush Company. He worked up from a field manager to a branch manager in four years, and the family moved to a larger house in Whittier.

George Vernon Stambaugh married Mildred Brown on December 29, 1944 in Selfridge Field, Michigan, while he was serving in the Air Force. Their first child, Donna Lynne, was born on November 18, 1945 in Montgomery, Alabama. Their second child, George Michael Stambaugh, was born in Huntington Park, California on January 16, 1947. George Vernon was killed in a T33 jet trainer plane accident at Newburgh, New York on February 26, 1954. Donna Lynne married Terence Chow in May, 1970, and she is currently living with her daughter, Mildred Dimple Mei Lin Lalani Chow, in Honolulu, Hawaii. George Michael Stambaugh, or Mike, is currently living with his wife, Lin, in Placerville, California, where he and a partner recently opened up a law practice.

On July 30, 1942, Barbara Jean Stambaugh married Norfleet Callicott, Jr. in Huntington Park. Their first child, Carolee Ann, was born November 21, 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri. John Webber Callicott was born April 27, 1947 in Whittier, California, and was followed by a sister, Linda Louise Callicott on November 9, 1948. Carolee married Dennis Robertson on June 18, 1966, and they have three children, Janelle, Todd and Mark. John married Julie Huggins on September 12, 1970, and they have a son, Jeffrey. Linda married John Mele on July 10, 1971.

Robert Alan Stambaugh married Nancy Nicholson on August 24, 1958 in Huntington Park, and they have three children, Robin, David and Michael. Robin was born January 9, 1962 in Whittier, California. David Alan was born November 9, 1964, also in Whittier, as was his brother, Michael Scott, born January 19, 1969.¹

On April 5, 1973, Richard Eugene Stambaugh married Lydia Karpov Ash in Whittier. Their first child, Lara Elizabeth Stambaugh, was born June 22, 1974 in Huntington Beach, California.²

My father, Paul David Stambaugh, married Luella Larson on May 19, 1951 in Yuma, Arizona, while he was in training at the Naval Cadet Academy in Pensecola, Florida. A son, David Weber Stambaugh, was born to them on December 11, 1952 in Lynwood, California. Their second child, Joan Elaine Stambaugh, was born in Whittier, California on March 25, 1955.

In my research of the Stambaugh family history, I have come across the name Stambaugh in several instances as place names. I was unable to obtain very much information in each instance, but I did find the information I acquired somewhat interesting, nonetheless.

The town of Stambaugh in Iron County, Michigan was named for John S. Stambaugh, who was president of the Todd, Stambaugh Company of Youngstown, Ohio. He acquired the Iron River Mine (later the Stambaugh Mine). The place was incorporated as a village in 1890 with Mr. Stambaugh as the first president.

Eva Stambaugh was able to obtain information from archives in Salt Lake City regarding a Jonathan Stambaugh and his family. He is buried in the Stambaugh Cemetary in Stambaugh, Kentucky. This town does not appear in Johnson County on a Kentucky map, so it may have disappeared or was absorbed by a larger town.³

After the Civil War ended in 1865, mining camps were established in the Wind River Valley in Wyoming. The mining industry helped to speed the settlement of the Wind River Valley, and the government decided to build a fort there, naming it Fort Augur, later known as Camp Brown. It was first situated where Lander now is. During the summer months Sioux and Arapahoe Indians raided the mining camps and murdered the people in wagon trains and freight wagons. The Second Cavalry was sent to man the post. On May 4, 1870, First Lieutenant Charles B. Stambaugh was shot from his horse by raiding Indians as he was helping defend a party of freighters. As a tribute to him the new fort was named Camp Stambaugh. Charles B. Stambaugh was the son of Samuel C. and Susan C. Stambaugh of Lancaster, Ohio. Samuel's father was a native of Pennsylvania.

Fort Stambaugh was established as a permanent post in August, 1870 and is situated in present-day Fremont County, but when built it was in Sweetwater County, Wyoming Territory. The altitude at the fort is 7714 feet.

Dr. S.A. Greenwell, acting assistant surgeon of the army at Fort Stambaugh, gave the following description of the old fort in his report to Washington in 1875:

"The post or camp is located upon a plain formed by a natural depression in the country, and which embraces nearly the whole extent of the reservation which extends a mile either way from the flagstaff.

"The boundary of the plain is formed by rough and broken country upon all sides with the exception of the northwest, where rise the Wind River mountains to the height of about 600 feet above the fort.

"The soil being alkaline is unproductive, even with irrigation, which has been practised for the purpose of making a company garden, without success.

"The only vegetation that flourishes here is the wild sage. Distant from the post about sixteen miles, in the sheltered valleys and along the streams grass of good quality may be found, and also vegetables such as potatoes, squashes, and cabbages are grown but they are frequently destroyed before reaching maturity by the appearance of snow and frost, which may occur in any month of the year.

"The climate is exceedingly dry during the summer, rain seldom falling. The atmosphere is dry and bracing. The fall of snow generally begins early and may be expected in any month of the year; but usually the winter commences about the first of October and continues until June, and is generally very severe, snow falling to a great depth, attended with violent winds and extreme cold. In the winter of 1871 the snow upon the parade grounds was twenty feet deep. The guard house and the adjutant's office were only accessible through tunnels which were cut through the snow. The coldest day observed was January 24, 1871. The mercury fell to 35 below zero."

A number of people who were later to become prominent in the Lander Valley, were active in the affairs of the fort. Dr. W.C. Stephenson, who became the first Indian Agent at Fort Washakie, was a well-known figure there. He married Hannah Gertrude Irwin at Fort Stambaugh and their first child, Helen Gertrude was born there, the first white child born at the fort. She later married George Baldwin, who was the first white child born in the Lander Valley.

In August, 1878, the fort was abandoned. The mines were beginning to close and many people were leaving the area. The Indians were not as hostile as they once had been and there seemed little further need for Fort Stambaugh. Little remains of the fort now.

J.O. Stambaugh is working on a relationship regarding a Winfield Scott Stambaugh, or sometimes called William Scott Stambaugh, who was the third marshal of Abilene, Kansas, following Wild Bill Hickock. According to the Abilene Daily Reflector, Winfield Scott Stambaugh came to Abilene in 1870 and practiced law in partnership with the late G.W. Hurd. He was one of the leading members of the Dickinson County bar and was prominent in politics of both state and county. In 1900 the family moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where they resided until 1911 when they returned to Abilene for three years before going to Florida to seek a warmer climate. His son, Linn Stambaugh, later became National Commander of the American Legion during World War II.

The 1955 Orange Bowl queen, Carolyn Straupe, is married to Dr. Reginald Stambaugh, descendant of Noa, oldest son of Samuel Stambaugh. He is an optometrist in Florida, and she is the mother of twins.

²  Also after this paper was written, Erik Alexander Stambaugh was born in Huntington Beach, California, on November 13, 1976 to Richard and Lydia Stambaugh.
Lara was married to Captare (Cap) Swafford in Reno, Nevada. Captare Swafford was born in Renton, Washington on December 20, 1972.
Cap and Lara's son, Kyle Captare Swafford was born in Yuma, Arizona, on September 11, 1995.
Tatiana (Tanya) Rose Swafford was born in Lakeview, Oregon on October 23, 1998.

³  Found in Rand McNally's computer software "Rand McNally Trip Maker", dated 1996 are three towns named Stambaugh: Stambaugh, Michigan; Stambaugh, Pennsylvania; Stambaugh, Kentucky.