Chart | Land | Marriage | Civil_War | Burial| Census
Earliest person of this line.
Facts (with source information): Narrative Report
The family story is that a courthouse burned and John lost the land as a result. But there is no record of a courthouse burning in Knox County. And as you can see below, we still have Knox County records that pre-date the Civil War.
Another family story has it that he was a slaveholder. But he hasn’t much property and his name does not appear in either the 1850 or the 1860 slave schedules of the U.S. Census. He may have owned slaves, but there’s no evidence that he did.
Chart:
1841 Land Purchases, Knox County, MO:
There are land patent records in the Government Land Office which document John Stephens’ purchase of 160 acres in Knox County, Missouri. The purchase was dated 10 November 1841. Location was Sections 11 and 24, Township 62-N, Range 10-W. The certificate says that John Stephens was from Fountain County, Indiana. William Stephens and Richard Donovan (both of Fountain County, Indiana) also purchased land in Knox County, Missouri, in 1841 (same day).
Richard Donovan was the son-in-law of Evin Stephens, and Evin Stephens had a son named William. (Richard and William never appear in the census in Knox County.) John might be related to these two men. He might be the son of Evin Stephens. If he is Evin’s son, he would have been born in Clark County, Ohio. But that is only a theory.
land patent 20885, 80 acres
land patent 20886, 40 acres
land patent 20887, 40 acres
Marriage Records:
There is no record of his birth, nor any record where he appears with his parents. In addition, I cannot find a marriage record for his first marriage. The mother of five of his sons is named only in the 1850 census. By 1860 she has died and he has re-married twice. Here are the records of his second and third marriages, from Knox County, Missouri.
1855 Marriage to Margaret Kendy (Kennedy)
Knox County, Missouri
left side, 2nd last
(film 007515683, image 367)
1858 Marriage to Mary Susan Barr
Knox County, Missouri
bottom left
(film 007515683, image 385)
1862 Provost Marshal Investigation:
Missouri was under martial law during the civil war, and many people were suspected of supporting the Confederacy. John Stephens was investigated because his neighbor was meeting with confederate recruiters and John was thought to have been present. This is the last record I have found for John E Stephens. His eldest son stays in Knox County and raises a family there. His sons Thomas and Samuel do not appear in any records I can find after the war. His sons Benjamin and Lafayette are living in Fountain County, Indiana, as are his widow and her children.
There is an entry about John Stephens of Knox County in the “Missouri’s Union Provost Marshal Papers: 1861 – 1866” index on the Missouri State Archives web page. The subject is “Statement that he was visiting Doctor P. Canduttes when James Bourn and Simon Shiers arrived.” The date is 9 July 1862. Reel number F1268. (1860 census for Lewis County shows Doctor Palonzo Conduitte living near LaBelle. He was born in Louisiana and had “personal property” with value $1803, but is not shown as a slave holder. Probably was a southern sympathizer, and was being investigated by the adjutant general.) The Conduittes were neighbors of John Stephens for many years. They bought land from the Government Land Office in 1848.
1866 Burial
The death information shown here for John Stephens is not certain. There is a book of cemetery inscriptions for Fountain County, Indiana. John Stephens aged 49 years and 3 months is buried in the “Hushaw Dazey Stephenson or Rupert” cemetery. The death date is 24 January 1866. In support of this candidate, I found no John Stephens of the same age in Indiana in the 1860 census. So, it is possible that the John who was in Missouri in 1860 moved back to Indiana and later died there. (John’s sons Benjamin and Lafayette reside in Fountain County after the Civil War. Mary Stephens (wife of John) is in Fountain County in the 1870 census with her son James, and John is not present.)
I analyzed the cemetery information and found that nearly all the Stephens burials in the Hushaw … Cemetery (aka Old Baptist Cemetery of Newton, Indiana) are the descendants of William Stephens, father-in-law of Evin Stephens. So, I think that John Stephens belonged to this family. I am not sure that he was Evin’s son.
Fountain County, Indiana, Cemetery: 1866 Burial-Possibly John E Stephens
Census Records
Census:
John Stephens is not named in the 1850 or 1860 slave schedules of the U.S. census. Some of his neighbors are shown, especially those whose land is worth a lot of money.
1840 Census
Lewis County, Missouri
This John Stephens has a wife and a very young boy.
“Our” John Stephens’ son John Will was born in Missouri about 1840. The 1850 and 1860 and 1870 censuses all say that. So, John was probably in Missouri at least a year before he bought the land. There is a John Stephens in Lewis County with a very young boy and a wife in the 1840 census. I cannot determine whether that is John Stephens from Fountain County.
line 6
1850 Census, page 1
Knox County, Missouri
lines 37-42
The only record in which Elizabeth is named. Notice the wealthy land-owner on this page. He had slaves, John Stephens did not.
1850 Census, page 2
Knox County, Missouri
line 43 has their youngest child, Lafayette Stephens
1860 Census
Knox County, Missouri
lines 34-39
His eldest son is married. His third wife is present.
