Interesting Newspaper Articles of the Stepp-Stapp Family
Sometimes researchers must look for any useful information that will help to track down our ancestors...and we find information about those ancestors that shock and even make us laugh!  To view the individual articles, just click on the smaller image and a bigger one will appear. Since the files are saved in .jpeg format, internet explorer will automatically shrink them to fit the screen. To view the image in it's actual size, or to blow them up, just simply double click anywhere on the document and a small box will appear at the bottom right corner of the screen. Just click that box, and the document will change to it's original size.

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE, 24 Oct 1754

This is a recently found article from the Pennsylvania Gazette (on genealogy.com), that lists Capt. Thomas Stap. He is listed in the same paragraph as a German immigrant, Hermanus Heger receiving notice of his children coming to America, but I am sure that they are unrelated to the article about Captain Stap. Whoever transcribed these articles didn't do such a great job of separating each of them.

"Capt. Thomas Stapp; enquire of Philip Livingston at New York (24 Oct)"

I would assume that this Capt. Thomas Stap is the same man as the Nottoway Indian listed in Scalf's Stepp/Stapp Families of America. The Indian soldier listed in Scalf's book was a hero at the Battle of Fort Duquesne, Pennsylvania. You will notice that there is mention of Fort Duquesne in an article at the top of the page, so they probably were the same man.

But if it is him, then his commissioning to a "Captain" had to have been before the Battle of Fort Duquesne because this article (Oct 1754) was before the battle (July 1755) So what he did to become a Captain had to have been before the battle, probably he distinguished himself before in another battle, and we have not heard of it yet! Also you will notice that there is an interesting mention of "Major Washington" and we know this to be the Revolutionary War hero, and our first President, George Washington.

I would love to see the actual paper with this article to try and figure out why Captain Stap was supposed to enquire of Philip Livingston, or to even find out who this man was in relation to Capt Stap.
 

THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 8 July 1795

Article on John Stepp/Stapp Jr., son of John Stepp/Stapp Sr. and wife Martha of Campbell County, Virginia and later Greene County, Georgia.
 

THE MACON TELEGRAPH, 17 Nov 1838

Article on John Step/Stapp III and Solomon Step/Stapp, both sons of John Stepp/Stapp Jr. for the murder of Martin Fraley, Sr. of Hardin County, Tennessee. (It seems some of their rowdy behavior must have been inherited from their father, the same John Jr. listed in the newspaper article above!) The Step/Stapp brothers were later found innocent by trial and moved to Angelina County, Texas where they raised their families in peace.

THE DALLAS DAILY HERALD, 27 Feb 1875

"Another Old Texan Gone," Obituary of Darwin M. Stapp, son of Elijah Stapp, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

 

THE ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION, 10 Apr 1895

"Counterfeiters Caught," an old newspaper article which describes the events surrounding the capture of Sylvester Stepp, a "professional" counterfeiter. Apparently he was pretty good at his occupation!