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Stevens (3enea(0G^
Stevens (3cnealoG^.
Some Descendants
3fit3 Stephen jfamili^
IN ENGLAND AND NEW ENGLAND.
C. ELLIS ^^TEVENS, LL.D., D.C.L.
F.S.A. (EDINBURGH)
KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE ORDER OF CHRIST
OF PORTUGAL.
NEW YORK
PRIVATELY PRINTED
190^-
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BY C. Ellis SiEVEh
ilntrniiitcttnn
HE Norman house of Fitz Stephen originally
took its cognomen from the Christian
name borne in honor of St. Stephen, the
first martyr of the Church. In the devel-
opment of English surnames allusion to
landed estates, to Christian names, or to
occupations was characteristic — usually with corruption or
alteration in process of time in either sound or spelling,
or both, and almost invariably in spelling. The family of
Le Despencer, for instance, with whom a branch of the
Stevens family is connected, took designation from the
high office at court of Dispenser or Lord Steward of the
royal household, held by the earlier ancestors. The name
grew to be Despencer, then De Spencer, and finally Spen-
cer, by which corrupted form are now known the men of
this blood — the Dukes of Marlborough and Earls Spencer.
The " de " in most Norman surnames has long since been
dropped. The De Wessingtons have become Washing-
tons, the De Walgraves, by curious confusion, Walde-
graves ; the De Winterwades, Wentworths ; and a similar
process of change has been usual.
In like transition the name Fitz Stephen became Fitz
Stephens, and then Stephens. And as spelling was long
unsettled, the alphabetical letters being used with wide
liberty, if somehow they conveyed the intended sound —
(S)
Stevens Genealogy
the name came to be spelled in a variety of ways. The
principal spellings, Stephens and Stevens, have been used
interchangeably in repeated instances, as applied to the
same individuals, both in England and America. The
later American forms of Steevens and Stevens, as settled
by distinctly traceable processes evidenced by old family
documents, are well-known corruptions of the original.
Among other spellings on both sides of the Atlantic may
be mentioned Stephenes, Stepheyns, Stephyns, Stevyns,
Steveens, Steevens, Steevans, Stevins and Schyvyns. The
essential point in genealogy, of course, is actual blood
descent ; and alterations in the structure or spelling of a
name, or even entire change of name, is of but incidental
consequence. Varied form in the name is one of the well-
recognized marks of an ancient family.
The coat-of-arms of this house, as recorded by the
College of Heralds, and continuously in use in the English
and American branches, is settled as being: " Per chevron,
azure and argent, in chief two falcons volant or." In
ordinary English, this designates a shield divided by an
inverted V, the upper half blue and the lower half silver.
In the upper half are two falcons of gold in the attitude of
opening their wings to begin flying. In some old descrip-
tions the word " volant," which designates this attitude, is
given as " rising "— " in chief two falcons rising or." Either
description is correct, one being equivalent to the other.
The crest is " a demi-eagle displayed or " — in other words,
an eagle of gold showing in front down to, but excluding
the legs, and with wings outstretched. It has been sug-
gested that this eagle may have been intended for a falcon,
or the falcons in the shield may originally have been eagles.
And a certain color is given to this suggestion by the fact
that in some instances the falcons have been called eagles,
ya^^-
Stevens Genealogy
and also that eagles have been used on the arms of a family
of the name supposed to be a distant collateral branch.
In the old usage of seals figures were sometimes imper-
fectly represented, or the wax impressions became indis-
tinct by wear; so that it cannot now be definitely known
what was the original intent in such ancient arms. In the
present case the Herald's Visitations agree that the oldest
examples of the shield already in existence four centuries
ago when arms were being settled, showed falcons ; and
they have made the description official. A crescent or
mullet has occasionally been added as an authorized mark
to indicate a younger offshoot of the family — and there
have been, as in all old shields, some variations. But
the original arms belong to the class of the longest
recorded heraldry in England. The present writer has
seen original drawings of these arms in ancient manu-
scripts in the British Museum. The arms are shown in
glass at the manor houses of the family and in carvings
at Chavenage House, Churchdown, Sodbury iVIanor
House, and on the tombs of Edward Stephens in East-
ington church, and Thomas Stephens in Stroud church,
and like memorials. And they are officially recorded in
the Visitations of Gloucestershire by the College of
Heralds, 1623, 1682, 1683 and otherwise, and have been
many times engraved in published works, as in the plate
of Sir Philip Stephens, Bart., in Bentham's Baronets; in
Burke's Extinct Baronetcies, etc. The motto, as is allow-
able, has been varied and has included the following:
"Je vis en espoir", " Vigilans et audax ", " Concilio et
armis", " Fides Stephani", and " Byde Tyme", the latter
being old English for "Abide time" — meaning patience or
endurance with unflinching purpose. The earliest recorded
use of a seal in the family is in a deed between Roger, Prior
8 Stevens Genealogy
Lathbury Abbey and Roger Fitz Alan for the chapel of
Harscombe, to which were affixed the seals of Margaret de
Bohun and William Fitz Stephen, brother of Ralph Fitz
Stephen, Baron of Wapley, in 1131.'
It cannot be said that the heraldic charges in old days
were as full of meaning as sometimes has been claimed.
But it may not be uninteresting to note what the Rev. W.
Sloan Sloan-Evans says in his Grammar of Heraldry re-
garding the armorial use of the falcon. " She is reckoned,
says Gwillim, ' the soverign queen of all fowls'. The Egypt-
ians did express the sun by a falcon, in regard to faith-
fulnesse, vivacity, celerity and quicknesse of sight". "This
bird saith Upton, is very bold and hardy, for she encounter-
eth with fowls much greater than herself. It doth show,
that he which first took upon him the bearing thereof, was
one eager and hot in the pursuit of anything much cared
for". Notwithstanding this fine writing, it is to be feared
that the only thing in mind when the device came to be the
cognizance of this family, was the circumstance that the
falcon was a familiar object to those then engaged in the
excitements of " hunting with hawk and hound.""
' Dugdale's Monasticon, X, 89.
^ In this connection it may be pardonable to call attention to the fact that similarity of family
names does not in itself constitute a right to a coat of arms for persons not ot the actual blood
of the family to which such arms belong. The cognomen Stephens or Stevens is borne by
numerous families on both sides of the Atlantic, descended from ancestors ul Saxon, Welsh, or
unknown extraction, who had the not uncommon Christian name of Stephen, but with no
more relation to each other than if their names, accidentally alike, were as different as their blood.
There is of course, no such thing as a ** Stevens' Coat of Arms " in the sense that any one
bearing the name of Stephens or Stevens can by that reason of mere name honestly use the arms.
Among the differing coats of arms associated with several gentle families of the name, the one
here described is, of course, limited to this, the only Norman house ; and can be borne solely
in the male succession of this line — save when used as a quartering by descendants of an heiress
or co-heiress of the house, added to the male arms of their own families. As the genealogy
has been carefully kept both in England and America, and never " lost " or in need of being
*' looked up ", the evidence of who is, and therefore of who is not entitled to the arms, is in
possession of the family. Instances have occurred in which persons having no arms of
their own have attempted to use as male arms the arms of an ancestress, in violation of
Stevens Genealogy
The Fitz Stephen family came over with William the
Conqueror, and were feudal barons in Gloucestershire from
the reign of King Henry II, first of the Plantagenets.' In
that reign Ralph Fitz Stephen, Baron of Wapley, and his
brother William, afterwards Chief Justice of the Circuit
Court of England, were jointly High Sheriffs of the shire, a
position then of such influence that there was effort to make
it hereditary in the noble families." Later other members of
the family held the office. In IGS-i Edward Stephens was
appointed High Sheriff; and in 10-13-44: Thomas Stephens
so served under appointment of the Long Parliament.
Sir Thomas Stephens, brother of John Stephens of Guilford,
Connecticut, ancestor of the American line, was High
Sheriff in 1671, Thomas Stephens in 1693, and Nathaniel
Stephens in 1098. Many of the family have been members
of Parliament. Some have received Knighthood, and Sir
Philip Stephens, F. R. S., Lord of the Admiralty, was
created a Baronet in 1795. Several have acquired note in
literature, and one was Historiographer Royal of England.
Immediate family connections by marriage count more than
one Bishop of the Church, the Earls of Oxford and
Mortimer, the Lords Crewe of Stene, and others of the
nobility, the celebrated Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale,
and (by three ties), Oliver Cromwell. Descent by female
lines and heiresses has included the Earls of Gloucester,
Northumberland, Warwick, Pembroke, Surry, etc., the
Barons De Ros, Beauchamp, Le Despencer, and others of
propriety. Fortunately a more intelligent understanding, and a sense of honor in these things,
is making it increasingly difficult to take for onesself in heraldry what belongs to others — and
incidentally public ridicule of such assumption is aiding the result. Inquiries made of the present
writer by numerous individuals seem to call for these observations at a time when mistakes in
the use of heraldry are only too possible even where best intentions exist.
' The feudal nobility became so powerful that the sovereigns eventually substituted for it the
modern titular ranks.
- Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Constitutional Hist., p. 91.
lo Stevens Genealogy
the ancient baronage of England, and coheiresses of four
abeyant peerages — with lineage from several of the noble
and princely houses of Europe, and from the English royal
line of King Edward I ; with subsequent repeated inter-
marriages with the royal family down to and including the
house of Tudor.'
At different times the manors of Wapley,Winterbourne,
Lewynesmede, Eastington, Alkerton, Fretherne, Lypiatt
Park, Little Sodbury, Chavenage, Bisley, Horton, Chering-
ton and Alderley have been seats of the family in Glouces-
tershire, with estates in other counties. And the American
branch has been in possession of landed property in all its
generations.
The family though now existing in the male descent
only in America, had, after colonial times, its first native-
born citizen of the United States in the direct line, in the
person of the grandfather of the present head of the
house. That means that for more than seven hundred
years the members of this house were born subjects of the
King, and that present native citizenship of the new nation
of the United States is a matter of only some ninety-eight
years, or the possible span of a single human life. The
last head of the family who was born a British subject died
but seventy-seven years ago. The circumstances, whatever
their bearing, are of interest, and illustrate how close are
the ties existing between the mother and daughter countries
as represented by some English families in America.
The present writer as eldest male representative has
received by inheritance the family records and papers,
covering many generations from English times to to-day.
These papers which include deeds, wills, transfers, settle-
* This book being a record of tlie male line, does not go into details of the colateral descent.
Stevens Genealogy 1 1
merits and legal documents of all descriptions, besides a
large collection of correspondence of dififerent periods,
give ample information; and as in other old English houses,
the family's genealogy has always been preserved. Some
years ago the writer spent considerable time in England
verifying the facts of the family history and enlarging the
biographies from information there available. He was
courteously accorded access to original manuscripts, the
official records of the College of Heralds, the collections
in the British IVluseum, and other historical materials. And
his study has been still further fortified by reference to
practically all sources of authority on the subject that have
been published, and by correspondence with English and
American members of the family, and otherwise. He begs
to acknowledge obligation for much valuable assistance.
The present pedigree, the publication of which has been
provided for by members of the family, is thus based upon
original contemporaneous documents and legal papers of
the archives, as verified by historical research.'
The work is confined to the main line of descent
except in so far as side lines are closely connected with it.
For kind co-operation in procuring illustrations for the
book, thanks are due to Harvard University, the Boston
Public Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and
several friends on both sides the sea — notably to the Rev.
Canon Fox of Stroud, and Lowsley Williams, Esq., the
present Squire of Chavenage House, Gloucestershire.
' The particulars regarding the Fitz Stephen family from the Norman Conquest down to the
time of Henry of Frocester as given in tlie present work are fuller and more complete than
have hitherto appeared. As many of the generations rest on land inheritance or historical
fact — the task of thus recording the difficult period has not been difficult, although the writer
is unable to vouch for every detail. Names of individuals have in instances been problematical.
Prior to the reign ot J,)ueen Elizabeth family records in England were usually less well cared
for, than thereafter. Most old genealogies take on a fullness after her time, that was unknown
in the Middle Ages. The Visitations to the College of Heralds greatly aided this result.
12 Stevens Genealogy
Coats of Arms of the family and its alliances are introduced
to a limited extent, from authenticated sources.
The annals of the house pass through periods of
Anglo-Saxon history of more than private interest. While
these pages are intended essentially for the personal con-
venience of members of the family, it has been thought of
value to refer from time to time to the historical scenes
with which the ancestral figures were associated-*^ with a
view to giving a life-touch to what might otherwise be but
a rehearsal of dry facts.
%
V
LINE I
AlRARD FiTZ Stephen, a nobleman of Normandy,
was placed by William the Conqueror in command of the
" Mora", the ship presented by his Duchess and eventual
Queen, Matilda of Flanders, for his personal use in the
fleet conveying the Norman forces to England for the
battle of Hastings, 1060.' Vessels for this fleet had
been given by all the leading nobles of the duchy, many
of whom, as well known, embarked on the expedition.
Detained by lack of favorable winds the vessels for the
fateful expedition harbored for a time at St. Vallery on the
French coast, where as Miss Strickland says,' "William was
surprised by the arrival of his Duchess at the port, in a
splendid vessel of war, called the Mora, which she had
caused to be built unknown to him, and adorned in the
most royal style of magnificence for his acceptance. The
effigy of their youngest son, William, formed of gilded
bronze, some writers say of gold, was placed at the prow
of this vessel, with his face turned towards England, hold-
ing a trumpet to his lips with one hand, and bearing in the
other a bow, with the arrow aimed at England. It seemed
as if the wind had only delayed in order to enable Matilda
to offer this gratifying and auspicious gift to her departing
* Taylor's Anonymous MS., Littleton I, 464 ; Strickland's Queens of England I, 116.
'Ibid, I, 33.
( >3)
14 Stevens Genealogy
lord ; for scarcely had the acclamations with which it was
greeted by the admiring host died away when the long
desired breeze sprang up". " A joyful clamor", says
William of Malmesbury, "then arising, summoned every
one to the ships". Wace in the " Roman de Rou " mentions
that the Mora was anchored, in the outer harbor, and set
sail in the lead of the fleet, which it soon left out of sight.
In the Bayeaux Tapestry Queen Matilda has given a rep-
resentation of this vessel and of Airard Fitz Stephen ; but the
figure of Prince William is represented at the stern instead
of the prow, and the outlines of the craft are convention-
alized so as to diminish the actual proportions. Arrived
on the English coast the Conqueror slipped in landing, and
fell, clutching the sand; but quickly turned the incident to
account by declaring that it was a token of his possession
of the kingdom. He ordered the hulls of the ships to
be pierced so as to prevent easy retreat by his troops.
Airard Fitz Stephen remained for the battle of Hastings
(Senlac). He had issue a son;
Thomas Fitz Stephen, who commanded the " Blanche
Nef", better known as the "White Ship", "the finest
vessel in the Norman navy ".' This vessel is forever
associated with the great catastrophe by which when con-
veying Prince William, the heir to the throne, accompanied
by a large number of the nobility, from Harfleur to
England it struck a hidden rock and went down with the
loss of all but one of those on board.' Eitz Stephen
' Strickland, I, p. Il6.
2 D.inte Gabriel Rossetti has versed this ; —
Stout Fitz Stephen came to the King —
A captain famous in seaforing j
And he held to the King, in all men's sight,
A mark of gold for his tribute's right.
Stevens Genealogy 1 5
caught a floating spar of the wreck, but on learning of the
death of Prince WilHam was so overcome that he lost his
hold and sank into the sea, 1120/ He had issue;
I. Ralph, of whom presently.
II. Stephen, Governor of Cardigan Castle," who mar-
ried Nesta, daughter of Reys ap Tedwr, King
of South Wales, by whom he had issue ;
1. Robert, one of the Norman conquerors of
Ireland. Robert Fitz Stephen was active
in war in Wales and was held captive three
years by his cousin Rhys ap Greffydd, and
released on the mediation of his half
brother, David Fitz Gerald, Bishop of St.
Davids. He then became active in the
conquest of Ireland, and his success led to
" Liege Lord ! My father guided the ship
From whose boat your father's foot did slip,
" When he caught the English soil in his grip,
And cried, ' by this clasp I claim command
O'er every rood of English land ! *
'* He was borne to the realm you rule o'er now
In that ship with the archer carved at her prow,
*' And thither I'll bear an' It be my due,
Your father's son and his grandson too".
* * * *
<^uoth the King ; ** My ships are chosen each one,
But I'll not say nay to Stephen's son.
*' My son and daughter and fellowship
Shall cross the water in the White Ship."
^ Odericus Vitalis refers to Thomas FitzStephen. See also Tirry's Anglo-Normans;
Strickland, I, 117 ; Hume I, 262, etc. Strickland says, (I, 116), that Thomas FitzStephen
" demanded the honor ot conveying the heir of England home because his father had com-
manded the Mora, the ship that brought William the Conqueror to the shores of England.
His petition was granted."
^ This Stephen Fitz Stephen has long been claimed as a member of the family — the claim
not always being admitted. The general facts are now pretty well ascertained ; and while it
cannot be said that all doubt is removed, the discoveries are confirmatory of the claim. As
the weight of evidence is decidedly in favor of his place in this genealogy, he is so placed with
this note to qualify the entry. Whether his name Is included in the pedigree or not, in no way
affects the line of descent, as his own line died out with his son.
1 6 Stevens Genealogy
the movement of Richard de Clare, com-
monly called Strongbow, a member of the
family of the Earls of Gloucester. He also
fought for Henry II in the English civil
war of 1173, and in France 1174. In 1177
he, with Miles Cogan, received a grant of the
Kingdom of Cork on condition of feudal
service to the King of England by sixty
knights. Later he was associated with
William Fitz Aldhelm in the government.
He reigned five years at Cork, and died
1183 leaving no heirs.'
Ralph Fitz Stephen, son and heir of Thomas Fitz
Stephen, captain of the White Ship, flourished in the reigns
of William Rufus and Henry I, and had issue ;
I. Ralph, Baron of Wapley, of whom presently.
II. William, who took Holy Orders, was a monk of the
Benedictine Order at Canterbury Cathedral, a close
friend of St. Thomas a'Becket, a judicial official
in association with the great Archbishop, and even-
tually Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of England.
He was present at the Council of Northampton,
October 13, 11G4, and was sitting near Becket
when Hubert of Bosham gave the rash advice to
the Archbishop to excommunicate his enemies if
they laid hands on him. William induced the Arch-
bishop to refuse this advice, as the latter after-
wards confessed when during his exile he met
William at St. Benedict's on the Loire.' He was
present in Canterbury Cathedral and an eye wit-
ness to the assassination of Becket. And he subse-
' Cyclopaedia of National Biography, Vol. XIX, III, 112.
- Vit. S. Thomse, iz, 59.
Stevens Genealogy
17
William Fitz Stephen at the Assassination of
Thomas a'Becket
From an old print of the ancient painting in the chapel of the
Holy Cross, Stratford-upon-Avon
a quently wrote
the "Life of St.
T h o m a s" —
which is the
principal his-
torical author-
ity for Becket's
biography.' In
this work he
introduced a
description of
the city of Lon-
don as it ap-
peared at that
time — being
" by far the
most graphic
and elaborate
accountof Lon-
don during the
twelfth cen-
tury",'and one
of the earliest
references to
any European
' The historian Hume who relies on William Fitz Stephen mainly for his facts about Becket,
gives a curious illustration of the social conditions of the period, Vol. 11, p. 15. ** His his-
torian and secretary, Fitz Stephens mentions among other particulars, that his appartments were
every day in winter covered with clean straw or hay, and in summer with green rushes and
boughs, lest the gentlemen who paid court to him and who could not by reason of their great
number find a place at table should soil their fine clothes by sitting on a dirty floor." He refers
to a feudal provision by which the Lordship of Aylesbury was held, which required on the King's
visits straw for the floor in winter and *' grass or herbs" in summer.
' CyclopiEdia of Nation.il Biography, Vol. XIX. Knight's Cyclopedia of Biography, says (H,
112, 113, 922) of Chief Justice Fitz Stephen, that if we may judge from his quotations he
was well versed in Latin and had looked into several of the Greek classics. There is a fine
Stevens Genealogy
capital. This account has been published in
Stow's "Survey of London", and in Hearne's
edition of Leland's "Itinerary". The " Life of
St. Thomas " was first printed in Sparks' " His-
toricae Anglicanas Scriptores " 1723. The chief
later editions are those of Dr. Giles, 1845, and
Rev. J. C. Robertson, 1877. William Fitz
Stephen appears to have escaped most of the
disadvantages of intimacy with Becket, and has
himself preserved a Latin poem of some ninety
lines which he composed and presented to King
Henry II, in the chapel of Bruhull, in return for
which the King granted him a pardon. In 1171-
90 he was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, part of
the time in association with his brother Ralph.'
In 1176 he was appointed a national judge on the
establishment of Circuit Courts, and was placed by
Henry II at the head of the six judicial circuits,
into which the kingdom was then divided. His
circuit included Gloucestershire, and his court de-
cisions are recorded in that, and during four fol-
lowing years in fourteen other counties. His name
appears as Chief Justice Itinerant so late as the
first year of the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion.'
The earliest known use of the seal in this family
is recorded of him, 1131, at the chapel of Hars-
combe, in attesting a deed between Roger, Prior
of Lathbury Abbey, and Roger Fitz Alan — his
manuscript of his history among the Lansdowne volumes (No. 398) in the British Museum,
and a fragment in the Bodlian Library at Oxford.
' Foss I, 370 j Fuller I, 569.
2 Foss, ibid, cf. Madox I, 83, 127, &c.; Horeden II, 88,
Stevens Genealogy 19
seal and that of Margaret de Bohun being affixed
to the document.' He died about 1190.
Ralph Fitz Stephen, Baron of Wapley by feudal
tenure, great grandson of Airard Fitz Stephen, was High
Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1171, the eighteenth year
of the reign of King Henry II, conjointly with his brother
William Fitz Stephen.* Through him the family seem
first to have become residents of this shire, with which
they remained connected for so many generations. A clue
to the cause of settlement in the county may be found in
the fact that he became treasurer of the great Abbey of
Malmesbury in Gloucestershire, not far from the time that
the historian William of Malmesbury was resident there.
He had charge as a layman of the feudal relations of the
Abbey, and the administration of its estates.' Speaking
of the Norman changes in the government of Saxon
times, Gardiner says, " The local chiefs gave way to the
King's representatives. One local officer indeed grew into
increased activity. This was the officer who in each shire
had always been especially the King's officer, the shire-
reeve, or sheriff, who looked after the interests of the
King, while the ealdorman or earl represented the separate
being of the shire. Under William the Conqueror earls
ceased to be appointed save where they had distinct military
duties. Under his successors earldoms gradually sank into
merely honorary dignities. But the sheriff was in the Norman
reigns the busiest of all officers".' The office was of such
power as to be held only by persons of rank, high in the
King's favor, and differed essentially from that of the same
name in modern times. In matters of administration its
1 Dugdale's Monasticon X, 189. ' Dugdale's Monasdcon IV, 563.
'Foss I, 370; Fuller I, 569. ^ Eycyclopa;dia Brit. Ill, 298.
20 Stevens Genealogy
responsibilities necessitated that the sheriff be at the head
of a body of knights and armed retainers. Ralph Fitz
Stephen was possessed of landed estates in Gloucestershire.
In the latter part of the reign of Henry II, he received
the feudal barony of Wapley, of which Codrington was
the chief seat, and shortly after 1189, he bestowed the
manor upon the Abbey of Stanley in Wiltshire, its income
to be devoted to payment for masses for the repose of the
soul of the late King.' This Norman baron died 1190, in
the first year of the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion,
having married de Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle,
CO. Gloucester," near Eastington, by whom he had a son,
FiTz Ralph Fitz Stephen, who was one of the
Crusaders who went from England to the Holy Land
probably in the third Crusade, under Richard Coeur de
Lion, 1190," leaving a son;
John Fitz Stephen,' who it appears married a daugh-
ter of the De Bradeston family, and had issue;
Henry Fitz Stephens, Baron of Winterbourne,
by feudal tenure, concerning whom there is evidence, that
in the civil war of Edward II, he was close to the scene
and events, without being party to the assassination of the
King in Berkeley Castle, 1327. In the reign of King
Edward III, he held the lordship of Winterbourne
conjointly with Thomas, first Lord Bradeston, Governor
of Berkeley Castle." He had issue a son;
^ Transactions of Bristol and Gloucester Arch.eulogical Society, \'II1, 211.
^ This castle, long the home of the Earls of Berkeley, is still standing, and has been con-
tinually a residence of the family since the Norman period.
^ Rolls of Crusaders.
■■The Christian name is uncertain. It is probable that he was named in honor of King
John in whose reign he was born. Naming a son for the King was not unusual in this family.
'' Transactions, Bristol and Gloucester Arch. Soc. XXIV, 23.
Stevens Genealogy i\
Henry Fitz Stephens, whose name is not certainly
known though his personality is. He is referred to in legal
documents; his son having inherited from the latter's
grandfather, on the recorded ground that he, the father,
had died before the date of inheritance, i. e. vila palris.
He left a son and heir;
John Fitz Stephens, Baron of Winterbourne, who
succeeded his grandfather in the lordship, holding
it conjointly with Thomas de Bradeston, second Lord
Bradeston, grandson of Thomas, first Lord Bradeston,
before mentioned. Dying 1374' he left issue ;
John Stephens, Esq., of St. Brivals, co. Gloucester,
with whom the family first omitted the Norman " Fitz "
from its name. The joint holding of the manor of Winter-
bourne with the De Bradestons ended with him in con-
sequence of the extinction of the male line of the De
Bradeston family which followed the death of the second
baron of that house. He is recorded to have held lands
at St. Brival's Castle, and a baliwick in the royal Forest
of Deane, in the ninth year of the reign of King Richard
II, 1386.' Having married a daughter of Spelly,
of Lewynesmede, co. Gloucester, he had issue ;
Richard Stephenvs, Baron of Lewynesmede,'
by feudal tenure, who married a daughter of John
Castel, of Bristol,' and died 1390 having had issue;
I. John, of whom presently.
II. A daughter, who married John Bassott, Esq. He
died 1410.
^ Transactions, Bristol and GIouc. Arch. See. XXIV^, 23.
2 Bentham's Baronets, IV, 264.
^ The holding of Lewynesmede on his part was probably by arrangement through his
mother. The lordship finally passed into possession of the Stephens family with his son John.
^ The name is uncertain.
i2 Stevens Genealogy
III. A daughter, who married Sir PhiHp Sherrer.'
John Stephens, Baron of Lewynesmede, by feudal
tenure, was Member of ParHament for Bristol," in the
reign of King Richard II, and Mayor of Bristol U03,
in the reign of King Henry IV, shortly after the rise
of the House of Lancaster. In 1387, he became ex-
ecutor of the estate of Walter Stoderley, Esq., of Bristol,
and guardian of the latter's son ; and at the same time
executor, together with Sir Philip Sherrer, of the will
of Thomas Clark, of Bristol.' He succeeded to the
lordship of Lewynesmede' by the will of its holder, the
Rev. Elias Spelly, who as a priest of the Church was with-
out heirs by descent. This will, which included other lands,
provided legacies for Thomas Colston, and Nicholas le
Clerk, understood to have been kinsmen of the Spelly
family. He was executor of the will of John Castel, of
Bristol, in 1401, through which he and his son John, called
"the younger" received inheritances.'' The Bristol records
of 1407 show that he then held property in that munici-
pality in addition to his baronial estates." Two years
later his wife Margaret, daughter of Robert Didbrok, of
Bristol, inherited under the will of her father.' In the next
year he was executor of the will of John Bassett." His wife
is referred to as living as late as 1417. He had issue ;
I. John, of whom presently.
II. A daughter, who married Clyve.of Bristol,
and had issue ;
1. John, who inherited certain landed property
in Bristol, from his grandfather, after
whom he was named, and died 1430."
•Ibid. ' Williams' Pari. Hist. CO. Glouc, 52. ■' Bristol Wills, 15. « Ibid, 60 •"•Ibid
28. '■ Bristol Wills, 60. ' Ibid. 8 Ibid, 60. '
' Bristol Wills, 117. Note: There appears at this period as witness to the Bristol wills
a;;,
Stevens Genealogy 23
John Stephens, Baron of Lewynesmede, flourished
in the reign of King Henry V, as recorded in con-
temporaneous documents. He made benefactions to
the Church. Marrying, as appears, Alice ,' he
had a son ;
Thomas Stephens, Esq., whose early life was asso-
ciated with the French wars of King Henry V. He was
a Member of the Parliament of 1422 at the accession of
King Henry VI, when the Duke of Gloucester was
appointed Protector of England, and of the Parliament of
1430 at the time of the capture of Joan of Arc; and also,
as appears of the Parliaments of 1400, 1423, 1427, 1432,
and 1442," and had issue;
John Stephens, Esq., who took part in the turmoil
ending the Wars of the Roses, was Member of Parlia-
ment for Bristol in the reign of King Henry VII," and
had issue;
Henry Stephens, Esq., of Frocester, co. Glouces-
ter, who flourished in the reigns of Henry VIII and
Edward VI, the period of the Reformation of the Church
of England.' He married a daughter and coheiress of
Edward Lugg, Esq., of Lugwardine, co. Hereford, of
the Rev. Elias Stevens, whose exact relationslilp to the fomlly is not distinct. He was a
bachelor of laws, probably of the University of Cambridge, and had become a priest of the
Church. In accordance with the custom of that day he is called " Sir Elias Stevens." He
held the dignilied position of Canon of the Cathedral of Wells. His presence in Bristol
in connection with wills was on June 28, 1441 and in September of t!ie same year. On the
first occasion his name is spelled Stevens, and on the second Stephens. A contemporaneous
spelling Is Stevyns. Ibid, 130.
' Nothing of her family name is found. But as " Alice Stephens '* she appears in legal
documents.
^Williams' Parliamentary Hist. co. Gloucester, 185.
' Ibid.
* Bentham's Baronets, Vol. IV, 265. He was probably named for Henry VII or VIII.
Sir Robert Atkyns in his History of co. Gloucester begins his reference to the family back
of Henry of Frocester by saying that it was of " very ancient establishment in that county'*.
24
Stevens Genealogy
the elder branch of the family of Legge or De La Lega,
now represented by the Earls of Dartmouth. Dying in
1552, he was buried in the
Church of St. Peter at
Frocester." His will
which was dated Jan-
uary 9, 1552, was proved
March 16th of that year.
He had issue ;
I. Edward, his heir,
of whom pres-
ently.
II. Walter, of Froces-
ter, who died
1565, and whose
will dated Janu-
ary 7, 1558, was
proved January
30, 1565 by his brother Edward.
III. Richard, of the Middle Temple, London, Barrister
at Law, who married October 3, 1561, Dorothy
Miles, who was buried at Eastington, March 3,
1571. He was buried at Eastington, August 8,
1577. His will dated December 29, 1572, was
proved November 21, 1577.
IV. William, of the Inner Temple, London, who had
patronage of the livings of lUsington, co. Devon,
Arms of Lugg of Lugvvardine,' 1+95
' Lugg Arms. Gules on a bend between two cotices argent a bendlet wavy azure. Crest :
Out of a ducal coronet a pelican's head vulning between two wings proper.
2 Nichol's Hist. CO. Leic. Vol I. Part l, Page 586. Correspondence of the writer with
the Vicar of Frocester, (1904) failed to locate the site of the tomb of Henry Stephens, but
brought out the fact that several of the family are buried there, as well as at Eastington which
is about eleven miles distant.
Front Elevation of Eastington Manor House
From a rough pencil drawing engraved in Fosbrouk's History of Gloucester. The
manor house, which extended back, and which was characterized bv the wide windows of
the Elizabethan period, was burned in 1 77S — this being the onlv representation of it
in existence.
Stevens Genealogy 25
and Stonehouse, co. Gloucester. His will, dated
September 18, was proved October 27, 1565 by his
brother-in-law, William Fowler, Gent.
V. Robert, of London, who died 1592, whose will
dated December 31, 1592, was proved January 9,
1593, by William Fowler, Gent.
VI. John, of Frocester, who married , and died
1558. His will dated April 10, 1557, was proved
by his wife March 1558.
VII. Alice, who married before 15G5, William Fowler,
Gent., of Stonehouse, co. Gloucester.
VIII. Ann, who married Clutterbuck.
Edward Stephens, Esq., lord of the manor of East-
ington, acquired the manors of Eastington and Alker-
ton, CO. Gloucester,' 1573. The estate of Eastington had
been held during the Middle Ages by the De Molends
and the De Balurns, and it is recorded that Henry de
Newmarch had it in succession to Thurston Fitz Rolf. It
passed into possession of the celebrated Edward de
Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife the grand-
daughter of Prince George Plantaganet, Duke of Clarence,
niece of Edward IV, and Richard III ; and through Lord
Stafford to Edward Stephens in the fifteenth year of the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. Edward Stephens erected a
manor house there of the Elizabethan style." Of this house
only a rude drawing of a portion of the front remains, the
building having been destroyed by fire in 1778, at which time
perished the oldest archives of this family, which had been
' Nichol's Hist., CO. Leic. I, 585.
^ The illustration is from Fosbroolt's Abstracts of Records and MSS., co. Glouc. 405.
The peacefiil reign of Elizabeth was a great period in the erection of manor houses, because
it marked the transition from feudal castles to homes combining dignity and comfort.
26 Stevens Genealogy
there deposited. Eastington manor includes the village of
that name. The parish church has been restored in modern
times.' In the churchyard Whitefield when curate did his
first open-air preaching, the sacred edifice being incapable
of holding his hearers. The most notable feature of the
interior of the church is the altar tomb' with recumbent
effigies of Edward Stephens, and his wife Joan, and show-
ing sculptured the family coat of arms. Edward Stephens
in 1557 built Chavenage Hall in his manor of Horsley,
near Tetbury, Gloucestershire not far distant from East-
ington." The date and his initials and those of his wife
are carved over the entrance doorway. The house, whose
front is in the form of the letter E in honor of Queen
Elizabeth, stretches back in a series of buildings partly
erected since his time. A demi eagle, the crest of the
family, forms a finial over the porch, and over one of the
west gables. In the great hall, at the left of the entrance,
is paneling of the Elizabethan period. The windows have
coats of arms in the stained glass, and the walls were in his
day hung with armor. A chimney piece shows carvings of
the Stephens arms ; and these arms and the arms of Fowler
are elsewhere displayed in the house. The covered ceiling
of the minstrel gallery is finely paneled. The original
dining room has paneling of the date 1627. In the bed
rooms is some good tapestry. The bed room used by
Sir Philip Sidney has another ancient chimney piece. The
chapel was built of materials from the ruins of Horsley
Priory near by. Edward Stephens married Joan, daughter
of Richard Fowler, Gent., of Stonehouse, co. Gloucester,
' The engraving represents the church as it was when the Stephens family were lords of the
manor.
'The illustration is from Plate XLH, Nichols' Hist, of Leic, Part II, 588.
' For plan of Chavenage House, see Transactions and History of GIouc, A Soc, XXII.
-I
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o h
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I S
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s
o
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Stevens Genealogy 27
who died August 5, 1587. His will dated August 13, was
proved November 27, 1587, by his brother-in-law, William
Fowler, Gent., and his son Richard. He died October 22,
1587, aged sixty-four, and was buried in Eastington church,
where his tomb, already referred to, exists to this day, in fair
preservation. He had issue;
I. Richard, of Eastington, his heir, of whom
presently.
II. James, of Eastington, who married Catherine,
widow of Sandford, and daughter of
Robert Browning, Esq., of Cowley, co. Glou-
cester, and died February 19, 1590, his line
eventually becoming extinct.'
III. Thomas, of Lypiatt Park, born 1558, of whom sub-
sequently. See Line II.
IV. Elizabeth, who married Thomas Higges, Esq., of
Cheltenham, co. Gloucester, and was buried at
Eastington, December 2, 1581.
V. Margaret, who married John Parker, Esq., of Barn-
wood.
VI. Alice, who married Willcox, Esq.
Richard Stephens, Esq., of Eastington, Alkerton,
Fretherne and Horsley, co. Gloucester, succeeded his father
in the manors, and married first Margaret, daughter of
Edward St. Leo, Esq., of Knighton, co. Wilts, and secondly
Ann, daughter of Kery who survived him and was
buried at Eastington. He died December, 1599, and was
buried at Eastington. By his first wife he had issue;
I. Edward, baptised November 26, 1587, who died
1590, in childhood.
^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 11, 1915, gives the date of his death October 19, 1594. Burke's
Extinct Baronetcies, 506, gives it February ig, 1590.
2 8 Ste'vens Genealogy
II. Nathaniel, born 1589, and baptised May 20, 1589,
of whom presently.
III. Johanna, baptised June 30, 1583.'
IV. Hester, who married Warburton.
V. Sarah, who married John Giles, Esq., of London.
VI. Abigail, who married William Hill, Esq., Auditor
of the Exchequer, of King James I.
Nathaniel Stephens, Esq., of Eastington and other
manors, co. Gloucester, was Knight of the Shire in Parlia-
ment together with Sir Robert Poyntz, Knt., 1628-9,
and 1640-1648. He married Catherine, daughter of Robert
Beale, Esq., of Prior's Marston, co. Warwick, Secretary
of the Privy Council of Queen Elizabeth. She died
February 22, 1632. He raised a regiment of horse of
which he was Colonel, and fought on the Parliament side
in the Civil War in the time of King Charles I. He was
buried May 30, 1660. According to the " Parliamentary
History of the County of Gloucester"," the fatal illness
which attacked him " a few months after his acquiescence in
the King's death gave rise to the legend of Chavenage", the
story of the Stephens family ghost — which is one of the best
known in England, has been many times told,^ and was, so
late as 1845, the subject of a poem by the Rev. R. W.
Huntley of Boxwell, entitled " Chavenage". The story is
that when the lord of the manor died and all were assembled
for his funeral a hearse drew up at the door of the manor
house driven by a headless man, and the Squire was seen
to rise from his coffin, and enter the hearse after a profound
^ In the English portion of the genealogy the English custom is followed of first giving the
names of all sons, and then of all daughters without reference to age. The records preclude
doing otherwise.
' W. R. Williams, p. 98.
' See Trimbc's Abbeys, Castles and and Ancient Halls of England, Vol. U, 455, 457.
Stevens Genealogy 29
reverence to the headless personage, who as he drove away
assumed the shape of the martyr King, Charles I —
this being regarded as a retribution for the Squire's dis-
loyalty to the King. And thereafter till the line became
extinct, whenever the head of the family died, the same
ghost of the King appeared to carry him off. " So it is
very doubtful", says a writer, " if any of that line were
ever comfortably buried, or that even their bones could be
found in England — they having gone away body and soul
with King Charles".' So runs the legend. Col. Nathaniel
Stephens had issue;
I. Henry, who died unmarried at the University of
Oxford, during the life time of his father.
II. Richard, born 1620, the heir, of whom presently-
Ill. Robert, born 1G22, sergeant-at-Iaw, who died un-
married, November 4, 1675.
' In Gloucestershire Notes and Queries edited by Rev. B. H. Blacker is a reference to this
legend under the heading " Chavenage Manor House" as follows : Vol. 1,41. **The late
Mr. Timbes furnished some particulars of Chavenage near Tetbury, in his * Abbeys, Castles and
Ancient Halls of England and Wales, id ed. 1872, Vol. II, pp. 455, 457. It was the resi-
dence of the family of Stephens of Eastington and Lypiatt, owners of many other manors in
Gloucestershire ; and it appears that Nathaniel Stephens, then in Parliament for the county,
was keeping the festival of Christmas, 1648, in his old manor house. He had shown much
irresolution in deciding upon sacrificing the life of King Charles I, and was wavering on the
question, when Ireton, who had been dispatched to whet his almost blunted purpose arrived
at chavenage, and sat up, it is said, all night in obtaining from him a reluctant acquiesance.
In May 1649, Stephens was seized with a fatal sickness, and died the second of that month, ex-
pressing his regret for having participated in the execution of the King. So far, circumstances
have the semblance of fact ; but on these a legendary tale has been founded, which the super-
stitious and the believers in supernatural appearances are now only beginning to disbelieve.
When all the relatives had assembled and their several well-known equipages were crowding the
courtyard to proceed with the obsequies the household were surprised to observe that another
coach, ornamented with even more than the gorgeous embellishments of that splendid period,
and drawn by black horses, was approaching the porch in great solemnity. When it arrived,
the door of the vehicle opened in some unseen manner, and clad in his shroud, the shade of
the lord of the manor glided into the carriage, and the door instantly closing upon him, the
coach rapidly withdrew from the house ; not however with such speed but there was time to
perceive that the driver was a beheaded man arrayed in royal vestments with the Garter upon
his leg, and the star of that illustrious order upon his breast. No sooner had the coach ar-
rived at the gateway of the manor-court than the whole appearance vanished in Hames of fire.
The story further maintains that to this day, every Lord of Chavenage, dying in the manor
house, takes his departure in the same strange manner ' ". This is the family ghost story.
3°
Stevens Genealogy
IV. Nathaniel, who died in infancy.
V. Margaret, who married 1638, Sir John Fitz James,
Knt., of Sutton, co. Devon.
VI. Edith, who died unmarried September 8, 1632, at
the age of fourteen.
VII. Catherine, born 1618, who married Thomas Bloom-
field, Esq., of London.
VIII. Sarah, born 1623, who married Sir John Stawell,
Knt., of Bovey Tracy, co. Devon.
IX. Hannah, baptised April 11, 1626, who married
Peregrine Palmer, Esq., of Fairfield, co. Somerset.
X. Abigail, baptised September 25, 1628,who married Sir
Edward Harley,
K. B., of Bromp-
ton Brian, co.
Hereford, Mem-
ber of Parliament
for the shire, in
the Parliament
which restored
King Charles II,
She had issue ;
1. Robert, who
was Member
of Parlia-
ment for
Tregony,
Cornwall,
In 1700 he became
Arms of Harley
Earls of Oxford and Mortimer. '
and later for Radnor.
' Arms of Harley. Or a bend cotised sable. Crest : A castle triple towered argent — out
of the middle tower a demi Hon issuant gules. Supporters ; Two angels proper habited and
wings displayed or. Motto: Virtute at fide. Over the shield the coronet of an Earl.
Stevens Genealogy 3 i
Speaker of the House of Commons, and a
member of the Privy Council, and in 1710
Chancellor of the Exchequer and a cabinet
minister of the crown. He was created
May 24, 1711, Earl of Oxford, Earl of
Mortimer, and Baron Hartley of Wigmore,
CO. Hereford.' In the same year he was
made Lord High Treasurer of England.
His room is still to be seen at the Stephens
manor house of Chavenage. He married
first Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley,
Esq., of Whitly Court, co. Worcester,
and secondly Sarah, daughter of Thomas
Middleton, Esq., and died May 21, 1724,
having had by his first wife issue ;
{a) Edward, second Earl of Oxford and
Mortimer, who married Lady Hen-
rieta Cavendish, daughter and heiress
of John Holies, last Duke of New-
castle, of that family. He died June
6, 1741, leaving an only daughter and
heiress, Lady Margaret Cavendish,
who married in 1734, William, second
Duke of Portland ; when the earl-
dom passed to his uncle Edward.
{b) Lady Abigail, who married George,
Earl of Kinnoul, and died 1750.
( c ) Elizabeth, who married Peregrine
Hyde, Duke of Leeds.
Edward, third Earl of Oxford and Mortimer,
who had issue ;
1 Burke's Extinct Peerage.
32
Stevens Genealogy
{a ) Edward, fourth Earl,\vho left no heirs.
(b) John, D.D., sometime Dean of
Windsor, then Lord Bishop of Here-
ford, whose son, Edward, became
fifth Earl, and whose grandson
Alfred was sixth and last Earl of
Oxford and Mortimer, of this family,
dying childless. The earldom of
Oxford had previously been in the
family of De Vere.
Richard Stephens, Esq., of Eastington, and other
manors, co. Gloucester, married July, 1G54, Anne,
daughter of Sir Hugh
Cholmley, Knight and
Baronet, of Whitby,
CO. York, M. P. for
Scarborough, who dis-
tinguished himself as a
royalist during the civil
war in the time of King
Charles I, suffered the
siege and capture of his
castle, and was ban-
ished, but later restored.
Richard Stephens who
qualified as a Knight of
the proposed Order of
the Royal Oak, 1660,=
died March 4, 1678,
and his wife 1712. His
Arms of Sir Huoh Cholmlev, Bart.'
' Cholmley Arms. Gules two helmets in chief argent, garnished or, in base a garb of
the last. Crest ; A garb or. Over the shield is the helmet of a baronet.
■^ Forsbroolc's Hist. Glouc. I, 318.
Stevens Genealogy 23
will dated January 9, 1675, was proved March 2G, 1G80, by
his brother-in-law Sir Hugh Cholmley, Bart. He had issue ;
I. Nathaniel, born 1655, his heir, of whom presently.
II. Richard, of the Middle Temple, London, Barrister
at Law, who died childless at the age of twenty-
five.
III. Cholmley, who died at nineteen, in the East Indies,
childless.
IV. Francis, who died childless.
V. Henry, who died at fifteen, in Smyrna.
VI. Robert, born 1664, of the Middle Temple, Barrister
at Law, Solicitor of Customs to Queen Anne and
King George I, Historiographer Royal of England
by appointment of the King. He studied at
Lincoln College, Oxford' and was called to the
bar in 1689. He was one of the founders of the
Society of Antiquaries, of England, and pub-
lished as editor, " Letters and Reminiscences of
Lord Chancellor Bacon". His catalogue of letters
and papers of Lorci Bacon are preserved in the
British Museum. Having married Mary, daugh-
ter of Sir Hugh Cholmley, Bart., of Whitby,
CO. York, widow of Nathaniel Cholmley, Esq., of
Leicestershire, he died childless at the age of
sixty-seven at Gravesend, November 9, 1732, and
was buried at Eastington.'
VII. Catherine, who died unmarried.
VIII. Ann, who married Sir Charles Page or Pye, of
Clifton Camwell, co. Stafford.
^Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500— 1714, IV, 1420.
^Gentleman's Magazine I 75-, p. 1082; Dictionary of National Biography, LIV, 180 j
Archaeologica, Vol. 1, p. XXXVU ; Bigland's Gloucestershire, I, 541.
34 Stevens Genealogy
IX. Elizabeth, who married John Packer, Esq., of
ShelHngford, co. Berks, and had issue;
1. Robert Packer, who married a daughter of Sir
Henry Winchcombe, and left a daughter
who married Hartley, Esq., leaving
besides Mary and David Hartley, Member
of Parliament, a son Winchcombe Hartley,
Member of Parliament for Buckshire.
2. Anne, who married Sir Edward Hames, of
Westminster.
Nathaniel Stephens, Esq., of Eastington and Cha-
venage, co. Gloucester, was High Sheriff of Gloucester-
shire, 1698. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis
Pemberton, K. B., Lord Chief Justice of the Court of
Common Pleas of England, who died 1742 holding East-
ington and Chavenage in dower. In 1732 he died, having
had issue ;
I. Richard, who died childless, 1771.'
II. Rev. Robert, M. A., born 1704, Rector of Easting-
ton, and lord of the manor, who died childless,
leaving the estates to Henry.
III. Henry, born 1710, heir to his brother, of whom
presently.
IV. Nathaniel, who married Elizabeth Watkins, and died
childless, 177G.
V. Ann, who married John Jacob, of Hullavington, co.
Witts, leaving no heirs.
VI. Elizabeth, who died unmarried.
VII. Mary, who died unmarried.
VIII. Catherine, who died unmarried.
1 Forsbrook says of him, *'A gentleman of great abilities and very elegant in person and
manners". Hist. GIouc. I, 317.
Stevens Genealogy 3 5
IX. Frances, who died unmarried.
Henry Stephens, Esq., of Eastington, co. Gloucester,
married Ann, daughter of the Rev. Richard Huntley,
Rector of Boxwell, co. Gloucester. He died at Chavenage,
St. Paul's Day, January 25, 1795, being the last male
representative of the elder line of this family; and was
buried in Eastington Church, where is a mural monument
erected to his memory by his widow. He left his landed
possessions, after his widow's death, to the descendants of
his aunt Elizabeth Packer, daughter of Richard Stephens
and AnnCholmley. This Elizabeth Stephens had married
her cousin John Packer, Esq., of Shellingford Manor,
CO. Berks, whose mother was a Stephens. And their
daughter, Anne, married Sir Edward Hames, of West-
minster. The sole issue of this marriage was Temperance,
a ward in Chancery. She eloped with John Willis, Esq., of
Redingtield Hall, Eye, co. Suffolk. Their only surviving
son Henry was first entered as an officer in the Royal Navy,
but afterwards took Holy Orders, and became Rector of
Little Sodbury, and Vicar of Wapley, co. Gloucester, the
manor of which, Ralph Fitz Stephen had given to the
Church at the death of King Henry II. He married Jane,
daughter of Richard Lubbock, Esq., of North Walsham,
CO. Norfolk. They had a numerous family, and their son,
Henry Hames Willis, inherited Chavenage on the death of
the widow of Henry Stephens in 1801. In accordance
with the provisions of his cousin's will, the heir through
this female line was obliged to drop his own name, and
adopt by royal license, the name and arms of Stephens
only. He became a monk, and died at the Monastery of
La Treppe, Normandy, 1822, making the children of his
sister Mrs. Richmond Shute, his heirs. The manor thus
went first to his nephew Henry Richmond Shute, who died
^6 Stevens Genealogy
unmarried the following year, and then to his niece, Alice
Elizabeth Shiite,who married the Rev. Maurice Fitz Gerald
Townsend, J. P., and D. L., of Castle Tovvnsend, co. Cork,
Ireland, and Vicar of Thornbury, co. Gloucester. The
Rev. Mr. Townsend took by royal license, December 30,
1826, the name and arms of Stephens, in place of his
own. He had a son Henry John, and two daughters.
Chavenage, however, passed into the hands of William
Holford, of Weston Bert, and was sold by him in 1891,
to Captain Lowsley Williams, the present Squire. East-
ington House had been destroyed by fire long before.' So
ended the connection of the elder Stephens line with
the old estates in Gloucestershire. Line II became
that of the male representatives of the family, in eldest
succession.
'Transactions Bristol and Gloucester Archa'ological Society IV, 167, 169. Henry John
Stephens, son of Rev, Maurice Fitz Gerald Townsend, who took the name of Stephens, was
born l8z7, married 1864, Jane Adeliza Clementina Hussey de Burgh, and died 1869. His
sisters were Geraldine Henrietta, who married Pierrepont Mundy, Major General Royal
Artillery, and Alice Gertrude, wlio married the Rev. Courtenay John Vernon, third son of
the first Lord Lyvedon and Rector of Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire.
Memorial Tablet of Attorney General Thomas Stephens
IN Stroud Church, Gloucestershire
From a Photograph taken for this Work
LINE II.
Thomas Stephens, Esq., of Lypiatt Park, and the
manor of Little Sodbury, co. Gloucester, third son of
Edward Stephens, first lord of the manor of Eastington, of
this family, as before mentioned,' was a Barrister at Law
of the Middle Temple, London. He became an official of
the Court of King James I, being appointed Attorney
General to Prince Henry and Prince Charles, successively
Princes of Wales, the latter ascending the throne as King
Charles L He acquired extensive estates in Gloucester-
shire near the other family manors, and became the head
of a new branch of the house, which has now succeeded
to the family honors as the male representatives of the
ancient line. He married Elizabeth, daughter and co-
heiress of John Stone, Esq., of London, and dying April
26, 1613, was buried in Stroud Church, Gloucestershire."
In transactions of the Bristol and Gloucester Archaeological
Society, is an interesting description of his mural memorial ; "
" It is architecturally a Jacobean frame monument, with a
figure in attitude of prayer — of alabaster, mostly painted
over, and nearly life size. He wears tight slashed doublet,
buttoned up the chest, gallic hose, stulTed and slashed,
bows beside the knees, stockings. Over all a furred, loose
mantle with large loose sleeves. The under sleeves of
^ See Line I, p. 27.
'There was a portrait of Attorney General Stephens in possession of Lady Batli in 1648.
It was engraved by Marshall XXV, 157, 158. See also Bigland's Historical and Gen. Collec-
tions of Glouc, IX, and Rudder's Hist. Glouc, 714..
^XXV, 157, 158.
(37)
38 Stevens Genealogy
doublet tight slashed, and terminating in ruflfs. On the
head a close fitting cap (legal coif). He kneels on an
embroidered and tasseled cushion, praying at a cushioned
desk. There is a single paneled round arch forming a
niche between two disengaged classic columns painted
black, and having composite capitals rising from a deep
plinth, and in turn supporting an elaborate cornice bearing
in centre a crested and mantled shield between two rec-
tangular pillars, each topped with a golden ball. At foot
of shield, right and left diminutive figures, a cupid and a
bearded male perhaps intended to represent Time. The
arms on the shield are quarterly Stephens and Lugg (the
arms of his father and mother), with the Stephens crest of
a demi eagle displayed surmounting the helmet of an
esquire. On the central voussoir of the arch below, the
arms of Stephens are shown impaling Stone (his wife's
arms), azure a fess argent, between three lions (probably
heraldic tigers) statant quardant or.' In spandrels of the
arch each of these coats occurs separately. The inscription
is in Latin. The coloring and gilding of the monument
are well preserved. The location is on the last wall
of the south transept of the church". The Attorney Gen-
eral's will, which was dated March 8, 1612, a codicil being
added in April, was proved by his wife November 24, 1613.
He had issue;
I. Sir Edward, a minor in 1590, his heir, of whom
presently.
II. John, of the IMiddle Temple, London, Barrister at
Law. Was a student at Lincoln College, Oxford.
He became Recorder of Bristol and was Member
'The nature of these arms is uncertain. Sir Philip Stephens, Bart., quartered them, but
they are open to question as to form.
Stevens Genealogy 39
of Parliament for Tewkesbury, 1645, for Glou-
cestershire, 1G59, and for Bristol, IGGO.' He mar-
ried, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Ram, of
Essexshire, who died childless ; secondly, Grace,
daughter of John Brown, of Frampton, co.
Dorset; thirdly, Anne, daughter and coheir of
John Moulson, of Hargrave, co. Chester; and
fourthly, Hester, daughter and coheir of
Barnes, of Alborough Hatch, in Barking, co.
Essex. His first child was by his second wife,
his other children by his third wife. He died
August 4, 1679, and was buried at Stroud Church,
having had issue ;
1. Grace, who married George Tipping, Esq.,
of Draycot, co. Oxford.
2. Thomas, Member of Parliament for Glou-
cestershire, 1695-8," who married Anne,
daughter of Thomas Child, Esq., of North-
wick, CO. Worcester, and died 1708, having
had issue;
(a) Thomas, of Bisley Manor, co. Glou-
cester, Member of Parliament for
Gloucester, 1713-20, who married
Anne, daughter of John Neale, Esq.,
of Deane, co. Bedford, a near rela-
tive of the Lord Protector Oliver
Cromwell, and had besides a son
Thomas, Town Clerk of Bristol,
who died 1745, and daughters Anne,
who died childless, Hester, who mar-
^WiUiams' Pari. Hist. co. Glou., 58. Williams mistakes this John Stephens for his
nephew and namesake, John Stephens, of Guilford.
-Williams' Pari. Hist. co. Glouc. , 61.
40 Stevens Genealogy
ried William Baghott de la Bere,
Esq., of Southam House, co. Glou-
cester;' and an eldest son John, of
Lypiatt, who married Elizabeth,
daughter and heir of Henry Phlll, of
London, and died 1778. This John
had issue Farington, who was buried
at Stroud at the age of twenty, and
John, who died childless, with whom
the male line in this branch of the
family became extinct. He had also
daughters Elizabeth and Hester,
both of whom died in infancy.
(b) Edward, who died in infancy.
{c ) Nathaniel, who died at two years of
age.
{d ) Ann Mary, who married Sir Edward
Fust, Bart., of Hill, co. Gloucester,
and died March 3, 1689-90.
{e) Grace, who died in infancy.
(/) Catherine, who died at the age of
twelve.
3. John, second son of John Stephens above
mentioned, died in infancy.
4. John, also died in infancy.
5. Edward, of the Middle Temple, London,
Barrister, died unmarried, August, 1674.
6. Anne, who married John de la Bere, Esq., of
Southam House, co. Gloucester.
^At Southam House are two portraits of the Stephens family — one by Sir Peter Lely, of
John Stephens, of Lypiatt Park, Recorder of Bristol, brother of Sir Edward — and one of
Edward, son of Thomas Stephens, of Sodbury,
Stevens Genealogy
41
III. Anne, or Elizabeth,' daughter of Attorney General
Thomas Stevens, married Samuel Codrington,
Esq., of Dodrington, among whose descendants
was Sir Isaac Heard, Knt., Garter King of Arms.
IV. Mary, married Thomas Shelley, Esq., of Patham,
CO. Berks.
V. Nathaniel, of Horton and Cherington, co. Glou-
cester, who married Elizabeth, daughter and
heiress of Robert Tyringham, Esq., of Weston
Farell, co. Northampton, and Barkby, co. Lei-
cester, and dying 1643,^ had issue.
1. Edward, of Horton, Cherington, and Alder-
ley, CO. Gloucester, and of the Middle
Temple, London, Bar-
Arms of Tvringham.^
rister at Law, baptized
July 25, 1633, who mar-
ried Mary, daughter of
John Raynesford, Esq.,
of Staverton, co. North-
ampton, and Wolfham-
cote, CO. Warwick, elder
brother of Sir Richard
Raynesford, Knt., Lord
Chief Justice of the Court
of King's Bench, who
had issue ;
{a) Rev. Edward, of Alder-
ley, CO. Gloucester, born
about 1654, of the Mid-
dle Temple, London,
^Nichols in Hist. co. Leicester, Vol. I, Part 2, p. 586, calls her Elizabeth.
^Nichols says 1640 ; Hist. Leic. Vol. I, Part 2, p. 586.
'Tyringham Arms. Azure a saltire engrailed argent. Crest: A talbot's head couped
gules billettee or.
42
Stevens Genealogy
Arms of
Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale.'
Barrister at Law, who eventually was
ordained a priest of the Church of
England.' He was an author of
note in his time, writing on political
and theological subjects, and pub-
lishing many books and pamphlets,
mostly of a controversial character.
His learned work "Liturgy of the
Ancients ", issued in 1G9G, was re-
published in 1848. He married
Mary, daughter of the celebrated
Sir Matthew Hale, Knt.,
Lord Chief Baron of the
Exechequer, 1660, and
Lord Chief Justice of the
Court of King's Bench,
1671. Sir Matthew Hale,
whose Gloucestershire
residence was near that of
the Stephens family, was
counsel for Archbishop
Laud at his trial. His posi-
tion, universally recog-
nized to-day as that of
one of the greatest jurists
of Anglo-Saxon law, needs
no mention. With Sir
Edward Stephens he was
one of the two members
^ Dictionary of National Biograpiiy, LIV, 170.
^ Hale Arms. Argent a fesse sable, in chief three cinque foils of the last. Crest : A
serpent proper entwined around five arrow shafts or, beaded sable, feathered argent, one in
pale, four saltirewise. Motto : Vera sequer. A helmet of Knight's rank.
Stevens Genealogy 43
of Parliament for Gloucestershire,
(Knights of the Shire) at the restor-
ation of King Charles II, and he
was intimately associated with the
Stephens family in the events of that
critical period of English history.
His grandchildren who were Stephens
on the fathers' side, were : John, born
July, 1682, who died without male
heirs ; Elizabeth, who married Gar-
rett Estcourt, Esq., of Cambridge-
shire; Rachel, who married the Rev.
Robert John Bull, son of the cele-
brated Bishop Bull ; and Hester,
who married John Somers, Esq.
(^) John, born 1652, a merchant in the
West Indies, who died childless.
(c) Thomas, who married Mary Adder-
ley, and had issue ; Edward, who
died unmarried, and daughters Ann,
Susan and iVIary.
{d) Nathaniel, who died unmarried.
{e) Richard, who died unmarried.
(/) Robert, who married Elizabeth Uve-
dale, and had a son Edward who died
unmarried.
{g) Rachel, who died unmarried.
{h) Catherine, who died unmarried.
( i ) Anne, who died unmarried.
{]) Mary, who married Robert Uvedale,
LL. D., of Ensfield.
44 Stevens Genealogy
(k) Elizabeth, who died unmarried.
2. The Veil. Tyringham, of the Castle, near Lei-
cester, baptized May 29, 1635, Archdeacon
of Leicester. He married first Isabel, daugh-
ter of George Rayson, Esq., of Leicester,
who died 1G68, and secondly Milicent,
daughter of William Juge, Esq., of Thorpe
Constantine, co. Stafford, who died 1721.
He died June 1710, and was buried June
21, in St. Mary's Church, Leicester, having
by his second wife had issue ;
(rt) Tyringham, baptized April 30, 1672,
an officer in the Admiralty Office,
who died June 6, 1710, unmarried.
{b) Walter, born February 27, 1675, who
died childless,
(c) Richard, born November 2, 1681,
who died childless.
{d) Charles, born September 12, 1686,
who died in infancy.
{e) Thomas, who died childless.
(/) Jane, who died 1681, in childhood.
{g) Milicent, born 1681, who died in
infancy.
(//) The Rev. Nathaniel, born July 3,
1679, Rector of Alphamstone, co.
Essex, who married Ellis, daughter
of P. Deane, Gent., of Harwick, co.
Essex, and died August 18, 1762,
having had issue ;
(rtfl) Tyringham, born March 20,
1713, a Commissioner in the
Mi^5 fj^t^S^*
Quartered Arms of Sir Philip Stephens, Baronet, F. R. S.,
Lord of the Admiralty.
Stevens Genealogy 45
Admiralty, who died February
18, 1768, childless.
i^bb ) Nathaniel, born October 13,
1721, Captain in the Royal Navy,
in command of His Majesty's
ship " Lively ", who died child-
less, March 23, 1717.
{cc) Sir Philip, Baronet, F. R. S., of
St. Faith's and Horsford, co.
Norfolk, and Fiilham, co. Mid-
dlesex, who was born October
11, 1723, educated at Harwich,'
and early became attached as an
official of the Admiralty. After
a voyage around the world with
Rear Admiral Lord Anson, he
was appointed Secretary of the
Admiralty,"' and held the posi-
tion with distinction for up-
wards of thirty years, covering
the critical period of the Ameri-
can Revolution. Being a man
of scientific attainments he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society, June 6, 1771 ; and from
1768 to 1806, a period of thirty-
eight years he was Member of
Parliament for Sandwich. In
^ Gentleman's Magazine, I, 12S.
2 Dictionary of National Biography, LIV, 179-180.
3 The quarterings of Sir Philip Stephens, Bart., as given '.n the engraved plate in Bentham's
Baronets are I. Stephens; 2. Lugg ; 3. Stone; 4. Tyringham ; 5. Daville ; 6. Roos ;
7. Cowdrey; 8. Welsh; 9. Pabenham ; 10. Crioll ; II. Cravencour; 12. Avanches.
46 Stevens Genealogy
1795 he applied for permission
to resign his office of Secretary
of the Admiralty, the duties of
which were heavy ; and he was
on March 17 of that year created
a Baronet by royal letters patent,
and appointed one of the Lords
of the Admiralty. By special
recommendation October 15,
1806, Sir Philip Stephens, Bart.,
then at the age of eighty-one, was
granted the honor of a pension
for long and distinguished ser-
vice, of $7,500 per annum," which
he enjoyed until his death No-
vember 20, 1809. He was buried
in Fulham church. His only son,
Captain Thomas Stephens, was
killed in a duel at Margate 1790,
and his nephew, Brigadier Gen-
eral Stephens Howe, who was in-
cluded as heir to his title in the
patent conferring the baronetcy,
died before him childless. The
baronetcy thus became extinct."
(dd) Ellis, born February 22, 1709,
who died in infancy.
(ee) Grace, born August 5, 1719,
who died unmarried.
' Orders in Council, Vol. LXVI.
2 Burke's Extinct Baronetcies, Gentleman's Magazine II, I180, 1234; Faulkner's Fuliiani,
272, 273 J Thomson's Royal Society j Bentham's Baronets j Cyclopedia of Nat. Biography.
Stevens Genealogy 47
(//) Milicent, born February 11,
1715, who married William Howe,
Gent., of Mistley Thorne, co.
Essex, and had issue; Captain
William Howe, an officer of the
Royal Navy, who died 1765 un-
married ; Captain Tyringham
Howe, an officer of the Royal
Navy, who died June 14, 1783, un-
married ; Nathaniel Howe, who
died young; Captain Philip
Howe, of Havant, co. Hants, an
officer of marines, and, besides
three daughters, Grace, Ellis
Cornelia, and Milicent, Briga-
dier General Stephens Howe,
who was Colonel of the Duke
of York's Regiment and the
West India Regiment, Member
of Parliament for Yarmouth,
Brigadier General in His Maj-
esty's West India forces, and Aid-
de-Camp to the King. He died
unmarried.
Sir Edward Stephens, Knight, of Lypiatt Park,
and the manor of Little Sodbury, co. Gloucester, eldest
son and heir of Attorney General Thomas Stephens, before
mentioned,' and grandson in the line of eventual heirship of
this house of Edward Stephens, first lord of the manors
of Eastington and Chavenage, was ancestor of the only
authenticated male line of the family that has survived
» See p. 38.
48
Stevens Genealogy
to the present day. He studied at the University of Oxford,
and at the Middle Temple, London; and married Anne,
daughter of Sir
Thomas Crewe,
Knt., of North-
amptonshire,
Speaker of the
House of Com-
mons, and sister
of John, first
Lord Crewe, of
S te n e. The
nephews of
Lady Stephens,
Thomas and
Nathaniel,
succeeded a s
second and third Lord Crewe; and with the latter who
was also Bishop of Durham, the title became extinct
1721. The estates inherited by Sir Edward from his
father are of special interest in connection with the fact of
his occupancy of them. Lypiatt Hall still stands in an
excellent state of preservation, rising on the slope of a hill
overlooking the valley of Strancombe." The Whittington's
held the manor under the Plantagenets, and by successive
changes it passed into possession of Attorney General
Stephens who was succeeded by Sir Edward Stephens.
Arms of the Barons Crewh, of Stfne
^ Arms of Crewe : Azure a lion rampant argent, a crescent tor difterence. Supporters :
Dexter a lion argent gorged with a collar azure charged with three roses or. Sinister, a griffin
sable wings dorso erected argent, beak and forelegs or. Crest : Out of a ducal coronet or, a
lion's gamb argent armed gules. Motto: '* Sequor nee interior". Over the shield the
coronet of a Baron.
"'The illustration is from Transactions of Bristol and Glouc. Arch. Soc. V, 57.
been verified by a recent photograph.
It has
Stevens Genealogy 49
According to persistent legend, reiterated in the history of
Gloucestershire, by the learned antiquary Sir R. Atkyns,
the Gunpowder Plot was concocted in this castle. And to
the present day a room is pointed out in which the con-
spirators met. During the stormy days of the Common-
wealth the castle was garrisoned by those in favor of the
Parliamentary interest, with which at that time all the mem-
bers of the Stephens family sided. In 1G42 it was besieged
by a military force of the royalists in command of Sir Jacob
Astley, and after a severe contest was captured, with the
loss of fifty-one men. This was felt at the time to be a
serious blow ; but the family influence in public affairs
increased, and the damages of the siege were eventually
repaired. The entrance is by an embattled porch, and
the building is divided in its centre by a hall, the ceil-
ing of which is embellished by a fresco representing the
story of Mutius and Porsemos. There are towers and
other means of defense, and in ancient times there was
probably a moat. The adjoining private chapel is of
mediaeval construction. The other manor house of Sir
Edward Stephens, that of Little Sodbury, is in less satis-
factory preservation. This house was visited by King
Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn in their royal progress of
1535. Within its walls Tyndale partly made his translation
of the New Testament. The portion of the building in
which he toiled at this task has fallen into ruins. In the
transactions of the Bristol and Gloucester Archaeological
Society,' is a description of the venerable manor house:
"The porch, with its pointed arched hood moulding, and
stone seats admits the visitor to a central passage on the
left of which a door leads to the great hall, and on the
'Vol. XXI, pp. 17, 18.
50 Stevens Genealogy
right is a staircase leading up to a room which is lighted
by a fine oriel window." "The great hall, which is rapidly
falling to decay, and must ere long be in ruins, if nothing
is done to save it, has a fine timber roof with braces, and
angel corbels. The dais or raised floor on which the lord
of the manor and his family sat at meat, was at the south
end, whilst along the east and the west sides long tables
were set for the retainers after the manner of all baronial
houses of the period. At the north end was a screen and
above it a minstrels' gallery. Over the dais in the east wall
is a hideous mask, though the apertures in which, it is
said, the ladies of the household and their friends looked
down from their gallery on the revellers below. Two cor-
bels, some nine feet up in the west walls, now removed,
were formerly intended, it is supposed, to support lamps.
Beyond the great hall there anciently extended other rooms,
the library, drawing rooms, and the state bed rooms. The
woodwork and stone carvings are partly intact". The
present squire who purchased the manor from an heiress of
the Stephens family has removed much of historic interest
to his new house " Lyegrove", on the old estate. Sir Edward
Stephens took an active part in the political turmoil in which
he lived. He sided with the Parliamentary party in the
controversy as long as the conflict remained confined to what
might with any color be called a constitutional struggle, and
was not aimed against the royal person of King Charles I.
He was an earnest lover of old English liberty. But when,
after a close relation to public affairs, he became convinced
that the Parliamentary leaders had gone to too great lengths
and had become themselves a menace to the constitution,
he, with the vast body of conservative men of the nation,
selected to suffer rather than share in radical measures. He
therefore, having been energetic as a Member of the Long
1
Stevens Genealogy 5'
Parliament, refused membership in the Rump Parliament,
and was one of those violently ejected from the House of
Commons by Col. Pride, in the revolutionary proceedings
commonly called " Pride's Purge". This indignity at the
hands of the revolutionists was later regarded as an honor
by those who had suffered it. He and Sir Matthew Hale,
who was a neighbor in Gloucestershire, and a connection of
the Stephens family by marriage, as has been seen,' were
elected by all Gloucestershire as the two representatives, or
Knights of the Shire, to the Restoration Parliament; and they
favored the overwhelming wish of the English people for the
restoration of the ancient line of kings. Sir Edward had
been Member of Parliament for Tewksbury, 1640, 1G41. He
was secluded, and confined as a prisoner of state by the Par-
liamentary party in 1648 when he had deliberately and firmly
turned against their excesses. He received recognition
for his patriotic position from King Charles II, who con-
ferred upon him the honor of Knighthood, July 11, 1660,
within a few days after the restoration had taken place, and
who conferred the same honor upon his celebrated colleague,
Matthew Hale, in the following autumn." Sir Edward died
about 1670, having had issue ;
I. Sir Thomas, Knight, of the manor of Little Sodbury,
CO. Gloucester, High Sheriff of Gloucestershire,'
who married Catherine, daughter and co-heiress
' See p. 42.
' His branch of the family substituted the motto : " Deus intcrsit ", fur the motto of the
Eastington branch ; ** Ad diem tendo '\
'The Harlian MS. 1041, fo. 94 b., is in error in seeming to place the age of Sir Thomas
as four years in 1613. The family records and contemporaneous facts attest his age then to
have been fourteen. The present writer has eiamined the original MS. in the British Museum,
and is of opinion that the error was caused by haste in transcribing, or a misunderstanding of
the statement made at the Visitation — four and fourteen being of similar sound — or that
through copying the slight stroke of I was omitted or so faintly traced as to have faded out
with age. This is not the only slip in the MS. caused by defective copying, or otherwis'.
52
Stevens Genealogy
of William Combs, Esq., of Stratford-upon-Avon,
CO. Warwick, and had issue a son;
1. Thomas, who married Anne, daughter of
John Neale, Esq., of Deane, a near relative
of Oliver Crom-
well, and had a son
Edward, who mar-
ried Sarah, daugh-
ter and heiress of
Richard Burthogg,
of Totness, co.
Devon, whose line
became extinct.'
II. John, of Guilford,
Conn., of whom pres-
ently.'
III. Edward, of whom
nothi ng further is
known.
IV. Anne, who married
John Packer, Esq.
John Stephens, Esq., of Lypiatt Park, and the manor
of Little Sodbury, co. Gloucester, and of Guilford, in the
province of New Haven, (afterwards Connecticut), son of
Sir Edward Stephens, and Anne his wife, sister of the first
1 John Neale was son of John Neale by Anna, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Henry
Cronnvell, Esq., of Upwood, co. Huntington, son of Sir Henry Cromwell. She was first
cousin of Oliver Cromwell.
2 Arms of Neale. Per pale sable and gules, a lion passant guardant argent. Crest ; Out
of a mural crown a demi lion rampant per fesse ermine and gules charged with an escollop
countercharged.
^ The identity of John Stephens, and the fact that his father was Sir Edward Stephens, of
Sodbury, are specifically recorded in the family documents, and in historical works and official
papers on both sides of the Atlantic, and confirmed by contemporaneous circumstances,
and by research. The Edgemere MS. pp. 425-432, gives the family descent with refer-
Arms of Neale of Deane"
Stevens Genealogy S3
Lord Crewe of Stene.was founder of the American branch of
this house, now the heirs male of the family. He was named
for his uncle John Stephens, M. P. Shortly before his
journey to America which took place about 16^:8/ his
father's house at Lypiatt had been besieged and captured
by the royalist party ; and later his father was made
a prisoner of state by the extremists of the opposite fac-
tion. It was a period of low ebb in the fortunes of the
ences to authorities in detail. The Harlian MSS., vol. 1041, fol. 94 b, and vol. 1543, fol.
1 10 b, give information from contemporaneous sources ; and the present writer has personally
examined and verified these originals in the British Museum, with the confirmatory authorities.
Smith's History of Guilford, Conn., in its two editions ; Savage's New England Genealogical
Dictionary j the Colonial Records of Connecticut published by the State, and other printed
works give some particulars. The Harlian Society in its publications based on the Visitations
of the College of Heralds, has made accessible to the public important information of legal
weight. This has been carefully gone over by modern antiquaries and competent searchers
with the result of confirming all the main facts, and enlarging the historic material available.
In Vol. XX of these Publications, p. 151, is one of these records that John Stephens was the
second son of Sir Edward Stephens. As the record is older than the date when Sir Edward
received Knighthood it does not mention him with the title of " Sir ". But that only shows its
contemporaneous character. The work is based on the Visitation of the County of Gloucester,
taken in the year 1623 by Henry Chitty and John Phillpot as deputies to William Camden,
Clarenceux King of Arms, with pedigrees from the Heralds' Visitations of 1569 and 1582-3.
It was edited in 1885 by Sir John Maclean, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London,
and W. C. Heane, M. R. C. S. A work of more detail is the record of a Visitation of the
County of Gloucester begun by Thomas May, Chester, and Gregory King, Rouge Dragon
Pursuivant in Trinity vacation 1682, and finished by Henry Detheck, Richmond, and the
before mentioned Rouge Dragon Pursuivant in Trinity vacation 1683, "by virtue of several
deputations", of Sir Henry St. George, then Clarenceux King of Arms. This work was
edited by F. Fitz Roy Fenwick, and Walter C. Metcalfe, also associated with the English
Society of Antiquaries, in 1884. In it the Stephens pedigree is given with great fullness,
including the record that John Stephens was the second son of Sir Edward Stephens in the
eldest line from the Attorney General Thomas Stephens. And this pedigree has been amplified
by members of the English branch of the family, and has final authority because based not
only on the official Visitation of the College of Heralds, but also upon the family pedigree
record long maintained at Eastington House ; which record was fortunately preserved from destruc-
tion at the burning of the old manorial home by having previously passed into custody of the
De La Beres of Southam House with some other heirlooms, on the intermarriage of that
ancient family with the Stephenses. With the descendants of the De La Beres, the present
writer has been in correspondence. The family record in the original writing thus saved from
Eastington, having come under inspection of the distinguished antiquarian and archaeologist
Sir Thomas Philips, Bart., the latter made exhaustive examination regarding its nature and
accuracy, with the same result of completely veritying the facts of the record. Family records
and public proof coincide. It is rare that any family link between England and America, or
indeed any genealogical detail is so thoroughly substantiated as this. Particulars are here given
regarding it, because of the special interest attaching.
^ The exact date of his coming is not known. It may have been as early as 1645.
54 Stevens Genealogy
family; and the outlook in the mother country was such as
to cause many Englishmen to desire the comparative quiet
of the life then to be found in America. Several of his
friends had already sought asylum in the New England across
seas. As a younger son, he appeared to have slight prospect
at home in the existing conditions. His wife, who was prob-
ably of Kent, had died a little while before his leaving Eng-
land. He sought Connecticut where he had kinsmen; tak-
ing with him two sons and a daughter. And he was at once
given a grant of lands, and accorded a place of influence in
Guilford.' One of the Fowler family connected by mar-
riage with the Eastington line of the Stephenses, joined
him at Guilford, and secured lands immediately next to
his. An island off the coast not far from his landed prop-
erty was named Falcon Island in understood allusion to the
well-known falcons in the coat of arms."" He became a
Judge in the community.' As a member of the Church of
England he was long denied the right to vote (then called
freemanship), which was limited to Puritans; but received it
together with his sons when he conformed to the Puritan
usage in 1669,' there being no other religious worship then
locally existing. Subsequently the elder line of his descend-
ants returned to the communion of the Anglican Church.
As is familiarly known, many gentlemen of old family took
up homes in New England, and in Virginia and some other
provinces; but as a single locality, Guilford was notable for
historical relation to prominent men and affairs of the period.
'John Stephens, though of Gloucestershire, may have gone to New England from Kent,
as Smith surmises: Hist, of Guilford. There is no known authority for this, but it seems
not impossible, as he may have had some contact with Kent.
'Smith's Hist, of Guilford.
* Ibid, and Family Archives.
* Guilford Town Records, A, p. 67. He had long contributed to the support of the
Puritan minister.
Stevens Genealogy 55
The Puritan minister of the place, the Rev. Mr. Whitfield,
was a member of the family of the Whitfields, of Oakley, co.
Surry, and eventually returned to England. He had voyaged
from Kent with certain of his congregation, who were the
founders of Guilford. His daughter Dorothy was the first
wife of Samuel Desborough, brother of Major General
John Desborough, one of the leaders of the armies of the
Commonwealth, who was Governor of St. Brival's Castle,
Gloucestershire, in close contact with the old Stephens
estates, and was brother-in-law of the Lord Protector
Oliver Cromwell, having married the latter's sister. Samuel
Desborough who had taken up residence in Guilford in
1G41, seems to have had directly to do with the going there
of John Stephens. John Stephens was, as already seen, in
family connection with the family of Oliver Cromwell,
being own cousin of Hester Stephens Neale, who by mar-
riage was cousin to the Protector. He was also cousin of
Thomas Stephens who married into the same close kinship.
Samuel Desborough remained at Guilford at least two
years after the arrival of John Stephens, whose Fowler rela-
tive also arrived there evidently by some mutual under-
standing. This Lieutenant John Fowler who became
prominent in the province,' and was the wealthiest man in
Guilford' may have joined his voice to persuade John
Stephens to a home at that locality or may himself have
gone to Guilford because of the latter's going thither.
However this be, it is known that the two acted together,
and selected adjoining lands. Samuel Desborough who
returned to England in 1650, was made by Cromwell,
Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, was Member
^ He was a member of the General Court, and eventually of the Governor's Council.
2 Hist, of Guilford.
56 Stevens Genealogy
of Parliament for Midlothian, 1656, and for Edinburgh,
1658, 1659. After the restoration of Charles II, he retired
to his manor of Ellsworth, co. Cambridge. But, mean-
while, through the influence of Desborough, or otherwise, a
number of gentlemen of family had been brought into asso-
ciation at Guilford. There were the Welleses who early gave
a Governor to Connecticut, the Dudleys, kin of the Earl of
Leicester, with both of which families the Stephenses be-
came allied by marriage ; and the Meggs (Meigs) family of
the manor of Bradford Peverel, co. Dorset, with whom they
twice intermarried, and were in intimate contact for several
generations, as the family archives bear evidence. With these
were Governor Leete, of Connecticut, a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, who had sometime been Registrar of
the Court of the Bishop of Ely;^ and the Chittendens who
had seen military service with William of Orange in the Neth-
erlands." The Rev. John Hoadley, who returned to the
motherland, was one of the chaplains of Cromwell's army,
and being later convinced of the justice of the royal cause,
became chaplain to General Monk, Duke of Albermarle,
who brought about the Restoration. He was father of John
Hoadley, Archbishop of Armagh, and grandfather of the
celebrated Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, Lord Bishop of Bangor.
There were the Baronet family of Sheaflfes, the Chatfields,
Wilcoxes and other Englishmen of gentle blood; and, as
already seen, there was close contact between these men
and current afifairs in high quarters, in the mother country.
Colonel George Fenwick, resident near by, had been a
member of the Long Parliament in company with Sir
^ He was Governor of Connecticut and gave protection in his house at Guilford, to Generals
Gofte and Whalley, of Cromwell's army, (who had been judges for the beheading of Charles 1),
when they passed through ; being actively aided in this by John Meigs, Esq.
^ A descendant of this family was first Governor of Vermont in association with the great-
great-grandfather of the present writer, Col. Joseph Marsh, as Lieutenant Governor.
H
n
o
Stevens Genealogy 57
Edward Stephens. Returning "home" he became Gov-
ernor of Berwick and one of the eight Commissioners for
Scotland. It was in such association as this that John
Stephens made his home under very English conditions
and connections in what became eventually a part of the
United States. He may have had some thought of return-
ing himself, as his eldest son was not brought over with
him, but left with the relatives in England. He lived till
1670, when he died after a lingering illness.' His will,
which was made August 27, 1670, he sealed, but was too
feeble to sign. It was however admitted, and is preserved
in the original in the State House of Connecticut at Hart-
ford. It begins: "This writing witnesseth that I John
Stephens of Guilford, in the county of New Haven, in ye
Colony of Connecticut in New England, being sick and ill
in body, but of perfect mind and memory, blessed be God,
I do leave this my last will and testament as followeth ; and
first I bequeath my soul into the hand of Almighty God,yt
gave it me, and my body to the dust, to be decently buryed,
and for the wordly goods yt God hath given me, I give,
etc". He then bequeaths the bulk of his landed estate to
William as eldest son in America, on condition of a gift in
money to his elder brother in England, with special lega-
cies to other children and to grandchildren who are men-
tioned by name." Throughout the will, as in the first official
list of the family in Guilford in 1650, the family name is
spelled with its usual old English spelling of "Stephens."'
'The Guilford Town Record, R. A., p. 67, records that he was buried the second of
September, 1670. His death probably occurred therefore August 31, 1670.
'^ Ruggles' History of Guilford in Mass. Hist. Collections, Vol. IV; Conn. Hist. Records, 215.
' By customary usage of the Stephens family, as generally of all English gentle families, as is
well known, land inheritance, at least in bulk, has been from ancient times legally associated
with an eldest son or heir — the elder descendant succeeding by primogeniture. In the Stephens
family, even in America, the recognition of an hereditary headship of the family in the eldest
male representative by lineal blood, has been scrupulously maintained generation by generation
58 Stevens Genealogy
In later family and public records the fashion of that
period is shown in the disregard of fixed letters for the
spelling, care being taken only in preserving the sound of
the name. Instances occur
J^^^^^^f/yif
where the name is spelled in
several difFerent styles in a
single document. The older
iT c spelling " Stephens" has at
Facsimile of the Signature of '^ ° ^
John Stephens of Guilford least persisted occasionally
The spelling seems to be stephyns evcn whcre Other fomis Were
used. John Stephens was
to the present time without a break and without question. Of many other old families In
America the same thing, so far as descent is concerned, is true. Such recognition of the
principle of primogeniture or of elder heredity, however changed in later days, was common in
New England among gentle families in the time of John Stephens, of Guilford, modified, in
the case of land inheritance by geographical conditions. When an inheritance was mainly of
land located in New England, which in the nature of things at that period was practically
valueless to an heir resident in the mother country, it was regarded proper to liave it devolve
on the eldest male actually on the spot. As land could not be transported across sea, nor then
easily turned into money equivalent, it was often considered sufficient where primogeniture was
held to, to allow for an eldest heir's '* coming over", and on his failure to *' come ", to
make him a specified moneyed provision instead of land, in the act conveying the land to the
eldest heir in residence. To this law of primogenture as seemingly thus applicable in New
England, John Stephens carefully conformed in his will, giving the bulk of his landed estate to
William Stephens, as his eldeat son actually resident in America, on the condition of the latter's
making a nominal moneyed payment to his elder brother, then in England ; to which elder
brother William eventually became full heir. Further evidence of William's inheritance is
found in Terrier i of John Collins' lands, in Guilford Town Records, in which in transferring
certain of the lands, it is specified that William inherited them from his father. And also
there is evidence in a deed dated March 1 1, 1669-70, and recorded in Guilford Town Records,
Vol. B, p. 114, that the father consulted his eldest son John before so much as adding a strip
to even up the lines of some property that had been purchased by Thomas adjoining his own.
The language of the grant clearly shows the usage of primogeniture as implying the need or
propriety of his eldest son John's consent. It reads: 1 "doe give unto my sonne Thomas
Steuens of Killingworth, my eldest sone and heir being willing," etc.
A singular mistake arose at one time as to the relative age of Hon. Thomas Stephens, by
which some writers supposed him to have been the second son, and chief heir to his father.
The confusion seems to have been due to some one's blunder in reading the name " Thomas "
in place of " William " in the provision of the will of John Stepiiens, which refers to tlie
principal landed inheritance. They thus attributed to Thomas the position and obligations
which in that legal instrument are specifically and definitely recognized as belonging to William.
Unfortunately this blunder has sometimes proved misleading in consequence of tallure to com-
pare such statements with the original will in the State Capitol at Hartford, and easily
accessible. The error may have been influenced in part by a hasty inference from the fact that
in the will Thomas Stephens is mentioned first of all the children, and therefore before
Stevens Genealogy 59
buried at Guilford September 2, 1670/ ten years after the
restoration of King Charles II. He left issue;
I, John, who at the time of his father's death was liv-
ing in England, and whom the record shows to
have been childless.
William. No supposition in favor of the elder birth of Thomas, however, could ever have
been properly based upon this fact, because Thomas' name precedes in this connection not only
that of William, but also that of John, the acknowledged eldest son. Some explanation for its
appearance in such position must be found other than primogeniture. And it such occurrence
of his name before that of John and William be assumed by reason of the order of mention
here or elsewhere to mean liis being elder, what Is meant when he is mentioned again in the
will in the proper sequence after John and William ? In the first instance the precedence cannot
possibly mean that he was the eldest son, and in the second instance on the contrary it indicates
his being the youngest. The true explanation seems to be, that Thomas who is known to
have been an able and active man, was entrusted with the drawing of the will, and being by
his father's death-bed for that purpose, was by his father not only made executor, but also
shown special favors — being remembered before others, and with a natural kindly thought
shown for him and his children. His being constituted executor of course proves nothing j as
anyone whether of kin or not could be that. But it is evidence that he was held in affection
and honor by his father, and together with the existence of legacies to him bars any possible
theory of his being disinherited. And in these circumstances it is inconceivable had he been
second son and as such chief heir to the American possessions, that his father would have done
him the refined cruelty ot making him the executor of a will which took away from him this
birthright and gave it to a younger son, compelling Thomas to hand over his own proper share
of the estate to his brother. It would require much and substantial proof to demonstrate such
a thing as that — whereas no evidence is known to exist which substantiates any supposition that
Thomas was second son, and there is no indication in such direction save some repeated copy-
ing of the error already referred to — which falls to the ground before the will itself. In
recognizing in his will William as his principal heir, John Stephens charged him, as already stated,
with the carrying out of financial provision for John, as the only brother older than himself, and
also for his sister Mary — giving him the family home and the bulk of the landed property. In
contrast with this the inconsequential character of the legacy to Thomas in the first mention
of his name is clear — consisting as it did merely of a mare and a **brass kettle ". And even
in the second mention of Thomas when his name comes in the will in the regular sequence
after those of his elder brothers John and William, the legacy gives him but an old suit of
clothes, an old cloak, a pair of sheets, and a bed and bedding — certainly not the provision by
primogeniture tor " the heir". It seems proper thus to clear away any apparent confusion
regarding a gentleman who himself was in no sense responsible for it, and who was held in
high honor in his day. The residuum of the property was equally divided ; but who the
chief landed heir inheriting his father's house and principal estate really was, is recorded by the
will, as by family and other records. It is a fact of interest that the American line is the only
authenticated surviving male line of the house of Fitz Stephen, and that the headship of the
house, according to the law of primogeniture, has unbrokenly been acknowledged in the suc-
cession of the descendants of William Stephens, as eldest male representatives of the Amer-
ican branch, and also of the English branch of the family.
* Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Vol. IV, "Stevens". In colonial
records of Connecticut in the list of gentlemen, who were distinguished in that rank by being
designated ** Mr.," are members of this family, but with the spelling " Stephens '*.
6o Stevens Genealogy
II. William, eventual heir, of whom presently.
III. Hon. Thomas, an officer in the military expedition
against the Dutch of New York during the War
between England and the Netherlands, 1654. His
name originally spelled "Stephens" in the records,
and so spelled in his father's will, came to be
Steuens and Steevens, which latter his descendants
continue.' He was one of the founders of Kill-
ingworth. Conn., and was a member of the Gen-
eral Court, or Legislature of Connecticut, 1671 —
1683.' He married Mary Fletcher, and died
November 18, 1685.
IV. Mary, who married first Harry Kingsnoth, Esq.,'
of Wolvendon, co. Kent, and secondly, June 2,
1669, John Collins, of Guilford, Conn. She died
1700, having by her second husband had issue;
1. Mary, born February, 1700.
William Stephens, Esq., of Guilford, Colony of Con-
necticut, was born in England, and accompanied to America,
his father, to the bulk of
^ffA JU /^ whose landed estate he
%?^^2ut^vu^^fe5vfy became the heir. He was
r^ ^ for some years magistrate
Facsimile of Signature of William q£ Guilford. Together
Stephens or Stevens ^.^^^ ^^^ father-in-law, John
Meggs, Esq., his brother Hon. Thomas Stephens, and Dr.
Rossiter, he actively opposed the uniting of the colony of
New Haven with that of Connecticut. And this movement
1 See the valuable work of Mr. Clay W. Holmes on the " Genealogy of Steevens", and
New Haven Colonial Records, 1 65 3-1 665.
2 New Haven Col. Rec. 1671-1683.
3 Savage N. E. Gen. Die, IV, 190.
A
? o
3 >
S S JO
3 5
3 =
=; o
8-- i
^ S -
? M V ,
a C r
1
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?^^
^
ti
^ ■> , 1- ...
^
J^tL*^
■" "'' ^n T i tmsu-\1lllt^'!ik 1 '-'f-^^
J
Stevens Genealogy
6i
led to the founding of the town of Killingworth, which was
originally called Kenilworth after the locality in Warwick-
shire near which lived his kinsman Robert Beale, of Prior's
Marston, co. Warwick, Secretary of the Privy Council of
Queen Elizabeth.' Lands
were granted to William
Stephens under patent of
the colony." In 1669 we
find the names of "Willime
Steeuns " and " Thomas
Steeuns" on the list of
freemen of Kenilworth."
He subsequently returned
to Guilford. In signing
his will he spells the name
" Steeavns" though in his
father's will his name is
given "Stephens". He
married March 3, 1653,
Mary, eldest daughter of
John Meggs, Esq., son of
Vincent Meggs, of the manor of Bradford Ptjverell, co. Dor-
set, and of Guilford, Connecticut. She died April 30,
1703, and he in 1710 or 1712, in the reign of Queen Anne,
having had issue ;
Arms of the Meigs Family'
'Meigs Arms: Quarterly 1st and 4th Or a chevron azure between three mascels guleg,
on a chief of tlic last a wolf passant argent, for Meggs ; 2d, Argent a chevron sable between
three roses seeded and leaved proper, for West ; 3d, Gironny of eight argent and gules, for
Peverel. Crest : A talbot's head sable eared argent, collared or, under the collar two roundels
tessewise and three acorns of the third leaved vert.
^ The spelling Killingworth has been supposed to be a modern American corruption of
Kenilworth. But it is found in English usage of that period. The pronunciation in English
custom was the same.
"* Conn. Records, p. 449.
* Colonial Records of Conn. 1679, p. 515.
62 Stevens Genealogy
I. John, born March 3, 1654, Ensign in the Colonial
forces, who was killed in the Pequot war 1676,
unmarried.
II. Samuel, born March, 165G, who married first Eliz-
abeth , and secondly Melatiah, daughter of
Major William Bradford, and granddaughter of
Governor Bradford, of Massachusetts, and had
issue ;
1. John, who died unmarried October 5, 1742.
III. Nathaniel, born May 10, 1659, who died in infancy.
IV. Lieutenant Nathaniel, born October 29, 1661,
of whom presently.
V. Judith, born October 1, 1668, who married Samuel
Buell.
VI. Josiah, born December 8, 1670, who became a physi-
cian, and married first June 25, 1699, Sarah ,
and secondly July 11, 1733, Mercy Hoadley, a
widow, and died March 15, 1754, having had issue ;
1. Josiah, of Killingworth, born March 25, 1700,
who married Martha Smith, and whose line
became extinct.
2. Daniel, born October 18, 1701, who married
Esther Chatfield.
3. Elnathan, born April 13, 1703, who married
Mary Hull, and died December 26, 177().
4. Jerusha, born October 19, 1704, who married
Daniel Griswold, Esq.
5. Nathaniel, born 1716; died 1805.
VI. Mary, born November 2, 1677, who married Joseph
Harris.
^-.„>».
■/
''•' ^d -^^^-
c-'o^ lit- dcjjit'^Wmi^ §1
lift, ^A^y^C
1
4
/£Tji^-A.^,^kf^ j^-^^^'^'^y™,^^ ■'^JL,^,,-^-^'^^
Document from the Family Archives
Part of the settlement of the landed estate of Captain Nathaniel Stevens, of " Summer Hill "
Guilford, Conn., giving the names of his immediate heir male, Nathaniel Stevens,
and his eventual heir male, Hon. Elihu Stevens, of Claremont, N. H.
Stevens Genealogy 63
Nathaniel Stephens, Esq., of "Summer Hill", near
Guilford, Connecticut, was eventual heir and head of the
family, and inherited his father's lands at and near Guil-
ford. In 1705 he was commissioned Lieutenant in the
Colonial forces in Queen Anne's War. In the commission
his name is inscribed "Nathan" Stephens".' His signature
is attached to a petition to the General Court, 1695. His
will, dated October 22, 1709, was proved at New Haven,
November 2 of the same year. His tombstone, formerly
in the burial ground on the green in front of Yale Univer-
sity, has been removed with others to the north wall of the
new, so-called " Old " cemetery. The inscription, partly
obliterated, reads: Leiv. Nath Stevens, Aged 48,
Deceas"' Oct'' 22 An° Dom 1709. From his time the
family name was usually settled in spelling as " Stevens"
though the old orthography "Stephens" has never wholly
ceased. Lieutenant Stephens or Stevens, married Sarah
,' who was born 1632, and died May 24, 1746, by
whom he had issue ;
I. Nathaniel, of whom presently.
II. Sarah, who married September 25, 1707, Stephen
Bishop, Jr., of Guilford.
III. Elizabeth, who married May 10, 1714, Hon. John
Graves, Jr., of Guilford, and died February 10,
1725.
Nathaniel Stevens, Esq., of "Summer Hill", near
Guilford, Connecticut, succeeded to his father's landed pos-
sessions. In 1740 he was commissioned Lieutenant, and in
1741 Captain of the 6th Company of the 7th Connecticut
Regiment. He married November 11, 1713, Mindwell,
'Connecticut Records, 1705, p. 526.
- Her name is uncertain. It appears in the records as Sarah Stephens.
64
Stevens Genealogy
daughter of the Hon.
George Graves, of Hart-
ford, member of the Gen-
eral Court, or Legisla-
ture, of Connecticut. She
died February 12, 1771,
and he March 9, 1747, in
the reign of King George
II, having had issue;
I. Mindwell, or Jerusha,
born February 2,
1715, who married
November 20, 1733,
Jonathan Crampton,
Esq.
II. Nathaniel, born June
6, 1721, who married
first May 14, 1746, Sarah Griswold ; secondly,
October 20, 1762", Ruth Dudley ; and thirdly Au-
gust 15, 1787, Rebecca Buel. His first two children
were by his first wife, the next three by his second
wife, and the last one by his third wife. He died
Octobers, 1798, when the male heirship passed to
his brother, Hon. Elihu Stevens, of Claremont.
He had issue;"
^^c^^^
Arms of Graves Family'
* The Graves family seems to have had kjn in Gloucestershire. Graves Arms : Gules an
eagle displayed or, in dexter chief point a martlet of the second for difference. Crest : An
eagle displayed or, winged gules. Motto : " Aguila non captat muscas". The arms have been
varied. But the foregoing agrees with the sculpture on a contemporaneous tombstone in New
England, and is known to be correct.
'^ Dr. Talcott, an antiquarian of Guilford, has in kindly interest, endeavored to trace two
entirely different families of the name of Stevens, there having been more than one family so
named, in Guilford. He has, however, confused them without the least authority, and has
mistakenly assigned several persons to the present pedigree, who the wills, settlements and other
Stevens Genealogy 65
1. Jerusha, born April 28, 1747, who married
Didymus French.
2. Samuel, born September 19, 1754, who died
September 24, 1770, in military service at
Fort Ticonderoga, in the War of the
American Revolution, unmarried.
3. Roswell, born October 14, 1764, died in
1794, without male issue.
4. Mabel.
5. Sarah.
6. Julia.
III. Sarah, born March 16, 1722, who married Novem-
ber 2, 1737, Ebenezer Bishop.
IV. Hon. Elihu, born April 8, 1731, eventual heir, of
whom presently.
V. Eliakim, born October 4, 1734, who married Janu-
ary 7, 1756, Susannah French, and died in Guil-
ford, January 27, 1784; his widow dying at
Claremont, N. H. He had issue;
1. Susan, born April 26, 1757.
2. Bula, born April 5, 1760, who died July 8,
1776.
3. Mindwell, born May 25, 1763, who died
April 11, 1785.
4. Eliakim, born November 8, 1765, who mar-
ried first Prudence , who died De-
cember 13, 1825, and secondly, October 7,
1829, Patty Davis, who died May 20, 1852.
He died December 16, 1834.
legal documents ot this family absolutely demonstrate to have had no relationship at all. For-
tunately these archives together with the Guilford Records, prevent confusion of such sort.
dd Stevens Genealogy
VI. Mabel, born October 8, 1739, who married October
20, 1757, Timothy Munger, of Guilford.
Hon. Elihu Stevens, of Guilford, Connecticut, and
Claremont, New Hampshire, went from Guilford to Clare-
mont in 1765, about the time the latter town was founded,
in the early years of the reign of King George III. Clare-
mont had been granted in 17G4 to his kinsman Josiah
Williard," Samuel Ashley, and several other gentlemen, and
a body of yeomen, numbering all told about sixty-seven per-
sons. It was located near the upper waters of the Con-
necticut river on a spot that had been passed and repassed
by troops engaged in the then recent Seven Years' War, on
their way to wrest Canada from the King of France and
render it subject to the British crown. The name selected,
was taken from that of the manor of " Claremont", the home
of the noted General of the British Empire, Lord Clive. It
is quaintly stated that, " several of the early settlers maybe
noticed as somewhat distinguished".' Some of them had
been officers in the Seven Years' War. Others became asso-
ciated with the events formative of the new nation. The
Stevens family had an acknowledged relation to affairs" and
held it continuously by the will of the community as long
as it remained connected with the locality. On the out-
break of the American Revolution the town was divided
between Whigs and Tories, the former being in majority.
Elihu Stevens, who was a Whig, was an active member of
the Committee of Safety, and bore intimate relation to the
' Rachel, wife of Hon. Elihu Stevens, was daughter of Josiah Meigs, who was son of
Janna Meigs, of Guilford, and Hannah his wife, the daughter of Josiah Willard, son of Major
Simon Willard, of the family of Willard, of Horsmonden, co. Kent. Major Willard held
large landed estates in New England, and was one uf the civil and military leaders in Massa-
chusetts.
- Coolidge and Mansfield's Hist, of New England, Vol. I, 445.
■■' Waite's Hist, of Claremont, 464.
Stevens Genealogy 67
affairs of the community, and of the new State then in pro-
cess of establishment. In May, 1777, during the progress
of the War, he was appointed at popular request,' Justice
of the Peace for the county, a position then of consider-
able responsibility, and which he held for the remainder of
his life. " Elihu Stevens, Esquire", was three times elected
a member of the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire —
during the year of independence 1776, and again in 1777
and 1778 — and took active part in the proceedings of that
body." The family archives contain receipts for payments
made through his hands to officers and men of the army
sent against General Burgoyne, and in operation in the
northern campaign; and also for munitions of war for the
Continental Army. When the present national constitu-
tion was submitted to the several States for formal ratifica-
tion, with the provision that the favorable action of nine
States should be necessary for its adoption, it fell to the lot
of New Hampshire to cast the ninth and deciding vote;
which she did June 21, 1788. On the previous February
7th, Elihu Stevens was appointed one of those authorized
to give the decision of Clareniont to this State Convention."
In 1792 he was appointed to act in this manner in the
adoption of the State Constitution of New Hampshire.*
Together with his sons Josiah, Henry and Roswell, he
signed a protest July 14, 1782, against the claims of Ver-
mont to jurisdiction over part of New Hampshire, including
^ State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. Ill, 578.
'Ibid in, 430, 739, 788.
•* Waite's History of Claremont, 59 ^ Claremont Town Records 1778. A copy of the
first edition ot the Constitution of the United States issued a tew days after the Philadelphia
Convention, expressly for this purpose of orticially informing the States of the nature of the
document, with a view to its ratification, was preserved by Elihu Stevens, now part of the
family archives.
■* Waite's Hist, of Claremont, 63, 64; Claremont Town Records, 1792.
68 Stevens Genealogy
Claremont, which claims were partly settled by a personal
letter from General Washington reviewing the points in-
volved and siding with the New Hampshire interests, and
partly by a resolution of Congress offering to admit Ver-
mont as a State subject to prescribed boundaries.' The
official announcement sent in 1791 by Congress for proclam-
ation in Claremont of the creation of Vermont as a State
under these limited conditions, is among the Squire's
official papers, with marks upon it of its having been pub-
licly made known. The Squire's private papers indicate,
(often mentioning him by the name of " Stephens",) that he
kept personal contact with Guilford — which contact was
maintained by the family down to the time of the present
writer's father. His lands lay both at Guilford and Clare-
mont; and in addition to their care he was administrator
of the IVIeigs landed possessions at Guilford. He married
October 31, 1750, Rachel, eldest daughter and coheiress
of Josiah Meigs, Esq., of Guilford, who was born 1733,
and was of the family of his
^. ^ ^/^.^^ great grandmother Mary
^'Q-^C^uCi^ ^/W^^^ Meigs. She died July 21,
Facsimile of Signature of Elihu 1798, and he married Second-
Stevens ly Jerusha, widow of Colonel
N. Leonard, of Sunderland,
Massachusetts, who died November 9, 1808. He died
January 27, 1814, at the age of eighty-three, having by his
first wife had issue ;
I. Lieutenant Colonel Josiah, born at Guilford,
Conn., August 12, 1752,' in the reign of King
George II, of whom presently.
' Waice's History of Claremont, 52-55.
2 Wjite's History of Chiremont, 464.
Stevens Genealogy 69
II. Elihu, born at Guilford, March 21, 1755, who went
to Claremont with his father and brothers, and
married April 2, 1798, Lucretia Matthews, and had
issue a son Elihu, who died September 5, 1799, in
infancy; and five daughters. Charity, Rachel, Sarah,
Roxana, and Fannie, all of whom married. Charity,
the eldest coheiress, born July 3, 1784, married
Solomon Walker.
III. Henry, born February 7, 1757, who married Feb-
ruary 26, 1777, Martha, widow of Lieutenant
Colonel Joseph Waite,' who had been a captain in
Roger's Rangers in the Seven Years' War, and in
the regiment of Green Mountain Boys, under
Col. Ethan Allen, in the American Revolution,
being present at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga
by Allen, 1775, subsequently becoming Lieutenant
Colonel, and being mortally wounded 177(5." Henry
was drowned in Cayuga Lake, November 13, 1800.
IV. Roswell, born at Guilford, August 8, 1760, who mar-
ried Lucy Chapin, and died May 27, 1832, having
had issue ;
1. Levi, who died March 14, 1804, at the age of
seventeen.
V. Meigs, born April 28, 1763, who married January
29, 1790, Lucretia, daughter of Andrew Evarts,
Esq., of East Guilford, and dying April 6, 1846,
had issue ;
1. Linus, born April 9, 1792, who married Feb-
ruary 8, 1818, Sarah Whitmore, who died
' claremont Town Records, 1777.
^ Waite's History of Claremont, 488, 489.
yo Stevens Genealogy
November 1, 184G ; and secondly April 27,
1848, Jerusha Hurlburt, of Lebanon, N. H.'
He died March 14, 1873, having had issue
by his first wife, Paran, born January 29,
1821, who died in infancy, and Lucretia E.,
Cynthia A. and Sarah M., and by his second
wife ;
(rt) Emma Jane, born October 1, 1850,
who married September 6, 1870,
Lawrence A. Tolles, Esq., of Clare-
mont, and had issue;
{cKi) Minnie Hurlburt, born Feb-
ruary 25, 1873, who married
February 25, 1897, Victor L.
Davis, of Marceline, Mo.
{ bb) Edwin Harvey, born Septem-
ber 10, 1877, who married June
23, 1903, Miriam Gertrude Len-
erhan.
(cc) Eva Mae, born November 19,
1882, who married June 4, 1901,
Lucien Cullen Myricks.
( b ) Sarah Eva, born June 30, 1852, who
married December 4, 1872, Frank P.
Thrasher, of Claremont, and died
April 13, 1882.
2. Clarissa, born May 27, 1794, who married
Jacob Fisher, of Woodstock, Vt., and died
March 26, 1879.
3. Ambrose Evarts, born May 28, 1797, who
' Waite's Hist, of Claremont, 4-68.
Stevens Genealogy J i
married SallyWhitcomb, of Newport, N. H.,
and died August 3, 1831, having had issue;
(a) Hon. Hiram Ambrose, of Boston,
Mass., born October 18, 1823,
member of the Massachusetts Legis-
lature, 1861-1862 ; State Senator 1864-
1865 ; Member of the State Com-
mission which went to the battlefield
of Gettysburg a few days after the
victory of General Meade's army, in
the American Civil War, to identify
the dead soldiers of Massachusetts,
and select site for a monument ; which
monument was dedicated November
19, 1864. Senator Stevens married
Maria Frances, daughter of John
Chandler, of Tewksbury, Massachu-
setts, and died January 10, 1888,
having had issue ;
(aa) Sarah Annie, born December
23, 1850, who died December 15,
1852.
(bb ) Hetty Maria, born December
17, 1853, who married March 18,
1889, Samuel T. Cobb, Jr.
(cc) Clara, born February 14, 1856,
who married June 19, 1873,
George Albert Kittredge, of
Tewksbury, Massachusetts, who
died September 15, 1879, having
had issue a son, George Hiram,
born August 5, 1876, who died
in a few days.
72 Stevens Genealogy
(dd ) Martha Abby, born February
9, 1858, who married June 1,
1874, Jeremiah C. Kittredge, of
Brookline, Massachusetts, who
died December 19, 1898.
(ee ) Hiram Frederick, of New York
city, born December 7, 1861, who
married February 25, 1885, Ida
Howard Smith, of South Fram-
ingham, Massachusetts, and has
had issue, two daughters, Eleanor
Beaumont, born March 22, 1897,
and Priscilla Chilton, born Feb-
ruary 6, 1902.
( ff ) Mary Lizzie, born February
15, 1864.
(gg) Moses Long, of Boston, Massa-
chusetts, who married October
4, 1893, Marcia Sylvester, and
has had issue a daughter Frances
Sylvester, born September 27,
1894 ; and a son Roger Chandler,
born December 15, 1901, who
died in infancy.
( b ) Abby E. who married Judson
Graves, Esq.
V. Ziba, twin brother of Meigs, born April 28, 1763,
who married May 26, 1785, Lydia, daughter of
Captain Gideon Kirtland, who died November 23,
1829. He died January 2, 1834 having had issue ;
1. Ziba, born April 16, 1786, who married
Nancy Hatch of Weathersfield, Vermont,
Stevens Genealogy 73
and had issue, besides four daughters, two
sons, Gilbert, of Melrose, who married
Lucinda Hall, and George, of Kishwaukee,
Illinois, who was born in 1856. The latter
had besides two daughters Clara A., and
Alma, two sons, Harry Arnold, born No-
vember, 1881, and Orlo B., born Novem-
ber 16, 1900.
2. Cynthia, born December 15, 1787, who
married Nathaniel James.
3. Sylvia, born December 10, 1789, who died
in infancy.
4. Eli, born February 20, 1791, who died in
infancy.
5. Charles, born June 15, 1793, who married
Friendly Thomas.
6. Eli, born January 13, 1796, who married
January 13, 1817, Clarinda Fisher, and died
December 25, 1836, having had issue besides
daughters Harriet, Jerusha L., Lutheria M.
and Caroline M. T., two sons, as follows;
[a] James D. born December 10, 1821,
who married Florence Campbell, of
Washington, Vermont, and had issue
with others who died early, a son ;
{aa) Paran, born 1854, who married
and removed to Salt Lake
City.
{b ) Leonard McC, born April 16, 1835,
who married Margaret Ridgway, of
Nova Scotia, and had issue ;
(aa) Elihu, born May 8, 1866.
74 Stevens Genealogy
[bb) JamesW.,born August 4, 1868.
{cc) Joseph T., born December 22,
1873.
{dd) Caroline M. T., born May 13,
1876.
( ee ) Hannah C, born August 20,
1880, who died March 2, 1881.
7. Daniel, born January 6, 1799, died June 1832,
unmarried.
8. Lydia, born December 31, 1804, who married
Horace Garfield, Esq.
9. Henry, born December 31, 1806.
VII. Linus, M. D., of Clinton, Mich., seventh child of
Hon. Elihu Stevens, born January 19, 1766, was a
physician. He married first Lovewell, who
died April 1, 1798, and secondly, ,
and died March 11, 1851, having had issue two
children by each wife, as follows;
1. Seymour, born 1795, who died in infancy.
2. Luther E., born 1797, who died September
9, 1839.
3. Fanny, born 1801, who died in infancy.
4. Colonel Linus Willard, of New York city,
who for many years commanded the 7th
Regiment, New York National Guard. He
had three sons, Henry Willard, Samuel and
George, and a daughter, Mary A., who
married Gilbert M. Plympton.
VIII. Rachael, born July 9, 1768, who married February
19, 1789,' Roswell Clapp, of Charlestown, N. H.
^ Claremont Town Records, 1789.
Stevens Genealogy 75
IX. Betty, born December 21, 1770, who married Syl-
vanus Church.
X. Eliza, born October 5, 1773, who married Benedick
Roys.
Lieutenant Colonel Josiah Stevens, of Guilford,
Connecticut, and Claremont, New Hampshire, eldest son
and heir of Hon. Elihu Stevens, was born in Guilford and
went with his father to Claremont. He was Ensign in Cap-
tain Christopher Webber's Company, of Colonel Daniel
Hobart's Regiment (12th New Hampshire Continental
Line), in General Stark's Brigade, and was present at the
battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777,' where he took part
in the charges on the Hessians' redoubt, his regiment bear-
ing the brunt of this, which was one of the hottest battles
of the war. He joined in following up the retreat of Gen-
eral Burgoyne, and
was in the Conti-
/V nental Army in the
l^jrAUyt^C''^^ North, seeing active
service at Fort Ti-
conderoga and in the
Facsimile of Signature of Col. Josiah campaign under Gen-
StEVENS 1 /-> ^ IT
eral Gates. He was
commissionedSecond
Lieutenant of the 19th New Hampshire Regiment in 1785;
Captain of the company in 1791 ; Major of the 2d Battalion
1797, and Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the regiment
1798,- which command he resigned February 10, 1803.
' SpolTord's Revolutionary Soldiers of Claremont, N. H. p. 14. New Hampshire Revo-
lutionary Rolls XV, 146-148 ; Report of Adjutant General of New Hampshire, 11, 315,
520, 324.
- At that period there was no officer of the rank of Colonel in New Hampshire, the Lieu-
tenant Colonel taking his place and having full regimental command.
76
Stevens Genealogy
The name of Colonel Stevens is found among those who
contributed of their private means, at the request of the
then weak and impoverished Government of the United
States to aid in paying the troops of the Continental Army;'
the sum thus contributed exceeding the sum due to him
by the government for his own military services, as is re-
corded in the War Department at Washington. He was a
large owner of lands in
and around Claremont,
and was for many years
Justice of the Peace. In
1798 he was elected a
member of the Legis-
lature of New Hamp-
shire. He married first,
January 25, 1775," Abi-
gail, daughter of Eben-
ezer Dudley, Esq., of
East Guilford, Conn.,
who died April, 1790,
and who was mother of
his first six children;
and secondly September
9, 1790,^ Matilda, daugh-
Arms of Dudley of Guilford'
1 State Papers N. H., Rev. Rolls, Vol, XVI, 608.
2 New England Hist. Genealogical Register, Vol. V, 372.
■' Arms of Dudley of Guilford : Sable on a fesse argent between two lions passant in chief,
and a sinister hand in base or, a buck currant gules. Crest : A buck's head erased argent
attired sable, the neck transpierced with an arrow barbed and flighted proper, and gorged with
a collar gules pendant therefrom an escutcheon of the second charged with a hand as in the
arms. These arms are the same as those of the Dudleys of Willington House, co. Cam-
bridge, Baronets, a branch of the historic house of Dudley.
^ Captain Cooke, who lived in a fine old mansion on the road to Windsor, Vt. , built by
him in 1 799, and still standing, possessed an old drawing of his family coat of arms, but it was
lost within the memory of persons now living (1904). As there are several English families ot
the name, and their arms differ, the present writer has been unable to identity his. He is
Stevens Genealogy 77
ter of John Cooke, Esq., of Norton, Conn., a Captain in
the Continental Army.' In 1792 he was one of those, in-
cluding his father, appointed to represent the town in the
adoption of the State Constitution of New Hampshire. His
second wife died April 2, 1826, having been the mother of his
other eight children. He died April 10, 1827," having had
issue ;
I. Abigail, born July 14, 1776, who died September
28, 1777.
II. Abigail, born July 20, 1778, who married Daniel
Parmelee.
III. Josiah or William, born June 5, 1781, who died the
same day.'
IV. Ruth, born October 16, 1782, died November 24,
in the same year.
V. Josiah, born September 9, 1784, married 1808, Mary
daughter of Ebenezer Fielding, Esq., who died
November 21, 1843. He died February 3, 1857,
having had issue;
1. Mary Miranda, born July 12, 1809, who died
February 14, 1836, unmarried.
2. Susan K., born November, 1816, who died
October 8, 1831, unmarried.
known to have been related to one of these families, but the connection has not been made out.
His father came from England. He was born at Plymouth, Mass., September 13, 1736, and
married March 27, 1759, Molly Godfrey, of Taunton, Mass., by whom he had twelve
children — his daughter Matilda being born May 12, 1760. He died February 8, 1810.
^ Claremont Town Records, 1 790.
^ The entry in the old Family Record reads: "Josiah Stevens, Esquire, born August 23rd
A. D., 1752. Died on Tuesd.ay, April roth, A. D., 1827, aged 74 years, 7 months and iS
days."
^ Spoffbrd MS. calls his name William, and Claremont Town Records give the same name.
As he died the day he was born, some confusion as to name may have existed. The family
records give it Josiah.
yS Stevens Genealogy
Samuel Josiah, born August 23, 1821, who
married Helen M. Whittlesley, of Massa-
chusetts. He graduated at Dartmouth
College, becoming Principal of Rome
Academy, and for fifteen years Professor
of Natural Science and Higher Mathe-
matics in Rome Female College, Rome,Ga.
When the college was closed during the
American Civil War in consequence of
General Sherman's march through Georgia,
its faculty was removed to Statesville and
placed in charge of Concord Female Col-
lege. He became Professor in Charlotte
College in 1871, and a year later Associate
Principal of Peace Institute at Raleigh,
North Carolina. The headship of the family
which had passed in 1827 from Colonel
Josiah Stevens to his eldest surviving son,
Josiah, passed on the latter's death in 1857,
to Professor Stevens, who was succeeded in
this by his cousin, Hon. Charles Godfrey
Stevens, of Clinton, Mass. Contrary to
the usage of the family, however, the family
archives never were placed in the hands of
Professor Stevens, probably owing to the
remoteness of his residence and his sever-
ance from the family by siding with the
Southern Confederancy during the war,
but were preserved at Claremont, in
the care of Mrs. Miranda Stevens
Fiske, daughter of Colonel Stevens, and
finally were transmitted by her to Judge
Stevens at Clinton. Professor Stevens' line
Stevens Genealogy 79
became extinct at his death April 26, 1875,
childless. His wife died in Raleigh, October
20, 1893.
VI. Ruth, sixth child of Colonel Stevens and Abigail
Dudley, born July 18, 1787, married Nathaniel
Rice, and died May, 1819.
VII. Matilda, first child of the second marriage, born
June 28, 1791, married January 1, 1812, Hon.
Samuel Fiske, of Brookfield, Mass., and Clare-
mont, N. H., who graduated at Harvard Univer-
sity, 1793, and was an attorney-at-law and Senator
of New Hampshire. She was his second wife,
and died August 28, 1820, having had issue ;
1. William Oliver, born September 16, 1812,
who married Mary Delano, of Charlestown,
Mass.
2. Sarah Matilda, born June 22, 1814, who mar-
ried Frederick H. Stimpson, of Boston,
Mass.
3. Mary Miranda, born December 25, 1815,
who died in infancy.
4. Caroline Bill.
5. Nancy, who married James Hall, M. D., of
Baltimore, Md., and died childless.
VII. Alfred, born June 9, 1793, who died March 8, 1795.
IX. Alfred, born May 9, 1795, who died March 8, 1796.
X. Hon. Godfrey, born September 10, 1796,' of whom
presently.
XI. Alvah, born December 11, 1798,' who married April
* Waite's Hist, of Chremont, 465.
' Waite, Ibid, p. 466, saya December 12.
8o
Stevens Genealogy
5, 1820, Almira Whedon, and died February 20,
1858, childless. He adopted a son Albert, who
died October 17, 1843, childless.
XII. Edwin Baxter, born November 24, 1800, who grad-
uated at Dartmouth College, and was studying to
become a phy-
sician, when he
was accidentally
drowned June 22,
1825.
XIII. Paran, born Septem-
ber 11, 1802.' See
Line III.
XIV. Miranda, born No-
vember 25, 1804,
who married Oc-
tober 25, 1826,
Samuel Philips
Fiske, Esq., of
Claremont, New
Hampshire, only
son of Hon. Sam-
uel Fiske by his first marriage, and descended
from Slymond Fiske, lord of the manor of Strad-
bough, CO. Suffolk, temp. Henry IV, 1399. He
founded the Fiske Free Library at Claremont,
containing some 7,000 volumes, and with his wife
gave it an endowment." He died February 8, 1879,
childless, and she May 27, 1882.
Fiske Arms '
iWaite's Hist, of Claremont, 466.
' Fiske Arms : Ciiequy argent and gules, on a pale sable three mullets pierced or. Crest :
On a triangle argent an estoile or.
*Waite's Hist, of Claremont, pp. 146—150.
Stevens Genealogy
8i
Hon. Godfrey Stevens, of Claremont, New Hamp-
shire, was as his father and grandfather had been before him,
the " Squire " of Claremont, being Justice of the Peace from
1827 until his death. He was member of the Legislature of
New Hampshire in 1829, 1830, 1833, 1834, 1835, and 1840.
He married November 28, 1818, Hannah,' daughter of Cap-
tain William Welstead Poole, of Hollis, New Hampshire,
who served in the Continental Army, and heiress to her
brother, Major-General James Poole, of the ancient family
of the Poolesof Dorsetshire,
who with Sir Richard Sal-
tonstall, and Richard Gre-
ville. Lord Brooke of Beau-
champ's Court, obtained
from Robert Rich, Earl of
Warwick, large grants of
lands in New England, con-
veyed to the Earl by the
Crown." Lord Brooke, who
afterwards fell, fighting
under Cromwell, seriously
contemplated settling in
America. Sir Richard Sal-
tonstall did so, and John
Poole, Esq., took up resi-
dence in Reading, now
Wakefield, Massachusetts, 1632 on part of his lands.
Godfrey Stevens died September 18, 1842, and his wife,
January 10, 1861, having had issue;
Poole Arms'
*She was born 1791-2.
'Poole Arms; Azure, semee'of fleur-de-lis, a lion rampant argent: Crest: A lion's gamb
gules, armed argent. Motto: " PoUet virtus. " '
' " Warwick Castle and its Earls ", by the Countess of Warwick, Vol. II, 88.
82 Stevens Genealogy
I. Sarah Jane, born August 26, 1819, who married
Albert Pease and died July 26, 1863, having had
issue ;
1. Sarah Theresa, born July 12, 1844.
2. William Godfrey, born March 7, 1846, who
died in infancy.
3. Ellen Matilda, born April 16, 1848, who
married 1873, David J. Bond, of Burling-
ton, Vt., and died 1893, having had issue;
(a) William Albert, who died young.
(b) Raymond Stevens, who died young.
(c) Charles Augustus, born April 19,
1881, who died March 10, 1887.
{d) Nelson Pease, born June 25, 1883,
who died while a student at the Uni-
versity of Vermont, 1902.
{e) Lilla Stevens, born April 5, 1885.
4. Eliza Stevens, born October 19, 1853.
II. Hon. Charles Godfrey, of " Brownhouse", Clinton,
Mass., born September 16, 1821, who studied at
Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and graduated
at Dartmouth College in 1840, and from the law
department of Harvard University in 1845, and be-
came an attorney-at-law. He was elected a mem-
ber of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Dartmouth.
In 1853, he was a member of the Massachusetts
Constitutional Convention ; and of the Senate
of Massachusetts in 1862. During the American
Civil War he was active in raising bodies of troops
for the Northern army, and was appointed by Gov-
ernor Andrew in 1862, a Draft Commissioner. He
Book-Plate of Judge Charles G. Stevens
Stevens Genealogy 83
was for a long time President of the First National
Bank at Clinton, and was founder and first Presi-
dent of the Clinton Hospital Association, and a
warden of the Church of the Good Shepherd. In
1874 he was appointed for life by the Governor of
Massachusetts, Judge of the District Court of the
Second District of Eastern Worcester, and in 1875
succeeded his cousin Professor Stevens, as head of
the family. He married September 29, 1846, Laura
A., daughter of Eli Russell, Esq., of Walpole, New
Hampshire, and granddaughter of Captain Ben-
jamin Floyd, of the Continental Army.' Judge
Stevens died Trinity Sunday, June 13, 1897, hav-
ing had issue;
1. Colonel Edward Godfrey, of "The Ledges,"
Clinton, Mass., born June 27, 1847, who after
studying at Dartmouth College, entered
the United States Military Academy at
West Point, N. Y., in 1866, where he grad-
uated with honors 1870. He was immedi-
atelyappointed aninstructorin the Academy.
Subsequently he became Second Lieutenant
in the 5th United States Cavalry, resigning
his commission in 1872. Later he was
appointed Colonel and Inspector-General
on the staffs of Governors Rice, Long and
Talbot, of Massachusetts. He was elected
a member of the Massachusetts Legislature
in 1881, 1882. He married first May 21,
1879, Fanny Ball, daughter of Simeon Brit-
tan, Esq., of Boston, Mass., who died
^ She was bom in Westminster, Vt., January 1 1, 1825.
84 Stevens Genealogy
August 14, 1883 ; and secondly, April 14,
1885, Helen M. Brittan. He succeeded to
the headship of the family on the death of
his father in 1897, and at his death, April
10, 1901, it devolved upon his cousin, the
Rev. C. Ellis Stevens. By his first wife he
had issue;
{a) Marguerite Fiske, born April 9, 1880.
2. Charles Russell, born June 21, 1856, who died
April 21, 1868.
3. Ellen Kate, born June 18, 1860.
III. James Edward Poole, born at Claremont, Septem-
ber 4, 1827, which ;
James Edward Poole Stevens, Esq., of" Rosecliffe ",
near Philadelphia, second son of Hon. Godfrey Stevens,
held lands at Claremont, and acquired " Rosecliffe" dur-
ing the American Civil War. He was liberal in public bene-
factions. On October 5, 1852, he married at Claremont,
Mary Pitkin, daughter and heiress of J. Bishop Abrams,
Esq., of "Ellis Place", near Saratoga Springs, New
York, and descendant through the ninth Lord Beauchamp,
of Eleanor de Clare, eldest coheiress of the De Clares,
Earls of Gloucester.' This marriage brought into asso-
ciation the line of the present representative of the Glou-
cestershire family of Stephens with the line of the ancient
Norman Earls of the shire. Through Lord Beauchamp Mrs.
Stevens' descent also includes the Earls of Warwick, Pem-
broke and Surry, and coheiresses of four abeyant peerages,
as well as connection with the royal lineage of the house of
Pantagenet, and that of Tudor. Mrs. Stevens, who grad-
' The service was performed by Carlton Chase, D. D., first Bishop of New Hampshire.
Stevens Genealogy 85
uated with honors at Kimball Union Academy, and subse-
quently at Mrs. Emma Willard's School at Troy, N. Y.,
married secondly November 1,1866, the Rev. Henry Board-
man Ensworth, sometime Rector of St. Andrew's Church,
Chicago, and Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Pitts-
burgh, having one son by him, Samuel Cassius Ensworth,
who was born February 26, 1868, and died in 1881. She is
living, (1904).' Mr. Stevens died December 9, 1865, having
had issue ;
I. The Rev. Charles Ellis, born at Boston, Mass.,
July 5, 1853, of whom presently.
II. Lucy Pitkin, born May 20, 1855, who married Mal-
loy Hunt Taylor, Esq., of Macon, Ga., Lecturer
in Mercer University, and had issue ;
1. Mallory Hunt, born June 8, 1880, who mar-
ried November 26, 1902, Mary Sims, daugh-
ter of D. C.Wheeler, of Chattanooga, Tenn.,
and has issue ;
{a) Virginia Wheeler, born November,
1903.
2. Mary Elizabeth, born November 22, 1881,
who married October 13, 1903, Robert Fow-
ler Hemphill, Esq., of Atlanta, Ga.
III. Mary A., born June 19, 1857, who died September
15, 1870, unmarried.
IV. Captain James Edward Poole, of Macon, Ga., born
May 27, 1861, who was commissioned Second Lieu-
tenant, and promoted First Lieutenant and Bat-
talion Adjutant, 2d Georgia Infantry, and in 1895,
Captain of the Macon Light Infantry. During the
' For the ancestry of Mrs. Stevens, see Edgemere MS. ; New England Hist. Geneal. Reg-
ister, Vol. XIV, 61, 62; Vol. XV, 117, 217, 318; Vol. XVII, 32; and any works of
English history and genealogy, for themes covered.
86 Steiietis Genealogy
Spanish-American War he was Captain of a com-
pany in the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment, United
States Volunteers, in active service.
The Rev. Charles Ellis Stevens, LL. D., D.C.L.,
F. S. A., Knight Commander of the Order of Christ of
Portugal, Knight of the Order of Isabella the Catholic of
Spain, etc., of New York, and "Edgemere", Lake George,
N. Y.,' was educated at the University of Pennsylvania,
and Yale University; and in 1875 graduated in theology at
Berkeley Divinity School, subsequently travelling and study-
ing in Europe. He took a post-graduate course in history
and political science at the University of Wooster and re-
ceived on examination the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
In 1875 he was ordained deacon by the Rt. Rev. John Wil-
liams, D. D., Bishop of Connecticut, and in 1877 priest by
the Rt. Rev. A. N. Littlejohn, D. D., Bishop of Long Island.
From 1876 to 1878 he was Curate of Grace Church on the
Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y., then Rector of the Church of the
Ascension, in the same city, subsequently becoming an Ex-
amining Chaplain to the Bishop of Long Island, and Chair-
man of the Boards of Diocesan Church Extension, and
Church Education, and associated with other ecclesiastical
work. He was appointed Archdeacon of Brooklyn in 1887
with an official stall in the Cathedral of the diocese. He be-
came the founder of five new parishes in his archdeaconry
— St. Jude's, St. Timothy's, St. Clement's, the Church of the
Epiphany, and St. Andrew's. In 1891, he became Rector of
Christ Church, Philadelphia, and during the Spanish-Ameri-
can War was Chaplain of the 19th Pennsylvania Infantry.
He has been Lecturer on Constitutional History and Law
'This biography is mainly from Cyclopedia of American Biography, "Who's Who";
Matthews' American Armory ; Register Order of Foreign Wars, etc., and prepared by other
hands than the author of the present volume.
^*-^«f^#^«^
Book- Plate
Stevens Genealogy 87
in St. Stephen's College, the University of Wooster, the
University of the City of New York, and the University of
Pennsylvania, and is author of several works, including
*' Sources of the Constitution of the United States, Consid-
ered in Relation to Colonial and English History'', which
has been published in two editions in America and England,
and, being translated into French by an official of the French
^ This book-plate has been produced as an illustration of complete " marshalling" of arms, in
" Heraldry in America", and also copied in the publications of the Ex Libris Society of Eng-
land. The following description is taken from the former work, pp. 322—324. "On the
dexter side the arms are quartered according to the English heraldic law, and on the impaled
side according to the Scottish law, which is nearly the same as that in use upon the continent
of Europe. All the quarterings have been inherited from heiresses, and are preserved in seals,
or in sepulchral or manorial sculptures, and recorded in the Visitations of the College of Heralds.
The quarterings are in fact, so ancient as to illustrate many points of interest in the history of
heraldry, — some of them dating from the time of actual use of coat-armor in battle and
tournament. Such for instance, is the sixth quartering which represents the fur called vaire.
This is the oldest device of the shields of the Raleighs, of Devonshire, and has been quartered
by ancestors of the present owner since before the days oi Sir Walter Raleigh, who belonged to
a later generation of the same house. Space does not permit of a full description of the many
points of this emblasonry ; but it may be mentioned that the ninth quartering is of the family
of Howley, of which was Dr. Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury ; the tenth quartering is
that of the arms of Sir Robert Tresilian, Lord Chief Justice of England in 1382. Sir Robert
was beheaded and attainted by the rebellious baronage for his loyalty for the King, forfeiting the
right to transmit arms to his descendants. The arms are here quartered in consequence of a
subsequent royal grant of King Richard II. The eleventh and twelfth quarterings are inter-
esting as furnishing an old example of the noting of difference in heraldic inheritance by reversal
of tinctures. The first, ninth, tenth and fourteenth quarterings illustrate ancient usages of
hunting and the chase. The impaled arms are those of the house of Aikman, lairds of
Cairney, Rosse and Brambleton, which has a recorded descent of eight hundred years in Scot-
land. The arms of the first impaled quarter relate to the knightly deed that gave the family
its name, — which in English meaning is " Oakman ". This deed of Scottish story has been
rendered famous by Shakespeare in his tragedy of "Macbeth", and is therefore of unusual
interest. The founder of the house was an officer of the forces which overthrew the usurper
Macbeth and restored to the Scottish throne the rightful King, Malcolm III. In attacking
Macbeth's stronghold of Dunsinane he planned a surprise. Each soldier advancing toward the
castle through the wood of Birnam, which to the present day is magnificent with its growth
of oaks, w'as ordered to cover himself with oak boughs so as to seem part of the forest.
Shakespeare's reference to this event is in the poetic form of the supposed witches' prophecy
to Macbeth by means of an apparition bearing the Aikman crest of a tree, and uttering the
words —
"Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him ".
"The victory is commemorated by the arms, which show in the 'engrailed bend*,
gules, flowing blood of battle, and display a left hand holding an oak branch, the right hand
being supposed to be reserved for the using of sword or spear. The crest of the family is an
Stevens Genealogy
government, also published on the continent of Europe. He
has been elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of
Edinburgh, the Royal Geographical Society, of London, and
a member of other learned bodies in America and Europe.
In 1888 he received simultaneously the honorary degrees of
Doctor of Laws from the University of Wooster, and Doc-
tor of Civil Law from King's College, Canada. In 1894 he
was knighted by Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain,
in the name of Alphonso XIII, then a minor; being granted
by letters patent, the decoration of the Royal Order of
Isabella the CathoHc, in recognition of services to politi-
cal science and constitutional government. In the same year,
Charles II, King of Portugal created him a Knight Comman-
oak tree, and the motto, ' Sub robore virtus' — ' Valor beneath the oak. * * * The Aikman
second impaled quartering is an example of a 'grand quarter', i. e. , a quartering of quarterings.
It dates from the reign of Edward III, and is the well-known coat of arms of West, Lord
De La Warr, of which family was the Lord De La Warr from whom the State of Delaware
is named * * * . The fourth impaled quartering is of the Clarksons, of Yorkshire, a member
of which family was appointed Secretary of the Province of New York by William of
Orange. The fifth is of the DePeysters of New York". The arms of Stone might be
quartered here as they were by Sir Philip j but comment on their doubtfulness has already been
made. See p. 38. The present writer thinks it proper to explain that this book-plate is
not the result of his own choice in emblazoning all the quarterings, though entitled to them, but
that it was engraved as a present to him from a valued friend.
The heraldic description is as follows : Arms, Stevens Quarterly of sixteen : I. Per chevron
azure and argent, in chief two falcons volant or — for Stevens. 2. Gules, on a bend codsed
argent, a bendlet wavy azure — for Lugg. 3. Or, a chevron between three mascles gules, on
a chief of the last a wolf passant argent — for Meigs. 4. Argent, a chevron sable between
three roses gules, seeded and leaved proper — for West, (Bishop of Ely). 5. Argent, a
chevron engrailed gules between three leopard's faces azure, a crescent for difference of the
last — for CopLESTON. 6. Or, a bend vaire — for Raleigh. 7. Ermine, a fesse between
three cinquefoils gules — for Graas, of Devon. 8. Gules, two bends wavy argent— for
Bruer. 9. Or, in fesse two mullets between three bugle-horns sable, stringed gules, through
that in base an arrow in pale point downward of the second, barbed and feathered argent — for
HowLEY. 10. Azure, a chevron or, between three bucks statant argent — for Tresilian.
II. Gules, a fret and canton argent — for Hewis. 12. Argent, a fret gules — for Blanch-
minster. 13. Gironny of eight, argent and gules — for Peverel. 14. Azure, a chevron
between boars' heads couped or — for Ludesford, 15. Argent, on a chevron gules, between
three covered cups or, a dagger of the second, tau sable — for Baroolf. 16. Azure, seme of
fleurs-de-lis and a lion rampant argent — for Poole : impaling Aikman, quarterly of six ; I and
6, argent, a sinister hand in base issuing out of a cloud fesseways, holding an oaken baton
paleways, with a branch sprouting out at the top thereof proper, surmounted of a bend
engrailed gules — for Aikman. 2. Grand quarter (I and IV) Argent, a fesse dancette sable —
for West, (II and III) Gules, three leopards' faces reversed, jessant de lis or — for Cantelupe.
Stevens Genealogy
89
der of the Royal Military Order of Christ.' In 1898, he
received from the French government appointment as Officer
of the Academy of France. On the death of Colonel Edward
G. Stevens, he succeeded as head of the family, being the
eldest male representative
of the line. He married
May 23, 1878, Ella Mon-
teith, eldest daughter of
Walter Monteith Aik-
man, Esq., F. S. A., of
New York, Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, the American
Geographical Society, etc.,
grandson of John Aik-
man, Esq., of the manor
of " Newhouse", co. Ster-
ling, Scotland, of the fam-
ily of Aikman, lairds of
Carney, Rosse, and Bram-
bleton, seated in Scotland
since the eleventh cen-
tury." He has issue;
I. Margery Aikman, who was educated at Miss Agnes
Irwin's School, and Drexel Institute, Philadelphia.
3. Azure, two bars argent, on a chiet or, three escallops of the first — for Hazard. 4. Argent,
on a bend engrailed sable, three annulets or — for Clarkson. 5. Azure, on a terrace vert, a
tree proper — for De Pzyster.
Crest: A demi-eagle displayed or. Motto: *' Byde Tyme". Below the centre of the
shield is suspended in accordance with heraldic usage in such case, the cross decoration of a
Knight Commander of the Order of Christ of Portugal.
* This Order dates from the Middle Ages — A. D. 131 7.
' The Aikman arms being impaled in the foregoing boolc-plate are there described. The
quarterings are: I and 5. Aikman. 1. West and Cantelupe. 3. Hazard. 4. Clarkson.
5. De Peystcr.
^Matthews' Armory, 1st ed., 215.
Arms of Walter M. Aikman, F. S. A.-
LINE III.
Paran Stevens, Esq., of New York, and "Marietta
Villa," Newport, R.I. , thirteenth child of Lieutenant-Colonel
Josiah Stevens, of Claremont, before mentioned,' married
first 182-i, Eliza, daughter of Joshua Raymond Jewett, Esq.,
of Granby, Conn., who died March 4, 1850. He mari-ied
secondly June 5, 1851, Marietta, daughter of Ransom Reed,
Esq., of Lowell, Mass. In 1866 he founded by special bene-
factions the Stevens High School, at Claremont, endow-
ing it with $50,000. He died April 25, 1872, having had
issue by his first wife a daughter, and by his second wife a
daughter and a son, as follows;
I. Ellen Matilda, of New York, and " Alderleigh ",
North East Harbor, Me., coheiress, born June 10,
1825, who married December 13, 1855, John Lowell
Melcher, Esq., who died December 19, 1900, hav-
ing had issue;
1. John Stevens, of New York, born August 23,
1859, who graduated B.A. at Harvard Uni-
versity, 1881, and from the law department
of Columbia University, LL. B., 1884, and is
an attorney-at-law. He married first Decem-
ber 31, 1889, Margaret Greenleaf, daughter
of the Rev. Charles VV. Homer, D.D., Rector
of St. James' Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., who
died May 15, 1899; and secondly June 3,
1904, Helen, eldest daughter of Edward F.
de Selding, Esq. By his first wife he has
had issue ;
I See p. 8o.
(90)
Stevens Genealogy
91
II.
1. Margaret Sybil, born September 4, 1892.
2. John 3d, born March 28, 1895.
Mary Fiske, born August 13, 1853, coheiress; who
married July 27, 1871, at St. Peter's Church, Eaton
Square, London, in the presence of King Edward
VII, then Prince of Wales, and other members of
the royal family, Major-General Arthur Henry Fitz-
roy Paget, C.V.O.,
eldest son and heir
of Lieutenant-Gen-
eral Lord Alfred
Henry Paget, C.B.,
Equerry to Queen
Victoria, Chief
Marshal of the
Royal Household,
and Member of
Parliament for
Litchfield, a son of
Henry William Pa-
get, first Marquess
of Anglesey, who as
Earl of Uxbridge, was in command of the cavalry
brigade at the battle of Waterloo, under the Duke
of Wellington.- The Paget family descends from
Sir William Paget, Lord Paget of Beaudesert,
^'■•1^3''^^'™
Arms of the Paget Family Marcjuesses of
Anglesey'
* Arms of Paget, Marquess of Anglesey. Sable on a cross engrailed between four eagles dis-
played argent, five lions passant guardant of the field. Crest : A demi-heraldic tiger sable,
maned, ducally gorged and tufted argent. Supporters : Two heraldic tigers sable, maned,
ducally gorged and tufted argent. Motto: ** Per il suo contrario". Over the shield the
coronet of a Marquess.
^ The Marquess was Master General of the Ordnance of the British army, Constable of
Carnavon Castle, Ranger of Snowden Forest, Vice Admiral of North Wales and Carnarthen,
and was Knight of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Knight Grand
Cross of Hanover, etc. The Marquisate was conferred upon him for his services at Waterloo.
92 Stevens Genealogy
Knight of the Garter, who was sent Ambassador
to the Emperor Charles V, and was Secretary of
State under King Henry VIII. General Paget has
received military medals and honors for service in
the Ashantee War, 1873, the Soudan Expedition,
1885, the Soudan War, 1888-9, and the South
African War, when he was promoted to be Major-
General, and received from the King in recognition
of his services in some of the hottest battles of the
war, the distinction of Companion of the Victorian
Order.' Mrs. Paget took leading part in the fitting
out and sending to the aid of sick and wounded
soldiers in the South African campaign the Ameri-
can Hospital Ship " Maine". They have had issue ;
1. Albert Edward Sidney Louis, Second Lieu-
tenant 11th Hussars, born May 22, 1879,
and named in honor of King Edward VII,
who when Prince of Wales, was sponsor for
him at his baptism. He saw military service
as a stafif officer in the South African War.
2. Louisa Margaret Leila Wemyss.
3. Arthur Wyndham, | Twins, born March 6,
4. ReginaldScudamore, J 1888.
III. Henry Leiden, born October 21, 1858, who studied
at the University of Oxford, and died unmarried
July 18, 1885.
* Burke's Peerage under Marquess of Anglesey, ed. 1903.
THE END.
R 15 1905
^^
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