Great! I have a Stevens line in IL. Mary Susan Stevens is my paternal gr.grandmother. Her parents were William Stevens, one of my records has him born in 1803, but a Stevens contact has census records from 1850, 1860 and 1870 which infers he was born in 1815. Would seem to make a bit more sense, as he did not marry until April 11, 1844. He died "Afer?" or April 27, 1885/35? (I have a handwritten record which is a bit murky.) His wife was Silvina Erwin. (Again, the name is also listed Sabina, Sibina, Lavinia, etc) But her birth is listed March 21, 1888, married "Afer" or April 11, 1844. Their children were: BF Stevens, b.Jan17, 1845, Married March 6, 1869, D."Afer" or April 30, 1881, William was listed as a farmer, and BF Stevens was a minister. William was born KY, his wife, VA. William was also listed in one source as Stephens, another, Stevens. All their children were born in Charleston, Coles Co., IL, and most lived and died there. Mary Susan Stevens was b.March 29, 1850, married March 20, 1881 to Benjamin Franklin Fleenor, (My line) and died November 6, 1931. She died in Mendocino Co, CA. James W. Stevens was b.April 6, 1854, married May 7, 1876, D. December 29, 1938. Samuel T (or J - my gr.grandfather wrote in flowery, Spenserian script.) Stevens b.September 1, 1858, m. Feb. 28, 1883, d.November 23, 1942. There was a son, Milton, not listed in my record, but in the census. We think they didn't fill him in the family record because, just maybe, he was gay? Since BF Stevens and Benjamin F. Fleenor both attended Bible college in Hartsville IN, it would have been entirely natural for him to have introduced him to his sister, Mary Susan Stevens. But theirs was a tragic marriage in every possible sense of the word. At one time, BF Fleenor was censured by his church for "being unkind to his wife" and nearly lost his license. This is supposition, but, they lost two children to "tubercular Meningitis" within one month! He may not have been able, because of the times and the "men can't cry" stupidity, to offer to his wife the solace she needed. She gave birth to my grandmother, all the way across the country in Lodi, CA, October 29, 1888. Sometime after that, she was admitted to the Mendocino State mental hospital and never again left. My grandmother grew up as an only child, I have the death records for the babies, and my grandmother told me that the couple were living outside a town in Il, apparently, her husband didn't return when he was needed, and she set out to walk to town, carrying her two desperately sick children. They died, and she dug shallow graves for first one, then the other, put rocks over the tiny graves, and continued to walk to town. There was a funeral for the children, so I think someone must have gone back and found the two little graves for burial. Since my grandmother was born in Lodi, sometime shortly after the deaths, they must have moved to California. I'd have gone crazy, too, if I'd had to endure all of that! My grandmother grew up in a single parent home, was often placed with other minister's families while her father went preachin.' A friend and family member found her in the 1900 census in Ohio, living with another family, and listed as "a servant." That one makes my blood boil - Grandma was only 12 years old then! Later, she stayed for a time with the family of Bishop Wright, and she told me she was treated very kindly by him and his family. And by the way, Bishop Wright was the father of --Wilbur and Orville! The story I think, is true. I have my gr.grandfather's Bible, and there is a picture of Bishop Wright pasted in the back cover of the Bible. My grandmother married Thomas Jackson Niceley in Fresno CA, in 1913. In May 28, 1914, my grandmother, then married just over a year, picked up the morning paper, there to read of the murder of her father! And nobody warned her! She was carrying my father at the time, and he was born in November 1914. I have the headlines from that newspaper story. When a friend sent me those headlines, I was as shocked as if it had happened to me. My grandmother had told me of his murder, but not of the shock she endured. My Niceley line is traced back into the 1600's, my Fleenor line, back to a Johannes Flinner, wife Anna Minnick who arrived in the New World in late 1754, I have the name of the ship, who commanded her, and the fact that she sailed from Hamburg. Hope this helps. I've been looking for IL Stevens for several years. Very truly yours, Nikoli Antoinette Niceley McCracken, nickname Penny. ----- Original Message ----- From: David Stevens To: stevens@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 12:20 AM Subject: [STEVENS] My Secret: Harrison County, IN Stevens It's not really a secret, but for 35 years, I've been writing down every Stevens/Stephens/Stebbins/Steffans/Stephanapolis etc that I can find. I've included all of their children & spouses & parents & follow each line back as far as it will go,and if I find the same person with same spouse & children & parents, I still make a new family for him if his birthdate is different. So, I have hundreds of thousands of STEVENS (Oh yeah, I've changed every name to "STEVENS" but I also include their real name. Such as "Wilford (Stephanson) STEVENS" so every first name is connected to every other. Just in case a name is mis-spelled in the census. (I hear it happens sometimes) :-) I have a site stevens-turner.com that is supposed to hold all of these, but nobody I know, knows how to set up a website. Maybe one of you knows or knows somebody ??? Every time I think I have about every Stevens/Stephens born in the eastern USA, somebody comes up with a name like Xerox Stevens born in 1355 in Hawaii & moved to Ohio when he was 6 and disappeard after the 1850 census. :-) I hope you realize I have a great sense of humor and there seems to be lots of humor in genealogy, though I take it very seriously. That's why I won't hook my Thomas Stevens 1813 Harrison, IN to any family without some evidence of it. Basically, almost every Wilford is in the Stonington, CT STEVENS or in the Orange, VA STEVENS. I've collected thousands of Stevens from early 1900s phone directories. This doesn't help much in the long run, but usually the families lived near each other and some times the directory said "son of ..." In May & June, I took a few genealogy classes concernting immigration from England & Scotland & Germany and one on Native American Immigration. I'm still not sure how you can be a "native" and an "immigrant" ? ? ? Does anybody want to build a huge database of STEVENS-STEPHENS, etc ??? Probably mine isn't as large as some of you already have. Always, DS ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to STEVENS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/893 - Release Date: 7/9/2007 5:22 PM