Welcome

Welcome to the Stearns Family genealogy website. The author of this website is David Brook Stearns, Jr. He is indebted to his grandfather, Perry J. Stearns, who began investigating our genealogy back in the late 1930’s. He did a remarkable job with the resources at hand. Most of his notes and letters remain. This website is currently under construction and has yet to include photos and documents. Please check back often for continuing updates.

The menu on the left should be intuitive, but to start one may search for specific last names, first names or both. The Surnames link will take you to a master list. You may first select a family and then a surname group. Click on the surname and that will display all persons with that surname. Selecting a single person will bring up their page. One may then look at ancestor and descendant charts and other accompanying documents.

The Stearns Family is comprised of several main branches. The primary line begins with Isaac Sternes who emigrated from England to Salem, Massachusetts in 1630 with the Winthrop Fleet. This group of Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He later made his home in Watertown, Massachusetts. According to Mrs. Avis Stearns Van Wagenen, Steams, Sternes, Sterns, Starns, etc., is undoubtedly a variation or corruption of the English spelling of the name Sterne. In Winthrop’s Journal it is also written Sterne. Stearns family descendants eventually migrated to Illinois where the author’s great-grandfather, Charles Edward Stearns married Ellen Rice and raised a family of 8 children. Ellen Rice was the daughter of Lester Rice and Adaline Going of Vermont. After Lester’s death, Adaline married William D.H. Johnson. The Johnson family remained close to members of the Stearns family and is presented here as another branch.

David’s paternal grandmother was Mae Belle Brook. The Brook family forms yet another important branch. The immigrant to this country was Robert Brook of North Lopham, Norfolk, England. His son, Jabez Jeffrey Brook, was the father of 5 children and was a successful miller in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

David’s maternal grandmother was Inez “Olive” Witherall. The Witherall’s were from Massachusetts and Vermont. The Knapp and Garnett families are part of this line. David’s maternal grandfather was Roland R. Martin. The Martin family originated in America with Nicholas Martin who immigrated in the mid 1800’s from Alsace, France.

David married Konnie Waters in 1987. Konnie’s maternal side has several prominent surnames including Davenport and Porter. Her paternal Waters side came from Utah and is connected with several Mormon family names such as Cloward and Bingham. David and Konnie also share common ancestors in the McSpadden family. David’s great-grandmother was Emma McSpadden of Minnesota and Konnie’s great-great-grandmother was Amelia McSpadden of Virginia. So far, we have not been able to connect these two families in America and are hoping that some day we will find the common ancestor, most likely in Ireland or Scotland.

Also included in this website is the family of Frances Limberg Stearns. Frances married David’s uncle, Perry O. Stearns. Her ancestor was Conrad Limberg who emigrated from Germany. Her paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Oosterhuis. On her mother’s side are the Anderson’s and Martin’s. Both these families were from Ohio and migrated west in the 1800’s. Connected with these ancestors are the Campbell, Minney and Bard families.