Leonard Stephens Letter, 19 May 1856
Beech Woods, Kenton County, Ky. 19th May 1856
Dear Brother William,
I have for some time desired to write to you, But have waited for an answer to the letter I wrote you by Napoleon last fall. I have no doubts it is a task for you to write for I assure you it is quite so for me to write. But still, I do think you & I ought to do so, to each other. We shall not have that privilege much longer, for our leases will shortly expire. I write to you under circumstances that are well calculated to impress upon us the truth of the above remarks, for out Dear Brother John has left us. He after a painful illness of some four weeks departed this life on last Wensday the 14th instant. I suppose his disease was the effects of his old complaint Chronick Diarahea. He had been afflicted with that disease several years. Last fall however, we thought he was about to regain his former health, for he was much better than usual & gained his accustomed flesh. But his last attack was much more violent than any that had preceeded it. His remains were intered on Thursday about 4 o’clock, P.M. & were followed to the Grave by a very large concourse of people, more than I have ever seen before at any burial in this country.
We are all indeed sadly afflicted at this mournful event, & perhaps it falls more heavily on me than any other for really I feel that I shall miss him all the ballance of my life. He & I have been together as you know all our lives or from the time I was born, & we have ever become friends & especially since we have been widowers. We have enjoyed each others company more I am satisfied than any other two persons in this country by traveling around among our children & other relatives. There has scarcely been a single week for the last several years that we have not gone somewhere together. But alas, like all other Earthly things, there is now no more of that Brotherly & affectionate intercourse in this world. May I not hope, that in the next world He & I & all other Dear friends will meet, no more to part forever. Oh my Dear Brother, you do not know what a comfort it would be to my poor heart, to take you by the hand just now, & have the privilege of being with you the ballance on my mortal existence. You & I, like I & Brother John, were for quite a long time not only brothers, but became friends, that was ever the case while we were within the same vicinity. We were then more intimate with each other than we were with any others of our Brethren. When you moved to Mo. I & Brother Jack became more social than we were during your stay here, & that intimacy became stronger as we growed older & less able to work, for we then commenced visiting round & were together a great deal. If I could only have you now to fill his place, I should feel greatly relieved.
Brother Jacks children are all now here except Albert & Ben. Albert is living in the upper part of your state & Ben is in California. The will gives to Ben the Home tract or 130 acres of it, his Father had sold off I think about eighty acres to Jackson & and ballance of the home tract is given by this will to Marion. He had given John & Joe land down in the North Bend part of Boone. He had given to Albert & Americus money in the place of land. Americus came in from Missouri about four weeks ago, & is going to start back in a few days. He has been living in Mo. with his Aunt Hellen. Since he left there She has got married, & he now thinks she will not need him any longer & talks somewhat of returning to Kentucky to live. Col. E. K. Fish & Napoleon are the executors to brother John’s Will which will be proved in about two weeks at the first County Court. Eliza Fisk, brother Jack’s youngest daughter is living in the house & had been ever since the death of her husband, some three years ago. She is by the Will to have a farm bought for her either in Ky, or a new country as she may prefer, & untill another house is bought for her she is to remain where she now is, or in the home house. The Florence tract of land is to be sold & also a house & lot in Covington, the ten negroes that are still on hand for he divided the rest among his children, the negroes are however to be appraised & drawn for by the children as they are not permitted to be sold out of the family.
This letter leaves myself & family & also the families of my children in the enjoyment of moderately good health, & so far as I know it is a time of health with our other relations in this country. Brother Edmund & his folks are well. James N. Stephens staid all night with me last thursday night he told me his Mother’s health was not good. She has been afflicted with phthisick for a long time & is frequently very unwell with difficulty of breathing. I do sincerely hope this may find you in the enjoyment of good health, & also all your children & their families. Our sisters here are in pretty good health. They were both at the burying & also Brother Edmund. There was not preaching. There is to be a funeral discourse preached so soon as they can make arrangement for the services of the Minister that preached Sister Frances' funeral. On the evening before brother Jack died Buford Rice died & they were buried the same day I attended the meeting. There were two discourses preached by Elder Joel Hume & Old Uncle Lewis Conner. Buford Rice died quite unexpectedly having lived only two or three days after being taken. He has been afflicted all his life with phthisick which terminated his existence. I annex here a copy of the obituary notice of brother Johns Death, that is to be published.
Communicated, Obituary
Died at his residence in Boone County, Ky., near Florence on Wensday the 14th instant John Stephens Senr in the 72nd year of his age. The deceased was born on the 2nd day of March 1785 in Orange County, Virginia & emigrated with his parents to Fayette County, Ky., in the fall of 1805 where they resided a part of two years, he settled permanently in Boone County where he died in the years 1808 or 1809.
For several years past he had been sorely afflicted with Chronick Diareah, his last attack lasted about twenty eight days, during which, his sufferings were frequently very severe, which were boarn by him with Christian resignation, he was & for a number of years had been a member of the Christian Church, at Florence, of which communion he was an exemplary member. [He has] left ten children, a large number of Grand children, Three Brothers, & two Sisters, besides a large number of other relations & friends to mourn his loss. He was a kind Father, a devoted Brother, a true friend, a humane master, indeed in all the relations of life discharged faithfully his duty, his memory will be cherished by the whole community among whom he lived & died. May we not hope that what is their great loss is his everlasting gain.
My Dear Brother, please upon the receipt of this letter containing as it does the fact, that another of our Dear Brothers has paid the debt of nature, & which sad event has thrown a gloom over the whole community. Think of Think of me, [sic] & then write me one of your long consolatory letters, for I assure you I stand in need of your soothing affection, Brother William are we not rapidly passing away. Within the last thirteen months three of our brethren, that is two brothers & one brother in law have died. The Lord only knows how soon the remaining three brothers of us may also be called away.
Present me affectionately to your children, & for yourself accept an affectionate brothers heartfelt wishes, & prayers, for your present, future & eternal welfare.
May God bless you,
Leonard Stephens
[Notice of Brother Jacks Death]
Notes:
Albert Stephens (1813-1892) had married Minerva E. Bailey in 1839. Benjamin Stephens (1831-1920) was John's youngest child. Return.
Jackson Stephens (1815-1890) and his wife, Mary Green (1823?- —) were enumerated with his father's household in 1850. Return.
Francis Marion Stephens (1825-1904) had married Louisiana Champion (1831-1914) in October 1854. Return.
John Stephens, Jr. (1826-1913) had married in 1849 Emily Madeline Rice (1831?- —). Return.
Joseph Stephens (1829-1872) had married in 1853 Alice Goodridge (1830-1918). Return.
North Bend, as the name suggests, lies on the Ohio River at the northernmost point of Kentucky, about 15 miles from Beech Woods. Return.
Americus Stephens (1818-1860) was to marry Susan B. Finnell (1837-1863) in 1858. Return.
Aunt Helen (or Heller?) not identified. Return.
Col. Ezra Keeler Fish (1804-1879) had married John's daughter Mary Jane (1813-1879) in 1830. Return.
Elizabeth Ann (1819-1907) was the widow of Ebenezer Fisk (1819-1853), a teacher from New York, who had died of typhoid at his father-in-law's. Elizabeth later wed Richard H. Tanner, who also died young, in 1860, after only two years of marriage. Return.
James Nelson Stephens (1800-1888) was the eldest son of Benjamin Stephens, Jr. and Agnes Nelson (1782-1865). He had married in 1822 his cousin, Louisa Hayden Nelson (1806-1883). Return.
Phthisis was another name for pulmonary tuberculosis, also known as consumption. The disease was the leading killer of the time. Return.
Probably John's late wife, Frances Faulconer (1791-1845). The preacher not identified. Return.
Buford Rice (1807-1856), a Boone County farmer, was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Rice. Return.
Joel C. Hume (1807-1891) was a cousin of Elder William Hume; Joel later moved to southwestern Indiana. Return.
Lewis Conner (1780?- —), a native of Virginia, was Moderator of the Salem Association of Predestinarian Baptists and a popular minister, whose name appears frequently in Boone and Kenton marriage records. Spencer, 2: 542. Return.
Three other children had died young: Harriet (1811-1820), Dorothy (1821-1825), and Leonard (1823-1840). Return.
The material in brackets, which was missing from the letter, was obtained from the obituary which appeared in the Covington Journal (24 May 1856), 2, with Leonard's idiosyncratic spelling regularized. Return.
Like his brothers Leonard and William, John had been an investor in turnpikes. He had served as a director of one company for 21 years. His fellow board members noted his passing at their next meeting in a resolution of mourning. Covington Journal (6 Sep 1856), 2. Return.
In addition to John Stephens, they were Benjamin Stephens, Jr., who had died 15 Apr 1855 in Cass County, Missouri, on a visit to his children, and Thomas Sanford (1786-1855), an innkeeper in Burlington, the county seat, who had married their sister, Nancy Jane Waller Stephens (1787-1877). Return.
The third surviving brother was Edmund, the eldest. Return.
