A Tool to UnTangle?

I’ve been reading my latest issue of Family Tree magazine and I was very interested to see an article called “Finding Mr. Right” on how to single out YOUR ancestor when there are several people with the same name in the area.  As you know, I have William Stephens coming out of my ears in my family line!  And that name certainly isn’t the only mega-popular name in the Russell County area, so I was interested to see what they had to say.  It was a very informative article and many of the things that they discussed are things that I already do, but one area that I have been VERY poor in doing is to pay attention to the witnesses and neighbors that are mentioned in all of the records that I collect.

They had a great chart (I see Excel!!) on page 45 that I plan to start working on, but in a nutshell, they were taking land deeds for a couple of men with the same name and making note of the date, seller, buyer, neighbors, witnesses and other info gleaned from the document.  By looking at the names of the neighbors and witnesses, you’d probably start to see other familiar names that would help you single out which man is the man you’re look for.  Brilliant!  When I saw the column with the neighbors, I immediately thought about how that list could compare with neighbors in the census records.  Wouldn’t I be seeing these same names in the census pages around my ancestor?  Or how about bondsmen and sureties in other records? And what could I find if I began to research THOSE names?  Perhaps I’d be finding husbands of daughters or sisters that have blank boxes in my group sheets. (You KNOW how I hate blank boxes in my forms!)

So I think I’m going to create another sheet for my Genealogy Planner so I can have this information with me and anytime I’m looking at a new set of records, to think about looking for these names as well.  Maybe I’ll get it ready to be posted by Wednesday, if I can just keep focused and not run off on some tangent when I pull out those deeds!

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Surfing for Surprises!

This morning, I had a couple of free hours before taking a trip to my mother’s where I’ll have no internet access.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  She has dial up access, which means waiting quite a while for pages to load.  But I digress…

I didn’t want to get out a bunch of binders or anything so I decided that I would do some “cold call” type of research.  I went to the Kentucky Digital Library and decided to search their copies of the Adair County News for any articles with the name “Stephens” in them.  As I was clicking through the options, I came across a marriage listing for Laura Ellen (Bennett) George and Uriah Stephens.

Laura Ellen was the sister of my great-grandfather and Uriah was the brother of my greatgreat-grandmother.  I’ve always found this marriage to be interesting as it was one of multiple times that my great-grandfather and great-grandmother’s ancestral lines intersected.  Now I’ll have an exact date and the name of a minister that I can research.  Perhaps I’ll be able to find some church records!

I’m often surprised by the things that I find when I “surf” a site without looking for a specific record.  If I choose a site and just look for a surname, or even for a county, it’s not unusual to find something unexpected!

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A Family for Lucy Stephens?

My search for Stephens answers continues!

Last week, I decided I’d try to see if there was any way for me to determine which Stephens branch Lucy Stephens – wife of Andrew Stephens – belonged to.  I have very little to work with:

1)  According to Lucy’s tombstone (Bernard Cemetery in Russell County, Kentucky) she was born 16 Dec, 1842 and died 14 June 1928.
2)  According to every census record I have found, she was born in Kentucky.
3)  The marriage of Andrew Stephens and Lucy Stephens took place in Ripley Co, Missouri on 25 Apr 1858.
4)  Lucy and Andrew lived with Andrew’s family for the 1860 census in Franklin Co, Alabama along with their 1 yr. old daughter, Nancy E.
5)  In the 1860 census, Nancy’s birthplace is listed as Missouri.  Ripley County seems likely, but birth records for that year don’t seem to exist.  (I have not been to Ripley County to research for myself)
6)  By 1861, the death of 1 year 10 month old Nancy is found in Metcalfe Co, Kentucky on June 9.  Her place of birth is listed as Missouri.
7)  Also in 1861, birth of first son, W.D. (William Dudley) is found in Metcalfe Co, Kentucky on Oct. 13.
8 ) Another birth for Andrew and Lucy is found in Metcalfe Co, Kentucky (although I have no source) in 1864 for Mary Elizabeth in September.
9) I cannot find the 1870 census for this family.
10)  Every other census after this shows the family in Russell County, Kentucky.

I thought I’d try to understand why Andrew and Lucy were married in Ripley County, Missouri.  Because Andrew’s family was not in the area during this time, I thought that might mean that Lucy’s family came from this area.  I did research on all Stephens families in Ripley County during this time and could find no connection.  (I’ll post these findings at a later date.)  Metcalfe Co, Kentucky was formed in 1860, so I turned to the parent counties and did a search for an 1850 census showing a Lucy at about the correct age.  In Adair County, I found 1 likely family.  The head of the home was Mary Stephens age 40.  Three children lived in her home –  Eliz. age 19, Lucy age 8 and A.J. age 3.  Could this be the family I was looking for?  How could I confirm this?

I began by looking at all marriage, birth and death records that I could find for Adair County to see if there was a Stephens married to a Mary around this time frame and I couldn’t find anything.  I then began looking at the tax records for Adair County, since my library has these on microfilm.  Beginning with 1850, I looked for a Mary Stephens who might be paying taxes on land left by a deceased husband.  No Mary was listed through 1858, the last year for the microfilm.

Working backward through the tax records from 1850, I found one person who could potentially be Lucy’s father.  Elijah Stephens appears in the Adair County taxes from 1844 through 1850 and then disappears.  There is no Elijah Stephens in the Adair County census for 1840 or 1850.  I have ordered the Court Orders film for Adair County to see if I can find a clue there.

An 1830 Russell County census for Elijah Stephens shows that he was between 30 and 39 years old and his (probable) wife was between 20 and 29.  They had 5 children at the time.  By 1840 census, he listed his age as between 40-49 and his wife was between 30-39.  This could result in a 40 year old Mary Stephens by 1850.  In 1840, there were 8 children and one of the females was between 5-9 years old, which could be the 19 year old Elizabeth in the 1850 census.  Even if the age of Elizabeth was off in 1850, there is an older female and a younger female in the 1840 census that could still account for a 19 year old Elizabeth in 1850.  Could this be the correct family?

I decided to see if I could find a clue in the Stephens family deeds that I have scanned.  I looked through the cross-reference for Russell County deeds and did find a couple for an Elijah Stephens.  Since I don’t have a collection of Adair County Deeds yet, I thought it would be worth looking at the Russell County deeds because there are only a couple for Elijah.  I only had to look at 2 deeds before I found that I could rule out Elijah as being the husband of Lucy’s mother.  In one deed, Elijah Stephens of Adair County is purchasing land from a Russell County resident.  In the 2nd deed, Elijah and his wife Dicy/Diza (I’ve seen it both ways) were selling land to John Stephens.  Looking at my Adair County tax records, I could see that Dicy Stephens began taking care of the taxes the year after Elijah disappeared from the tax lists.  I’ll still be on the lookout for Elijah Stephens in the Court Order records that I’ve ordered, but I won’t be expecting a connection between him and Lucy’s mother, Mary.

Looking at the surrounding families in the census, I found that Mary and her children lived next to Sherwood Stephens and his family.  I have decided to follow Sherwood to see what I could discover.  More on that next time…

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Creating Group Sheets from Family Search Pilot

I’ve been working on my Stephens line for several months.  The branches of this tree extend far and wide and criss-cross all over the place!  This past week, I’ve been cleaning out my filing cabinet and various folders and notes and trying to make sense of things that I wrote when I was a new genealogist.  I already have quite a stack of group sheets for the various Stephens families, but there are gaps and lots of unsourced information from other researchers.

I love making group sheets by reading vital records books because so often, I find children that do not show up in census records because they were born and died between censuses.  Sometimes, I find spellings or nicknames that I hadn’t considered before and I can add that information to my notes.  The Family Search Pilot makes this “browsing” easier because the layout of the page allows me to read several names at once.  Husband, wife (often with maiden name) and child are much easier to catch on this site than they are while skimming microfilms of old record books.  It’s not unusual for me to notice a wife’s name on a line that I had missed when reading the list of husbands.

I decided to expand my group sheet collection because of some of the guesses I was writing about in my notes from years ago.  Could I make a connection now that I couldn’t make then?

I spent some time this morning on http://www.pilot.familysearch.org following up on a question I had written in my notes years ago.  Long ago, I ordered a pension file for Andrew Stephens and it was not the Andrew that I had expected.  There was information in the file about a 2nd marriage that ended up being with a woman in another line of mine (another criss-cross in my branches!), so I’m trying to determine the parents of this Andrew.  I had written a hypothesis in my notes, but was never able to prove it.

My hypothesis was that this Andrew Stephens was from Pulaski County.  Unfortunately, I didn’t write down my reasoning for this guess, but my sketchy memory is that I had tried to find a family in the Russell County area that had a son named Andrew around the correct age.  I’ve been focusing my search on Russell County and Adair County, so I decided to see if I could make a group sheet for this family based on information from familysearch.  Everything in the group sheet would be sourced, so I’d be confident with what I have and perhaps be able to have a better answer to my original question.  Then I found the census records for this family to fill in some other blanks.

My next step will be to get out the pension file that brought out all my original questions to see if I can rule out my hypothesis based on this information.  If I can’t rule it out with this easy to find information, then I’ll create a research plan and start ordering films from the FHL to see if I can get a breakthrough that way.

If you happen to be related to Andrew Stephens who married Susan “Preshy” Smiley, I’d love to compare notes!

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Surname Saturday – Coffey in Russell Co, KY

1-Hays Coffey
…..b: 1793, North Carolina, USA
…..d: 1860, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
+Mary Burkett
. . . . 2-Fielding Gatewood Coffey
……….b: 3 January 1819
……….d: 8 June 1889, , Ono, Kentucky, USA
. . . . +Sarah Jane Hughes
……….b: 22 February 1828, Kentucky
……….m: 14 December 1847, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
……….d: 14 May 1896
. . . . . . . . 3-Victoria I. Coffey
………………b: 13 September 1848, Jamestown, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 20 May 1931, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +Elias Smith
………………b: 1845, Kentucky, USA
………………m: 22 January 1867, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 7 June 1885, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Oliver Houston Smith
…………………….b: 4 February 1872, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
…………………….d: 4 May 1950, Franklin, Johnson, Indiana, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Eddie L Smith
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Laura Smith
…………………….b: 1868, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Abtilla E. Smith
…………………….b: 16 September 1869, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
…………………….d: 30 September 1882, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Emma J. Smith
…………………….b: 11 September 1872, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Ida M. Smith
…………………….b: 20 May 1879, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Addie Melvin Smith
…………………….b: 14 October 1880, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
…………………….d: 6 September 1948, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Bertha A. Smith
…………………….b: 25 February 1882, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +Andrew J. Stephens
………………b: 6 October 1846, Kentucky
………………m: 16 February 1890, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 27 January 1907, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Pearl Stephens
…………………….b: February 1891, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Theodosia W.C. Coffey
………………b: 24 August 1852, Kentucky
………………d: 23 September 1932, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Melvel Estill Coffey
…………………….b: about 1886, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Winfield G Coffey
………………b: 28 November 1854, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 24 February 1856, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Thomas Hays Coffey
………………b: 12 January 1857, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 4 August 1924, Pulaski County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +Ann Popplewell
………………m: 11 January 1883, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Doctor Gan S Coffey
………………b: 6 April 1859, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 1933
. . . . . . . . 3-Eugene F.S. Coffey
………………b: 1862, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +Zora Ashbrook
. . . . . . . . 3-Clemmie L.E. Coffey
………………b: 20 January 1865, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 2 January 1944, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +G.A. Higgenbotham
. . . . . . . . 3-George S. Coffey
………………b: 1867, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 1933
. . . . . . . . 3-Green Moore Coffey
………………b: 2 April 1867, Kentucky
………………d: 2 March 1950, Russell County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . +Arvilla Gosser
………………b: November 1877, Kentucky, USA
………………m: 1894
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Cassins C Coffey
…………………….b: October 1894, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Bessie M Coffey
…………………….b: January 1898, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-William F Coffey
…………………….b: January 1900, Kentucky, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Mollie Maude Coffey
………………b: 5 December 1870, Kentucky, USA
………………d: 8 May 1893
. . . . 2-America Coffey
……….b: 1824
. . . . +James Rogers
. . . . 2-James L Coffey
……….b: 1828
. . . . 2-Bernetha Coffey
……….b: 1833
. . . . 2-Hayes Coffey
……….b: 1836, Kentucky, USA
. . . . +Louisa Ellis
. . . . 2-Mary Ann Coffey
……….b: 13 July 1838, Kentucky, USA
……….d: 12 July 1920, Adair County, Kentucky, USA
. . . . +Edwin Parrigan
. . . . +Hadley

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Deed Work – B’s Part 16

1861	Ballenger, Berryman	Ballenger, Daniel	G-527
1861	Ballenger, John	Ballenger, Daniel	G-528
1861	Ballenger, John	Ballenger, Daniel	G-529
1860	Ballenger, Joseph	Ballenger, Daniel	G-548
1861	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, W.W. & c	G-552
1860	Bernard, W.W.	Barnard, John I.	H-5
1860	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, W.W.	H-7
1862	Ballenger, John	Carnes, Falton	H-9
1860	Blaky, John P.	Helm, Bartholomew & c	H-11
1862	Bishop, Sally Ann	Price, Zachariah	H-18
1862	Bowmer, James W.	Bowmer, Rebecca	H-26
1861	Bledsoe, John H.	Coffey, Humphry	H-35
1862	Barger, James	Melson, James J.	H-43
1862	Barnes, William	Herriford, George W. & c	H-47
1860	Bradshaw, Sarah C.	Humphrey, David C. & c	H-69
1863	Barger, Jonah	Lesenby, James M. & c	H-77
1861	Brown, John	Coffey, Andrew & c	H-78
1863	Baugh, Simeon S.	Bryan, George & c	H-82
1862	Bernard, Peter	Smith, Reubin B. & c	H-84
1861	Blankenship, George W.	Jackman, Thomas & c	H-100
1863	Blair, Calbut	Coffey, Cleveland P. & c	H-116
1863	Bradshaw, William L.	Bradshaw, Elijah	H-117
1863	Blankenship, Joel	Herriford, George W. & c	H-119
1863	Butcher, Levi P.	Gosser, William H. & c	H-131
1864	Blankenship, Hudson	Wilderson, Jesse & c	H-145
1863	Ballenger, Joseph	McClure, Nathan & c	H-160
1864	Warriner, Blair	Blair, Colbert & c	H-167
1865	Bramlett, Thomas E.	Morthup, James	H-194
1865	Bramlett, Thomas E.	Gabbeart, W.G.	H-195
1865	Bayle, J.T. & c	Fox, Francis M.	H-198
1865	Buckner, Richard A.	Chumbley, William	H-200
1865	Buckner, Richard A.	Hopper, William	H-204
1865	Buchner, Richard A.	Warriner, Samuel & c	H-205
1864	Bledsoe, J.H.	Carter, J.L. & c	H-227
1864	Blair, Elitle	Blair, Colbert & c	H-239
1865	Bailey, John	Wilson, Benjamin	H-244
1865	Bryan, George	Miller, J.P. Sheriff	H-285
1865	Boyle & Co.	Dunbar, James Sr.	H-295
1863	Brown, Jacob	McGowan, Andrew	H-311
1865	Blankenship, Hudson	Blankenship, Cornelius	H-316

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Family Friday – Who were the children of Welcome Stephens?

When I first began doing genealogy research years ago, I was excited to find book at my library that had the family trees for several of the families in my line. The Stephens family was one of those. The book had a list of children for Welcome Stephens and I entered them into my genealogy software.

In the recent months that I’ve been doing extensive research on this family, I’ve often questioned whether some of these children actually belong with Welcome Stephens.  Some of the names from the original list I saw appear to be duplicates. I began with this list:  Thomas, Andy, JB, John, Lettie, William, Dudley, Sherwood, Joshua, Polly and Andrew. I believe that Andy and Andrew were probably the same person and JB could be John or Joshua. I have never found a document that lists a J.B. Stephens. So my updated list became: John, Elizabeth, Andrew, Dudley, Joshua, Thomas, Polly, William, Sherwood and Lettie. I have been attempting to follow each of these children through time in order to positively connect them to Welcome Stephens, but I have several questions. Many of these questions come as a result of Welcome’s will and estate settlement. Here’s my transcription of the will:

I Welcome Stephens Russell County and State of Kentucky do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner & form following that is to say

1^st I desire that my blacksmith tools shall be sold immediately after my decease and out of the monies from all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid.

2^nd after the payment of all my just debts and funeral expenses I give to my beloved wife Nancy Stephens one bed and furniture and for her to give the same to who she pleases at her death and shall have her support in manner hereafter mentioned only she shall have the use of my farm or so much of them she needs for her and John Baily and the kitchen furniture

3^rd I give unto my son Dudley Stephens all the ridge tract of land including the Racoon Springs and the tract on which he now lives included in the deed to me from Thomas Wilson so high up the creek as to take square across the bottom at the lick at the upper end of the old field, to him and his heirs forever also my clock and my five dogs.

4^th I give to my son Andrew Stephens the tract of land where he now lives containing one hundred acres more or less to him and his heirs forever.

5^th I give to my son Joshua Stephens the home tract of land that is including where I now live and the place where he settled at the Lisha[?] place only he shall contribute to my wife before mentioned a reasonable support in the following manner, she shall have choice houses on the land for own self to live in and as much ground as she can tend herself during her life or her widowhood and my sons Dudley Stephens and Joshua Stephens shall contribute to her what she lacks of making in manner before mentioned.

6^th I give to my son Sherwood Stephens the tract of land where he now lives to him his lifetime and to his heirs forever also my bureau

7^th as far as John Ard and the children he had by Elizabeth his first wife my daughter I have given them all that I intend for them to have

8^th, all the rest of my estate both real and personal of what nature or kind so-ever it may be not herein before mentioned and disposed of I desire that it may be equally divided all my children only I want John Baily to have my young mare when he is 21 years old or one that is as good as she makes when he is 21 years of age provided that he continues to conduct himself as well as he has done heretofore and lives at home as he has always done until he is free.

And lastly I hereby appoint Dudley Stephens and Joshua Stephens Executors to this my last will and testament in witness whereof I do hereby set my hand and affix my s—[?] the 14th day of July 1840.

The will was witnessed by George and Aaron Harris. The bond was signed by Simco Popplewell and was dated 12 October 1840.

The estate settlement was dated 12 November 1840 and includes a list of the children dividing the estate. Those who are listed as obtaining items are: Joshua, Sherwood, Dudley, Andrew and Polly. The will mentions that Welcome’s daughter, Elizabeth, was deceased. In the final paragraph of the settlement, it says, “We, the heirs and representatives of Welcome Stephens, deceased, do hereby jointly agree the the personal property of said decedent shall be sold to the highest bidder and the highest shall be the purchaser & that when a copy of the Will shall be obtained & shall be proportioned & we bind ourselves to pay William Stephens his part when called by the Administrators…” signed by Dudley, Andrew, Joshua, Sherod and Polly.

So based on this will and the settlement, I have accounted for 7 of the 10 children who are in my current list of children. I know that William was in Alabama at the time of his father’s death which explains the final paragraph in the settlement. The question then is – Where are John, Thomas and Lettie? Were they really children of Welcome Stephens? If so, why were they not mentioned in the will? William did not arrive in Russell County until after 1860, so distance does not seem to be an issue. When Welcome mentions that he has given his deceased daughter’s family all that he intended to give to them, would he not also list other family members who were to receive no more? I can follow John and Thomas Stephens of Russell County for many years. I do not have a single record that mentions Lettie. I also have no records that connect Joshua to this family other than the will. In the 1860 census, there is a 49 year old Joshua Stephens living with John Bailey in the house next to Andrew Stephens and his wife Elizabeth Perry. Is this proof that this Joshua is Welcome’s Joshua?  I have found no other census records for Joshua Stephens that I feel confident in.

There are dozens of online trees that show all of these children connected to Welcome with dates and spouses for John and Thomas so has everyone else found records that I have not found or is this an example of information that gets passed on and on with no sources?

I would love to correspond with other researchers who are also part of Welcome Stephens’ line!

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Deed Work – B’s part 15

These are the B’s from the Russell County Deeds Cross Index.  At times, the page numbers cannot be seen on the microfilms.  In that case, the book only is listed.

 

1858	Buster, William L. & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Burris, Mary Jane	Harmon, William	G
1858	Bowlin, John C.	Miller, Madison	G
1858	Buster, William & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Buster, William L. & c	Branham, Barnabus & c	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Gosser, Harrison	G
1857	Bryan, George	Wells,m Wilham	G
1859	Brown, George W.	Coffey, Andrew	G
1859	Blair, James Sr.	Blair, Morgan	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Coffey, Humphrey	G
1859	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1857	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1856	Bradley, Polly & c	Irvin Matildia & c	G
1859	Bebee, Allen & c	Holt, Berryman	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Bradshaw, F.M.	G
1859	Bolin, Lucinda	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bolin, Prudence J.	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bybee, Allen	Melson, James J.	G
1859	Beck, Aajon	Snow, John W.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Moore, George W.	G
1859	Bolin, John C.	Bernard, John I. & c	G
1859	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Wooldridge, James	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Bernard, John & Coffey, Albert G.	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah	Bradshaw, John C.	G
1855	Blankenship, Jess	Blankenship, David	G
1859	Bernard, John I. & c	Bernard, Harriet S.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	McFalls, Lindsey	G
1859	Bolin, John E.	Wade, Seth	G
1856	Bernard, William W.	Love, William T.	G
1857	Bryan, George conv.	Gran, Wm. M.	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Sanders, Olivia	G
1860	Bernard, Peter	Smith, Reubin B.	G
1855	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Cook, Edward	G
1868	Bolin, Benjamin P. & c	Bolin, John C.	G
1858	Bernard, John I. & c	Nelson, William	G
1860	Blair, Morgan	School Districe no. 25	G
1860	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Scott, Elizabeth	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1860	Buster, W.B. & c	Long, Edward	G

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Family Friday – Andrew Stephens 1837 – 1920

Andrew Stephens – 1880 – 1920

1880 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 103   sheet 26

Stephens, Andrew, age 41, farming
Lucy, age 36
William D, age 18
Mary E, age 16
George H, age 14
Cornelius, age 9
Cortez, age 7
Andrew J, age 5
Uriah, age 3
Dock, age 1
Pollie, aunt, age 70  (I believe this is Andrew’s father’s (William) sister.)

1881 -  Birth of Armilda Jane, June.

1890 -  KY Veterans Census – ED 125

Andrew J. Stephens, Private, Company C, 13th KY Cav.  1863-1865 (This is NOT my Andrew. Who else had an Andrew J. Stephens as a son? Potentially the son of Andrew Jackson Stephen and Elizabeth Perry)

1899 -  Marriage of Mary Elizabeth (Stephens) George to John Flanagan.  15 Jan.

1899 -  Guardianship of Ollie B, Lucy J, Luther and Lela “minor children and William George, deceased” (husband of Mary Elizabeth Stephens)
given to A. J. Stephens with Hannibal McBeath, W.D. Stephens and Cornelius Stephens as sureties.  15 June 1899

• Why did guardianship go to the Grandparents instead of to the mother?

1900 -  Guardianship of George Children to John W. Flanagan.  Oct. 24, 1900

1900 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 158   sheet 11

Stephens, Andrew J, Aug. 1839, age 62, m. 25 yrs, born in Miss, father in S.C.
Lucy, Dec. 1842, age 58, born in Ky.
Uriah, June 1877, age 23, born in Ky.
Dr. Garfield, Mar. 1879, age 21, born in Ky.
Milda J, June 1880, age 19

Where are George, Mary Elizabeth and William?

• William Dudley – in Lucas Mill, RC with wife and 2 kids
• Mary Eliz. – in Jamestown, RC with John Flanagan & 10 kids
• George – in Jamestown, RC with wife, 2 kids and 1 adopted son

@1905- Death of Mary Elizabeth Stephens George Flanagan.

1905 -  Guardianship of George Children to WD Stephens with AJ Stephens as surety.  22 Feb. 1905

1910 – Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 215   number 192

Stephens, Andrew J, age 72, married 52 yrs, born in Miss, father in Ky.
Lucy, age 67, married 52 yrs, 12 children born, 6 living
George, Luther, grand-son, age 16
George, Leiler, grand-daughter, age 13  (my great-grandmother)

Who are the 6?  Where are the gaps for children who may have died young?

• 6 are:  George, Cornelius, Cortez, AJ, Uriah and Armilda
• 6 additional are:  Nancy E (d. 1861) William Dudley (1909) Mary Eliz. (1905) Dock Garfield (?) plus 2 unknown.
• Perhaps 2 unknown born between 62-63 and 67-69 (based on age gaps)

1920 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 251  sheet 12

Stephens, Andrew Jackson, age 82, born in Miss, father in Ky.
Lucy, age 76
Nancy Brock, age 53 (servant)

1920 -  Apr. 23 – death of Andrew Jackson Stephens  Buried in Bernard Cemetery

1928 -  June 14 – death of Lucy Stephens  Buried in Bernard Cemetery

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Deed Work – B’s Part 14

I haven’t posted from the deed index in quite awhile.  These are the B’s from the Russell County Deeds Cross Index.  At times, the page numbers cannot be seen on the microfilms.  In that case, the book only is listed.

1858	Braham, Barnabus	Buster, William & c	G-142
1859	Blair, Colbert	Leach, Mathew	G-157
1859	Bryan, George	Jeffuce, Thomas P. & c	G-176
1859	Bailey, John	Tucker, Gabriel	G-181
1859	Buster, Claudius	Lair, William Sr.	G-187
1859	Blair, Morgan	Blair, James Sr.	G-195
1856	Barger, Stephen	Ftinsley Mary A.	G-220
1859	Bradshaw, F.M.	Bradshaw, Elijah	G-245
1859	Blankenship, John W.	Wilson, Abner	G-246
1859	Boyd, George	George, John	G-249
1859	Blankenship, John	Wilson, Abner	G-249
1859	Bolin, Henry J.	Bolin, Lucinda	G-251
1859	Bolin, Henry J.	Bolin, Prudence J.	G-252
1859	Beck, John	McFarland, Madison & c	G-257
1859	Bernard, John I.	Owen, Hester	G-287
185_	Barger, Stephen	Kerns, George & c	G-289
1859	Bernard, John I.	Bolin, John C.	G-292
1859	Bernard, John I.	Chamberlain, David	G-297
1859	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	G-327
1859	Bradshaw, John C.	Bradshaw, Elijah	G-330
1859	Blankenship, John	Smith, George H. & c	G-332
1859	Blankenship, John W.	Foley, Peter F. & c	G-332
1859	Blankenship, David	Blankenship, Jesse	G-338
1859	Bernard, Harriet S.	Bernard, John I. & c	G-339
1859	Barnes, William	Chamberlain, William & c	G-344
1855	Blankenship, Joel	Meadows, James E. & c	G-346
1855	Buster, Williams & c	Lair, William & c	G-357
1858	Barnes, William	Renalds, Daniel & c	G-383
1860	Bryan, George	Perkins, Simon	G-397
1868	Bolin, John C.	Bolin, Benjamin P. & c	G-400
1850	Bryan, George	Jeffuce, Thomas P. & c	G-401
1860	Bernard, William W.	Loac, William T.	G-411
1860	Brooks, George	Lay, John & c	G-418
1860	Brley, M.C.D.	Simpson, Nancy	G-439
1860	Brickin, R.R.	Cartwright, M.W.	G-450
1860	Brickin, Willliam M.	Cartwright, M.W.	G-457
1868	Barnes, Ozias	Herriford, George W. & c	G-493
1860	Bolin, B.J.	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G-504
1861	Bolin, Ann E.	Bolin, B.J.	G-514
1861	Ballenger, Berryman	Ballenger, David	G-526

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