Contribution by Dell C. Stout
A SPECIAL THANKS TO CORINNE STOUT, DELL'S WIFE.
This is the story of the fifth great-grandmother of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.
Penelope Stout
Compiled by Dell C. Stout
According to Samuel Smith’s History of New Jersey written in 1765, to a woman must go the credit of bringing most of the permanent white settlers to Middletown. Noted writer I.F. Watrous points out that Middletown was settled by the best blood of New England and the old world. It happened this way: New Amsterdam, later called New York, was in the possession of the Dutch. A ship from Holland in about 1642, bringing passengers to America, was shipwrecked off Sandy Hook. The company had intended to land at New Amsterdam, 100 miles to the North, but violent storms blew them off course. Among the passengers safely reaching shore was a young bride, Penelope Kent VanPrincis. Her husband was so badly injured that he was unable to flee overland to safety. Indian signs looked bad and the survivors knew they must move on very fast. Penelope paid no heed to the pleas of her fellow passengers that it was dangerous for a woman to stay and face the perils of falling into the hands of hostile Indians. They argued that he’d never survive anyway and she’d be killed if she remained. Ignoring all, this, she stayed behind.
Their fears were not unfounded. They had not been long in the place when a band of red men, probably of the Novesink Tribe, came upon her and her husband. First they slew the helpless man, and then left her so mangled from tomahawk wounds that they considered her dead. They were stripped of their clothes then abandoned. But Penelope was not killed. When she regained consciousness, she crawled into a nearby hollow tree, and there she stayed, depending for food chiefly upon the fungus excrescences and gum which grew outside of the tree. Penelope was not able to search for berries or other food, as her skull was fractured where they scalped her, her left shoulder was hacked, and she could never use one arm completely; she was also cut across the abdomen, so a part of her intestines were exposed which she kept in place with her hand across her stomach; she continued in this situation for several days.
One morning while dragging her wounded body along the ground in search of water, she saw a deer running by with two arrows in its side. Soon two tall Indians of the Lenni Lenape Tribe, (a part of the Delawares) appeared. Penelope prayed they would end her life and put her out of her extreme misery; the young one came towards her with his tomahawk raised; but the other, an elderly man, prevented him. They were much astonished at finding a white woman and marveled at her endurance and courage through unspeakable hardships. The older Indian wrapped his matchcoat about Penelope, placed her over his shoulder, and carried her to their camp, near what is now Middletown, NJ. There she was given food and drink, her wounds were sewn up with fishbone needles and vegetable fibre and she was dressed in Indian fashion. She stayed with the Indians; working, learning their Language and their ways for some time. Later, her fellow passengers, now safely in New Amsterdam, heard of a woman who had been rescued by Indians. Deciding it must be Penelope, they sent back for her, and located her. She was comfortable in her own wigwam with plenty to eat and drink, and good Indian clothes to wear.
A year or two later in New Amsterdam Penelope met and married an Englishman named Richard Stout. Richard, who was born in Nottinghamshire, had left England because of his father, who interfered with his love affairs, disapproving of a young woman his parents considered socially inferior. This drove Richard to engage on a British man—of—war ship for seven years, after which he received his discharge at New Amsterdam. According to known history, he was the first Stout to come to America, and was instrumental in settling Gravesend, Long Island, under the direction of Lady Deborah Moody. He was head officer of Gravesend. Penelope was now in her 22nd year, and he in his 40th. The year was 1644. Sometime later, she induced her husband to sail across the bay to the future site of Middletown and settle near those who saved her life. Many of Richard Stout’s friends thereupon visited the happy couple, and took up residence there also. This was a land that was frequented by deer, bobcats, wolves, black bear and a host of other animals, and a land of forestry, swamps and large streams.
Richard Stout built his home, made their furniture, cleared the land, built fences, plowed the fields, raised animals and grains for the family’s table, hunted game and fished for food. Penelope’s responsibility was feeding the family, making the family clothes, soap and candles; keeping the house, family and clothes clean, serving as the family doctor and nurse; taking care of the children, feeding the family and maintaining a fire for cooking and heat in the winter. Even in the hot summer months, a fire had to be kept, as there were not matches then. She also worked alongside her husband in clearing the land. The homes of that day were a log hut with one or two glass windows with 7 x 9 panes, four to a window. The chinks in the logs were stopped with mud. The chimneys generally smoked and let in rain and snow. About the only reading material was the scriptures, which Penelope taught to her family.
The old Indian who saved Penelope’s life, lived in an old Indian camp not far from her home. He, whom Penelope called her Indian father, came often to visit the Stouts and eat at their table. He became a close family friend. One day he came, but would not eat with them. Finally Penelope got him aside to see what was the matter. At the risk of his own life, he had come to warn her that his tribe was coming that night to destroy their homes and kill all the people. Mrs. Stout, now with two children, beseeched her friend to quiet the uprising, and assure the hostile Indians of the white man’s good intentions. This, he explained, he could not do, but showed her how to escape to New Amsterdam with her children, he having hid a canoe and paddles nearby for her use. Farmer Stout got the other men in the village of Middletown to send their wives and children with Penelope. Then he with the rest of the men awaited the approach of the Indians at midnight who were expecting to take the whites by surprise. The white men went boldly with guns and contended with them. So successfully did they defend themselves, that according to Frank R. Stockton in his “Stories of New Jersey,” A League of Peace was called, in which Stout and company agreed to buy the land on which they had built their town. An alliance was made of mutual protection and assistance. This compact was faithfully observed from that time on. According to Robert Van Benthuysen, curator of New Jersey, this compact included all of what is now the county of Monmouth, New Jersey’s largest county, and large parts of two other counties. The trade for the land required Stout and company giving the Indians 200 fathoms (each fathom is 6 feet) of sea swamp. One gun, five coats, two other items of wearing apparel, 12 pounds of tobacco and one anker of wine. (The deal was such a good one that it made the $24.00 paid for Manhattan Island an expensive land trade.)
Middletown grew and flourished, and among those who flourished most were the Stouts, so remarkable were they in their large families, many descendants of which still live in this old village. According to Morgan Edwards in his book, “A History of the Baptists,” written in 1792, there were more than half the inhabitants of the area of over 800, according to Baptist Church records, that were Stout names or those who had changed their name in marriage, because of the tradition of Large families among the Stouts. The first Baptist Church in New Jersey was established at the home of their son, Jonathan in 1688. It became the mother church of New Jersey.
Richard died in 1705 at the age of 100, Penelope lived to the old age of 110 years, a remarkable feat in itself, considering in the 1600’s, the average life span was 40 years of age. Merely to survive was an achievement. Penelope bore Richard seven sons and three daughters that lived to maturity. They each had Large families. There were also at least two children who died young. Before her death in 1732, Penelope saw her offspring multiply to 502 souls in the 88 years of her marriage to Richard Stout. According to Robert Benthuysen of Monmouth College, “New Jersey has given the nation two great heroines. Mary Hays McCauley, better known as ‘Molly Pitcher,’ She was the heroine of the Battle of Monmouth. She brought water to the thirsty troops on that hot June day in 1778 and later took over at the cannon when her husband was wounded. The other heroine is Penelope Stout, ‘she who was as good as dead’ and yet lived to save her community, pioneered the first settlement in East New Jersey, and raised a large posterity. She was a most extraordinary woman of the colonial period. A woman with an indomitable will to live, loyal to her first husband. It would have been very easy for her to have abandoned him on the beach at Sandy Hook. She was a staunch supporter of her second husband, Richard Stout. “The history of New Jersey, and I’ll interject, the nation,” Robert Benthuysen continued, “would not be complete without the Penelope Stout Story. If Penelope Stout were alive today, she would win the title, ‘Mother of the Year,’ hands down,” Robert wrote.
Their fears were not unfounded. They had not been long in the place when a band of red men, probably of the Novesink Tribe, came upon her and her husband. First they slew the helpless man, and then left her so mangled from tomahawk wounds that they considered her dead. They were stripped of their clothes then abandoned. But Penelope was not killed. When she regained consciousness, she crawled into a nearby hollow tree, and there she stayed, depending for food chiefly upon the fungus excrescences and gum which grew outside of the tree. Penelope was not able to search for berries or other food, as her skull was fractured where they scalped her, her left shoulder was hacked, and she could never use one arm completely; she was also cut across the abdomen, so a part of her intestines were exposed which she kept in place with her hand across her stomach; she continued in this situation for several days.
One morning while dragging her wounded body along the ground in search of water, she saw a deer running by with two arrows in its side. Soon two tall Indians of the Lenni Lenape Tribe, (a part of the Delawares) appeared. Penelope prayed they would end her life and put her out of her extreme misery; the young one came towards her with his tomahawk raised; but the other, an elderly man, prevented him. They were much astonished at finding a white woman and marveled at her endurance and courage through unspeakable hardships. The older Indian wrapped his matchcoat about Penelope, placed her over his shoulder, and carried her to their camp, near what is now Middletown, NJ. There she was given food and drink, her wounds were sewn up with fishbone needles and vegetable fibre and she was dressed in Indian fashion. She stayed with the Indians; working, learning their Language and their ways for some time. Later, her fellow passengers, now safely in New Amsterdam, heard of a woman who had been rescued by Indians. Deciding it must be Penelope, they sent back for her, and located her. She was comfortable in her own wigwam with plenty to eat and drink, and good Indian clothes to wear.
A year or two later in New Amsterdam Penelope met and married an Englishman named Richard Stout. Richard, who was born in Nottinghamshire, had left England because of his father, who interfered with his love affairs, disapproving of a young woman his parents considered socially inferior. This drove Richard to engage on a British man—of—war ship for seven years, after which he received his discharge at New Amsterdam. According to known history, he was the first Stout to come to America, and was instrumental in settling Gravesend, Long Island, under the direction of Lady Deborah Moody. He was head officer of Gravesend. Penelope was now in her 22nd year, and he in his 40th. The year was 1644. Sometime later, she induced her husband to sail across the bay to the future site of Middletown and settle near those who saved her life. Many of Richard Stout’s friends thereupon visited the happy couple, and took up residence there also. This was a land that was frequented by deer, bobcats, wolves, black bear and a host of other animals, and a land of forestry, swamps and large streams.
Richard Stout built his home, made their furniture, cleared the land, built fences, plowed the fields, raised animals and grains for the family’s table, hunted game and fished for food. Penelope’s responsibility was feeding the family, making the family clothes, soap and candles; keeping the house, family and clothes clean, serving as the family doctor and nurse; taking care of the children, feeding the family and maintaining a fire for cooking and heat in the winter. Even in the hot summer months, a fire had to be kept, as there were not matches then. She also worked alongside her husband in clearing the land. The homes of that day were a log hut with one or two glass windows with 7 x 9 panes, four to a window. The chinks in the logs were stopped with mud. The chimneys generally smoked and let in rain and snow. About the only reading material was the scriptures, which Penelope taught to her family.
The old Indian who saved Penelope’s life, lived in an old Indian camp not far from her home. He, whom Penelope called her Indian father, came often to visit the Stouts and eat at their table. He became a close family friend. One day he came, but would not eat with them. Finally Penelope got him aside to see what was the matter. At the risk of his own life, he had come to warn her that his tribe was coming that night to destroy their homes and kill all the people. Mrs. Stout, now with two children, beseeched her friend to quiet the uprising, and assure the hostile Indians of the white man’s good intentions. This, he explained, he could not do, but showed her how to escape to New Amsterdam with her children, he having hid a canoe and paddles nearby for her use. Farmer Stout got the other men in the village of Middletown to send their wives and children with Penelope. Then he with the rest of the men awaited the approach of the Indians at midnight who were expecting to take the whites by surprise. The white men went boldly with guns and contended with them. So successfully did they defend themselves, that according to Frank R. Stockton in his “Stories of New Jersey,” A League of Peace was called, in which Stout and company agreed to buy the land on which they had built their town. An alliance was made of mutual protection and assistance. This compact was faithfully observed from that time on. According to Robert Van Benthuysen, curator of New Jersey, this compact included all of what is now the county of Monmouth, New Jersey’s largest county, and large parts of two other counties. The trade for the land required Stout and company giving the Indians 200 fathoms (each fathom is 6 feet) of sea swamp. One gun, five coats, two other items of wearing apparel, 12 pounds of tobacco and one anker of wine. (The deal was such a good one that it made the $24.00 paid for Manhattan Island an expensive land trade.)
Middletown grew and flourished, and among those who flourished most were the Stouts, so remarkable were they in their large families, many descendants of which still live in this old village. According to Morgan Edwards in his book, “A History of the Baptists,” written in 1792, there were more than half the inhabitants of the area of over 800, according to Baptist Church records, that were Stout names or those who had changed their name in marriage, because of the tradition of Large families among the Stouts. The first Baptist Church in New Jersey was established at the home of their son, Jonathan in 1688. It became the mother church of New Jersey.
Richard died in 1705 at the age of 100, Penelope lived to the old age of 110 years, a remarkable feat in itself, considering in the 1600’s, the average life span was 40 years of age. Merely to survive was an achievement. Penelope bore Richard seven sons and three daughters that lived to maturity. They each had Large families. There were also at least two children who died young. Before her death in 1732, Penelope saw her offspring multiply to 502 souls in the 88 years of her marriage to Richard Stout. According to Robert Benthuysen of Monmouth College, “New Jersey has given the nation two great heroines. Mary Hays McCauley, better known as ‘Molly Pitcher,’ She was the heroine of the Battle of Monmouth. She brought water to the thirsty troops on that hot June day in 1778 and later took over at the cannon when her husband was wounded. The other heroine is Penelope Stout, ‘she who was as good as dead’ and yet lived to save her community, pioneered the first settlement in East New Jersey, and raised a large posterity. She was a most extraordinary woman of the colonial period. A woman with an indomitable will to live, loyal to her first husband. It would have been very easy for her to have abandoned him on the beach at Sandy Hook. She was a staunch supporter of her second husband, Richard Stout. “The history of New Jersey, and I’ll interject, the nation,” Robert Benthuysen continued, “would not be complete without the Penelope Stout Story. If Penelope Stout were alive today, she would win the title, ‘Mother of the Year,’ hands down,” Robert wrote.
New Jersey Stouts visited by Dell Stout
In June of 1979, after corresponding for several years with officers of the Stout family organization at Hopewell, New Jersey where a family reunion had been held each year for over 50 years, Boyd and I and our wives, Jonna and Corinne decided to attend. When they heard we were coming they asked Boyd and I to be the Guest speakers, and said, “We’d like you to speak on the subject, ‘The Stouts out west.’” On August 5th the four of us flew to Philadelphia, rented a car and drove to New Jersey. We sought out the town of Hopewell. If you know New Jersey, you’ll recognize that this isn’t easy to do, as there are hundreds of small towns all over and close together and the roads are very tricky with their jug—handle off ramps. Finally in confusion, we stopped at a service station and asked for directions to Hopewell. After telling us that we were about 45 miles away, and giving us directions, he said, “Are you here to attend the Stout reunion tomorrow?” “Yes”, we answered, “But how do you know about that. Are you a Stout?” “Oh, no,” he said, “But everyone in these parts know of the Stout reunion. We all know about Penelope Stout.”
The next morning, in the Baptist Church at Hopewell we met our cousins for the first time of what would be four visits to family reunions in the next six years. We were treated royally. After socializing with them and collecting histories, coats of arms, charts, etc. we moved upstairs for the business meeting where Boyd and I spoke. In my talk I said, “You asked me to talk on the ‘Stouts out West.’ Since all the Stouts out West I know are Mormons, I’ll have to tell you a little about the Mormon church.” I told them that my grandfather, Allen Joseph Stout, his brother Hosea and their sister Rebecca were three of a family of 12 children of Joseph and Anna Stout who had joined the Mormon Church in Nauvoo, Illinois. And that my grandfather Allen Joseph was a bodyguard to the prophet Joseph Smith, and that he had 17 children, my father Marion being his youngest child. I said that my father, Marion, had 16 children and that I was the youngest in his family, and that Corinne and I had 12 children. “So you see,” I told them, There are a lot of Mormon Stouts out west. In fact, we have the names of over 10,000 Mormon Stouts out west.’ Then I said, ‘Lest that scare you, knowing that there are 10,000 Mormon Stouts, let me tell you what a Mormon Stout believes and what he must do to enter a Mormon temple.” I told them of our Word of Wisdom, our moral codes, our church attendance, our law of tithing, etc. Then I presented them with our genealogical records I had brought from the Utah Stout Organization, and was able to tell them about the vast Mormon genealogical vaults in the granite hills above Salt Lake City.
Later that day we visited the old Baptist Church there in Hopewell. It was built in the 1700’s on land donated by John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The cemetery is right next door, and John Hart is buried there with a beautiful Large headstone. Many Stouts are buried there also. Previously to the building of that church building, church had been held in Jonathan Stout’s home about a mile outside of town. When they were planning this church, he offered them property to build it on, but they wanted it in town. This made him angry, and he vowed to never step inside the church, and that he would build a house bigger in every way than the church. Accordingly, he built a three story house with nine rooms. This house was later used by General George Washington as field headquarters during the Revolutionary War, and is now a memorial. Jonathan lived up to his word to never entering the church. But in the summer when the weather was pleasant he would come and sit on the front step and listen to the services. They would leave the door open for him to hear.
The 1980 reunion was held the next year across the state at Middletown, site of Richard and Penelope’s home. Corinne and I, and our new daughter Melissa attended. The reunion included a journey to Sandy Hook, to the dedication of a New Park, called the “Penelope Stout Park For Man.” It was on the beach where the ship wrecked that brought them to America. The spy house, famous in Revolutionary War history is part of the park and houses a museum. As part of the celebration, they commissioned the famous sculpture, Donald Delue, to make two large casts, one depicting the Indian with Penelope across his shoulder. The other was of the Indian and Richard loading Penelope and their two children in the canoe as they prepared to flee across the bay to avoid the massacre. From these two castings, brass and bronze medallions were made as collectors items.
Two years later, Marsha and Laron, two of my children attended with me. The following year, August 1984, my brother Elton went to the reunion with me. We flew to Philadelphia and drove a rent—a—car to Hopewell to the reunion. After the reunion we drove across state to the
Penelope Park and museum at Sandy Hook, and then went to the home where Penelope lived with her son at the time of her death. The state of New Jersey had placed a plaque on the home to commemorate it as a historical site. It belongs to a couple who purchased the home. We knocked on the door and explained who we were. They invited us in and showed us throughout the home with its 18-inch thick interior walls, its five fireplaces, one, in the living room is nine feet across in the opening. The back of it opens into a kitchen to keep it warm. This old house has 14 rooms and two staircases. There are eight distinct floor levels in the building. The floor, ceiling and roof joints are pinned, without a nail in them. There is a large barn out back with huge timbers that are all pinned. What a thrill it was for us to actually be in the very house where Penelope Lived.
Penelope’s descendants include Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of The United States; Rex Stout, famous author and inventor of the famous detective, Nero Wolfe; Zebulon Pike, famous American general and explorer who discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River and found and named Pikes Peak in 1806, enduring great perils and hardships in both; Capt. Henry Stout, famous officer in Texas, after whom is named a highway and a state park; Hosea Stout, chief of police of Nauvoo and first Attorney General of Utah; And Allen Joseph Stout, bodyguard to the prophet Joseph Smith.
I am proud to be a part of this great family. I consider my heritage to be as choice as any other I know of.
Dell C. Stout
60 North 100 East (51—3)
Hurricane, Utah, 84737
1990
Dell Crawford Stout, age 88, passed away peacefully at home on February 20, 2022.
To learn more about Dell, click here.
The next morning, in the Baptist Church at Hopewell we met our cousins for the first time of what would be four visits to family reunions in the next six years. We were treated royally. After socializing with them and collecting histories, coats of arms, charts, etc. we moved upstairs for the business meeting where Boyd and I spoke. In my talk I said, “You asked me to talk on the ‘Stouts out West.’ Since all the Stouts out West I know are Mormons, I’ll have to tell you a little about the Mormon church.” I told them that my grandfather, Allen Joseph Stout, his brother Hosea and their sister Rebecca were three of a family of 12 children of Joseph and Anna Stout who had joined the Mormon Church in Nauvoo, Illinois. And that my grandfather Allen Joseph was a bodyguard to the prophet Joseph Smith, and that he had 17 children, my father Marion being his youngest child. I said that my father, Marion, had 16 children and that I was the youngest in his family, and that Corinne and I had 12 children. “So you see,” I told them, There are a lot of Mormon Stouts out west. In fact, we have the names of over 10,000 Mormon Stouts out west.’ Then I said, ‘Lest that scare you, knowing that there are 10,000 Mormon Stouts, let me tell you what a Mormon Stout believes and what he must do to enter a Mormon temple.” I told them of our Word of Wisdom, our moral codes, our church attendance, our law of tithing, etc. Then I presented them with our genealogical records I had brought from the Utah Stout Organization, and was able to tell them about the vast Mormon genealogical vaults in the granite hills above Salt Lake City.
Later that day we visited the old Baptist Church there in Hopewell. It was built in the 1700’s on land donated by John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The cemetery is right next door, and John Hart is buried there with a beautiful Large headstone. Many Stouts are buried there also. Previously to the building of that church building, church had been held in Jonathan Stout’s home about a mile outside of town. When they were planning this church, he offered them property to build it on, but they wanted it in town. This made him angry, and he vowed to never step inside the church, and that he would build a house bigger in every way than the church. Accordingly, he built a three story house with nine rooms. This house was later used by General George Washington as field headquarters during the Revolutionary War, and is now a memorial. Jonathan lived up to his word to never entering the church. But in the summer when the weather was pleasant he would come and sit on the front step and listen to the services. They would leave the door open for him to hear.
The 1980 reunion was held the next year across the state at Middletown, site of Richard and Penelope’s home. Corinne and I, and our new daughter Melissa attended. The reunion included a journey to Sandy Hook, to the dedication of a New Park, called the “Penelope Stout Park For Man.” It was on the beach where the ship wrecked that brought them to America. The spy house, famous in Revolutionary War history is part of the park and houses a museum. As part of the celebration, they commissioned the famous sculpture, Donald Delue, to make two large casts, one depicting the Indian with Penelope across his shoulder. The other was of the Indian and Richard loading Penelope and their two children in the canoe as they prepared to flee across the bay to avoid the massacre. From these two castings, brass and bronze medallions were made as collectors items.
Two years later, Marsha and Laron, two of my children attended with me. The following year, August 1984, my brother Elton went to the reunion with me. We flew to Philadelphia and drove a rent—a—car to Hopewell to the reunion. After the reunion we drove across state to the
Penelope Park and museum at Sandy Hook, and then went to the home where Penelope lived with her son at the time of her death. The state of New Jersey had placed a plaque on the home to commemorate it as a historical site. It belongs to a couple who purchased the home. We knocked on the door and explained who we were. They invited us in and showed us throughout the home with its 18-inch thick interior walls, its five fireplaces, one, in the living room is nine feet across in the opening. The back of it opens into a kitchen to keep it warm. This old house has 14 rooms and two staircases. There are eight distinct floor levels in the building. The floor, ceiling and roof joints are pinned, without a nail in them. There is a large barn out back with huge timbers that are all pinned. What a thrill it was for us to actually be in the very house where Penelope Lived.
Penelope’s descendants include Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of The United States; Rex Stout, famous author and inventor of the famous detective, Nero Wolfe; Zebulon Pike, famous American general and explorer who discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River and found and named Pikes Peak in 1806, enduring great perils and hardships in both; Capt. Henry Stout, famous officer in Texas, after whom is named a highway and a state park; Hosea Stout, chief of police of Nauvoo and first Attorney General of Utah; And Allen Joseph Stout, bodyguard to the prophet Joseph Smith.
I am proud to be a part of this great family. I consider my heritage to be as choice as any other I know of.
Dell C. Stout
60 North 100 East (51—3)
Hurricane, Utah, 84737
1990
Dell Crawford Stout, age 88, passed away peacefully at home on February 20, 2022.
To learn more about Dell, click here.