Joseph Stansbury

Background

Joseph was born on January 9, 1742 in London, England, United Kingdom to Samuel and Sarah (Porter) Stansbury. His father was a mercer and haberdasher.

Education

Joseph was a pupil at St. Paul's School, not on the foundation, but in 1753 he was withdrawn and apprenticed to a trade.

Career

After he was apprenticed to a trade, he at once opened a china store and entered with instant sympathy into the cultivated social life of the city. When the Revolution impended, he sympathized with the colonists but opposed independence by writing songs about race kinship and race glory.

In 1776 he suffered a brief imprisonment for his loyalty, but during the British occupation of Philadelphia he was held in favor and appointed to several minor offices.

He was permitted to remain in the city until the end of 1780. Arrested then on the suspicion that he was carrying on a secret correspondence with the enemy, he sought and obtained permission to retire with his family within the British lines. The suspicions against him were well grounded; it was he who carried Benedict Arnold's first proposals to British headquarters and who, during the entire correspondence, was Arnold's go-between, as Jonathan Odell was Andre's.

His animosity ended with the war; he burned all his political poems he could find and tried to resume his old life in Philadelphia. Those he had satirized were not so tolerant; he was again imprisoned and forced to return to New York.

In August 1783 he sought refuge in Nova Scotia, whose cold wilderness he found uninviting. The next year he spent in England seeking compensation for his secret services but, because of the oath of allegiance and abjuration, did not succeed.

In 1786 he was permitted to resume his business in Philadelphia. However, not prospering as before, in 1793 he removed his family to New York. There he was for many years secretary of the United Insurance Company.

He died in New York.

Achievements

• For his secret services Joseph Stansbury received lodgings in New York, rations, and a stipend. Meanwhile he continued to write festive political songs and to satirize with playful humor the inconsistencies of the Whigs. As a writer of satirical verse, free from hatred or bitterness, he was without a rival among his brethren.

Works

More photos

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  • Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell: Relating to the American Revolution (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor ...)

  • The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell; Relating to the American Revolution

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Views

As his whole nature was opposed to war and violence, he steered a peaceful middle course, paid for substitutes in the Philadelphia militia, and even signed the oath of allegiance and abjuration.

Personality

He was intelligent and vivacious and, among other talents, possessed the ability to write and to sing songs.

Connections

On April 2, 1765, he married Sarah Ogier, a Huguenot, and, embarking in 1767 for America, they landed at Philadelphia on October 11.

Mother:

Sarah (Porter) Stansbury

Spouse:

Sarah Ogier

father:

Samuel Stansbury

References

• The Admission Registers of St. Paul's School From 1876 to 1905: Edited, With Biographical Notices (Classic Reprint)