STAFFORDS ARRIVE IN AMERICA IN 1620

This email that I received April 5, 2012, came from a schoolgirl chum of my Heathcote cousin Bonnie.
Evidently I met Bonnie's friend when I visited my mother during one summer break from college in Lake Forest, Illinois. 
It is so weird for me to learn that this friend of Bonnie's married a Stafford and she is now Connie Stafford.  (Hey, that's my gig!) She had some interesting news about my Stafford line.
Lynn and I may really be cousins (like we told fellow classmates in junior high school), but removed many generations.

Dear Connie Jean:


You probably won’t know me, as I only met you once in Santa Ana, CA, about 1955. I was a school friend of Bonnie. We attended Willard Jr. High and then Santa Ana High School together. During this time, I got to know your mother quite well. She was an interesting lady, and was so proud of you. Bonnie and I heard many wonderful stories about you.

Bonnie dropped out of school after her Sophomore year of High School and married Ron Collins. After I graduated from High School, I married Melvin Stafford. Mel and I moved to Nebraska after he mustered out of the Marine Corp. We did return to California, however, and lived in San Diego CA, for several years before returning to the Orange Co., L. A. Co. area. In the meantime Bonnie and Ron moved to North Carolina, after that I completely lost track of her.

Recently, I started a search using the information she told me about her family. I was delighted when I found she was living in The Dalles, Oregon. I now live in Washington and thought I could drive there and see her. My delight was short lived when I found she had passed away last year. I found your web site and was so surprised to see many of the photos of Bonnie and her family that she had shown me back in the 50’s. I really enjoyed learning a bit more about her life and children, thank you for putting the information on line.

Another reason I am writing to you is that my husband is related to your late father, same family tree, different branch. I remembered the picture of him that your mother always had sitting out in her living room. I always thought he looked much like the men in Mel’s family. After finding the information that you put on line, I was able to make the connection.

Your father’s family started with Thomas Stafford b. abt 1620 in Warwick, Eng. who married a lady named Elizabeth. Thomas arrived in Plymouth, Mass. a few years after the Mayflower. He moved to Newport, Rhode Island, and later to Warwick, RI and lived there the remainder of his life. The family stayed in the Rhode Island, Mass. area until after the American Rev. After the war of independence, they began to spread out. Mel’s family moved to Albany, New York, the next generation to Pennsylvania, the next generation to Nebraska. I knew a branch of the family had gone to Wisconsin, Minn. and South Dakota, but had never connected them to anyone I knew before now. I just wanted to share this with you.

Bonnie was a dear friend and I will always remember her as being an important part of my life.