Henry Stanley

     Henry Stanley was born circa 1829 at Mispec, Saint John Co, New Brunswick. He was the son of Solomon Dyer Stanley and Martha Bennett Daley. Henry Stanley married Margaret Jenkins on 10 November 1851 at St Andrew's Church, Saint John, Saint John Co, New Brunswick.¹ Henry Stanley married Eliza Ann Silliphant, daughter of John Silliphant and Alice Goss, on 28 December 1881 at Fredericton, York Co, New Brunswick.² Henry Stanley married Hannah Griffin, daughter of Solomon Griffin and Jane (?), on 15 August 1889 at Saint John, Saint John Co, New Brunswick; They were both widowed, and Hannah had previously been married to a Stanley. Henry was aged 60 and Hannah was 52.³ Henry Stanley died on 6 November 1889 at Mispec, Saint John Co, New Brunswick; "About Mispeck and vicinity considerable anxiety is felt over the strange disappearance of an old man named Henry Stanley. He left his home on Monday eve. last and has not since returned, nor has anything been heard from him. It is feared that he became demented and either perished in the water or wandered into the woods and there died of exposure."⁴
     He witnessed the marriage bond of Richard Stanley and Jane Silliphant in 1875.⁵ Henry Stanley and Eliza Ann Silliphant appeared on the census of 1881 at Saint John, Saint John Co, New Brunswick; Henry Stanley, 52, Eliza, 37, Joseph, 15, Caroline, 7, Eliza, 5, and Rebecca, 3. Henry was a fisherman. Along with Henry's children were hers by her earlier marriage: William Akerly, 17, George Ackerly, 15, Minard Ackerly, 13, John Ackerly, 11 and Cecilia, 9.⁶ According to great granddaughter, Marion Dunphy [letter dated 15 Sep 1994 to this writer, PWW], Henry went out into the fog one day at Mispec to bring in his cows and he was never seen again. Apparently, he had fallen off a cliff. His Will was probated in 1890.⁷