The Stansfield family of Amsterdam, New York, is one of comparatively recent date there, but is an old and prominent one in Lancastershire, England, anciently residing at Stansfield Hall, Yorkshire. The Stansfields were an old county family with a coat-of-arms denoting antiquity and valuable service to the state. They held high official positions in Yorkshire, were magistrates, and one of the family was high sheriff. The Right Honorable James Stansfield was one of the important public men of the county.
(I) John Stansfield, son of the Stansfields Hall family of Yorkshire, was born in Lancastershire, England, where he died at age of sixty-six. He was a manufacturer of cotton goods, and for many years manager of the great print works of Grant Brothers at Ronda Bottom, Lancaster, England. He was a member, as were others of his family, of the Church of England. He married Alice Emmett, born in Lancaster, England, died at the.age of seventy-two. Her father and family were also manufacturers of cotton goods, a business they were engaged in from an early date. Children of record:
- Richard, a weaver, died in England.
- John, came to America in 1850, where for many years he was connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Jersey City, New Jersey; his widow survives him.
- Joseph, see forward.
- George, died young.
- James, died in England at the age of forty, leaving two children: J. George and Mary A.
- William, a manufacturer; died in England; children: Sarah E., Mary and George.
- Alice, unmarried.
(II) Joseph, son of John and Alice (Emmett) Stansfield, born January 22, 1842, died in Amsterdam, New York, April 12, 1903. He received a good education. He was a felt cloth manufacturer, and was at the head of a large and prosperous business which was totally destroyed by fire in 1881. Lack of insurance made the loss a total one. He started to retrieve his fortunes at once by engaging with C. J. Webb & Company, wool merchants,of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as their foreign buyer of wool. He prospered at this until the change in tariff laws occasioned by the passage by congress of the McKinley bill, which seriously interfered with their business and reduced profits to such an extent that Mr. Stansfield severed his connection and came to the United States in 1895. He located in Amsterdam, New York, and organized a company for the manufacture of the line of goods with which he had long experience, under the name of the "Consolidated Woolen Felt Mills." This enterprise met with success and has developed into one of the substantial industries of that city. The demand for their goods extends all over this country, and is met by a constantly employed force of workmen at the mills. His two sons were associated with him and since his death have had the management of the plant. He married, in Lancaster, England, Elizabeth Pilling, born there in 1849, died in Amsterdam, New York, March 9, 1905, daughter of a successful English farmer. She and her husband were members of the Episcopal church. Children, all born in England:
- Alice, married James Shephard, of Schenectady, New York; she survives him with a daughter, Beatrice, who resides in England.
- John, see forward.
- George, born 1867; was for eighteen years with the great wool house of C. J. Webb & Company, now of the wool firm of Jennings & Stansfield, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He married (first) Bertha Jennings, (second) Marcella Vails, of Norwich, Connecticut.
- Watson, born February 21, 1871; is connected with the Consolidated Woolen Felt Mills Company at Amsterdam, in charge of the office department. He married, in Liverpool, England, Gertrude Lewis. Children, all born in England: Olive, Evelyn, Mary and Gertrude.
- Joseph (2), born February 21, 1873; wool merchant of Liverpool, England; married Isabelle Peers, of Irish ancestry; children: Dorothy Elsie, Henry, Edward and Violet.
- Elizabeth, married William Sleeper, of Amsterdam, New York; sons: George and John E. Sleeper.
- Roland, of Amsterdam, New York; married Olive Thomas; had a son Roland L.
- Mary, married Albert Shuttleworth, of Amsterdam, New York.
- Nellie, married George, son of Hicks B. Waldron, former mayor of Amsterdam; has a daughter Bertha Elizabeth Waldron.
- Edward B., of Amsterdam.
(III) John (2), second child of Joseph and Elizabeth (Pilling) Stansfield, was born in Lancaster, England, August 9, 1865. He was early taught the business of felt manufacturing in the mills of his father. He entered the textile department of Yorkshire College for further knowledge of textile manufacturing, graduating with the class of 1884. In Amsterdam he was closely identified with the business established by his father, which he now continues. He is thoroughly versed in the details of felt manufacture, his long practice, experience and technical education enabling him to conduct his mills on a profitable and satisfactory basis. He is a member of the Episcopal church of Amsterdam, and of the Masonic fraternity. The voters of his family are all allied with the Republican party. He married, in Lancaster, England, Anna, born there, daughter of Joseph Holt, of the old English family De Holt, landed gentry. Joseph Holt married Sarah Ashwood, of old English stock. They reside in England. Children of John and Anna (Holt) Stansfield:
- Oliver Holt, born 1889, law student at the University of Pennsylvania;
- Eleanor B., born 1889, graduate of Amsterdam high school;
- Sarah E.;
- Edna.