John Stephens born c.1603 Immigrated to Guilford Connecticut 1639. Parentage in question

Question

More info on John. His children :Thomas b. ca. 1628 in England,William b. ca 1630 in England, John b. 1632 in England,Mary b. 1633 in England. Thomas Mary William came to America. Mother seems to have died. Some speculate Mary Moulson of Kent. The popular opinion many on Ancestry, Geni, etc. Claim John is son to Sir Edward Stephens Lypiott park Gloucester, and Anne Crewe is not supported by others who say line is false and the John who was truly Edwards son died in school, Oxfrord England. A writer C. Ellis Stevens wrote a family history 1904 and has a lot of convincing arguments that he was the son of Edward. Other possibility is he came from Kent as did many of the early Guilford settlers. maybe someone knows for certain but I'm not sure where he came from. My Stevens line goes to John of Guilford through Thomas, then Jonathan of Schenectady, then Arent Stevens, his son Nicholas, his son Arent, his son Johannes (loyalists so rest in Canda) Erastus , then John, then Louis, then John, then Ron, to me. I got back to Arent  (Aaron) through paying a researcher to check , he found land transfer documents linking Erastus to Aaron who, along with Nicholas had been in Butler's Rangers, Indian affairs. An interesting tidbit :Arent  (Aaron) was hung for treason on July 20th 1814, at something called the Bloody Assige. Anyway thanks for looking in on this I know a lot of Stevens' clan would love to learn one way or another is Edward is Johns father.

Answer 1

Have a look at my  previous question which has the  sources. In summary this is what I found.

 Anne Crewe (d of Thomas and Temperance Crewe) was baptised on Feb 41598/9  in Northamptonshire at Hinton in the Hedges, the local parish church to her father's home in Stene.

She married Edward Stephens (abt 1597)  of Lypiatt .They had a son John born in 1722 .He went to Oxford and was also admitted to the Inner Temple in 1640

 The couple cannot have had a John born in 1603 since both of them would only have been about  6 years old at the time.  A John Stephens b in 1603 was brother to Edward and became a Member of Parliament also  with a well documented life.

Comments

Thank you !

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 I was intriuged by your mention of the Bloody Assizes since the only one I knew was presided over by Judge Jefferies in Winchester (England)

There's quite a lot on the internet about the Canadian one including a trailor to a video http://www.sachem.ca/whats-on/documentary-sheds-light-on-haldimand-connections-to-war-of-1812/

The Aaron Stevens that was hung is quite well documented (the British Civil Service always kept records; I suspect that you could find trial records in an Archive somewhere.

This site contains transcripts of his land petitions. They mention his wife, some of his children and his service and declaration of  allegiance  to the British Crown (that's presumably why they hung him for treason)  It mentions that the name Arent is the Dutch way of spelling Aaron.Does that suggest Dutch origin? (I've no idea if Stevens is a Dutch name.)

His wife is named as a daughter of the deceased  Lt Adam Chrysler. One of the other men hung was also named Adam Chrysler (coincindence or family?)

  There is also a list of  the transfer of lands that he and some of his family owned. Some were transferred  to other ownership after they were forfeited but I read that the neighbours bought back some of the forfeited land for his family.

Sounds a really interesting story. (have to get back to my own mostly more prosaic ancestors)

https://sites.google.com/site/niagarasettlers/petitions-srigley-to-stevens

https://sites.google.com/site/niagarasettlers2/niagara-township-settlers-sh

 

 

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Thanks Helen! Yes Arent had some Dutch in him. Also some Mohawk! When Jonathan Stevens (his Great Grandfather) came from Connecticut he married Leah Van Slyck who was daughter of Ots Toch (Mohawk woman). Leah was half Dutch half Mohawk. His Grandfather was also named Arent and his father was Nicholas. Some of the family joined Butler's Rangers, some stayed in Schenectady NY. According to Geni.com he had an uncle John Stevens on the Provincial Congress so the family was split. I read that Arent stayed in contact with his American family which explains how he easily went over to the American side when he thought it would be best for him and his family in the War of 1812. Adam Chrysler was a cousin. The Blue eyed Indian Adam Chrysler (senior to the hanged Adam) was another Grandfather of mine and Arent married his daughter Mary Chrysler. Adam Senior) got a lot for land as being a high ranking officer in the Rangers, and being nieghbour to Arent probably bought the land back for his daughter and the 13 kids. Thanks for your help!!