STOUT, the origin of this family in America is quite romantic. The principal points in their history may be found in Benedict's History of the Baptists. Some of his statements are based on the writings of an earlier historian. The following embraces all that is known in the subject:

Some time during the seventeenth century, probably about 1680 or '90, a young couple just married in Holland, embarked on a vessel bound for America. The voyage was prosperous until they were nearing the port of New Amsterdam, now the city of New York. The vessel was wrecked off what is now the coast of New Jersey, and nearly all on board drowned. The young couple of Hollanders, escaped drowning and with a small number of the passengers and crew succeeded in reaching the shore. Upon landing they were attached by Indians, who lay in ambush awaiting their arrival The whole party were tomahawked, scalped and otherwise mutilated, and left for dead. All were dead except the wife, from Holland. She alone survived, and although her scalp was removed and she was otherwise horribly mangled, she had sufficient remaining strength to crawl away from the scene of the slaughter, and secreted herself in a hollow log which was concealed by underbrush. She lay there a day or two, during which time her mental and bodily suffering may be imagined but cannot be described. She finally made up her mind that there was no possibility of her escaping with life; that if she remained quiet she would certainly die of hunger and thirst, and if she attempted to seek sustenance, that would expose her to the Indians, who would be sure to kill her. At this juncture, a deer, with an arrow sticking in its body, ran past where she was. This led her to believe that Indians were near, and she reasoned that it would be a much easier death to let them kill her, than to endure the pangs of starvation by remaining where she was. She then summoned all her remaining strength and dragged her body out to an open space that the Indians might see her should they pursue the deer. In a short time three of the savages appeared on its trail. Two of them rushed upon her with uplifted tomahawks, but the third one, a chief, restrained them and saved her life. It was not humanity, but gain that prompted him to this act of mercy. He took his prisoner to New Amsterdam and there received a ransom for her. That placed her in the hands of friends who gave her the proper surgical treatment and nursing as she recovered. The name of her husband is not known, neither is her own family name, nothing but her first or given name, Penelope; a name that has stood for more than twenty-five centuries, in tradition and literature, as the highest ideal of a true and loyal wife. It will readily be understood that I allude to one of the creations of Homer, the father of Greek poetry. A brief statement of the case, gleaned form his works will not be out of place here.

When the Greeks declared war against Troy, in consequence of the abduction of Helen, the wife of Menclaus, a Greek chieftain, it was found that one of their number, Ulysses, although a soldier by profession, and a farmer in time of peace, manifested great reluctance to leaving his young and beautiful wife, Penelope, and their infant son, Telemachus, for the purpose of engaging in the war. He feigned insanity by sowing salt instead of wheat. As a test of his sanity, Nestor, whom all respected for his wisdom and probity, proposed that the infant son of Ulysses should be laid in the furrow in front of the oxen with which he was plowing. The devise was successful, and caused him to throw off the disguise by saving his child. It was expected that the war would be brief, but it was extended to a long series of years, and of those who finally returned, Ulysses was the last, after twenty years's absence. Meanwhile, he was supposed to be dead, and many suitors for the hand of Penelope, pressed their claims, and a simple "No" from her was not taken for an answer. The very thought of marrying again, especially while the fate of her husband was in doubt, was peculiarly revolting to her and she announced her intention of choosing a husband among the suitors, when she had completed weaving the shroud of her father-in-law. Her ardent suitors waited with all the patience they could command until it was discovered that she undid at night what she had woven through the day. She was then obliged to proceed with her work when the long absent Ulysses returned just in time to save her from what seemed a horrible fate.

This modern Penelope had no such doubts to contend with. The death of her first husband was only too sure, having been witnessed by her own eyes. After her recovery, she became acquainted with and married an Englishman by the name of Richard Stout. They then went over into New Jersey, made themselves a home and raised a family of twelve sons. One of them, Jonathan Stout, and his family, were the founders of the Hopewell settlement, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where Hopewell Baptist church was afterwards constituted. Of the first fifteen members, nine were Stouts. The church was organized at the house of a Stout, and for forty years their meetings were held chiefly at the houses of the Stouts; after which they erected their first house of worship. In 1790, two of the deacons and four of the elders were Stouts. Jonathan Stout lived until his descendants were multiplied to one hundred and seventeen. Another one of their sons, David, had a son Benjamin, born in 1706. He had a son, Jediah, born April 10, 1757. His son -

STOUT, PHILEMON, was born May 15, 1785, in New Jersey