Researched by the authors of "The
Smart-Daaf Boys, The Inventors of Radio
and Television and the Life Style of
Nathan B. Stubblefield" 1992;
"Disappointment s Are Great - Follow The
Money...the Internet! The Inventors of
wireless webcasting" 2003; "DDiaries -
Nathan B. Stubblfield, The Neglected
Genius" 2004 -- Josie Cory-Stubblefield /
Troy Cory-Stubblefield.
FAMILY HISTORY OF THE STUBBLEFIELD,
BOWMAN & BUCHANAN FAMILY BY:
WILLIAM JEFFERSON STUBBLEFIELD (CAPT.
"BILLY"), War Diary, Autobiography and
Will, written in 1862-1873; NATHAN B.
STUBBLEFIELD (a brief history of
Stubblefield ancestry written by Nathan on
May 10, 1923); MRS. N. B. STUBBLEFIELD
(ADA, MAE BUCHANAN) of Murray, Kentucky
(Written by Ada Mae at Little Rock
Arkansas, 1936, two months before her
death on January 28, 1937 in Clarksdale,
Miss); Updates by VICTORIA STUBBLEFIELD,
furnished to her by her father, Nathan B.
Stubblefield in the year 1924, and further
updated and confirmed in the year 1964 in
Jackson Mississippi; Updated and confirmed
by Troy Cory-Stubblefield 1967-1992.
Updated and confirmed from original
archival documents by Josie Cory in the
years 1972-1992.
"Now tradition told me by the
Stubblefields of Washington D.C. say that
the wife of John Stubblefield was German
and also that the name Stubblefield was
Stubenfeldt (German) originally. According
to Nathan B. Stubblefield there is a great
number of Stubblefields at Funk's grove
and McLainsborough, Illinois. Also there
is a great number of Stubblefields in all
the states supposed to be offsprings of
the Three Puritan fathers, John, William
and Edward. " N.B.S. May 10, 1923.
Nathan was a stickler when it came to
recording and stated,
"Pin this away in your Bible, or Record
it in there, for your Children."--
N.B.S. May 10, 1923
Captain
Billy Stubblefield Capt.
"Billy's" Forfathers Originally Came From
Germany To England
Then To America
1766 - Three
Stubblefield Brothers emigrated to America
from Westover Chapel
England
John Stubblefield
William Stubblefield
Edward Stubblefield
---
Son of William Stubblefield was
---
Richard Robert Stubblefield
(wife was a Coleman), settled in North
Carolina
---
Son of Edward Stubblefield
was ---
John Robert Stubblefield,
settled in Virginia and wrote a book "The
Memoirs
02
Beverly B.
Stubblefield, was the son of
Richard Robert Stubblefield of North
Carolina; and father of Capt.
"Billy".---
Capt. Billy's
Father
was Beverly Stubblefield
who
Married Rebecca Wilson of North
Carolina
In 1935, they moved from North
Carolina to Kentucky, and settled in
Concord. Had 2 sons, William Jefferson
Stubblefield and Alfonso A. Stubblefield,
and 2 daughters.
CHILDREN
OF BEVERLY AND REBECCA
STUBBLEFIELD:
William Stubblefield (Captain Billy), a
lawyer
Alfonso Stubblefield, a lawyer
Lean, (married Jim Shelley)
Eliza Ann (married A. Bruce)
1830 -
Born: William Jefferson Stubblefield
(Capt. Billy) 1830-1874
Son of Beverly B.
Stubblefield and Rebecca
Wilson.
Capt. Billy was born
August 4th 1830, in Reckoning County, N.C.
Remained there until 1835 when family
moved to Calloway County, Kentucky and
settled in Concord.
First
Wife:Victoria
Bowman. Her
father (first name unknown) was raised in
Delaware and his wife, born a Williams was
raised in
Philadelphia.
---
They had four
children (boys). Victoria Bowman died in
1869, at age 32 of Scarlet Fever. Buried
in Bowman cemetery founded by her
father.
Bowman
Family TimeLine SONS
OF CAPT. BILLY AND VICTORIA
BOWMAN:
Walter W. Stubblefield (married Virgie
Hale, had 4 children; Terrel, Harry,
Alfred (died at age 14), and Nat)
Nathan Beverly (was 14 years old when his
father died) (married Ada Mae
Buchanan)
James Franklin Stubblefield (married Ella
Marks of Seattle Washington, one Son
Howard Stubblefield )
William Victor Stubblefield. Born 1865,
died in 1892, at the age of 27.
Second
Wife: Clarissa
(Clara Jones) Stubblefield, (married Capt.
Billy in 1873
---
One daughter,
Alene, born Jan. 7. 1875, (6 mos after
death of Capt. Billy)
ABOUT
CAPT. BILLY
---
He was a
Confederate soldier, a lawyer and
landowner, an educator and one of the
founders of the Murray Male and Female
Institute, Teleph-on-delgreen, later to
become Murray State University. Capt.
Billy willed a considerable large estate
to his four sons, Walter, Nathan Beverly,
James Franklin and William Victor. 1850 -
1851 - Worked at his Father's saw
mill.
1854 - Attended law school in Louisville,
Ky.
1855 - Law License Feb. 2.
1855 - Practiced in Benton -1856
1856 - Formed law partnership with A. P.
Thompson. 1860
- Nathan Beverly Stubblefield, Born: Nov.
27, in Murray, Ky.
1861 - Capt. Billy entered Confederate
Army for one year, Oct. 10th, 1961 to Oct.
5th 1862.
1861 - Civil War diary Oct. 1861 - Sept.
1862.
1862 - Returned to Murray Civil War
frontline -- Oct. 5.
1869 - Died: Victoria Francis Stubblefield
(born Bowman), first wife of Capt.
Billy.
1871 - The Male and Female Institute
purchased by William Jefferson
Stubblefield (Nathan's father).
1873 - Marriage: Capt. Billy to Clara
(Clarissa) Jones.
1874
- DIES of pneumonia.
1875 - Capt. Billy's and Clarissa's
daughter, Alene, born Jan. 7. (6 mos after
death of father)
Son of William
Jefferson Stubblefield (Capt. Billy)
1830-1874 and Victoria Bowman. Victoria
died at age 32 of Scarlet Fever. Nathan is
buried near his father and mother in the
Bowman cemetery founded by her father. CHILDREN
OF NATHAN B. STUBBLEFIELD AND ADA
MAE: 1883
Frederic (died 6 mos old 1884)
1885 Carrie F. / No Children
1887 Bernard Bowman
-- Nickname: Bernie
/ No Children
1890 Pattie Lee / No Children
1892 Victoria Edison / No Children
1895 Nathan Franklin / No Children 1897
Oliver J. -- Nickname: RayJack
Father
of / Keith (Troy)
Stubblefield.
1901 Helen Joe / No Children
1905 William Tesla (died 17 mos old
1906)
GRANDCHILDREN
OF NATHAN B. STUBBLEFIELD AND ADA
MAE: Only
Oliver J. Stubblefield and Priscilla
Alden: Married:
Sept 22, 1921, Wichita, Kansas, had
Children, They are:
TROY CORY-STUBBLEFIELD FAMILY
HISTORY OF THE BUCHANAN FAMILY
BY MRS. N. B. STUBBLEFIELD (ADA MAE
BUCHANAN), written at Little Rock
Arkansas, 1936, two months before her
death on January 28, 1937 in Clarksdale,
Miss.
1991 - TRANSCRIBED BY: Josie
Cory-Stubblefield from the original notes
of Ada Mae Buchanan.
According to Victory Stubblefield, her
mother Ada Mae Buchanan, was the
great-grandniece of President James
Buchanan.
JAMES BUCHANAN AND ELIZABETH
SPEER
1783 - emigrated from County
Donegal, Ireland. They had 10
children.
1791 - Born: James Buchanan, 15th
President of the United States, on April
23, the second of 11 children; died in
1868. Many people remember mainly two
things about him: that he was the only
president who never married; and that the
Civil War followed his administration.
---
Buchanan was born on April 23,
1791, in a log cabin near the frontier
settlement of Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. His
father, a Scotch-Irish immigrant, had come
to America in 1783.
---
President James Buchanan, had 10
brothers and sisters. Ada Mae's
grandfather James Buchanan of
Pennsylvania, was a descendant of one of
the children of the brothers of President
James Buchanan.
CHILDREN OF JAMES BUCHANAN AND
BETTIE ROWLET (grandfather and
grandmother of Ada Mae) They had 2
daughters.
---
Charley Buchanan, married a
McKinney; had child Mat, Joel and Jennie
---
(granddaughter, Jennie married a
Ragon and lived in Louisville, Kentucky)
---
William Buchanan, moved to
Kentucky
---
John Buchanan, lived in
Virginia
---
Joseph Buchanan, lived in
Pennsylvania and moved to Kentucky
CHILDREN OF THE JONES's
(grandfather and grandmother of Ada
Mae)
-----
Ada Mae's grandfather Jones married
a widow, Wadlington in Mississippi. She
had one child Fred Wadlington who was a
half brother of my mother. She died and he
married the widow. She had three such
children, George, Molley and Casy , and
they had 5 children:
---
Lee Jones, (married Ed
Settle)
---
Laura Jones, (married Jeff
Crossland)
---
Addie Jones, (married Jack
Jonson)
---
Minnie Jones, (married Jeff
Wyath)
---
Charley Jones,
CHILDREN OF JOSEPH ROWLET BUCHANAN
AND ELIZABETH JONES
---
Joseph Buchanan was born and raised
in Virginia Halifax, Pennsylvania and came
to Kentucky when a young man and married
Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Harden Jones
who was raised near Hopkinsville, Ky. My
mother's own sisters were Georgia, brother
was Stanley, who was killed in the
Revolutionary War of 1860. Georgia married
a Gray. There were five of us.
---
Ada Buchanan, great-grandniece of
President Buchanan (married Nathan B.
Stubblefield)
---
Stanley Buchanan (never
married)
---
Milton Buchanan (married Hattie
Harrison)
---
Harden Buchanan (married Lou
Frazier)
---
Sallie Buchanan (married Frank
Kimbrough)
---
The Buchanan were of English
descent. The Stubblefields are of English
descent too, but some of the older ones
married Germans. Tradition says two
Stubblefield brothers came over from
England and that all of the Stubblefields
came from them. Stubblefield is a German
name and was formerly called Stubenfield.
There are lots of Jonses in Hopkinsville
and Kadiz that are related to my mother
but I don't know but a few of them as the
older ones are all dead.
---
By Bernard Stubblefield: Ada
Mae Stubblefield is buried in the
MacHendry Church yard burial ground, near
Mayfield, Kentucky besides her father and
mother as her last request.
---
My father Nathan B. Stubblefield is
buried in the Bowman Graveyard North of
Murray, Kentucky within 10' of the S.W.
corner of the small iron inclosure
occupied by my grandfather, Billie
Stubblefield (Capt. Billy).
1881 - Marriage:
Ada, Nathan Dec. 29. Nathan was 21 yrs
1892 - First Public Wireless Demonstration
in Murray
1883 - Born: Frederic Stubblefield, Oct.
1. Died April 9, 1984. (6 months old)
1884 - Died: Frederic, April 9.
1885 - Wireless Telephone Demonstration -
200 yards from house. (Witness: Duncan
Holt)
1885 - Born: Carrie F. Stubblefield, April
21. Died November 26, 1885 (7 months
old)
1886 - Nathan at age 26, wrote a poem
describing the travails of one who would
choose a life of scientific invention.
"The Inventor and the Crank".
1887 - Born: Bernard (Bernie) Bowman
Stubblefield, August 30. Died Oct. 4, 1973
(86 yrs)
1890 - Nathan B. Stubblefield landed on
the farm. Means to provide for his family
and to finance experimental work.
1890 - Born: Pattie Lee, March 21. Died
June 24, 1967 (77 yrs).
1892 - First Public Wireless Atmospheric
Telephone Demonstration in Murray.
1892 - Born: Victoria Edison Stubblefield
Nov. 11. Died June 24, 1967 (75 yrs).
1892 - Died: William Victor, brother of
N.B. Stubblefield, at age 27.
1895 - Born: Nathan Franklin Stubblefield,
May 28. Died February 10, 1970 (75
yrs). 1897
- Born: Oliver J. (RayJack) Stubblefield,
December 27. Died June 6, 1962 (65
yrs).
1901 - Born: Helen J. Stubblefield,
September 12. Died March 21, 1989 (88
yrs).
1902 - Radio Demonstration Washington on
March 20, on Potomac River, Steamer
Bartholdi.
1902 - Public Radio Demonstration January
1, Townsquare in Murray.
1902 - Reporter meets Nathan for private
demonstration, on January 10.
1902 - Wireless telephone demonstration in
Philadelphia, on May 30.
1902 - Wireless telephone demonstration in
New York, took place between June 11 -
July 11, at Manhattan's Battery Parks.
1905 - Born: William Tesla Stubblefield,
May 7. Died October 14, 1906 (17 months
old).
1906 - Died: William Tesla Stubblefield,
Oct. 14.
1907 - Nathan B. Stubblefield Wireless
telephone Enterprise formed with the "Big
Six" 1907
- Teleph-on-delgreen Industrial School
estab. on Sept. 4. Change from Nathan
Stubblefield Industrial School
1907 - Trip to Washington Jan. 14 - April
20, 1907.
1907 - Wireless Telephone Patent
Application Filed, April 5. Serial No.
366,544 - Room 109.
1907 - Con Linn and Nathan in Washington
to secure original patent May 1. Returned
to Murray June 8. 1907
- Patent Letter, October 16. Patent filed
4/5/07 examined and ALLOWED. (Patent to
expire May 12,
1925). 1908
- Patent Expires: Thomas A. Edison's
Antenna - 1891 Wireless Telegraphy
Patent.
1910 0624 - Congress approved "Act
to require apparatus and operators for
radio communication on certain ocean
steamers" An act approved July 23,
1912.
1911 - N. B. Stubblefield arrives in
Washington, DC with Miss Pattie on May 18,
1911. Nathan meets with Gen. George
Squier, prior to Squier's plans to turn
over certain patent rights to the People
of the United States. In exchange for
certain transfers, Nathan agrees to accept
Squier's offer for the patent to the
aircraft and wireless radio system.
See
1912 - Flying Machine Patent, May 15.
(Filed Jan. 19) GRANTED Dec.
10.
1911 - 0101 -GEORGE O. SQUIER -
PATENTS - (Patents Expire 1928) - All of
his discoveries and inventions -- some
shared with Stubblefield, worth millions
-- were patented in the name of the people
of the United States on January 1,
1911.
1911 - COLLINS INDICTED - December
1911. Four officers of the Continental Co.
excepting Walter Massie were indicted for
using the mails to defraud in selling
worthless stock.
1911 - CONN LINN - RESIGNS FROM THE
KENTUCKY SENATE, and leaves Murray
Kentucky, for Oklahoma. DeForest's RADIO
TELEPHONE COMPANY - BANKRUPT IN 1911, when
it expired owing to DeForest's inability
to raise further funds.
1911 - DeForest's RADIO TELEPHONE
COMPANY - BANKRUPT IN 1911, when it
expired owing to DeForest's inability to
raise further funds.
1911 - GEORGE O. SQUIER, PATENTS -
(Patent Expire 1928) - All of his
discoveries and inventions -- some shared
with Stubblefield, worth millions -- were
patented in the name of the people of the
Untied States on January 1,
1911.
1911 05 -United Wireless Trial -
May 17, 1911 - Bogart pleads
guilty.
1911 0723 -United Wireless
-Bankrupt. On July 23, 1911, United
Wireless was adjudicated bankrupt in the
Courts of Maine, and on September 15,
1911, Trustees in Bankruptcy were
appointed.
1912 03 - A Warrant Was Served
DeForest For His Arrest In March, 1912 -
on a federal indictment charging him with
use of the mails to defraud in connection
with sales of stock in the most recent
four of his radio telephone companies.
1912 0325 - United Wireless Co. -
In March, 1912, United Wireless Pleaded No
contest - and was taken over by the
British Marconi Co. for the payment of
$700,000. The company was immediately sold
to American Marconi.
1912 0813 - "Act to regulate state by
state radio communication" (Public 264)(S.
6412); approved Aug. 13, 1912. 1912
1210 - PATENT: Stubblefield Flying
Machines U.S. Patent, #1046895, December
10, 1912; Click to Go To US Patent Office
-- then Click Full Text to refresh page.
Letters Patent granted Stubblefield for 17
years from December 10, 1912 (expired Dec.
10, 1929).
1912 - Patent Application for Flying
Machine filed Jan. 19 in the name of son
Bernard. 1912
- Dissolution of Teleph-on-delgreen.
Public Notice, May
6. 1912
- Flying Machine Patent ALLOWED, May 15.
(Filed Jan. 19) GRANTED Dec.
10.
1913 - Nathan Lawsuit against
children.
1913 - Warranty Deed to Bernard
Stubblefield, Aug. 8. for Lot 220 &
221, Central Ave., Murray.
1913 - Retainer of Atty. A. D. Thompson by
Bernard, in Case N. B. Stubblefield vs. B.
B. Stubblefield, Victoria Stubblefield,
Pattie L. Stubblefield.
1913 - Rainey T. Wells on Oct. 29.
appointed attorney for Nathan B.
Stubblefield in pending case. 85 acre
tract of land, Nathan wants $3,430.00 and
1 acre of the land from the children.
1913 - Nathan B. Stubblefield as a writer,
defines crow's feet as follows: "Those
picturesque, lovely, time made dimply,
furrowy, marks of venerableness, that
carry the sadness of life away from the
sunny slopes of childhood's lustrous
innocencies.
1914 - Marconi's 1897 Wireless Telegraphy
Patent Expires.
1915 - Patent Expires: for Stubblefield's
Electrolyte Battery and Radio Voice
Detector and Transmitter.
1917 - Ada May leaves Nathan on Jan. 5.
Helen marries and moves to Tennessee.
1917 - Nathan's Will to Victoria on May 14
(handwritten original).
1919 - Nathan's Letter Re: Journal, on May
23 (Handwritten original).
1921
- Oliver J. Stubblefield and Priscilla
Alden: Married: Sept 22nd, Wichita,
Kansas. First child born, December 25,
1923. Jacqueline, Natalie Ada Mae, Keith
(Troy). 1923
- First Grandchild born: Jacqueline, then
Natalie Olive Mae, then Keith (Troy). 1926 -
Rainey T. Wells became president o Murray
State college.
1928 - Nathan B Stubblefield Died March
28, buried March 31 Bowman Cemetery.
1930 - March 28. Murray State honored
Nathan B Stubblefield with Headstone where
the Wireless Telephone was invented and
demonstrated. Rainey T. Wells headed the
ceremony.
1937 - Died: Ada Mae Stubblefield, Jan.
29, at Clarksdale, Miss.
1939 - Died: Walter Stubblefield, brother
of N.B. Stubblefield.
1957
- Keith Stubblefield takes show-biz name
of Troy Cory prior
to signing pending recording, movie
contracts. Signed with Specialty Records,
(1957) - Mercury Records (1960), Cinema
Prize (1968). BBC (1971) (VRA
1972-present). Sonny Bono, Nat Goodman,
Bob Sherman, Dick Sherman, Bob Roberts,
Art Rupe, Sylvester Levy, Muff Merfin, and
Ambros Seelos were Troy Cory's
producers.
1962 - Died: June 6. Oliver Stubblefield,
son of Nathan B. Stubblefield and father
of Troy
Cory-Stubblefield,
was sometimes referred by his close
friends and two wives, Priscilla and Elma
as "RayJack" or just plaint "Jack". Oliver
was living with son Troy at the time of
his death. Troy Cory-Stubblefield and
first wife Dorothy
Karen took
remains of his father, a veteran of World
War I and II, to Jackson, Miss. to attend
burial.
1963 - Died: Pattie Lee Stubblefield,
daughter of N. B Stubblefield.
1967 - Died: Victory Edison Stubblefield,
daughter of N. B Stubblefield. Nephew Troy
Cory-Stubblefield, flies to Jackson, Miss.
to attend burial and inherits trunk with
many archival documents of inventor
grandfather, Nathan B. Stubblefield.
1973 - Died: Bernard B. Stubblefield, son
of Nathan B. Stubblefield. Bernard, called
"Bernie" by his close friends, wills trunk
with diaries, inventions, archival
documents and personal papers to his
nephew, Troy
Cory-Stubblefield,
who with second wife Josie, travel to
Jackson, Miss. for burial.
Troy
opens Trunk, containing archival documents
for first time on local CBS tv station in
Jackson, Miss.
1989 - Died: March 21, Helen Stubblefield,
daughter of N. B. Stubblefield.
Troy
Cory- Stubblefield
flew back to Oklahoma with his mother
Priscilla Alden Stubblefield to attend
funeral. Aunt Helen willed trunk with
archival documents and personal papers to
her nephew Troy.
Rainey
T. Wells Kentucky
"Big Six" 1902 NATHAN
STUBBLEFIELD AND HIS KENTUCKY "BIG SIX"
WIRELESS PATENT HOLDERS
All of Murray, Kentucky
Senator Conn Linn
B. F. Schroader
R. Downs
J. D. Roulett
Geo. C. McLarin
John P. McElrath
[Samuel E. Bynum]
Rainey T. Wells
3.
Editor's
Note
/ NATHAN
B. STUBBLEFIELD -- (1860-1928)
Wireless Telephony -- AM radio Firewire
-
1892 -- 1902 All-in-One Radio Patent --
1908 Nine
Years Before Smart-Daaf Boys Marconi and
Deforest
mastered sending Dit Dahs around the
family home in Italy, and DeForest
finished his studies at Yale, Nathan
Stubblefield was the patent holder and
owner of his own mechanical telephone,
telephone company and telephone system. By
1892, Nathan's vibrating phone could
transmit voice without wires from grounded
electromagnetic wave energy, then through
the atmosphere to a companion receiver. It
was the 17-year-old Rainey T. Wells (b.
Dec. 25, 1875, d. June 15, 1958) who
attentively heard his first words over a
wireless telephone in 1892, at
Teléph-on-délgreen, now
Murray State University.
Fifteen
years later, Rainey, now a judge in the
Kentucky Calloway Court system, opened his
1907 Christmas Day birthday toast with the
truism that most legal scholars quote on
the first day in law school, to keep a
step or two ahead of the freshman. "De
minimis non curat lex" ("The law does not
concern itself with trifles").
-----By 1898,
Nathan's portable telephone could transmit
voice as far as one mile through the
atmosphere &endash; by means of his newly
patented firewire, "electrolytic coil
aerial" and a special loop antenna
connected to his transmitter.
-----But
So What!
Shortly
after receiving his earth electrolytic
battery patent, (1898) -- Nathan
commenced selling franchises to various
investors, to help finance and market his
wireless demonstrations held in
Philadelphia, New York and Washington,
D.C., in 1902. He used the orchards around
his Teléph-on-délgreen
Industrial School, and the lawn
surrounding of the Court house in Murray
to display different uses for his
telephone and wireless system. *(See
Footnote.) * .
-----By
leaving a remote wireless receiver on
overnight, sitting in the barn, the unit
operated as a wireless microphone and
listening surveillance system. The
electricity being emitted from the earth
was an unlimited free flowing
uni-directional stream of electricity,
which never switched off and did not
diminish with the time of day or length of
use. These little coils had the ability to
convert an electric current into
alternating radio-frequency waves when
passing through a field of action created
by the human voice. *(See
Footnote, John Hopi.)
-----These
series of pulses which varied in strength,
(amplitude) &endash; could then be
transmitted through the atmosphere by a
coil aerial placed near the field of
action, to one or more companion wireless
systems. One unit was designed with output
sockets to connect to the local Murray
telephone exchange for wired online
broadcasting. (See
Chapter 05, "The Phony Craze" -- for more
details.)
