John,
I have info that a Jonathan Stoop (b. 1820) married a Mrs. Catherine Detibre in Carlisle, PA on 18 Jun 1839, at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. I believe this could be Catherine Toland by a 1st marriage. About this time an older sibling, John Stoop (b.1811) who was also a blacksmith, was emigrating to Ohio with his wife and 2 children. Carlisle would have been one of the main routes for wagon trains coming from the east. Of course this requires a bit more proving, but it lines up well with dates and times. It was very possible that Jonathan was traveling West with John's family, met and married Catherine (a widow) and continued on to Wellsville where your research says he got sick. What do you think?
Will