Charts | Marriage | Death| Census

Son of John E Stephens and Elizabeth √
Husband of Margaret Dove √

Facts (with source information): Narrative Report

Charts:

1872 Marriage to Margaret Dove

Fountain County, Indiana
lower right side

1931 Death

Montgomery, Alabama

His birthplace was Knox, Missouri.
He will be buried in Kirkwood, Missouri
The informant was his daughter.

Bad luck. No primary record names his parents. So, to prove his lineage we have to use the earliest census record. That’s OK. For people of the 19th century there were very few birth records. In this case, the death certificate provides the place of his birth (Knox County, Missouri), and the 1850 census shows him in the household of John and Elizabeth Stephens of Knox County, Missouri.

Oak Hill Cemetery, Kirkwood, Missouri, has a record of burial for Lafayette Stephens. There is no record of their having buried Margaret Stephens. I’ve visited the cemetery and watched them search for a record, but they could not find it. So, in spite of what people say on Find-a-Grave, there is no evidence of when Margaret died or where she was buried. But why did the family ship Lafayette’s body back to Missouri from Alabama? It is a mystery.
Cemetery plot: 1931 Burial, Kirkwood, Missouri

Census Records

1850 Census, page 1

Benton Township, Knox County, Missouri
family number 36, lines 37-42

Everyone is shown except Lafayette, the youngest son.
Census takers used all the lines on a page.
He is at the top of the next page.

This is the only record that shows Elizabeth Stephens.
She says she was born in Virginia.

1850 Census, page 2

Benton Township, Knox County, Missouri
family number 36, top line

1860 Census

In which their name is spelled “Stevens”
Everyone is present, even his oldest brother, John, who is married and has his own household (same page).
Mary Stephens is the third wife of John. She’s much younger than is he.

Knox County, Missouri
lines 9-12 and 34-39

1870 Census

I cannot find them in the 1870 census.

1880 Census

Fountain County, Indiana
lines 32-36

He has three children, all born in Indiana.

1900 Census, page 1

St. Louis, Missouri
lines 49-50

Their name is spelled “Stevpens.” His wife says she has had 5 children, 3 are living.

1900 Census, page 2

St. Louis, Missouri
lines 51-52, top of the page

Their name is spelled correctly on this page.

1910 Census

St. Louis, Missouri
lines 45-50

Their daughter and her family are in the same household.
Margaret Dove Stephens says she has had 5 children, 3 are living.

1920 Census

Jackson County, Illinois
lines 80-81

This is the last record in which Margaret Dove Stephens appears.

1930 Census

Alabama
lines 85-88

He lives with his daughter, Louvella Quillin. He is widowed.