The John Mayfield - Mary Stanwix Legend

By Phil Norfleet

A legend has grown up among some members of the Mayfield family   concerning a Mary Stanwix, purported wife of a certain John Mayfield.  The legend asserts that she was the daughter of British Lieutenant General John Stanwix, after whom Fort Stanwix in Rome, New York is named.  I consider this legend to be completely false for reasons which will be delineated below. Indeed, there is no real evidence that Mary's maiden name was even Stanwix!

Published Versions of the John Mayfield - Mary Stanwix Legend

There have been many published versions of the Stanwix - Mayfield legend that have appeared over the last 85 years or so. I reproduce five of them below (my comments, if any, are contained within brackets):

1)  Johnson's History of Texas and Texans (1914)

One of the  biographical sketches (that of William David Mayfield at page 2494) contained in Volume V of  The History of Texas and Texans by   Colonel Frank W. Johnson and other authors (published 1914), contains an account of the Stanwix legend.  This is the earliest published account of which I am aware.   The account is as follows:

"WILLIAM DAVID MAYFIELD.  The Mayfields came to this country from Ireland and were among the early settlers.  John Mayfield married Rebecca Armitage in 1666. (New England Genealogy, Vol 5, 339.) For more than a hundred years they took part in defending the settlements against the Indians and the French.  John Stanwix, a British soldier, promoted from time to time until made Brigadier general, built two forts for defense.  One of these forts was completed in 1758 which was called Fort Stanwix in honor of his name.  John Mayfield and Samuel McJunkin, a Scotchman [sic], served as privates under General Stanwix at this fort.  John married Mary, the daughter of Gen. Stanwix and Samuel married Sarah Brogan, the daughter of another officer of the fort.  John and Samuel came south with their wives and settled in the northern portion of South Carolina.  Here thy lived and reared their children, aiding in defending against the Cherokee Indians, many of whom lived in what was then known as Cherokee Territory.  On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War they both took the side of the colonists and with their sons, old enough, went to war.  All of them were in the Battle of King's Mountain, North Carolina.  [Phil Norfleet's Comment:  I have intensively studied what little information that is available regarding the lists of men who fought at the Battle of King's Mountain and I have never found even a shred of evidence which would imply that any Mayfield participated in this battle.  The only information I could find, involving a Mayfield, was when a certain Micajah Mayfield, then living in northeastern Tennessee, hired a substitute to go on that campaign for him.  The name of the substitute was James Ownbey and, per his Revolutionary War pension application, (File Number W3712) he did participate in the battle as a member of the regiment commanded by Colonel John Sevier!]  John had attained the rank of captain, Samuel that of colonel, and Samuel's son Samuel that of captain.  John and Mary (Stanwix) were the parents of John, Abraham, Elijah, Isaac, Micajah, Jesse and Stephen.  From this source Texas has many descendants."

2)  Mary Mayfield Birge Letter (1922)

The following letter, written 11 October 1922, is one of the earliest published account, of which I am aware, concerning the purported Mayfield - Stanwix marriage. The letter was published in 1928, in a book entitled "The Millers of Millersburg" by John Bailey Nicklin, Jr., page 315:

"C.2.A. Station, Denton, Texas
"October 11 1922

"Mr. J. B. Nicklin, Jr., Chattanooga, Tennessee

"Dear Sir:

"I am sending you our line of the Mayfield family. it is mostly collected from data obtained from wills, deeds, and land grants.

"I have no copy of the book by Dr. Newton Mayfield.

"I should be glad to have Mr. Miller's line.

"When my daughter, Mrs. Mamie Birge Mayfield, was in the library at Washington, she found where Queen Elizabeth had been entertained at the old Mayfield manor in England.

"Did you ever read the book, "the Earl of Mayfield"?

"Very respectfully,

"(Mrs.) Mary Mayfield Birge

"The Mayfields came to America from Ireland. They were among the early settlers. John Mayfield married Rebecca Armitage in 1666 (New England Genealogy, Volume 5, 339).

"For more than a hundred years their descendants took part in defending "The Settlers" against French and Indians.

"John Stanwix, a British soldier, built forts for defense - one was completed in 1758 which was called Fort Stanwix, in honor of his name. (The Stars and Stripes were first raised in battle at Fort Stanwix.)

"John Mayfield married Mary Stanwix, General Stanwix's daughter, and moved to the northern portion of South Carolina. Defended against the Cherokee Indians; took part in the Revolutionary War, etc.

"John and Mary Stanwix Mayfield were the parents of John, Abraham, Elijah, Isaac, Micajah, Jesse and Stephen Mayfield.

"Jesse, son of John and Mary Mayfield, married Penelope Brumette, a French Huguenot, and settled on the Saluda River.

"Issue: Jesse, Pearson, William, Carter, Thomas, Brumett, Williams (named for General Williams of King's Mountain fame), Preshia, Hulda, and Elizabeth Mayfield. Most of them came to McMinn County, Tennessee, in 1870.

"Pearson is my great-grandfather. he is Charlie Mayfield's (of Cleveland) great-great-great-grandfather; he is Earle B. Mayfield's (of Texas, newly elected Democratic United States Senator) great-great-grandfather."

3) Edna Mayfield's Version (1939)

The following is an extract from "Tennessee Records of McMinn County Tombstone Inscriptions" (typescript dated 8 Feb 1940), Vol II, Part I, pages 49-50:

"Copied by: Lawrence McConkey, Englewood, Tennessee
"Date: April 5, 1939

"Information from Miss Edna Mayfield, R.F.D. No. 4, Athens, owner of the Mayfield Family Cemetery.

"The first available record of the Mayfield family in this country is of John Mayfield who married Rebecca Armitage in 1666. This record is in the New England Genealogy Vol. 5, page 339, in the Library at Washington D.C. The next record is of another John Mayfield, born in 1735. This leaves a gap of possible two generations, between the two John's.

"In 1758, John Mayfield married Mary Stanwix, daughter of General Stanwix at Fort Stanwix, after its completion by her father. Fort Stanwix, or Fort Schuyler was near the present City of Rome, New York. John Mayfield and wife Mary Stanwix moved to near the Saluda Rive, Greenville District, South Carolina.

"He served in the war of the Revolution for American Independence, as a private in Captain Jacob John Lansing's Company, 3rd Regiment of New York Levies, commanded by Col. Morris Graham. He enlisted Aug. 1st, 1780, for a term of three months and his name last appears on a company muster roll dated, Schenectady, October 26, 1780.

"The children of John and Mary Stanwix Mayfield were: -- John, Abraham, Elijah, Isaac, Micajah, Jesse and Stephen.

"The following is a history of Jesse, son of John and Mary Stanwix Mayfield. Jesse Mayfield was born in 1770 and married Penelope Brummett in 1788. He was of English descent and she was French. They migrated from Greenville District, South Carolina to McMinn County, Tenn., in 1820 and entered a boundary [sic] of rich land, one mile east of the present City of Athens. They brought slaves with them from South Carolina. There is a slave Cemetery on their old Homestead. The family homestead has been continuously owned by some member of the family since its entry. They purchased other land besides what they entered.

"The children of Jesse and Penelope Brummett Mayfield were: Pearson, Carter, Precia, William, Hilda, Thomas Brummett, Elizabeth, Jesse and William. History of each child follows:

"Pearson, son of Jesse and Penelope, was born June 4, 1789, and married Nancy McJunkin, daughter of Samuel McJunkin, ...

" ... Members of the Mayfield family, have from the beginning been Civic Leaders. U.S. Senator Earl Mayfield, of Texas, was a descendant of Jesse and Penelope Mayfield."

4) McMinn Historical Society Version (1997)

Further to the above, the following is an extract from the book "McMinn County Tennessee and It's People 1819-1997" (published 1997), page 290:

"Jesse Mayfield was the son of John Mayfield who was born in New York in 1735 and married to Mary Stanwix in 1758 at Fort Stanwix later known as Fort Schuyler, near Rome, N. Y. John served in the Revolutionary War in the 3rd regiment of New York levies. By 1790 he had moved to Greenville County, Ninety-Six District S. C. with his wife and family of seven sons.

"Jesse, the only member of the family who came to McMinn County was born in New York in 1770 and Married Penelope Brummett in 1788 in S. C. Jesse died in McMinn County intestate about September 29, 1833 leaving his wife who made a will on 12 February 1848 and it was proven in court 2 December 1850. ... " [source: McMinn County Historical Society]

5)  Senator S. G. Mayfield's Version of the Stanwix Legend

Certain notes of Senator S. G. Mayfield of Texas, written in the 1912-1942 time frame, were provided by email to the Mayfield List by Linda Smith in September 1998; they are shown below.  Warning!  These notes contain numerous errors and unsupported assertions!

"MAYFIELD and STANWIX, McJUNKINS and BLYTHE FAMILIES

"The Mayfields were of English-Scotch descent. The first family came from England to Virginia at an early date. We find that John Mayfield married Rebecca Armitage in 1660. Probably Owin Mayfield who was mayor of Cambridge England, 1672 was among the first to come to Virginia. George Mayfield, Esq. was a freeholder in Cambridge, March 29, 1722. Peter Mayfield's will was filed in NC in 1772. [Phil Norfleet's Comment: This date is wrong; Peter Mayfield's will, dated 13 June 1687, was probated on 6 October 1687.]   Tradition has it that all the Mayfields in America came from one family, and descendants radiated to the different parts of the United States. Many Mayfields took part in the Revolutionary War from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and other States.

"John Mayfield went to New York to take part in repelling the French and Indians.

"Col. John Stanwix was sent out from Philadelphia to take charge of the forces and during the war was sent up to Fort Schuyler, which is now Rome, NY. His defense of this fort which was besieged by great numbers of French and Indians for months was so gallant that the fort was afterwards named Fort Stanwix.

"Col. Stanwix with his wife and two daughters were in the fort. Among the troops was John Mayfield from Virginia and Samuel McJunkin who had come over from Tyron Ireland and located in Pennsylvania. These two young men took advantage of the conditions and their opportunities and married during the siege of the Fort. John married Mary Stanwix, daughter of Col. Stanwix and his wife and Samuel McJunkin married Sarah Bogan, the daughter of another officer.

"John Mayfield and Samuel McJunkin with others came south and the two war friends settled in Ninety-six District - McJunkin's portion being Union, Mayfield's being in what is now know as Spartanburg and Greenville. Both took part in the wars with the Indians.

"John Mayfield was promoted to Captain and made many gallant marches and fights against the Indians in what then was known as Cherokee Territory. He took the letters patent to land and Lt. John Stub #1765.

100 acres on Broad (looks like a 9Qt.??) page 164.
303 acres for military services 14th August 1792.
He bought large tracts of land on the Saluda and Tigers Rivers.

"John Mayfield during the Revolutionary War was know as Capt. John, (see Vol. 4, page 424, D.A.R. Reports.) He was a member of Peter Burns' Company, Sumter's Brigade.

"By his wife Mary Stanwix he left the following sons:

"(1) John Mayfield who married Mary Brandon, and who was a member of Van Swearengen's Company, Morgan's Rifle Regiment, Continental Troops. This son was wounded early in 1778 and died from the effects. His widow Mary bought of Thomas Brandon an additional tract of land adjoining the three hundred acres which her husband had bought Aug. 2nd, 1776. These lands lay on Brown's Creek. She with her four children received their proportionate part of the estate of John Mayfield.

"(2) The next oldest son was Abraham, who served in the Revolutionary War, and applied for a pension under the Act of June 7th, 1832. The application was rejected on the grounds of insufficient length of service. However the Stub book in the office at Columbia shows compensation to Abraham Mayfield for services. The other five sons were Elijah, Isaac, Micajah, Jesse and Stephen.

"Micajah Mayfield and wife Susannah owned land on the Middle Saluda.

"Jesse Mayfield (the great grandfather of S. C. Mayfield who was my grandfather) married Penelope Brummett and became the parents of William, Jesse, Carter, Thomas, Pershia, Hulda, Elizabeth, and Pearson Brummett b. 1789, posthumous child of Jesse and Penelope.

"Pearson Brummett Mayfield, the son of Jesse and grandfather of Senator S. G. Mayfield, married his cousin Nancy McJunkin, the oldest daughter of Samuel McJunkin, the son of Maj. Joe McJunkin, the son of Capt. Samuel McJunkin. Samuel McJunkin took letters patent to the following:

"Aug. 17th, 1786, 166 acres for military services, Ninety-six, now Greenville (See 12 Qt. 228). April 12, 1805, 86 Acres Greenville Co., 40 Qt 342. Sept 7, 1820, 100 acres Greenville Co, 46 Qt. 375.

"He bought:

"From Thomas Brommett, Book "G", p 262, 100 Acres; From William Carn, Book "P", 210; 95 acres from James Lower, book "H", 223; 175 acres from Benj. Harris, Book "M", 229; 60 acres from Thomas Duncan, Book "P", 295 16 acres inherited from the Brommett estate, besides the estate land of his father.

"Pearson Brummett Mayfield and his wife Nancy left the following sons: Samuel, who went to Texas; John, who died in Tennessee; William who died in South Carolina; Stanwix who died at Pea Ridge, Arkansas; James, who died near Sherman, Texas; Pearson Brummett, known as Judge Mayfield, who died at Cleveland, Tennessee.

"William Mayfield, son of Pearson Brummett and Nancy Mayfield, married Lillian Blythe, the daughter of David Blythe, son of William Blythe, son of Lt. Samuel Blythe, son of James Blythe. William and Lillian Mayfield were the parents of

"(1) Mary Melissa, who married William Birge;
(2) William David Mayfield who married Carrie Bond;
(3) Pearson K. Mayfield, who died unmarried;
(4) Stanwix Greenville Mayfield, who married Leda Kennerly;
(5) Absolam Blythe, d. y.;
(6) John Gowen Mayfield;
(7) George Rolls, who married Eula Burns;
(8) Adelia Caroline who married Martin; and
(9) Kate Talley who married Dr. Milton William Ponder.

"Nancy McJunkin Mayfield was the daughter of Samuel McJunkin, the son of Maj. Joseph McJunkin, who was the son of Capt. Samuel McJunkin. Samuel McJunkin came to Pennsylvania in 1741 and married Anne Bogan prior to going to the siege of Fort Schuyler. Joseph McJunkin, who was afterwards major, was born in 1755 and the siege of Fort Schuyler was in 1757. Samuel fought in the Indian Wars, 1761-2-3. He was a prisoner with Cornwallis at the Battle of Cowpens, having been wounded previously at the Battle of Kings Mountain. He held the position of magistrate under the Colonial Government, and was originally a captain, but on account of his age surrendered his position and Joseph succeeded his father. Samuel died at Union, SC in 1808. Joseph McJunkin was the executor of his will, filed Bundle 5 page 33. Samuel was also a member of the Legislature at Jacksonborough in 1782.

"Major Joseph McJunkin was not born in 1756 at the McJunkin homestead on Tinkers, Ninety-six District, now Union County, as stated by Judge O'Neal. (in the margin - b. 22 Jun 1755...???) He married the daughter of Col John Thomas and left twelve children. He succeeded his father as captain of the company, fought at Robuck's Defeat and was captain before Charleston fell, was at the Battle of Kings Mountain, The Cowpens, Eutowville, and it is said he bore a charmed life. Before the Battle of Blackstock Ford, he was a major. He died in 1846 at Union Court House. By his wife Ann Thomas he left twelve children, to wit: John Thomas, James B., David Waters, Davis Lewis, Amelia Sarah, who married O'Keiff of a Georgia Company; Jane who married Alexander; Abraham, Benjamin, Samuel, Joseph, William and another daughter.

"Captain Samuel McJunkin took patent to the following lands;

"Crown Patent 1762, 800 acres near Tinkers Creek, Ninety-six District, Vol 2 page 68.
507 acres, Tinkers Creek, Dec 4, 1786, 10 Qt.257
220 acres June 5th 1780
300 acres Oct 15th, 1784 on the Saluda.
400 acres Aug. 18, 1785, 4 Qt. 377.

"All references to lands are to the Secretary of State. Historic references are to Drapers Kings Mountain or to Howe's Presbyterian Church. References to administrations are to the respective counties Union, Spartanburg and Greenville, formerly parts of Ninety-six.

"David Blythe was in the War of 1812, at the siege to Georgetown and while there his cousin was in command of the British Man of War Boxer. … "

Life of Lieutenant-General John Stanwix per the Official Records

With assistance from Earle Mayfield and E. Clyde Mayfield, I have been able to find four (4) authoritative records concerning the life of General Stanwix. They are provided below, with my comments added in brackets, as follows:

1) From "Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle," Volume XXXVI, December 1766 Issue, page 599:

"Monday 22

"A confirmation was received of the loss of the EAGLE, Capt. Rogers, from Dublin, on board of which was General Stanwix, his lady, his only daughter, a near relation and four servants, who all perished. The General was strongly solicited to leave the ship, with his family, soon after the storm began, but peremptorily refused, though the ship was leaky."

2) From "Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle," Volume XXXVII, March 1767 Issue, pages 164-165:

"As no authentic intelligence has ever been received of the EAGLE, Capt. Sugars, since the 29th of October last, the day she proceeded on her voyage from Dublin to Holyhead, there is all reason in the world to believe that every soul on board must have perished in the sea. Among the number involved in this fatal catastrophe, was a family, considerable in point of rank and property, but much more respectable for the many excellent qualities by which every individual of it was so remarkably distinguished. With sorrow it is that I am obliged on this mournful occasion, to mention the names of General Stanwix, his lady, and daughter. The General, having passed the whole summer in reviewing the troops in Ireland, was returning to attend his service in the British parliament, and they therefore not unjustly may be said to have suffered in the double vocation of an officer and a representative. He died Lieutenant-General of his Majesty's forces. Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight, Colonel of the King's regiment of foot, and member of Parliament for Appleby. He was nephew and heir to Brigadier General Stanwix, who served with reputation in the wars of Queen Anne and his first commission was dated in 1706.

"The long peace that ensued after the treaty of Utrecht, rendered it extremely difficult for military gentlemen to rise in their profession. Accordingly at the commencement of the war with Spain in 1739, Mr. Stanwix was no more than an old captain of grenadiers. During the peace, however, he had applied with diligence to his duty, and had acquitted himself with uncommon applause in the character of an adjutant. In 1741 he was promoted to a majority of marines, and in 1745 to be Lieutenant-Colonel to a regiment which was raised by the Marquis of Granby, on account of the Rebellion. In 1749 he was appointed equerry to his Royal Highness Frederick, Prince of Wales; in 1752 he was advanced to the government of Carlisle, which city he then represented in parliament; and in 1754 he received the commission of deputy quartermaster-general of his Majesty's forces.

"Such was his situation at home, when, by the untoward aspect of our affairs in the plantations, by the defeat of General Braddock, and the alarming progress of the French, it became necessary to support the colonies with vigour, and for that purpose to send over large supplies of troops from hence, and to levy others on the spot. In that critical juncture, when an object of no less importance than the vast continent of North-America was at stake, Mr. Stanwix was among the foremost of those who voluntarily offered to engage in that new and hazardous service. In January 1756 he was constituted colonel commandant of the first battalion of the Royal American regiment; and his only son [Thomas], a youth of great hopes, was at the same time appointed a captain in that battalion. Not long after their arrival in America, this promising young gentleman was carried off by a violent fever, the consequence of the climate. Severe as this shock must have been to a tender and affectionate parent, Mr. Stanwix never lost sight of the duty he owed to his country, nor did he entertain a thought of returning to England, till such time as, by the glorious success of his Majesty's arms, and the almost total annihilation of the power of France on that continent, the British empire in America was established on the most firm and solid foundation.

"In 1754 Mr. Stanwix had the misfortune to lose his first truly excellent Lady. In 1763 he married his second, a daughter of Marmaduke Sowle, Esq; commissioner of appeals in the excise, and formerly field officer in the army; a man of singular worth and honour in every relation of life: Her mother, a Holmes of the Isle of Wight, had the satisfaction of feeling at once in her three brothers, a Lord, a General, and an Admiral. By this lady, whose very extraordinary qualifications it would indeed be difficult to enumerate, his domestic happiness was again completed; and though it did not please God to bless them with any children, yet was this consideration the less material, as the General still had remaining, out of the issue of his former marriage, an amiable and accomplished daughter, the joy of his heart, the delight of his old age.

"It might now have been hoped, that the General, after threescore years spent in the service of his king and country, should have lived, for some time, at least, to enjoy the sweets of public peace, and private felicity. There was the greater reason to expect a prolongation of his days, as notwithstanding his advanced age, he had all the life, spirit, and activity of a much younger man. With an easy constitution, and an upright carriage, his faculties were unimpaired; his understanding sound and vigorous, Providence; however, to whose insearchable ways it is our duty to submit with patience and resignation, thought fit to order it otherwise; and to embitter the last moments of his life with the dreadful circumstance of seeing all that was most dear and valuable to him involved in the same inextricable calamity."

3) From the British "Dictionary of National Biography" (published London: 1898), Volume LIV, pages 86-87:

"STANWIX, JOHN (1690?-1766), Lieutenant-General, born about 1690, was nephew and heir to Brigadier-General Thomas Stanwix. Thomas Stanwix was a captain in Colonel Tidcomb's foot in 1693, served in Flanders under Marlborough, and in Spain, and was appointed governor of Gibraltar on 13 Jan. 1711. He was Colonel of the 12th foot from 25 Aug. 1717 until his death; he was also governor of Kingston-upon-Hull, and sat in parliament as member for Carlisle from 1705 to 1715; for Newport, Isle of Wight, in 1721; and for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, in 1722; he died on 14 March 1724-5.

"The nephew, John, entered the army in 1706, became adjutant of his regiment, and captain of the grenadier company, and in January 1741 he was given a majority in one of the new marine regiments. On 4 Oct. 1745 he was made lieutenant-colonel of a regiment raised by Lord Granby on account of the Jacobite insurrection, and disbanded in 1746. In 1749 he was appointed equerry to the Prince of Wales, in 1752 governor of Carlisle (for which city he had been elected M.P. in December 1746), and in 1754 deputy quartermaster-general.

"At the beginning of 1756, in consequence of Braddock's defeat, the royal American regiment (62nd foot, afterwards 60th, and now the king's rifle corps) was raised, and Stanwix was made colonel-commandant of the 1st battalion from 1 Jan. and was sent to America. In 1757 he was employed in Pennsylvania. In January 1758 he was made brigadier, and was sent up the Hudson to Albany, and thence to Oneida portage, where he built Fort Stanwix. A plan of this fort is given in vol. iv. of the 'Documentary History of New York.' In 1759, while Wolfe was taking Quebec, Stanwix was guarding the Western border of Pennsylvania, and repairing Fort Duquesne, renamed Pittsburgh. He was promoted major-general on 25 June 1759.

"He returned to England in August 1760. On 19 Jan. 1761 he became lieutenant-general, and on 14 Dec. he was made colonel of the 49th foot, from which he was transferred on 11 April 1764 to the 8th foot. He was appointed governor of the Isle of Wight in May 1763. His first wife having died in 1754, Stanwix married, on 20 April 1763, a daughter of Marmaduke Sowle, commissioner of appeals in the excise in Dublin, but had no children by her. On 29 Oct. 1766, after making some military inspections in Ireland, he left Dublin for Holyhead with his wife and daughter. The vessel, the EAGLE, was leaky when she started, and was lost at sea. He was on his way to London to attend parliament, having been elected M. P. for Appleby on 8 April 1761.

"[Dalton's English Army Lists, iii. 195; Hist. Reg. 1725 (Chron. Diary), p. 13; Beatson's Political Index, ii. 212; Gent. Mag. 1767, p. 164; Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography; Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe; Wallace's Chronicle and Hist. of the 60th or King's Royal Rifle Corps.] E. M. L."

4) From "British Officers Serving in America 1754-1774" (published 1894), compiled by Worthington Chauncey Ford, we find the following information:

Stanwix, John - Col. Com't, 62nd Regiment, Date of Commission - 01 January 1756.

Stanwix, John - Maj. Gen., Date of Commission - 25 June 1759.

Stanwix, Thomas - Captain, 62nd Regiment, Date of Commission - 18 January 1756.

[COMMENT: The Captain Thomas Stanwix cited above is obviously the son of General John Stanwix, the same who died in America in 1756.]

Disproving the Legend

Based on the above extracts from authoritative sources, it is obvious that there is no way for John Mayfield to have married a daughter of John Stanwix. The General had only one daughter, who perished with him in October 1766. The General's only son (Thomas) had previously died, as a young man in 1756, undoubtedly without leaving any progeny.

I also consider it very doubtful that there was ever a marriage between a member of the Mayfield family and anyone with the Stanwix surname.  This name is very uncommon, even today.  I searched all of the published 1790 census records for all the states, including New York, and not even one Stanwix household was listed.  I also searched the 1997 United States telephone directories (via CD-ROM) for the Stanwix surname and only 62 entries were noted; this compares to almost 10,000 entries for the Mayfield surname.  I must repeat - the Stanwix surname is extremely rare in the United States.