The Stevens Genealogy; embracing branches of the family descended from puritan ancestry, New England families not traceable to puritan ancestry and miscellaneous branches wherever found online

s

University of California Berkeley




DR. ELVIRA STEVENS BARNEY AT SEVENTY-
ONE YEARS OF AGE.



The names in this book have been submitted
for temple ^ork. Please do not submit
again.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY



EMBRACING BRANCHES OF THE
FAMILY DESCENDED FROM



Puritan Ancestry, New England Families not Traceable

to Puritan Ancestry and Miscellaneous

Branches Wherever Found



Together with an



Extended Account of the Line of Descent from
1650 to the Present Time of the Author



DR. ELVIRA STEVENS BARNEY




I LIVE IN HOPE



Stevens and Stephens are forms of the
Greek word Stephanos. The root from
which // is derived means a crown.

The Stevens arms here reproduced is
recorded in the Visitations of Gloucester-
shire, 1623, and lias been continuously in
use by English and American members of
the family. Original drawings of this eoat
of arms may be seen in the British Museum.
It is shown in earnings at Chavenagh
House, and on famil\ tombs.

The several mottoes adopted h\ different
branches of the family have been but varia-
tions of the one here presented: "/ live in
hope."



Table of Contents.



PART I.
Stevens Families of Puritan Ancestry.

SECTION. PAGE.

Introduction 16

I William Stevens, of ( iloucester, Mass 21

II. Ebenezer Steevens, of Killingworth, Conn 24

III. The Cnshmaii-Stevens Families, of New Kngland 39

IV. The Hapgood-Stevens Families, of Marlboro, Mass 43

V. Henry Stevens, of Stonington, Conn 45

VI. Thomas Stevens, of Moston, Mass 49

VII. Thomas Stevens, of East Haven, Conn 50

II 11. The Pierce-Stevens Family, of Gloucester. Mass 60,



I 'ART II.

Sterens Families of New England.
I Samuel Stevens, of Woodstock, Me 85

II. Fzra Stevens, of Kuckfield, Me <^

III. Andrew Stevens, of Montpelier, Vt <)8

I\ . Thomas Stevens, of Worcester, Mass K>J

\'. Simon Stevens, of New Hampshire ion



VIII.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY.



SECTION. PAGE.

VI. Dr. Cyprian Stevens, of Maine 109

VII. Thomas Stevens, of Thomaston, Ale no

VIII. Levi Stevens, of Xe\v Fngland, and others 113

IX. Daniel Stevens, Jr., of Concord, N. H 117

X. The Jewitt- Pease-Stevens Families of Lynne, Conn 118

XL Francis Stevens, of Worcester, Mass 118

XII. \Yilliam Stevens, of Thomaston, Me 121

XIII. Benjamin Steven>, of Xew Market, N. H 125

XIV. The Felt-Stevens Families, of Maine 130

XV. Phineas Stevens, of Suf field. Conn 134

XVI. Miscellaneous Stevens Families of Taunton. Mass 137

XVII. Lyman Stevens, of Essex county, Mass 138



PART III.

Miscellaneous Stevens Families.

I. Joseph Stevens, of Painted Post. X. V 149

II. William Steven^ <>f Kdisto Island, S. C 157

III. The Ra\\ -son-Stevens Family, of Palmyra, N. Y 158

IV. John Stevens, of Tiskilwa, 111 161

V. Joshua C. Stephens, of Canisteo, N. Y 162

VI. Fbenezer Stevens, of Kingston, N. Y 166

VII. Joshua Stevens, of South Carolina 166

VIII. The Philbrick-Stevens Family, of Kingston, N. Y 170



TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX

SECTION. PAGE.

IX. ^ Ebenezer Stevens, of Rockaway, N. Y 173

X. Abraham Stevens, of Cornwall, England 175

XI. The Stevens Family, of France 181

XII. Jonathan Stevens, of Canada 182



PART IV.

The Ancestral Line of Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney

From 1650 to the Present Time.

Page 193.



PART V.

A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney
Page 257.



X.



Till-: STKVKNS GENEALOGY



APPENDIX.



I. Differences 275

II. My Trip South 277

III. Open Letter 281

INDEX.

I. To Names of Persons Born Steevens 293

II. To Names of Persons Born Stephens 293

III. To Names of Persons Born Stevens 294

IV. To Names of Persons Not Born Stevens 303



List of Illustrations.



PAGE.

1. Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney at 71 Years of Age Frontispiece

2. Stevens Coat of Arms V.

3. Mary Elizabeth Steevens 25

4. Mary Steevens Walton 29

5. William Frederick Walton 33

6. Susan P. A very Walton 37

7. Sears Steevens 41

8. Nauvoo Temple Completed . 51

9. Nauvoo Temple in Ruins, 1857 55

10. Homestead of James R. Stevens, West Haven, Conn 59

11. James Reynolds Stevens, of West Haven, Conn 63

12. Thales H. Haskell and Family 67

13. Jonathan Crosby 70

14. Alma Crosby 75

1 5. Frances Willard 79

16. Leon McDonald 83

17. Eugene Trouslot 87

18. Eveline Farley 91

19. Rollin B. Trouslot and Barnard F. Stevens 95

20. Deacon Horace Barnes and Wife 99

21. Solon Boomer and Lois Barnes Boomer 103

22. Orton Barnes and Sisters 107

23. Arthur H. 1 Janies 1 1 '



X.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY



APPENDIX.



I. Differences 275

II. My Trip South 277

III. Open Letter 281



[NDEX.

I. To Names of IVr>ns Horn Suwens

II. To Names of Persons Born Stephens

III. To Names of Persons Born Stevens 294

IV. To Names of Persons Not Born Stevens 303



List of Illustrations.



PA<>E.

1. Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney at 71 Years of Age Frontispiece

2. Stevens Coat of Arms A .

3. Mary Elizabeth Steevens 25

4. Mary Steevens Walton 29

5. William Frederick Walton 33

6. Susan P. A very Walton 37

7. Sears Steevens 41

8. Nauvoo Temple Completed 51

9. Nauvoo Temple in Ruins, 1857 55

10. Homestead of James R. Stevens, West Haven, Conn 59

11. James Reynolds Stevens, of West Haven, Conn 63

12. Thales H. Haskell and Family 67

13. Jonathan Crosby 70

14. Alma Crosby 75

1 5. Frances Willard 79

16. Leon McDonald 83

17. Eugene Trouslot 87

18. Eveline Farley 91

19. Rollin B. Trouslot and Barnard F. Stevens 95

20. Deacon Horace Barnes and Wife 99

21. Solon Boomer and Lois Barnes Boomer 103

22. Orton Barnes and Sisters 107

23. Arthur H . I iarnes HI



XII.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY.



PAGE.

24. Hermon Stevens, of Napanoch, N. Y 115

25. Lucretia S. Cone Barnes 1 19

26. Addison Pratt and Louisa Barnes Pratt 1 23

^7- Frances Pratt 1 27

2 &- Ann Louisa Pratt 131

29. Lois Barnes Boomer 135

30. Amelia Stevens Howell 139

31. Bennie and Jesse Howell 143

32. Simon Stevens, Shelburne Falls, Mass 147

33. Mary E. Stevens, Wife of Simon 151

34. Benjamin Willard Stevens 155

35. Ida Stevens Sullivan and Family 159

36. Rollin B. Trouslot 163

37. Laura Barwise Trouslot 171

38. Rollin Cunnabell Trouslot 179

3<> Lois Ann Stevens Wilson 185

40. Lycurgus Wilson 189

41. Barnard Stevens 195

42. Mary Boutwell Stevens 199

43. Barnard Field Stevens and Family 203

44. Residence of Barnard Field Stevens 207

45. Barnard Field and Wife 211

46. Dr. Benjamin Willard Stevens 215

47. Amelia Althea Stevens 219

48. Philip B. Lewis 225

49. Jane Amanda Stevens 229

50. I 'hilip Bessum Lewis 235



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XIII.

51. Carlos Stevens 241

52. Claudia Brown and Husband 245

53. First Residence Built by Dr. Elvira S. Barney 251

54. Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney at 50 Years of Age 256

55. Second Residence Built by Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney 259

56. Third Residence Built by Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney 263

57- Fourth Residence Built by Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney 267

58. Headstone Erected by Dr. Elvira Stevens Barney 271



Preface.



Dear Kinsfolk:

After many years of labor, I feel to congratulate myself that I
have thus far accomplished my purpose, though not in as satisfactory
a manner as we would desire. But you will bear in mind, I feel con-
vinced, that a perfect genealogical record is impossible, and I pass this
work on to you to carry forward with the assurance that no pains have
been spared on my part to make it as complete and as accurate as the
circumstances under which I have labored would permit.

A thousand circulars and formulas have been distributed and as
many more letters have been written. Between two and three hundred
genealogical books have been carefully searched, and a general glean-
ing has been carried on, with thoroughness, for the last thirty years.
But my first step was taken at about the age of fifteen and now I am
seventy-five years of age, and my hope is that wherever this book is
read it will awaken such an interest that a greater and more extended
search will be made and additional branches of our family found.

Zeno, the celebrated philosopher, when he inquired of the Delphic
oracle what manner of life he should lead, received for reply, "Ask
the dead." We are profited by an acquaintance with the character and
actions of the w r ise and good of other days, particularly if they are of
our own kin. It is true, some affect to be indifferent to such matters
on the principle that we judge of a man as we find him and not on the
merits of his ancestors, but such feelings are not in harmony with those
of the student of history and of hereditary genius. A knowledge of the
actions of our noble ancestors will imbue us with a deep sense of our
indebtedness for the privileges we enjoy and stimulate us to preserve
and transmit their characteristics to generations yet unborn.

That this work may have the effect of an incentive to such a con-
summation, particularly upon all who are of the Stevens blood, is the
desire of

THE AUTHOR,

Salt Lake City Utah. Born Mar. 17, 1832.

March 17, 1907.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY.



Stevens Families of Puritan Ancestry.



INTRODUCTION.

President Eliot, of Harvard university, during a short visit to Utah
in 1892, said that his mind "involuntarily went back to the first jour-
ney across the wilderness by civilized men and women, to the planting
of this superb colony by a Christian church."

"It reminded me," he continued, ''of another planting two hundred
and fifty-six years ago, a planting of another Christian church by the
Puritans and Pilgrims in \e\v England."

And because of this likeness between the experiences of the two
colonies, it is probable that no people living can so fully appreciate the
Puritans as can the Pioneers. This being true, those of our readers
who are acquainted with the settlement of Utah will find it an easy
matter to let their sympathies go out to the early settlers of Xew Eng-
land, while we briefly review their persecutions for religious belief,
their drivings, their exile from civilization, their sufferings in a new
country and their final triumph in the founding of a great common-
wealth.

We shall not find so difficult, therefore, the duty we. owe to this
study ; for, without doubt, the first concern of a student of genealogy
is to become acquainted with the environment in which the subjects of
his inquiry played their parts. So only can he introduce color into the
picture. To the proper study of genealogy must be brought not only
the understanding but the affections.

Commencing, then, with the dissent, as early as 1564, from the
liturgy and discipline of the Established Church of England, we first
have the name "Puritaine" applied to those who refused to kneel in par-
taking of the sacrament, who objected to the use of the cross in baptism
and of the ring in marriage, and to the dress of the clergy when exer-
cising their holy functions. Their contention was that the breaking



l8 THE STEVENS GENEALOGY

away from the domination of Rome by King Henry VIII. was only a
half-hearted measure; that the manner of performing these ceremonies
smacked too much of Catholicism.

The hard intolerance of the times soon brought down upon their
constantly increasing numbers the hand of persecution. They were scat-
tered and peeled. Many were burned at the stake, while others sought
refuge in disordered flight. Some of the more daring held together in
congregations throughout England, but their meetings were of neces-
sity convened in secret and, for the most part, under shelter of night,
and were overhung by the constant fear of the officers of the law. One
of these assemblies would present a familiar spectacle to a Mormon mis-
sionary of today, being made up of men and women from all the towns
and cities for perhaps twenty miles around, "one of a city and two of a
family."

A- to the character of these people, we may here pause for a mo-
ment to quote the eminent historian, Douglas Campbell. Speaking of
the reign of King James I., he says :

"The mass of Englishmen were living a life of practical heathen-
ism. The man. outside the ranks of the avowed Catholics, who lived a
life of chastity and sobriety, avoided gambling and profanity, especially
if he maintained family devotions, kept the Sabbath, and attended
rhurch with regularity, was. by the people at large, ridiculed as a Turi-
Ian.'

In the closing days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Puritans had been
mostly suppressed or driven into banishment, one of these congrega-
tions existed in Gainsborough-upon-Trent, in the county of Lincoln,
some twelve miles north of Boston, with the Rev. John Smyth as their
pastor. Of his congregation we know but two members, William Brad-
ford, who afterward became the governor of Plymouth, and William
Brewster, of Scrooby, a little hamlet of Nottinghamshire, about tw r enty
miles distant. To their number, in 1604, was added John Robinson,
a refugee minister, a graduate of Cambridge, who soon after led the
historic exodus from Scrooby into Holland.

John Smyth and his followers, "could not long continue in any
peaceable condition,'' where they were, "but were hunted and persecuted
on every side." until in 1606, the pastor, with a few of his flock, re-
moved to Amsterdam, Holland, where "for the most part." writes Brad-
ford, "they buried themselves and their names."

lint of the little band who gathered about John Robinson at
Scroobv. history has a different stnrv to tell. After some of their num-



* The Puritans. Vol. II. i>.



STEVENS FAMILIES OF PURITAN ANCESTRY 1 9

her had been, "taken and clapt into prison/' to use again the quaint
wording and orthography of the times, and "others had their houses
beset and watcht night and day and hardly escaped" the hands of their
persecutors, "ye most were faine to flie and leave their bowses and hab-
itations, and the means of their livelihood" ; and, seeing "that there was
no hope for their continuance ther, by joynte consente, they resolved to
goe into ye Low Countries, wher they heard was freedome of Religion
for all men."* The flight of this company from England was made in
1608; and after a stay of twelve years in Leyden, it was this company
who, in 1620, took passage on the Mayflower for the new world.

Not until the period from 1630 to 1640, however, were the colonies
in Massachusetts firmly established. Commencing with the arrival of
seventeen vessels in 1630, the migration of the Puritans from England
may be said fairly to have begun. From then till war became imminent
between 1 the adherents of King Charles I. and the forces that rallied
to the standard of Cromwell, refugees came pouring into New England
by the shipload. But they came illy prepared for the warfare that
awaited them on the shores of New England. Most of them were
dealers, tradesmen and millhands, ignorant of the soil. They came
scantily provisioned, stripped of their means, weak arid weary from the
long sea voyage, to take up the struggle for existence in a strange land
surrounded by hostile Indians. No wonder the celebration of their
achievements gave wings to the words of the orator in his beautiful
apostrophe on the Pilgrims.

"Shut now the volume of history," says the inspired Everett, "and
tell me, on any principle of human probability, what shall be the fate
of this handful of adventurers? Tell me, man of military science, in
how many months were they swept off by the thirty savage tribes enum-
erated within the early limits of New England? Tell me, politician,
how long did this shadow of a colony, on which your conventions and
treaties had not smiled, languish on the distant coast? Student of his-
tory, compare for me the baffled projects, the deserted settlements, the
abandoned adventures, of other times, and find the parallel of this.
Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless heads of women
and children? Was it hard labor and spare meals? Was it disease?
Was it the tomahawk? Was it a deep malady of a blighted hope, a
ruined enterprise, and a broken heart, aching, in its last moments, at
the recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? Was it some or
all of these united, that hurried this forsaken company to their melan-
choly fate? And, is it possible that neither of these causes, that not all



Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, p. 10.



2O THE STKVKNS r,H XI-: A LOGY






combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it possible that fn-ni
a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy, not so much of admiration as
of pity, there has gone forth a pr. gr s - steady, a growth so wonder-
ful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a promise, yet to be
fulfilled, so glorious?"

Pnt the Puritans were not only to face the dangers and hardships
of the Xew \Yorld. but were to be subjected to accumulating indigni-
ties in the Old. Driven from IK MHO, they were not to be permitted to
go in peace. During the first few years of their exodus no obstacles
were placed in their way by the mother country: but, word coming to
the ears of the king that certain liberties were being taken with the or-
dinances of religion across the sea laws were enacted restricting their
departure.

As early as i'\^. "Cotton. Hooker and Stone with great difficulty
eluded the vigilance of the pursuivants, and escaped from the country.''
In 1635. Richard Mather "Was obliged to keep close till the vessel was
fairly at sea : and Thomas Shepard embarked under the assumed name
of his elder brother, John, a husbandman."

In April, 1037, a proclamation was issued, "to restrain the disor-
derly transporting of his Majesty's subjects to the colonies without
leave.'' It commanded that. "n license should be given them, without
a certificate that they had taken the oaths of supremacy and allegiance,
and had conformed to the discipline of the Church of England." In
May. H^S. a fresh proclamation was made, "commanding owners and
masters of vessels, that they do not fit out with passengers and pro-
visions to Xew England, without license from the commissioners of
plantations/' 4

These restrictions gave rise to various devices for misleading the
officials of the crown, and, "many English people took advantage of
passports." held by others, "to leave the realm in the character of their
servants ; but this subterfuge being discovered, recourse was generally
obliged to be had to strategems of a more subtle kind."

Thus it came about that only those men and women who were in
deadly earnest for the cause of truth, had the temerity to come. They
were picked men and women, morally and intellectually, the salt of the
earth. Undaunted by persecution, having the courage of their con-
victions in the face of every opposition, garnered from all England,
they were a sturdy, self-reliant. ( iod-fearing race. \Yell might a
parallel be drawn between the Puritans and the Pioneers.

* X. E. H. & G. Reg. Vol. V. p. 151.



THE STEVENS GENEALOGY.



PART I.
Stevens Families of Puritan Ancestry.



SECTION I.
WILLIAM STEVENS, of Gloucester, Mass.

WILLIAM STEVENS, a ship carpenter, was one of the first
settlers of Salem, and is entitled to honorable mention for his mechan-
ical skill, his inflexible honesty and his services in various public offices.

He came to New Kngland before K^J, and probably had his resi-
dence in I Boston, Mass., or its vicinity. From his ability as a mechanic
it might be inferred that he was the Mr. Stevens who. in March. 1634,
was to receive by order of the general court, ten pounds, for seeing to
ihe erection of a movable port to be built at Boston.

He was at Salem, in 1<\V>, where, one note says, he joined the
church in December, 1 030,, and where his children, Isaac and Mary,
were baptized on January 2(>. 1(140, and his daughter, Ruth, on March
7, 1641. He was admitted a freeman in 1040; and, in 1642, he ap-
pears in Gloucester as one of the commissioners appointed by the gen-
eral court for ordering town affairs, and he was a representative in 1^44.

His standing among the early settlers, and the importance of his
aid in promoting the prosperity of the town, are sufficiently indicated
by the extraordinary grant of land he received (500 acres) lying be-
tween Chebacco and Anisquam rivers. He also had a grant of six
acres of land on the Meeting House Neck; but his residence was at the
cut, near the beach, where he had eight acres of land.

He was a selectman several years, commissioner for ending small
causes, town clerk, and, for four years, a representative.

I 'roof of his mechanical skill .and honesty is preserved in the fol-
lowing extract from a letter written by Kmanuel Downing, in January,
U>,^, to Hon. Sir John C'oke. one of the Massachusetts company and
an officer of the Knglish government:



22 THE STEVENS GENEALOGY

"Being last night at the Exchange, I inquired what ship-carpenter
Mr. Winthrop. the governor, had with him in Xew England. I was
informed by Mr. Alders, Esq., the Lord Keeper's brother-in-law, and
Mr. Cradock. that the governor had with him one William Stevens, a
shipwright, so able a man, as they believe there is hardly such another
to be found in this kingdom.

"There be two or three others, but for want of their names, I could
not be satisfied of them. This Stevens, hath built here many ships
of great burthen, he made the Royal Merchant, of 600 tons ; this man,
as they inform me, had more regard to his substantial performance than
the wages he was to receive, and so grew to prosperity ; whereupon, he
was preparing to go to Sprague, where he knew he should have wages
deservable to his paynes, had not some friends persuaded him to New
England, where he now lives with great content. Had the state of
Sprague obtained him, he should have been as a precious jewel to them."

William Stevens also had a new England fame, being undoubtedly
"the very efficient builder" mentioned by Johnson, one of our early his-
torians. Nothing is known pertaining to the vessels he built here, ex-
cept in two instances.

A ship was built in the town of Gloucester, as early as 1643, by
William Stevens and other ship carpenters, for one Mr. Griffin. Un-
happily for the credit of some of the workmen, a letter has been
preserved which shows that they were guilty of such misdemeanor as
required the interference of the colonial government, and called for an
order to proceed against them with force.

Johnson, in his Wonder-Working Proridcncc. writing of this period
rakes notice of the good shipping timber to be found in Gloucester, and
of several vessels that had been built in that town, and mentions a "'very
efficient builder," in illusion, without doubt, to William Stevens, who,
in 1642-44. and again in 1649, was one f tn e principal town officers.

After a lapse of twenty years, the noted shipwright of Gloucester,
William Stevens, reappears as the builder of a ship in the town.
He may have built several during the period, but not till 1661. can any
particulars be given. He agreed to build a ship in June of that year, of
sixty-eight feet in length by twenty-three feet in width, for which he
was to be paid three hundred and fifty pounds for every ton of the ship's
burden.

This worthy citizen was no less distinguished for his action in rela-
tion to political affairs, than for his mechanical abilities. He was a mem-
ber of the general court in 1665, when the colonial government made-



STEVENS FAMILIES OF PURITAN ANCESTRY 2J

a noble resistance to the proceedings of the commissioners sent over by
the king to interfere in the legislation of the colony in a manner which
was justly esteemed to be an infringement of colonial rights and privi-
leges. It was a grave offence in those days to speak evil of rulers, and
discretion would have counseled silence, but the honest indignation of
Mr. Stevens, spurning all restraints, found utterance in unmeasured
terms of dislike.

Four of his neighbors testified in a quarterly court in Salem in 1667,
to his declaring "that he would bear no office in this jurisdiction, nor
anywhere else, where Charles Stuart had anything to do, and that he
cared no more for Charles Stuart, as King, than for any other man, and
that he abhorred the name of Charles Stuart, as King."

For this bold and rash statement of his hatred for the King, the
offender was sentenced to a month's imprisonment, to pay a fine of
iwenty pounds and costs, and to be deprived of his privilege as a free-
man.

Soon after this, his wife, in a petition to the general court for re-
lief, represents him as deranged and herself as aged and having a family.
He soon sank into poverty, evidently, for he mortgaged a part of his