Same Name – Sams Sams
“Same Name” inspired this week’s entry for 52 Sams in 52 Weeks. Miss SSS: Sarah Stanyarne Sams (1840-1902) was BB Sams’ last and 15th child! She was born to BB and his second wife, Marth Edwards (1799-1857). By 1861 Sarah was 21 years old; both her parents were gone, and she had inherited their Beaufort home (shown below). She was widely considered “.. the richest girl in Beaufort and the belle of Beaufort.” But soon, the tidal wave known as the Civil War would arrive and sweep all the Sams away, Sarah to Johns Island. Her Beaufort home would become Federal Hospital No. 10 for colored Union troops, where we believe Harriet Tubman served as a nurse.
Stanyarne’s Owned Kiawah Island
Sarah’s middle name comes from her great-grandmother Elizabeth Stanyarne (born 1725 – death date unknown). Sarah’s great uncle John Stanyarne Jr. (1695-1772) bought Kiawah Island near Charleston in 1719. The family ran indigo plantations there and on Johns Island till indigo hit a slump as an export. Indigo from South Carolina was primarily sold to the British to dye Navy uniforms; they cut us off once the American Revolution started. After selling the island, John’s descendants shifted their efforts to Sea Island cotton on Johns Island, as did many others.
Sarah Weds John
Based on our genealogical records of the Sams family, it appears Sarah fled to Johns Island (or possibly Wadmalaw Island; records are inconsistent) near Charleston when the Union forces took over Beaufort in late 1861. John Hanahan Sams (1839-1924), one year her senior, had a plantation on Johns Island named Churchlands. While he served in the Civil War (3rd Cavalry Regiment), I don’t know precisely when he left for the war or how long he served. John was born and raised on Johns Island near Charleston. Sarah was born and raised in Beaufort. Since Sarah and John were cousins close in age, their families may have visited each other before she fled north. In any case, near the end of the war, in March 1865, Sarah married John. She was now Mrs. SSSS, Sarah Stanyarne Sams Sams.
1C1R
John H. Sams was the grandson of BB’s oldest brother John Sams (1769-1834) and Sarah’s first cousin once removed (i.e., 1C1R). Sarah’s father-in-law was her first cousin, though he was 40 years her senior. Trust me on all this; I can show you the family tree sometime! One more interesting fact about John H. Sams. He attended St. Timothy’s Military Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, until his parents died when he was a teenager. One of his classmates was John Wilkes Booth. You may have heard of him!
Florida Pioneers
Sarah and John had eight children. They continued to run Churchlands Plantation for a while, but it became unviable after the war. Based on their children’s birth dates and birth locations, they apparently stayed in the Charleston area until about 1875. Their last three children were born in Florida. The tiny 600-square-foot cabin they built in 1875 still stands; it’s the oldest structure in Brevard County, Florida. John Sams had success growing sugar cane, pineapple, and citrus. And he was the first school superintendent for Brevard County. (For more on the Sams of Florida, see Joe Roney’s presentation in Sources below.)
Sarah and John are buried next to each other in the cemetery at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Merritt Island, Florida.
One Way to Honor Family
Of the several thousand names in the Sams of Dataw family tree we maintain, about 300 have the last names of SAMS. Of these, we have about six different people named Miles Sams, 7 Elizabeth Sams, 7 Mary Sams, 7 Richard Sams, 8 John Sams, 9 James Sams, 10 Lewis Sams, 10 Sarah Sams, and 13 William Sams.
Sources
Florida Today, Jan 2015. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/life/style/2015/01/30/pioneer-day-looks-back-th-century-brevard/22601793/
St. Luke’s Cemetery – Founding Fathers, Family, and Friends, published by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Merritt Island, FL, December 21, 2016
The Sams of Florida by Joe Roney, Dataw Historic Foundation, June 2019.
Find-A-Grave, accessed February 7, 2020
Family Tree for Sams of Dataw, maintained by Bill Riski, accessed February 7, 2020.
#52Sams – Week 6 – Same Name