Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 687–690; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
William Stephens, a retired farmer residing in Astoria, is one
whose life presents a picture of persistent industry crowned with
financial success. He has accumulated a fine property, surrounded
his loved ones with every comfort, and now in their midst is enjoying
the inerited ease and leisure won by his years of industry. His
landed estate consists of five hundred acres of finely-improved pasture
and timber land in Woodland Township, besides two hundred and forty
acres of swamp land on the Illinois River bottom, together with the
commodious grounds which surround his pleasant dwelling.
Mr. Stephens is of southern birth and ancestry. His
grandparents, Rev. John and Ellen (Riordan) Stephens, were natives of
Virginia, whither the former removed to Kentucky in early manhood
becoming a pioneer settler of Campbell County. He bought a tract
of timber land six miles from Covington, and devoted a portion of his
time to clearing it and the remained to the spread of the Gospel.
He organized societies in different parts of the State, doing a noble
work in promulgating the doctrines of the Baptist Church on the
frontier. He and his wife died on the farm which was their home
for many years. The parents of Mr. Stephens were among the
earliest settlers of Booneville. For some time after they settled
there the Indians were numerous and hostile and the few settlers built
a stockade in which the families gathered for protection. When
the men went to the fields they always carried their guns with them,
and at various times while the men kept guard the women would tend the
gardens.
James Stephens, one of the members of the family of this worthy
couple, was the second son of the father of our subject, who was born
in Campbell County, Ky., in the year 1801, and continued to reside
there until 1836. He then, with his wife and four children,
emigrated to Illinois, the family journeying in a wagon drawn by a yoke
of oxen with a horse in the lead. They brought their household
goods with them, camping by the way, and in June reached their
destination in McDonough County. After residing in Industry
Township two year they changed their residence to this county.
Mr. Stephens purchased on hundred acres of timber land on section 22,
Woodland Township, for which he paid $3 per acre. To this landed
estate he added from time to time until he possessed nearly four
hundred acres, the greater portion being improved and pasture
land. He was very industrious and possessed of good judgment and
prudent habits, hence his prosperity. He resided on the home farm
until his death, November 27, 1876
The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Margaret Peck,
married in 1826. Like her husband she was a native of Campbell
County, Ky., and of Virginia parentage. Her paternal grandfather
was a native of Germany, who came to America in Colonial days.
Her father, Peter Peck, removed from the Old Dominion to the county in
which his daughter was born, when that region was very sparsely
settled, and assisted in its development. He served in the War of
1812 in Capt. Dick Johnson’s company under Gen. Shelby, fought in the
battle of the Thames and saw Tecumseh fall. The regiment
disbanded at Maiden, Canada, and he having lost his horse a day or two
before, was obliged to walk home. It was in the winter season and
he suffered extremely, freezing his feet so that he was a cripple ever
afterward. He was a farmer by occupation. He finally
removed to McDonough County, Ill., where he spent his last years.
His wife, formerly Mary Beaver, a native of Virginia, was the daughter
of a German gentleman who married a native of Virginia and died either
there or in Kentucky.
The mother of our subject was a devoted parent, carefully
rearing her ten children, on whom were bestowed the names of William,
Mary, John H., Peter, Enoch, Ellen, Joseph, George, Angeline and
Francis Marion. She breathed her last at the home of the daughter
in McDonough County and her mortal remains were interred beside those
of her devoted companion in the cemetery of Woodland Township.
The natal day of our subject was July 24, 1828, and his
birthplace Campbell County, Ky. Having been eighty {eight?} years
old when he accompanied his parents to this State, he can recall the
incidents of the overland journey. At that time wild game was
plentiful and for some time afterward. As soon as large enough to
shoulder a gun he joined in the chase and has killed many a deer in the
confines of this county. He made the best of every opportunity
afforded to secure an education, attending the pioneer schools
assiduously in the winter season. The schoolhouse was of a
primitive fashion, built of logs, with earth and stick chimney, a huge
fireplace, a home-made writing desk around the wall, and slab benches.
Mr. Stephens resided in Woodland Township until 1853, then,
April 3, with a family from Ipava, started with an ox-team for
Oregon. They made their way across Missouri, crossing the
Missouri River at St. Joseph, traversed the plains and climbed the
mountains, crossing the Rocky Mountains the 4th of July, and safely
arriving in Lane County after seven months’ travel. The territory
included in the populous States of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and
Wyoming was at that time inhabited by no white settlers, but was the
home of numerous Indian tribes and abounded in deer, antelope, elk and
buffalo. The herds of the latter encountered by the traveling
party were innumerable. Our subject remained in Lane county until
February, 1854, then went to Coos diggings on the coast where he
prospected with but little success until spring. In April he
returned to Lane County, thence going to Yreca, Cal., where he was
engaged in mining until September, 1858. He then returned to his
former home, via the Isthmus and New York City.
Mr. Stephens spent the winter in Woodland Township and in the
spring of 1859 went to the Territory of Kansas, where he bought five
hundred acres of land located in Linn County, but sojourned there only
a short time. The following year he again left his home in this
State, bought more land in Kansas and then made another trip across the
plains, this time to Colorado. There he prospected and mined for
gold but without very great success. He became the owner of one
hundred and fifty square yards on the present site of Leadville, where
the “black san” as the minters termed it, was very hard to separate
from the gold and was afterward found to be silver ore. In the
fall of the year he sold his interest there for a small sum and
returning to the State bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in
Woodland Township, upon which he resided until 1864. He then
removed to Kerton Township, but a year later again took up his abode in
Woodland Township, where he continued to live until 1873. He next
rented his farm, removed to McDonough County, bought one hundred and
sixty acres in Mount Township and carried on his agricultural work
there until 1890, when he determined to retire from active labor, and
purchased his present residence.
Politically Mr. Stephens has always been a Democrat; he is now a
member of the County Central Committee. In McDonough County he
represented Mount Township on the County Board of Supervisors several
terms, also Woodland, his future home, and was recognized as a faithful
and efficient member of the Board. He is one of the most widely
informed men of the county, being a great reader, a deep thinker, and
in the habit of weighing well the items of information which he gathers
in their bearings upon the various departments of labor and
existence. An hour spent in his society is fruitful of
entertainment and instruction, and many friends are pleased to avail
themselves of opportunities to converse with him.
The family of Mr. Stephens includes a wife and six children, the
latter bearing the names of Margaret, Ettie, James W., Helena, Olney,
and Joseph W. Mrs. Stephens was born in Knox County, Ohio, in
1840, and was known in her maidenhood as Mary Welker. Her father,
David Welker, a native of the Keystone State, was quite young when his
parents removed to Ohio, locating near Milwood. He remained in
that State until 1853, then came to Central Illinois, spending the
remainder of his life in Kerton Township, this county.
Mr. Welker married Margaret Darling, a native of Ohio, who, like
her husband, spent her declining years in this county. Her
father, Abraham Darling, was born in Virginia, and his father, William
Darling, was either of Scotch ancestry or born in Scotland. The
latter located in the Shenandoah Valley, securing large tracts of land
there. During the early settlement of Ohio he removed thither,
purchasing a large tract of land in Knox County, where he spent the
remained of his days. Abraham Darling inherited considerable
property and with others established the Owl Creek Bank, one of the
earliest banking institutions in that section of the country.
When it collapsed he was obliged to settle all clams, being the only
stockholder of any wealth. He resided in Knox County until 1863,
then came to Illinois and during the remainder of his life lived in
this county.
Miss Mary Welker, now Mrs. Stephens, was thirteen years old when
she came to this county with her parents. Four years later she
was married to Adam Markley, a native of Ohio, who was but a child
when, in 1840-41, his parents, David and Rebecca (Butler) Markley, came
hither. He was reared in Kerton Township, where at the time of
his marriage he owned a farm upon which he located, living there until
his death in 1860. The marriage resulted in the birth of two
children, one of whom died in infancy. The other, Mary L., is the
wife of Charles Combs and resides in Elk County, Kan.; she and her
mother still own the Markley homestead of one hundred and eighty
acres. The marriage of our subject and Mrs. Mary Markley was
celebrated February 21, 1862, and neither had had cause to regret the
event.
