The Stout Family

STOUT FAMILY
George D. & Ann Pickens Stout

THE STOUT FAMILY

By Lucile R. Stout

     Richard of England, First American Ancestor of the Stouts of Pleasants Co., came to America in 1643.
     He was the father of Johnathan, the famous pioneer of Hoepwell, New Jersey, who was the father of Benjamin. Ezekiel's parents were Benjamin and Hannah, daughter of Hezekiah Bonham, their Mayflower Line.
     Benjamin came to Harrison Co. after the Revolution with his parents Ezekiel and Sarah (Drake) Stout.
     Elias Lowther is the son of Benjamin Stout and Sarah, daughter of Samuel Wilkinson and Granddaughter of Joseph, a Revolutionary Soldier.
     George Dexter, Sr., son of Elias Stout and Martha, daughter of Samuel Hathorn and Ann Rockhold. George Dexter, Sr., the grandfather of the Stouts in Pleasants Co., married Ann Maria Pickens, daughter of Hugh L. Pickens, Jr. Her grandfather, Hugh L. Pickens, Sr., bought from Alexander Creel the tract of land that is now St. Marys and later sold it back to Mr. Creel. The descendants of this union still remaining in Pleasants Co. are Helena Ralston Henthorn; Marie Ralston Williams and George H. Ralston, whose mother was Mary (Stout) Ralston.
     George Dexter Stout, Jr. married Caroline J. Curtis, born on Middle Island, daughter of William N. B. Curtis and Mary E. Dye, daughter of William Dye and Lavina Cecil, daughter of John and Esther Cecil.
     The descendants of William N. B. Curtis still residing in Pleasants Co. are Ethel (Curtis) Pethel, his daughter, granddaughters Ruth (Curtis) Pickens, daughter of William Curtis; Helen Minnick and Ruth (Minnick) Gibbs, daughters of Ida (Curtis) Minnick.
     William N. B. Curtis, son of Hiram J. Curtis (confederate soldier) and Mary Ann Medley, daughter of William Medley and Eliza LaRue, daughter of Jacob.
     Hiram's father was John Curtis, born in Newtown, Conn. He came to Western Virginia in the early 1800's, there he married Eleanor Burch, daughter of Zephaniah.
     We have traced the direct Curtis line to 1520 in England. One of Caroline J. (Curtis) Stout's ancestor's was Gov. Thomas Welles of Conn.; through this line we have traced her family into the Royal Lines of England.


Mr. & Mrs. George D. Stout, II

     To the union of George D. Stout, Jr. and Caroline J. Curtis were born seven children, the three remaining are Elizabeth (Stout) Palm, who taught school in Pleasants Co. in her early years, and, after teaching 45 years, retired in 1977.
     Rhea Kathleen (Stout) Morford taught three years in this county and continues her painting career in Arlington County, Virginia where they both reside.
     Frank Curtis Stout served 20 years in the U. S. Navy, and now resides in Seattle, Wa., married to Lucile Brandt, their children: Curtis Lee; Mark Franklin; Pollie Elizabeth; Loren Joseph; Frank William and Brian Dexter.
     William Huff Stout, son of deceased brother William G. D. Stout, is a business man in Glenville, W. Va.
     George D. and Caroline J. Stout were loving, caring parents and are well remembered. The Stouts were Founders and members of First Baptist Church of New Jersey and St. Marys.

Note: Used with permission of the author. Originally published in "History of Pleasants Co., WV to 1980," by the Pleasants County Historical Society.