Stephens/Stephenson/Blankenship
Looking for any and all Stephens or Stephenson families that are/were in the Cabell-Wayne areas of VA/WV.
My ggg-grandmother was Sarah Stephenson or Stephens - they are totally interchangeable - and she married John W. Blankenship in March 1846 in Wayne Co., VA - not sure why Grandpa went and married Sarah because he already had 2 children with Matilda Toppen/Toppin/Topping/Toppings -
Matilda took her son and left John but we went and found her and brought her back and the 3 of them - John, Sarah and Matilda all lived together as the story goes.
I haven't really working on the Stephenson/Stephens connection until just recently when I found out that Matilda's mother was a Rebecca Stephenson who m. William Topping b. in England and the father of Matilda.
I know that the were Stephensons and Stephens in the same general area and I'm looking for a Polly Stephens as the mother of Sarah. (This is based on the fact that GM or Grandmother Polly Stephens registered John and Sarah's son - John Wesley Blankenship's birth in 1857 in Wayne.
I know that there was a John Beaver Stephens in this area - his parents were James Stephens and Mary 'Polly' LNU Stephens and I'm wondering with Sarah was a younger sister of John Beaver.Have a cousin who thinks this also but has no hard proof.He also says that there was a brother Jesse Stephens.Found Jesse's death certificate - and it doesn't list his parents but he would fit in as he was born in 1823.
If any of this sounds familiar to you - or you think you might relate... please contact me...