ONE SOUTHERN STEVENS FAMILY
Descendants of William Stevens of Duplin County, NC and Williamson County, TN
Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek Indians had long been residents of the lands that became the state of Tennessee in 1796. Within a few years thousands from North Carolina gathered their possessions and headed to the new territory - the Cumberland Plateau of central Tennessee. These pioneer settlers traveled a long, arduous trail known as the Walton Road through vast wilderness being constantly subject to Indian attack. One family that made this journey from the Cape Fear region of North Carolina into the Cumberland Frontier was that of William Stevens.
The family of William Stevens and his children - including Joel Stevens, Lewis Stevens, Edward Stevens, Mary "Polly" Kennard, among several others - chose an area about 20 miles south of the Nashville settlement as their new home: Franklin, Tennessee. Many descendants of this family have resided in this vicinity through the present day.
(picture-Leona Stevens Ferrell & family)
From records that survived from a general provisions store in Franklin, we see what household necessities were purchased by members of the Stevens family soon after their arrival in Tennessee. Members of the family sat on early court juries and were instrumental in building roads in their new community. Marriage records, lawsuits, obituaries and photographs have been collected in an effort to tell the story of this southern Stevens family.
(picture-brothers & cousins from Copiah County, MS)
A history and genealogy of the family of this man - William Stevens, originally of Duplin County, NC; who moved with his large family to Williamson County, TN about 1801; established a comfortable home there; remarried Lovey (Davis) Page, the widow of his friend and neighbor John Page; served in the War of 1812; and died in 1815 - has been prepared for publication and will soon be available for purchase.
Descendants spread from Franklin, Tennessee all over the south, including the Stevens (sometimes Stephens) family and related family lines such as - Beech, Kennard, Poynor, Selman, Wooldridge - located in Caddo Parish, Louisiana; Copiah, Yalobusha and Yazoo Counties, Mississippi; Hempstead and Izard Counties, Arkansas; Haywood, Hickman, Maury and Williamson Counties, Tennessee, among many other areas.
Please contact the author at the email below for further information:
bradley . jeffreys @ gmail . com
