Daniel Stephens – Biography
DanielStephens
DANIEL STEPHENS has been closely identifiedwith the history of Schuyler county, Illinois, since 1836, and it is fittingthat his name should appear in this volume. He was born in Davidson county,North Carolina, April 4, 1819, a son of Alexander Stephens, who died in1825; the mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Mary Dealy, wasa native of New Jersey; she was married a second time in Illinois, spendingthe last of her life in Bainbridge township. Daniel Stephens, in earlylife, became inured to the hard labor of a farm; he made the most of hisopportunities to secure an education, but as there were no free schoolsand his father was in limited circumstances, the advantages offered himwere very few. He lived in North Carolina until 1836, when he emigratedto the West, and settled in Illinois; the entire journey was made overlandwith teams, and the country reached was little better than a wilderness.Mr. Stephens settled in that portion of Schuyler county which is now includedin Brown county, but he had no means to invest in land, and so was obligedto work for wages; he received $12 a month, and from this small sum savedenough to make a beginning. In 1841 he settled on a tract of patent landthat is now a part of his farm, and three years later he bought eightyacres, for which he paid $170; this place was covered with timber and brush,and in the heart of the forest he erected a cabin that afforded protectionand shelter; he courageously undertook the task of placing the land undercultivation, and as he prospered he invested in other lands, until he nowowns 572 acres, lying in Bainbridge and Woodstock townships.Mr. Stephens was married January 26, 1840,to Rebecca Kimbel, a native of Simpson county, Kentucky, and a daughterof Samuel and Elizabeth Kimbel. Of this union were born seven children:George W., William M., David, Samuel, John R., Samantha Jane and Olive.
George W. Stephens has been three times married,his present wife being Ann Irvin; they have seven children: William M.has been married twice, Martha J. Eason being the second wife; he has eightchildren; David married Martha Landreth, and has a family of seven children;Samuel married Cornelia Persinger, and has four children; John marriedMary J. Macombs, and has one child; Samantha J. is the wife of RichardBlack, and has three children; Olive married L. F. Nooner, and is the motherof four children. Mr. Stephens has thirty-five grandchildren and threegreat-grandchildren.
Biographical Review of Cass, Schuylerand Brown Counties, Illinois, Biographical Review Publishing Co., Chicago,1892, pages 229-230.
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