STEVENS STEPHENS GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORY Some Lineage from Anthony Stephens,ca.1560-ca.1625 of Wiltshire,England and Thomas Stephens the Haberdaaher,ca.1585-ca.1650 of London Compiled by Clarence Perry Stevens,et al. 1 9 6 8 Pll>TOSTATOF ~p 212 (atepaeas) ot Yol\Ufle 17 ot Jfar1•1a.a Sooiet7 PUbltoatlon• P\lbl11hed 1881 •IDtitled TIie ftsi tati oa ot Loadon Library a.rs CS tlO BS Vol. 17 (Ii. 1113-4•6•1•7.LSt.aeorge • 1.st.Geor• A oopy 1• iA Local R11to:-y • Geaealogioal lo• ott !boa• ,,.tter-1oa io• in An•x or Library ~f Congree1. Th• look doe ■ .not appear to be oopyrlgbted. 262 1RE VISITATIO~ OP LONDON. 8tepbtn1 . ..-\othon1 8t('pben1 of )lodalon=;=Katberinc da. o( iu Com. Wilta I Richard Br,,ke I Thonu11 Rte1)hen1 or IAlnd,m=plfary dL of P1:tcr Walle Haberduher liaing a• I ti3-& or S1•ragraYe in ( ~u. thester I I I I I K icholaa Stephen" '2 1'110111u I )lary .:kid& 10D & beire • 3 A ntuny 2 Rt-lK-ccha To,cer Slretle Tra,·tl. lie ia noc gent. nor can pruot• any Arnita Tho. Bteuena of Barnesby,.\on d.L of .... Sheptwanl uf 84,rneelty in liurry Iin Sum-y .1 ~~u. 8teuen1 uf London weaUl'r no,r,lr argarett Ja. or Thv. S111ith of Hl'cll·rin in b•mg 1633 __I &rry r Anne Stevc111 only clailtl CON'rmTS Page Preface Introduction s Chapter I. The stephens ram11 y in England 9 The Norman line in England 11 Charlotte Holmes detlates G. Ellis stevens 12 Evidence ot Norman Ancestry 1) n. Nicholas stevens and ye FamiJ7 1n England 16 Capt. Nicholas stevens, a Cromwell officer, in ye Victory ot Nasby and its F.ru.1 ts 17 m. Some Immigrant Descendants in .America 20 Samuel stevens, 2nd Governor ot ye North Carolina Colony - Evidence that he belonged to the family - 21 Capt. Richard stevens and some of his descendants - 22 Capt. Nicholas stevens in America - The children of 1 ) Nicholas) and Elizabeth stevens - '?he children· of 2) Thomas StevensJ of London, Engl and. IV. Some Noted Membets of the Fam1l y in America 26 Capt. Pbineasb stevens, the hero ot Fort No. 4 in the French anc1 Ind1an War - Abstract of his journal - 2B 166) Long John6 Stevens ot N. c. - capture and escape from the Indians - stevens men in the Wyoming Massacre - Tradition says that Thaddeus stevens, M.C. 3J was a member of the family - Judge Joshua Stevens and another noted '?baddeus 1n Indianapolis - )4 Some descendants of Joshua Stevens c. 1760-1814 and Sarah (Morril) stevens of Danville, Vermont. J6 TABLES OF DESCENT 1 V. Lines or Descent f'rom Anthony Stephens -:,; VI. Some Descendants ot 10) ~ Stevens ot stonington, ct. 44 VII. Descendants of 12) Thomas stev4ns or North Carolina .51 nu.Some Descendants ot 13) Richard Stevens of Taunton, Ma. 91 IL The Line ot 14) Thomas"' Stevens of Pl aintield, Ct. - a tew generations 10.5 I. The Line of 1S) Cyprian Stevens of Lancaster, Mass. - · a few generations 109 II. A Little or the 16) Kathrine Stle1rens Dean Line 113 Cognate Families - Broke - Brooke - Gallop - Lake - Lincoln - Ra~tord or Ray-tord 114 Some Descendants ot 1 )) Richard stevens, continued. 119 Appendjx 12J Bibliography" 127 Index 129 PRBFACE This, we believe, 1s the tirst tudJy histor., to link .,.. ot the large branches ot the Ste'Yena-staphens t8J11ly, Henry ot stonington, Conn.• Thom.as ot the North Carolina Colo!J1', their father, Hicbolaa, an officer under Oliver Crcmwall 1n England, Richard ot Taunton, Hass., CJJ>rian of Lancaster, Mass. and Thomas of stow and Plaintiald, Conn.; being descendants ot Thomas stephens of London, England, l1Ting in 16)4 and his father Anthony staphens of Wiltshire in the 16th century. Their descendants, lmown and unknown, mmber maDJ' thousands ot people. In the first edition, p11bl.ished in 1950, the Horth C&ral.ina line is correct as tar back as Thomas Stevens, d. 1751 1n Cra:nn Co., N. c. ait it appears now this Thomas was the younger son~·ot Capt. Nicholas instead ot the son ot his nephew Richard of Taunton, Mass. Both men had the same naae, were abou.t the same age, had wives with exact.17 the same name 1Mary- Caswell• and the records show the brother ot Mary came to North Carolina and settled 1n South Carolina. Bit, nevertheless, trom later research by- H. J. Gavin, w conclude this was not the same Thanas, and so change the genealogy accord1"1,l y. Except tor two generations the ancestor is the same anyvq. I indicat­ ed in the first edition there was some doubt aboa.t this link. In addition to those noted in the first edition, w wish to thank those who have sent :in genealogical. records and data, especi­ ally Mrs. Ruhl.in OVerlease (deceased) and family, llu.shv1lle, Ind.; Mr. Charles Holloman of Raleigh, N. c.; Brig. Gen. M. J. Ga.Tin (de­ ceased) et ux.; Mrs. Veraldine Benton, 201 J'Ul.wood. Blvd., Tifton, Georgia; Lane stephens Wilcox of san Jose, California; Mrs. stephen A. Breed, Cam.bridge 38, Mass.; Mrs. Vivian Swent, San Francisco, California; EUlel stephens ot Indianapolis, mdiana; Brig.• Gen. Jesse F. Stevens ot Boston,1· Mass., John J. stephens ot Br.-ookl.yn, I. Y. (not related); and Miss ~ice E. Johnson of Ann Arbor, Mich. / Clarence PeIT7 stevens, Assisted by: 20 '3 &:Jmart st. , Veraldine Sharp Benton, Escalon, California, 201 P\Jlwood m.Td., 9532.0. Tifton, Ga. :31794. s DiTRODJCTION A fBm117 history has certain values. It is 110re than a hobby. We have noticed that many of the younger people have littJ.e interest in their fud1y history; bit as they grow older there com.es a time when they want to know about it, often after relatives are deceased who could have told them about ita Who begot my ancestors? What are my racial and national origins etc. f Family records have come in handy in settling estates and prov­ ing heirs, sometimes lost heirs, and they save money tor those who wish to join certain patriotic societies, as the DAR or SAR. They are also usef\11 when sending birthday cards to relatives it the date is forgotten; and they have been used to establish a birth date tor one who seeks to establish eligibility tor social security p81J11911ts. Dr. White, who attended President Eisenhower,has said facetiously that it you want to avoid heart trouble, choose your ancestors carefully. The tendency to live long is alsp inherited; so it you will look over your ancestry, you may get a good idea ot how long you may- live, barring accidents. We are what we are largely because ot our ancestry. Those who do not have the time or money to do research or se­ cure it should appreciate the information given in this book; for it anyone can link to a listed name herein, he or she mq, 1n a few minutes, trace their line back tor about -tour centuries in the Stevens-Stephens genealogy. The name Stevens, or Stephens, is said to derive from the Greek word "Stephanos" meaning a crown. stephens mottos are several, which however, are only variations ot "I live in hope". The motto of ou.r Norman line is "Deus Inte1sit11 meaning ''Let God. be in our Midst. 11 (Would not "may" be better 'ttum n1et"? Of course, our coat ot arms is that of our ancestor Thomas2 stephens ot London, deacribed later herein. The arms illustrated in the genealogies by Dr. Barney and c. Ellis stevens are similar bit a little different. There has been much contusion over the spelling ot our name before 18.50 and even today it you spell it Stevens do not asa1me that you are certainly not related to a person named Stlephena. Many or our proven relatives in, or stemm1rig trom, OWen County, Indiana, still spell it Stephens. Be.tore 1840 and the establish­ ment ot public schools, most people were illiterate and the spelling was rather phonetic so cousins sometimes spelled their names differ­ ent and sometimes the same person spelled his or her name different at different times, so remember this in tracing a line. Apparently the family took the name from st. Stephen, the martyr. In France it became Fitz-Stephen or Estieme and in English Fitz-Step~en. Then after a while the Fitz was dropped and apparently it became Stephenson and later the on was dropped leaving stephens. Other spellings have been Steevens, Stephenes, Stephyns, Stevins hlt anyway its spelled, its a grand old name. In this book marriages are not confined solely to those st11.l listed :1n church registers and cowity recorders• ottices. These are only some of the evidence 1n proving parents along with comon law marriage etc. It has been said that some ancestral patriotic 6. organisations eJq>ect an official record ot ancestors official marriages from a candidate tor membership.. It true this can result in injustice to lll8D1' tine people tor in the 9ast there has been much coni\tsion as to what constitutes marriage. Note also that ot.ticial marriage registers are not proof be70nd all doubt as to a child's parents as several court cases show. A so-called illegitimate child is defined as "one born out of wedlock" i but we<llock is not so easy- to define. Webster I s Unabridged Dictionaey takes over half a column trying to define the word.