Who are George W. Stephens 's Parents

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rachel on January 25, 2010 at 11:55am

Hi Patty, Do you have anything else on Mary Elizabeth White? I have a Nancy White, born about 1817, unknown, married to Jordon Vann May 4, 1838 in Talladega County, Alabama. While looking at the census for 1840, I can't remember the county in Alabama, there is a David White who is a neighbor of Jordan and Nancy (White) Vann. I was wondering if there could be a relation between your Mary Elizabeth White, David White and my Nancy White. Good luck on your George W. Stephens. Thank you
Rachel

Permalink Reply by Patty Mitchell on January 27, 2010 at 5:50pm

Hi
I have this marrige record for David White.
Patty


Marriage 1 Mary H. Jones b: ABT 1800 in North Carolina
 Married: 25 APR 1830 in Franklin Co, GA
 Note:
Possible:
Georgia Marriages to 1850
Spouse 1: Jones, Mary H.
Spouse 2: White, David
Marriage Date: 25 Apr 1830
Marriage Location: Georgia
Franklin County
Source Information:
Dodd, Jordan. Georgia Marriages to 1850. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1997. Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Georgia.

Permalink Reply by Randall Jensen on January 27, 2010 at 4:02pm

Hello Patty, The census records of the family seem to offer many clues.
Here is the family in the 1870 census. Who is the James W. Stephens living with them? He is also born in Alabama and few years older then George. Could he be an older brother?

*1870 United States Federal Census
Name: James W Stephens
Birth Year: abt 1825
Age in 1870: 45
Birthplace: Alabama
Home in 1870: Western District, Burleson, Texas
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Caldwell
Household Members:
Name Age
Geo W Stephens 39 (Alabama)
Mary E Stephens 38 (Georgia)
Nancy H Stephens 14
Mary J Stephens 11
John H Stephens 9
Kitty A Stephens 5
Samuel Stephens 1
James W Stephens 45 (Alabama)
******************************************
In the 1880 census (last name misspelled) Mary's father David White is living with them. It also states George's parents were born in North Carolina & Tennessee.

*1880 United States Federal Census
Name: George Steffens
Home in 1880: Precinct 2, Burleson, Texas
Age: 49
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Birthplace: Alabama
Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head)
Spouse's name: Mary
Father's birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's birthplace: Tennessee
Occupation: Farmer
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members:
Name Age
George Steffens 49
Mary Steffens 48
John Steffens 19
Kittie Steffens 14
Sam Steffens 10
Georgia Steffens 9
David White 77 (father-in-law)
********************************************
The 1850 censuses also offer some clues. Both of these were taken in September. Here is Mary E. White(before marriage) with her family in Chickasaw Co., Mississippi.

*1850 United States Federal Census
Name: David White
Age: 45
Estimated birth year: abt 1805
Birth Place: Georgia
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Western Division, Chickasaw, Mississippi
Household Members:
Name Age
David White 45
Mary H White 50
Mary E White 18
Nancy H White 16
****************************
Also living in Chickasaw Co., Mississippi at the same time is a George W. Stephens from Alabama. This I believe is the correct George W Stephens you are researching. He is living with other a family named Stephens. Who are they and how are they related?

*1850 United States Federal Census
Name: George W Stephens
Age: 20
Estimated birth year: abt 1830
Birth Place: Alabama
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Eastern Division, Chickasaw, Mississippi
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert R Stephens 31 (Tennessee)
Siria E Stephens 21 (South Carolina)
Rufus J Stephens 6 (Mississippi)
Sarah C Stephens 4 (Mississippi
Zachary T Stephens 1 (Mississippi
George W Stephens 20 (Alabama)

The Lauderdale Co, AL you mentioned is in the northwest corner of the state and borders Tennessee. Could Robert R. Stephens have come from just over the state line in Tennessee from George. George states in the 1880 census his mother was from Tennessee.

Permalink Reply by Liz Loveland on February 9, 2010 at 2:00pm

I find the question of relationships (if any) before the census started explicitly stating them to be really interesting. Sometimes I have sussed out that the person was a relative (most often a sibling, cousin, niece or nephew) and other times they appear to have no connection and later research has shown they were a farm laborer, domestic servant, boarder, or similar. Bear in mind that even in cases where the surname is different, the surname could have changed due to a new marriage or that the head of household could have been adopted and kept their original surname (which I see much more often in older records than in more recent ones), so even the head of household could have started out with the same surname (or in a family where the original HoH had the same surname) as the person living with the family, even if this is no longer the case.