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Corporal Lawrence Stephens, Revolutionary War
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Presented by Deborah Shelton Wood, descendant of Lawrence Stephens.

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"...Born in Frederick Co., Va, about 1755, and came Montgomery County, Virginia....Peter Stephens, Jr. and Anna Maria Chrisman were his parents. His grandparents were Peter Stephens, Sr. and Maria Christina (surname unknown).

"Peter Stephens built the first home in Stephens City in 1732. In 1758, his son Lewis applied to the Virginia General Assembly to establish the town as Stephensburg. As the town grew, it became known as Newtown. The name was officially changed to Stephens City in April 1880. The town was settled mostly by Germans. One of the main trades of the town was wagon making." source: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society

Lawrence Stephens married Joanna Herbert. "After the war, he and his brother Joseph Stephens went to Wythe County where, in 1787, he married Joanna Herbert and located on a 600 acre tract of land, on Little Reed Island Creek, which he acquired August 17, 1793.  He built for his residence, a small two room log house, in which he lived until he could build a larger one, which he built about the year 1795, the ruins of which are still standing, and lived there until his death May 3, 1847, at over 90 years of age."

 

Last Will and Testament of Lawrence Stephens

Manumission of a Slave

From the Mary Kegley book,
"Wythe County, Virginia - A Bicentennial History" 
  "In Wythe County,some slave owners provided for the freedom of their slaves by will or deed.  The first such case appears to be recorded in Wythe County in 1793, when Lawrence Stephens emancipated Swan, born 1771,Tom born 1777, and Lewis born 1790.  The two youngest were not of age, and Stephens acted as guardian until they were twenty-one.  
 
  Stephens stated that it was his duty to free the slaves because he was "fully persuaded that freedom is the natural right of all mankind, that God of one blood created all nations (Africa not excepted)."  Swan was among the few negroes who left a will."

Lawrence Stephens was a Revolutionary War Veteran.
See Claim S 7639 - Cert. 16465, Veterans Bureau, Washington, D. C.
 
p372 "Wythe County, Virginia - A Bicentennial History"
Lawrence Stephens (1755-1847) Cpl. 1st Va. Regt., Stephens' Cemetery.
 
 
 
Lawrence and Joanna had a daughter, Rhoda Stephens.  She was born April 10, 1794 in Wythe County, Virginia.  Rhoda married John EARLY.
 
Nancy Early was born to this union.  Nancy who was born in 1815, married Isaac Farmer on March 8, 1832.

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As with all my genealogy pages, the Coat of Arms shown are for purposes of decoration and are not intended to show that my family lines are of that very specific heraldry. They are however genuine to at least one line of the same surname.

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"Peter Stephens and Some of his Descendants" by Dan V. Stephens dated 1936

Clerk's Office of Carroll County, Virginia, WB 1 p 148,

Thank you William Hurst for this photo.

"Wythe County, Virginia - A Bicentennial History" by Mary Kegley 1989

 

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Copyright 1998, 2006 Deborah Shelton Wood - All Rights Reserved