Moses Stephens (abt. 1762 - 1853)

Born about 1762 in South Carolina

Husband of Elizabeth Ann (Brummett) Stephens — married 11 Aug 1809 in Knox County Kentucky

Descendants

Died 1853 at about age 91 in Civil Bend, Daviess County, Missouri

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Biography

Private Moses Stephens served with Surry County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Moses Stephens was a South Carolinian.

Moses Stephens was born in South Carolina around the year 1762. In his application for a Revolutionary War pension he stated that in the fall of 1780 he was living near the Moravian Town in Surry County, North Carolina, when he entered service at Salisbury as a substitute for a private named Barney Demsey. He assisted in guarding the prisoners taken at the famous Battle of Kings Mountain and was discharged in February 1781.^[1]

After the war he moved back to South Carolina where several of his children were born but he then returned to North Carolina before eventually moving to Marsh Creek in Whitley County (now McCreary County) in Kentucky where he lived for many years. Very late in life he and a number of his family members moved to Daviess County, Missouri, where he died in 1853.

The records indicate that Moses married at least three times. His first wife was named Margaret.^[2] Her surname is said to have been Miller or Williams though the source of this not known. They married around the year 1780. Moses and Margaret had:

1. Solomon, b. 1781 in South Carolina
2. Joshua, b. 1785 in South Carolina
3. Elisha, b. 1788 in North Carolina
4. Jane, b. c. 1790, married William Wilder
5. Margaret, married John Hudson in 1813 but she is not found in Moses's household in the 1810 census so it is not certain she is his daughter.

Wife Margaret died c. 1805 and Moses remarried to a much younger Betsy Brummet in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1809. They had:

1. Moses, b. 1810
2. John, b. 1812
3. William, b. 1815

Betsey died in the 1820's and Moses is found with an unknown woman of his own age in the 1830 and 1840 census. In 1850 there is a woman named Jane, age 50, in the household. It is not known who she is.

Additional children have been assigned to Moses but sources are lacking. An Elizabeth Stephens married Joab Wilder in Knox County in early 1810 and we might assume she is a daughter of Moses. The census of that year shows Joab Wilder living next to Moses and his sons but Joab and his wife are both over 45 years of age. It would thus seem that Elizabeth cannot be a daughter of Moses.

1790 - Moses Stephens is not found in the federal census. Given son Elisha's birth in North Carolina in 1788 we would expect to find Moses there. The Rootsweb post noted below states the family came to Kentucky from Buncombe County, N.C., but Moses is not found in records there or in predecessor counties Burke and Rutherford.

1800 - Moses Stephens heads a household in the federal census of Surry County, N.C.^[3] Only two sons are counted, not three as expected. We can't be certain this record is his but his pension application mentions he lived for a time in Surry County.

11 Aug 1809 - Moses Stephens marries Betsy Brummett in Knox County, Ky. This is his second marriage. Son Elisha marries the very next day.^[4]

1810 - We find Moses Stephens and sons Joshua and Solomon in the census of Knox County. Moses is over 45 years old and his new wife is under 26. They have a new son.^[5]

1811 - Moses Stephens is on the tax list of Knox Co., Ky. This is the one year he appears there though the 1810 records are very difficult to read.^[6]

1812 - Moses begins appearing on the tax lists of Pulaski County, Kentucky.^[7]

1820 - Sons Elisha are Joshua are found in the federal census of Pulaski County. Moses Stevens is listed next to Joshua but his age (26-45) is incorrect. He has a young wife and three young sons.^[8]

1825 to 1850 - The county lines having changed, Moses Stephens/Stevens is on the tax lists of Whitley Co., Ky. He is generally taxed for 100 acres on Marsh Creek, land that is located in McCreary Co., Ky., today.^[9]

1830 - Census of Whitley County.^[10]

1840 - Census of Whitley County.^[11]

1850 - Census of Whitley County. In the household are Jane Stevens, 50, and John Stevens, 30, all born in South Carolina.^[12]

- Moses joins his son Moses Jr. in Daviess County, Missouri.

2 Jun 1851 - Moses Stephens, age about 88 years, applies for a Revolutionary War pension in Daviess County, Missouri. The application was rejected, probably because he served for a period of three months and the requirement for a pension was six months of service or more.^[1]

See Special Page: Moses Stephens "https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L4WR-XVK/moses-h-stephens-1762-1853"

U.S. Census

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Transcript of pension application #R10116
2. ↑ Son Joshua's death record says he was the son of Moses and Margaret Stephens. c.f. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 at Ancestry.com
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRD-4CK : accessed 4 June 2017), Moses Stephens, Salisbury, Surry, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 690, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 32; FHL microfilm 337,908.
4. ↑ Early marriages of Knox County, Ky.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2P-7TP : accessed 4 June 2017), Moses Stephens, Knox, Kentucky, United States; citing p. 70, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 181,352.
6. ↑ Knox Co. Tax Books, 1800-1840, Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives microfilm #08099
7. ↑ Pulaski Co. Tax Books, 1799-1822
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGF-3VR : accessed 4 June 2017), Moses Stevens, Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky, United States; citing p. 42, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 27; FHL microfilm 186,187.
9. ↑ Broyles, Stephen H., Whitley County, Ky., Tax List Summary, 1819-1850, self-published, 1991
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPZ-QN3 : 18 August 2015), Elisha Stephens, Whitley, Kentucky, United States; citing 285, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 42; FHL microfilm 7,821.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTP-KY8 : 24 August 2015), Mosses Stephins, Whitley, Kentucky, United States; citing p. 205, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 126; FHL microfilm 7,832.
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M65P-DL6 : 9 November 2014), Moses Stevens, Whitley county, Whitley, Kentucky, United States; citing family 30, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• FindAGrave entry for Moses
• Stephens Genealogy- http://cmcnutt.tripod.com/steph_genealogy.html
• Moses Stephens ( 1762 )- http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Moses_Stephens_(1)
• Revolutionary War Soldiers for NC and SC, Data provided by the website Carolana. (accessed 22 Jun 2022)