John STEPHENS

Abt 1748 - 1819  (~ 71 years)

• Name	John STEPHENS
  Born	Abt 1748	Frederick Co., Va   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	17 Mar 1819	Preble Co., Ohio   [1]
  Person ID	I1478	Josh E. Taylor Jr. Tree
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2019

  
  

  Father	Lawrence STEPHENS,   b. Abt 1722, New Jersey or Pennsylvania ,   d. 1776, Frederick Co., Va.  (Age ~ 54 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	UNKNOWN
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F522	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Jeannette VANCE,   b. Abt 1760, Shenandoah Co, Va. ,   d. 15 Sep 1828, Eaton, Ohio  (Age ~ 68 years)
  Married	9 Mar 1779	Shenandoah Co, Va.
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2019
  Family ID	F562	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  "They were Methodists and among the first of that denomination in western Virginia. About the year, 1804, he moved to Sullivan County Tennessee, and in the fall of 1809, he moved from there to Preble County, Ohio, then a wilderness, where he resided until his death. -- Stephens, Dan V. Stephens family Genealogies. p. unnumbered [4] "Obviously the Stephens family was involved in the selling of land, for they sold lots in the limits of Stephens City. But the Stephens family was involved in other types of commerce. With the land they owned they were involved in farming. And they were involved in the wagon trade. It cannot now be explained why it was that the villages of Newton (Stephens City) and Front Royal became more prominent as identified with the wagon trade (from Baltimore first to the town of Knoxville, Tennessee, and then from Winchester to Knoxville) than any other parts of Maryland or Virginia. This was particularly so with Newtown (Stephens City), which, for more than half a century retained the supremacy in building and fitting out the immense wagons capable of sustaining forty-five hundred to five thousand pounds of freight. The wood work of the best material was often made by the same man who had them ironed. The pitch in front and rear of the bodies, surmounted by bows and sheet, was such that four or five men could shelter under the projection. The harness was very heavy and all the iron used was of the best bar. They cost from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars. The horses, six to a wagon, were of the heaviest and best at the day costing from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The most prominent builders of these wagons in Newtown were John Grove, Thornton McLeod, Jacob Cline, John Long, John Crider, Moses Barker, Peter Keeding, William Frailey, Jacob Lemley, John Stevens (Stephens), and Abraham Piper. The names on the end gate advertised the makers extensively. From six to eight of the wagons traveled in company, and the long trains presented a very picturesque spectacle.....But railroads put an end to the wagon trade and with its decadence all the related industries (Harness, blacksmiths, etc.) declined in activity." Robert Duane Stephens quoted by Elva Gillespie Bowles (daughter of Effie Lovelace Bowles Taylor) in an undated letter to Gene Taylor.

  
  

• Sources

  [S135] Stephens Family Genealogies... 1690-1938, Stevens, Dan V., (Name: Fremont, Neb. Hammond & Stephens Co., 1940;), CS71 S844 1940., unnumbered [4].