This property is part of almost a square block that Court Trustees sold to Martin P. Foley (1867-1932) in 1907. His wife, Ella Louise, died at a young age in 1914. Foley as a widower sold part of the property, unimproved, to George Ringgold in 1918. That included the southwest corner of Girard and South Stokes Streets going south on the west side of South Stokes Street to Revolution Street. It is believed that George and his wife Sarah built this house in 1918. The Ringgolds in 1922 sold the property to Clayton Creswell Stansbury, Sr. (1893-1962) and his wife, Mary Louise (Vessels) Stansbury (1895-1993). While the sale was subject to a life estate for the Ringgolds, Sarah Ringgold died in 1922 and George died in 1924.

This then became the home of Clayton and Mary Stansbury, who went on to have five sons and two daughters, all of whom became community leaders. Clayton and Mary met and married in Baltimore in 1915 and lived there when they had their first two sons but moved to this house before their third son, Russell, was born in 1924. Russell D. Stansbury (1924-2021) was the subject of a Harford County Living Treasures interview in 2002.

When Clayton moved to Havre de Grace he thought it was very unfair that there was no secondary education for blacks. . As he pursued his vision of better schools for black children, Clayton Stansbury realized that he needed to organize the Black community to work together for the common cause. Education was a priority to him and he played a key role in promoting equal rights in the school system. In 1930, as a result of the efforts of Clayton and other community activists (including John Leo Jones, 1893-1973) in establishing an African American Parent-Teacher Association (of which Clayton was elected President), Harford County agreed to establish its first high school for African-American students. The County selected Havre de Grace and the Havre de Grace Colored High School was opened at 555 Alliance Street in 1930 when an addition to the original school was built.

Clayton and Mary’s youngest child was born in 1935, Wardell Vessells Stansbury, who served in the U.S. Army and for many years was the Director of Family Counseling for the Harford County Department of Social Services (the first African American hired by the department). He played a key role in promoting equal rights in the school system and served on the Havre de Grace City Council for eight years (1971-1979) becoming the first African-American City Council President. Wardell is also remembered for being the target of the Klu Klux Klan when they burned a cross on his front yard in October 1966 while his wife, Cassie, and children were inside. On another occasion he was shot near his home by someone who then drove him to the hospital. He survived, never pressed charges, and kept the bullet in a jar in his home. Wardell was inducted into the Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame in 2015. After Wardell died in June 2020, the Mayor and City Council observed a moment of silence at the Council meeting and ordered flags lowered to half staff to honor his life and service to the citizens.

Clayton and Mary Stansbury had raised another son, Dr. George Thomas Stansbury (1922-1996) here in the family home. He became a physician and opened a medical practice in 1950 nearby at the corner of Stokes and Revolution Streets and was the first African American to be given staff privileges at the Harford Memorial Hospital, which was then segregated. As shared by Dr. George’s brother, Russell Stansbury, in a 2002 Harford County Living Treasure interview, if a white patient of Dr. George had to be admitted to the hospital, that person had to go to an upper floor and be reassigned to a white doctor. Dr. George couldn’t treat a patient on any floor other than the first. It was to Dr. George Stansbury that Clayton’s widow, Mary, sold some of the property on the west side of Stokes Street south of their house in 1963. That was developed into apartment units in 1965.

Russell D. Stansbury (mentioned above) met his wife, Mildred Gore Stansbury (1927-1999), while they both were teachers at the Havre de Grace Colored High School. Later, while teaching at Aberdeen High School, Mildred operated a small grocery shop at 569 Lewis Street in the 1960s that was very popular with children. Elected to the Havre de Grace City Council in 1964, and being the first African-American to serve on the Council, Mildred was responsible for having the names of “Alleys” changed to “Lanes.” During her three terms of service, it was also her suggestion that Havre de Grace should have a coat of arms and a flag and designed one that has been in use since.

This home has been owned by the Stansbury family since 1922. After the death of Clayton in 1962, the widowed Mary continued to live in this home along with Wardell and his wife Cassie Nixon Stansbury until Mary’s death in 1993. Wardell Stansbury died in 2020, having been born and lived in this home his entire life. This is now the home of Cassie N. Stansbury.

County records
Built 1935. 2356 sq ft, 1.5 baths, 2 stories no basement, 3150 sq ft lot.