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CHAPTER FIVE
THE STEPHENSON FAMILY ARRIVES IN AUSTIN'S COLONY
On March 24, 1826 James Stephenson and his wife, Amelia Bell Stephenson arrived in Austin's Colony from the Georgia-Florida border. According to census records, James had been born in North Carolina ca.1787 and his wife also born in South Carolina (but possibly SC) ca. 1796. James was approximately 39 years and his wife 30 when they arrived in Texas. Because of the close contact and the many transactions that took place between James Stephenson and Thomas and James Bell, we can believe that there was a close kinship relation of some kind, most probably that Amelia Bell Stephenson was either the sister of James and Thomas Bell or a first couisin. The Bell brothers, who had also been born in North Carolina, were of similar ages and had come to Texas from Georgia/Florida.
According to family tradition, "James and his family had been away from home one day, and on returning, found Indians ransacking their house. A fight ensued and James killed a couple of them. Just before this several families had left for Texas, so, fearing reprisals, James put everything he could onto his wagon, and after a few days, caught up with them and made the rest of the journey to Texas with them. "( History of Waller County p.670.
At the time of their entry to Texas, they are recorded as having five children which would have been, Thomas Bell Stephenson(age 7), James Bell Stephenson (6), Henry S. (5), Civility H.A. Grace S. (4), and another daughter who must have died as the Texas Land office records show that they had at the time of their entry three sons and two daughters.
STEPHENSON FAMILY HISTORY
The name of Stephenson or Stevenson is believed by some authorities to be of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. Others are of the opinion that the name is of Norman origin and that it went into England at the time of William the Conqueror, about the year 1066 A.D. Families of this name were resident at early dates in Scotland whence they spread to the English counties of York, Derby, Lincoln, Cumberland, London, Middlesex, Warwick, Durham, Chester and Northumberland, as well as to various parts of Ireland at a somewhat later time. These lines seem to have been, in a large part, of the landed and educated classes of Great Britain. One of the earliest records is that of a Stevenson in the County of Lanark in 1296 and another is that of Thomas Stevenson of Yorkshire in 1379.**(compiled by the Media Research bureau, Washington, D.C. in papers contributed to the author by Nina Pitchford whose husband descends from James Stephenson of Austin County, Texas)
From a small 50 page book found in the Lennox Library, New York and in possession of a relative of this Stephenson line, "while tracing the descendants of one William Stephenson who immigrated to Virginia comes a motto "MY RACE IS ROYAL".** As far back as A.D. 787, there was a Clan Alpin which was descended from Alpin Kintz of Scotland who used this motto. It became used by the Grand Clan, known as the MacGregor Clan. Only those who claimed allegiance to this Clan were entitled to use the motto. William and his brothers, James and John, were soldiers of the Revolution on the side of the Colonies. A William Stephenson (1754-81) served in the Virginia Continental Artiliery as 2nd Lietuenant and a Land Warrant was given his daughter Frances for his services (presumably somewhere near Harper’s Ferry). He served in the Army 1775-83 becoming 1st lieutenant June 15, 1778. William Stephenson married Jane Newton of Virginia, who also had a long line of ancestors. The Newton Coat-of Arms was conferred by Richard the First at the Battle of Ascalon in the Holy Land in 1192. **(source Bert S. Stephenson so of Hiram Stephenson, Jackson, Ohio)
The following is an extract from a letter to Mrs. Viola Stephenson Barker dated Feb. 17 1921 from her cousin Hiram Stephenson of Jackson, Ohio.
"...this letter was from Bert about the year 1906...what he knew about them (Stephensons)."It seems this man William Stephenson was Secretary to Lord Fairfax and this is the way his name came to appear in this book of references. The other two, James and John, did not hold offices and that is the reason their names did not appear in it. They no doubt fought the same as their brother did as they all came over together and lived there together until their brother died"
William’s brothers James and John came to America either with William or shortly afterwards and were of Frederick and other counties in Northern Ireland, presumably Donegal 1785. The brother, James W. Stephenson who came to Virginia had a young son William, Stephenson, age 13, from Burnside, Donegal and settled Frederick County. These Stephensons were originally from Scotland and resided in Ireland for three generations.
The father of this William may have been Henry (the Shepherd) Stephenson who was living in Roxburghshire, Scotland in 1698. He appears to have been the father of Robert, James, Henry and others. The oldest son, Robert went to Ireland, where he was the father of William, James, (it is said both emigrated to America circa 1772 to Chester County South Carolina from Ireland), Elizabeth, Nancy, and Robert, of whom the last went to England and became the father of George Stephenson of engineering fame. The first two sons emigrated to America sometime before 1787. The second son James is said to have descendants in South Carolina.**(Compiled by Mrs. Elizabeth Mitchell Stephenson, Fite, N.Y.)

Some Stephensons who fought as officers in the War of the Revolution:
Major David Stevenson of Virginia.
Major George Stephenson of Pennsylvania
Colonel James Stephenson of Virginia
Captain John Stevenson of Maryland
Captain John Stevenson of Virginia
Captain Silas Stevenson of North Carolina

Austin's 1830 Register of Families entry #15 revealed that James Stephenson was a 39 year old male who gave his occupation as a farmer. He stated that he had a wife, Amelia Bell, 3 male children and 2 female children, that he came to Texas from Georgia and took the oath in the year 1829. The Children born to James and Amelia Bell Stephenson were:
Thomas Bell Stephenson who was born March 23, 1819 in either Florida or Georgia. Records are conflicting because the border between these two states kept moving and was not firmly established until after the Indian wars ceased. The best possibility is that they were born in Georgia (census data) but lived in Florida because that is where they list having come from when they entered Texas. Thomas married Lucinda Sanders (b. 1822 in Alabama, d. July 1867) in Austin County on June 27, 1840. They had ten children. 1. Elizabeth Anne Stephenson (b. 1842 in Austin County, married Enoch Kemper, who was the half brother of William Henry Ward, only son of John R. and Mary Ann Williams Ward. They had one child Nell Kemper who married John P Grieg, son of James Grieg.) 2. James Sanders Stephenson (b. 12 Oct 1845 in Austin County, d. 11-6-1918 buried in Center, Tx. He married Fredonia Alice Rushing b. 12-15-1854 at Center, Tx. They had 9 children, Thomas Bell, Mary Lucinda, Jessie May, James Rushing, Homer Elberton, Sallie Chandler, Kemper Ward.
3. John W. Stephenson, 4. Rhonda G. Stephenson, 5. Louisa Stephenson, 6. Sallie Stephenson, 7. Rufus Stephenson 8. Bower Stephenson 9. Edward Stephenson 10. Sue Stephenson.
Thomas Bell Stephenson operated a ferry across the Brazos quite possibly near his father's league where Caney Creek joins the Brazos. In Washington county records, Thomas Bell Stephenson applied for a permit to build a two story brick building in Old Washington. He died January 24, 1867 in Hempstead, Waller County, Texas. Thomas Bell Stephenson served at the battle of San Jacinto in Gibson Kuykendall's company and was left at Harrisburg to guard the baggage and sick and wounded. He received 640 acres of Bounty Land for his participation in the Texas Revolution.
James Bell Stephenson was born in Georgia/Florida on October 13, 1820 and was married in 1843 to Melissa Maxwell, daughter of Thomas & Clarkia Williamson Maxwell. Since James is the great-great grandfather of the author, his entire history will be given in a subsequent section of this chapter.**
Henry Stephenson was born in 1821 and died on October 5, 1833.
Civility Honor Ann Grace Stephenson was born December 20, 1822 in Georgia-Florida and in 1842 she married William Maxwell, brother of James Stephenson's wife Melissa. William Maxwell along with James Bell Stephenson was appointed by the State of Texas to form Waller County in 1873. Civility died in 1899 and is supposed to be buried in the Kirby Chapel Cemetery in Waller County Texas.
George Marshall Stephenson was born in Texas on June 19, 1826, shortly after his family's arrival in Texas. George married Lettie Jackson.
Florence Elizabeth Stephenson was born in Texas on April 24, 1829 and she married William H. Smith in 1848. Smith was a doctor and son of Solomon Smith who was a neighbor of James Bell from Grimes County. She died on June 16, 1916 and was buried in Kirby Chapel Cemetery, Waller County Texas. On the 1850 Census of Austin County, William H. smith is listed as 25 yrs b. GA, wife 20 b. TX, child Nancy 1 yr b. TX. William H. Smith is listed on the 1860 Austin County Census as having been born in Georgia, 36 years old, a doctor, value of $15,000.00. His wife is listed as having been born in Texas, 29 years old. Children listed all born in Texas wereNancy 11, Mary C. 7, J. E.5, John W. 2, James 1.
Succession records reveal that the heirs to Solomon Smith were wife Emily and 6 children William H. Smith, John, Lewis, Sarah Pattison, Emily Cooper, Bathsheba Durham. James Bell and Jesse Clary signed affidavits of the knowledge of this family. Many of this Smith family (which incidentally are no relation to Arthur James Smith I, the author's grandfather whose father came from England but are kin through his wife, Lillie Hoffman Smith mother of AJ Smith II) live today in the vicinity of Field's Store in Waller County.
Martha Ann Stephenson was born February 18, 1833 in Texas and died May 24, 1843.
William T. Stephenson was born on December 23, 1836 in Texas.
Entry # 50 in the Austin County Land hearings recorded that James Stephenson received a tract of land on Caney Creek in the northern part of the county next to Joel Lakey and Kuykendall. This was filed for original title on April 17, 1838. James Stephenson received a grant of land from the Mexican Government on March 7, 1831. The amount was one league, 1/8 of which was located in Washington County and 7/8 in Austin County lying on Caney Creek. The property can be reached from Bellville by taking Center Hill Road to Lynn Road. Lynn Road forms the southern boundary of the league of land. Reese Rd cuts half way through the property from east to west. In 1997, the majority of the original league is occupied by the Byler Ranch. The high rolling hills and the old bridges over Caney Creek are quite scenic. Kraemer Road continues on into Washington County and after a few miles winds up in Chappel Hill. Towards the east of the Stephenson league and adjoining it was one of the first residents of the colony, Joel Lakey's League.
James Stephenson witnessed the signing of Joel Lakey's will in Austin County on August 29, 1837. In the will, Lakey's daughters Nancy and Ruth are mentioned. Other witnesses to the signing of the will were J.B. Miller and James Hall. Joel Lakey is mentioned as one of the first settlers in this area. Tottenham Road also starts on Stephenson's league. Coincidentally, Maud Barrett, grandmother of the author and a totally different branch of the family, whose family came from Georgia, was born on the "Tottenham Place’’, a part of the Stephenson League. Nearby also is the league granted to an Old Three Hundred member, Jeremiah Cloud.
An important document which proves that James and Amelia Stephenson were the parents of James Bell Stephenson, record 544 dated November 1856 at the Austin County Courthouse states:
"...we James B. Stephenson and Thomas B. Stephenson both of said county and state and children and heirs at law of James Stephenson and Amelia Stephenson do hereby disclaim all right, title, interest, claim or demand whatsoever in...head right league of our deceased father the said James Stephenson, situated in Austin & Washington Counties....to present settlers...Nathan W. Bush, Jeremiah Cloud Sr., Washington H.G. Cloud, Fleming S. Reese, Frederick A. Battoe, Benjamin S. Harrison, McGrady Montgomery, RW Scales and others, defendants in a suit of now pending in the District Court of the County of Austin wherein Civility A.G. Maxwell (with her husband William Maxwell) & Elizabeth Smith (with her husband--William Smith) as heirs of the said Amelia Stephenson are plaintiffs and seeking to recover...a portion of said headright League...Attest: Wm Bradbury
Succession of the estate of William Barret Travis on the 3rd of October 1837 "Petition of James Stephenson to cite John R. Jones to appear at the September term. James Stephenson asked the court why it hadn't probated Travis' will. Mentioned in the will was 1000 acres on New Year's Creek in Washington County purchased from Samuel Miller, 1/2 league on New Year's Creek purchased from Isaac Lee, 200 acres on Caney Creek purchased from Gibson Kuykendall (this property adjoined James Stephenson's league), one half interest in a tract of land on Caney Creek, 3010 acres on Mill Creek in Washington County, John Cummings title bond to 1000 acres lying on the Brazos River near Groce's, a note to James Stephenson for $2500. In September of 1835 Stephenson sold 1/8 of the James Stephenson League to William Brisbane for $250. The transaction was witnessed by William Barrett Travis.
In the book William Barett Travis: His Sword and His Pen, it is stated that Travis sold James Stephenson a negro woman slave for $600 and also a slave by the name of John. In a deed dated 7-19-1841, David Portis, husband of Rebecca Cummings, sold to John Hall part of the estate of William Barret Travis which was on the west side of the Brazos River at the mouth of Caney Creek which Robert Peebles as curator of Mathew Grantham had conveyed to Travis. In April of 1845, John Hall sold this property to Balthazar Hoffman, great grand father of the author, whose son William Hoffman married Emma Stephenson, granddaughter of James Stephenson. Lillie Hoffman Smith, grandmother of the author was born and raised on the land that had once belonged to William Barret Travis.

THE EARLY PROTESTANT CHURCH IN AUSTIN COUNTY
The Stephensons were very involved in the protestant movement in early Austin county. Amelia Bell Stephenson was one of the first to be baptized into the fledgling Methodist church at a meeting at the Caney creek campground. The following history of the Methodist Church in Texas is quoted from the book Historical Records of Austin and Waller Counties, a history compiled by Corrie Haskew Pattison. It is entitled "Early Preachers and Churches in Texas" and is a direct passage from her book.
" The dawn of Protestanism and the inception of Methodism in Texas began in 1814 when William Stevenson visited in the northeastern section of the territory known as Texas. He apparently was not only the first Methodist, but the first representative of any Protestant group to preach in Texas. In 1824, William Stevenson asked Stephen F. Austin for permission to preach in his colony on the grounds that there were many Methodist families among the colonists who were good citizens and who would like to have services conducted in their newly established neighborhoods; but Mr. Austin's reply was that he must be loyal to the Mexican government and the laws he had accepted when he brought this colony into the Texas regions; and that therefore, he would be compelled to imprison anyone--Methodist or any other preacher, except Roman Catholic--who went through this country preaching. Austin added that "all must be baptized in the Roman Catholic Church and all marriages be celebrated in that church. This the law of the nation and all must obey it."
Henry Stephenson, another pioneer itinerant of the Methodist Church was born in Virginia in 1772, licensed to preach in 1812, took up the work of the Church in 1817, and soon became associated with William Stevenson. Both Families moved from Arkansas into northwest Louisiana in 1816. While serving circuits in Louisiana, both Stevenson and Stephenson made numerous preaching tours into east Texas, as they had done while living in South Arkansas.
About 1824, Henry Stephenson made an appointment to conduct services near San Augustine in the home of Mr. Stafford, but the Mexican authorities prevented the meeting; then Stephenson went to the nearby home of the Thomas family and preached. These efforts to "spread scriptural holiness" in the Texas wilderness caused the Mexican authorities to issue the following decree to the people in the Mexican governmental district of Sabine, which embraced a vast region of east Texas adjacent to the Sabine River:
"To the good people of the aforementioned district: By the express article of the Mexican Constitution, the Roman Catholic Religion is the Established Religion of the government and prohibits the use of all others. This is to forewarn all persons from assembling in the Sabine District in violation of the article of the constitution, under penalty of punishment, as given under my hand the 15th day of May 1824. (signed) Gaines, Alcalde.
In spite of the above and similar warnings, Henry Stephenson continued to preach in Texas, and soon afterwards preached in the home of Thomas Gates and others. William B. Travis made an appeal for missionaries to Texas some seven and one-half months before his death in the Alamo and showed his concern for the spiritual welfare of the people of Texas. His letter was written from San Felipe de Austin, Texas on August 17, 1835. Travis died in a few months in the Alamo, and Methodism answered the plea by giving her godly pioneer ministers to this needy field. Travis attended a Methodist Camp meeting at Old Caney in Austin County in 1835 and assured the leaders they would not be molested. The Lord's Supper was observed at the last service. This was the last service Travis ever attended (Methodism in Texas, 1814-1960, C.A. West, pp. 112-3, 118-20)."
A note of comment here to the fact that Travis attended worship services at the Caney Creek campground. Travis had purchased a piece of property in Washington County which was very near James Stephenson's league which lay on Caney Creek. James and Amelia Stephenson were both listed as being members of this same congregation. Amelia Stephenson is said to have been one of the first Texans baptized at the Caney Creek campground. James Stephenson donated 5 acres at Caney Creek for a campground to hold church services.
Continuing with the account by Pattison, "there arrived at Washington-on-the-Brazos in December 1833, a Methodist local preacher who from that day fills a large place in the Foundation period of Methodism in that region. That was John Wesley Kenney, who had traveled with his family, accompanied by a talented sister-in-law, Miss Lydia McHenry, all the way overland from the state of Illinois.
Kenney was born in Pennsylvania in 1799, two years after his parents had arrived from Ireland. His mother had been converted under John Wesley's preaching. The family moved to Ohio, where young Kenney was converted, and where he began preaching at the age of nineteen. In 1824, while on Fountain Head Circuit, under Peter Cartwright as presiding elder, he was married to a daughter of Barnabas McHenry, one of the distinguished preachers of his day. The Kenney family arrived in 1833 in Washington and he preached his first sermon at the house of Samuel Gates in March 1834. Soon after Kenney had settled in his new home, in what is now Austin County, he met Henry Stephenson and a camp-meeting was soon arranged. John Rabb gives an account of this meeting: "they appointed a camp-meeting which commenced on the 3rd of September, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Fullenwider of the old school of Presbyterians, and two other Methodist ministers, Mr. Babbitt and Wm. Medford. This meeting was held on Caney Creek. (A History of Early Methodism in Texas, Macum Phelan P. 40-42. Methodist Historical Quarterly, July 1909, p. 81-82.)
"The names of those who formed a church (two months after the one formed at McMahon’s Chapel, Sabine Co. by Henry Stephenson) Follows: John W. Kenney, Mariah L. Kenney, Lydia A. McHenry, John Rabb, James Walker, Catherine Walker, Wm. Medford, John Ingram, Elizabeth Medford, John Crownover, Amelia Stephenson, B. Babbit, Dudley J White, Henry Whitesides, Laura J Whitesides, Rachel Dever, Eliza Alford, Elizabeth Scott, Malinda Bargley, Catherine Bargley, Demaris Stephenson, Priscilla Chandler, Mary Huff, Thomas Bell, Abigail Day, Bethel White. (Henry Stephenson had known Moses Austin in Missouri and had been holding private services in the Colony since it had first been established, certainly as early as 1823) **Phelan’s History of Methodism in Texas. Some personal notes appear in this article furnished by Mrs. Ruth Ann Hurst, Newton, Tx.
"Henry Stephenson’s son-in-law, Wm McMahon, had a brother David who had married Polly Whitesides in Arkansas. The Rabbs were old friends who had lived in the Red River section before joining Austin’s Colony. Other old friends in the colony were the Cummings and the Gates. Some of the McMahons and other Stephensons from Kentucky and Missouri had come too..."
Robert Alexander was born in Smith County, Tennessee in 1811 and was twenty-six years of age at the time of his entering Texas in 1836. Both William Stevenson and Robert Alexander’s fathers had come from North Carolina. He hurried to Austin County and got in touch with John Wesley Kenney and other Methodists in that section. His coming was hailed with delight by the faithful few in that region, who had time and again appealed to the Mission Board for a regular preacher. Soon after Robert Alexander's arrival, a camp-meeting was appointed, which was held near the old camp ground on Caney in October, 1837. At this meeting there were ten conversions, including the wife of John Rabb and three children of David Ayers, and at the close, the first missionary society in Texas was organized and subscriptions were taken for the support of the work amounting to an annual pledge of about $1,000. Thomas Bell gave $20.00, James Stephenson $10.00, James Bell $5.00
The following is a copy of the subscription paper, included in an account of this meeting, published in the Texas Christian Advocate in 1857. It explained that many of the subscribers were not members of any church.
"We, the subscribers, promise to pay the sums annexed to our respective names annually, as members of the Texas Missionary Society, auxiliary to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, to John Rabb, Treasurer of the Texas Missionary Society, or his order, October 1837." She continues with a complete list of names and amounts. The partial list of names indicated following are those either of/or with whom the family of the author was connected as relative, friends, neighbors and business acquaintances as compiled through the research: "These were persons living in the vicinity of San Felipe in Austin's Colony in 1837: J.W.Kenney, David Ayers, John Rabb, Thomas Polk, John Fennel, John Crawford, James Stevens, Thomas Bell, Wm. Medford, B.F. Foster, W. Sanders, James Foster, Thomas Cochran, Permelia Foster, Julia Bracey, S.Y. Reams, B. Grenville, Jacob Castelman, James Duff, J. Stephenson, Amasa Ives, W. R. Martin. James Bell, John B. King, G.W. Grimes, James Hall, Z. Jackson. The complete list is much longer. Refer to Pattison's History for more or A History of Early Methodism in Texas by Macum Phelan.
From the Telegraph and Texas Register, August 25, 1838 came an announcement, "A Camp Meeting will commence on the 1st Thursday evening of October next on Pina (Piney) Creek, Austin County, 2 miles south of Centre Hill. All Ministers of the gospel in good standing in their different denominations are invited." Robert Alexander, Missionary, Methodist Episcopal Church. (This was the land donated by Thomas Bell and Benjamin Granville.)
From the Centenary of Methodism, June 12, 1839:
Dear Editor:
At the regularly quarterly conference of the official member so the Methodist Episcopal Church of Washington Circuit, it was resolved that the preacher in charge be instructed to acknowledge through the public prints, the very liberal donations of land made to it as centennial contributions....The spiritual services of the occasion will be attended at a camp meeting to be held on Caney Creek after which the Monument of the Reverend Dr. Ruter will be erected with public solemnities at Washington.
Donations of land received are as follows: a site for a church and a 12-acre lot at San Felipe, given by express ordinance of the city government; 50 acres for a camp ground, on which is a church partially completed at Piney Creek, given by Messrs.Bell and Granville; 25 acres at Center Hill for a parsonage by David Ayers; 2 acres for a church at Travis by Messrs. Cleveland and Kuykendall, 5 acres for a campground and a church at Caney Creek, given by James Stephenson. Mosely Baker was ordained as a Methodist minister after serving the Republic of Texas at San Jacinto.

DEED RECORDS
The following are land records recorded at the Austin County Courthouse unless otherwise indicated:
In the original Spanish Land grants, grant # 42 went to James P. Stephenson and grant #50 went to James Stephenson. At the Land Commissioner's Board meetings which began in 1840 and were held after Texas struggle for Independence to settle land claims that had been made prior to the war but had not yet been granted clear title in case #41 Amasa Ives administrator of James P. Stephenson, deceased appealed for title to one labor of land. In case #73 James Stephenson deposed for Thomas Bell that he was a resident citizen of Texas in 1826. In case #75 James Stephenson presented his claim for one labor of land and William Medford deposed that he was a resident citizen of Texas in 1832. William Medford was a Methodist minister who lived in the area which later came to be Bellville. Medford was a neighbor of both Thomas Bell and Benjamin Granville. Thomas Bell sold to William Medford 150 acres of the Nichols league where Medford had been living. Thomas Bell was supposed to have been buried in the Medford Cemetery named after William Medford.
Entry #77 James Stephenson as administer of the Isaac B. Bradley estate applied for title to 1/3 league of land. Stephenson married Bradley's widow, Hettie in December of 1840 after the death of his own wife, Amelia. Thomas Stephenson deposed.
December of 1840 after the death of his own wife, Amelia. Thomas Stephenson deposed.
Sept 1834 In a transaction in the Washington County Deed Records Silas Clark sold to William Barret Travis and Handy 1/4 league on Caney Creek next to James Stephenson. Deed # 23
8-28-1835 Benjamin Babbit sold to James Stephenson for $500.00 1/4 league (1107 acres) granted to Babbit by the State on 11-22-1832 east of the river adjoining the land of Jared E. Groce and Dudley White. This Deed signed by Judge George Ewing. Originally this land was in Austin County but then in 1837 when Montgomery County was established it was then located in Montgomery County and again in 1846 it was located in Grimes County. It was on this land that James was living when he died in 1853.
9-1835 James Stephenson sold1/8 league to William Brisbane and Deloplaine from the James Stephenson league for $250. The transaction was witnessed by William Barret Travis.
3-1837 James Stephenson sold 555 acres to Joseph Davis from the James Stephenson League for $700 and was witnessed by Thomas Bell. On the same date, Zillah Jackson sold to James Stephenson 1/4 league of land granted to Isaac Jackson. (James Stephenson's son George Marshall Stephenson married Lettie Jackson.)

11-1-1837 James Stephenson received from Joseph Davis 1/3 league of land on the left bank of New Year's creek adjacent to the 1/3 league sold by Stephenson to Elisha Roberts. Witness: JB. Johnson.
3-4-1838 Thomas Bell sold to James Stephenson for $500 150 acres out of the Nichols survey on the East Side of Piney Creek. Transaction witnessed by James Bell & J. Benton Johnson.
4-26-1838 James Stephenson sold to Jeremiah Cloud 155 1/2 acs for $1300. Witness Wm. Perry
5-26-1838 James Stephenson sold to Jeremiah Cloud 200 acres.
7-3-1838 James Stephenson sold 347 acres of his original grant for $2000 to James Hall III .
7-3-1838 James Stephenson sold 347 acres of his original grant for $2000 to James Hall III . Witness JW Kenney and John Marshall.
7-2-1838 James Stephenson sold to Jeremiah Cloud 169 acres "part of the league granted me by Coahuila and Texas, beginning N. side of Muddy branch adjacent surveys of Cloud and James Davis"
11-13-1838 JS to James Hall III 40 acres on Hawk Spring, part of the James Stephenson league. Witness: William Polk, James Duff.
11-13-38 James Stephenson sold to John Marshall 30 acres on Caney Creek, "part of the league granted me" for $90.00. Witness: James C. Duff.
5-15-1839 John Nichols sold to James Stephenson for $90, "the tract where Stephenson now lives being part of the league granted J. Nichols. Also, he purchased another tract bounded by Benjamin Granville.Witness:David Ayres
4-26-1840 John Watson as curator to James Stephenson. "Jury finds that absent defendant Wm. Southerland sold to Stephenson 1600 acres off league #4 lying on the West Fork on the West side of Mill creek in Austin County being league originally sold to Southerland. Curator to make title to plaintiff. Deed follows. Witness: James Hillyanrd, William Blair. it was sold to Nathan Thomas for $2900. Witnessed by David Ayres.
12-2-1840 JS sold 231 acres to James Hall III for $300 land that was granted to Stephenson by the Mexican government on the waters of Caney Creek, beginning at the SE corner of the land on which John Marshall lived in 1837 and West bordering the tract where Perry lived.
1-1-1841 A mortgage. David Ayres of Center Hill to David Hedden et all...1000 acres, part of the Stephenson headright, 177 acs being part of the Thomas Bell headright, and 100 acres bought from Kleburg, part of the George Grimes headright.
5-17-1841 John L. Marshall to James Hall 30 acres on the waters of Caney Creek and being part of the headright granted to James Stephenson by the Mexican government.
5-26-1842 JS sold to Mathew Thomas 600 acres of the Southland Survey
8-25-1842 JS sold 180 acs for $360 granted to Stephenson as a colonist on the S side of Caney Creek to Zillah Jackson. Witness: Benjamin L. Cheek, George W. Stephenson.
1-25-1844 Thomas Bell sold to David Ayres for $75.00 a tract on the waters of Piney Creek, beginning N of a line of survey of Nichols and also SE corner of Survey for D.Ayres. it is the headright of Thomas Bell. Witness: James Stephenson, James B. Stephenson, Benjamin Granville.
3-29-1845 JS sold 550 acres of the Stephenson league to William Maxwell (his son-in-law) for $1000 a tract "on the waters of Caney creek being unsold part of my headright league...where Mrs. Simpson now lives."
3-1845 JS sold to F. G. Pistle 16 1/2 acres
5-11-1845 29 2/3 acres of the Stephenson survey sold to N. J. Deny
8-9-1847 JS sold to Jeremiah Cloud 150 acres out of the Stephenson league on Caney Creek and 189 1/3 acres Mud Branch.
2-19-1849 JS of Grimes County sold 150 acres of the John Nichols league to Thomas Bell for $500. Witness: George Stephenson. JS sold to George Stephenson (his son) 150 acs for $300. Witness: Thomas Bell.
3-25-1849 George W. Stephenson sold to James Ervin for $300 tracts on the waters of Piney Creek same as part of the headright of John Nichols and granted to him by James Stephenson and by him to grantee. Witness: J.D. Giddings.
2-28-1850 188 2/12 acres Stephenson league to W. Punchard
The tax roll of Texas for the year 1840 shows that James Stephenson owned under completed titles, 850 acres of land and 55 head of cattle in Austin County, and 110 acres in Montgomery County. He was also administrator of 1476 acres of land in Gonzales county for his son, Thomas Bell, who was twenty-one years of age at the time.
**Note: Just as there were multiple James and Thomas Bells in Austin's Colony, so also were there multiple James Stephensons.

RECORDS OF GRIMES COUNTY TEXAS Deed book B2 pg 3 & 4 (Copied from records by James T. Ramsey Jr. 1969)
T.B. Stephenson et al to J.B. Stephenson Power of attorney
"Know all men by these presents that we Wm. Stephenson, Wm Maxwell, T.B. Stephenson, Elizabeth Smith and Civility A.G. Maxwell all of State and County aforesaid have this day consituted and appointed James B. Stephenson os said County and state our true and lawful attoirney irrecvocably for aus and in our names to receive and recipt to make deeds to lands belonging to the Estate of James Stephenson.... P 613, B2 lists William Maxwell and his wife Civility A.G. Stephenson, T. B. Stephenson, Williaam Smith and his wife Elizabeth, James b. stephenson of James Stephenson dec’d...only legal heirs..land deeded over to James B. Stephenson 24 Jun 1856
Amelia Bell Stephenson died in Austin County on January 5, 1839 and James re-married a Mrs. Hettie Bradley on December 13, 1840. In the 1850 Census, James is listed with wife Martha (Wood) b. GA age 45. James Stephenson was a member of the Brazos Masonic Lodge #75 of Hempstead which recorded that he visited the Lodge at their first meeting on October 26, 1850 and asked for affiliation and it was voted. The records of that lodge record also that James Stephenson died Jan 2, 1853. The same document also records that son James B. Stephenson was initiated into the Retreat Masonic Lodge #153 at Courtney Texas in July of 1861 and also gives his death date as Sept 28, 1905. He served in this lodge for thirty years and held a majority of the offices.** source: Letter to E.C. Stephenson 4 Feb 1970 from the Grand Lodge of Texas Library, assistant Librarian Dixie T. Milton.
James Stephenson was living on the land he had purchased from Babbitt in Grimes County when he died at age 66. Since their exists a private family cemetery on this same land where James Bell and Melissa Stephenson are buried, it my plausibly be assumed that perhaps Amelia Stephenson who died in 1839 was buried here first and that James also might have been buried in this plat.

On January 24, 1854, son Thomas Bell, and sisters Civility Anne and Florence Elizabeth Stephenson Smith gave James Bell Stephenson the power of attorney to settle the estate of the late James Stephenson. James Bell D. bought the other heirs’ shares of the estate and there made his home for the remainder of his life.

James & Amelia Bell Stephenson

by Betty Meischen