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This information was researched & verified by Clyde Stephens, my uncle. For 11 years (from the family reunion in 1971 until the printing of his book STEPHENS ANCESTORS AND PIONEER RELATIVES in July 1982) Uncle Clyde spent many a vacation searching through tax records and cemetaries as well as attending other family reunions, etc. It is from this book that I base my findings/summations.
We know that our branch of the family originated from a family having 7 children born in the "border country" of SC between 1818-31. This family migrated to Ramer, AL around 1840. The family was as follows:
PARENTS
-------
JOHN STEPHENS (father, born NC or SC? about 1790's & probably died in SC or AL)
WIFE (unknown - legend says she was a red-haired Irish girl named JANE TILLMAN)
CHILDREN
--------
JANE CATIE (born SC 1815 died Antioch, FL in 1910)
ELISHA (born SC 1819 died in Civil War)
BENJAMIN (born SC 1821 died in what's now Ona, FL 1881) *twin of JOSEPH
JOSEPH (born SC 1821 died in Civil War) *twin of BENJAMIN
JOHN (born SC 1823 or 1830 died 1895 in Ramer, AL)
HALLIE (born SC 1831 died 1860 in Ramer, AL)
*twin of FRANCES MELISSA
FRANCES MELISSA (born SC 1831 died 1884 Shiloh, FL)
.....................................
I am related to BENJAMIN above, however, it is his brother ELISHA that I feel may hold the answer to your questions.
Elisha was born in SC in 1819. After moving from SC he married Nancy Hilliard on 29 Nov 1844 in Montgomery County, AL. Nancy had two daughters from a previous marriage who were Harrier Hilliard & Mary A Hilliard. Elisha's family was listed in the 1850 census in Montgomery County as follows:
Elisha C Stephens age 29 (not correct)
Nancy Stephens 36
William H Stephens 5
Joseph Stephens 4
James M Stephens 2 (twin)
Julianna Stephens 2 (twin)
Property deeds show that Elisha bought a farm north of Ramer in 1852 in the same vacinity as other Stephens farms. Not much is known about him except that he played the violin. During the Civil War he joined the Confederates & was reportedly lost. After the war his widow and children stayed in Ramer as shown by this data from the 1870 census:
Nancy Stephens age 58
Mary (Hilliard?) 33
Julia 21
John 21
Stanley 18
Fannie 16
Merriet 15
Permilia 12
Marshal 4 (son of Julia)
Now this is where I begin to summize; please note that the name of one of the twins has changed from the 1850 census to the 1870 census. My uncle also makes a reference to this in his book. However, according to my uncle's book he 'died young' but according to this census he was 21.
You mentioned in your original posting that your John Stephens had to leave the Troy, AL area due to some trouble that he in. Could it be that these two individuals are in fact the same & that the family merely claimed that he had died to cover for him?
I feel that perhaps we could only benefit from discussing this matter further. Also, I will, of course, copy in my Uncle Clyde on a copy of this posting so that he can add to the discussion.
Please know that you are invited to the Stephens Family Reunion which is held annually, the 3rd Sunday of July, at the Hardee County Civic Center in Wauchula, FL. If you'd like more information please contact me, Dan Stephens @ 407-894-1025 or via email at xportdan@danstephens.com
I hope to hear from you soon.
Dan Stephens
Orlando, FL
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