For those of you who were not aware of it, The Stoutenburgh-Teller Family Association publishes an annual newsletter for its members and has been doing so for some years now. In going back over these newsletters, I’m discovering that there are a number of articles worth sharing with the general public. These represent some great research and writing, most especially by Ila Stoutenburg-Malloy and Lanaii Kline. They are definitely something that should be part of this site, and I’m going to start with the following article by Lanaii for reasons that will become obvious upon reading it:
Fascinating Descendants
Printed August 15, 2003
STFA Annual Newsletter
by Lanaii Kline
Not all Stoutenburgh descendants carry the Stoutenburgh surname. Yet many of these people have some fascinating backgrounds.
For example, Amanda Cuyler Stoutenburgh married Joseph Capron Tiffany. Her son Charles Otis Tiffany, was a jeweler at Tiffany & Co. in New York City, but gave up that career for that of a landscape architect. Either way he worked with stones. Another son, Joseph Burr Tiffany, was a well-known interior decorator. If you want to see his work, visit Wilderstein in Rhinebeck, NY. He also custom designed piano cases for Steinway & Sons. These pianos are known as the Tiffany Steinways.
Maria Stoutenburgh and Richard DeCantillon’s grandson, Perry McDonough Collins was instrumental to the existence of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the building of the telegraph in British Columbia, and the purchase of Alaska. All this because he felt that it was easier to lay a transoceanic cable between Alaska and Russia than across the Atlantic. Although the Atlantic cable was laid before Collins finished his project, the Collins Overland Telegraph helped open the Pacific Northwest for industrial and agricultural settlement.
Judge John Howland Wood, Jr.
Maria’s grandsons had a streak of adventure in their genes, as another grandson, John Howland Wood went off to Texas in 1835 to fight for the Texas Republic. His son Tobias DeCantillon Wood, known as “Tobe,” was responsible for the introduction of meat processing in Texas in order to avoid the long cattle drives to Kansas. He also brought in Sussex cattle from Tennessee as a replacement for the less tender Texas longhorn.
And on a sadder note, John Howland Wood’s great, great grandson, John Howland Wood, was the first federal judge assassinated in the United States. He was shot in San Antonio, Texas by Charles Harrelson, Woody Harrelson’s father.
These are but a few of the Stoutenburg adventures. I want to thank members of the Stoutenburgh-Teller community for sharing stories about their ancestors. By 1850, you could find Stoutenburgs and Stoutenburg kin throughout the United States and Canada.
For example, Amanda Cuyler Stoutenburgh married Joseph Capron Tiffany. Her son Charles Otis Tiffany, was a jeweler at Tiffany & Co. in New York City, but gave up that career for that of a landscape architect. Either way he worked with stones. Another son, Joseph Burr Tiffany, was a well-known interior decorator. If you want to see his work, visit Wilderstein in Rhinebeck, NY. He also custom designed piano cases for Steinway & Sons. These pianos are known as the Tiffany Steinways.
