Abel
Stevens
Born in Beekman, Quaker Hill, Dutchess, New York Colony
Ancestors 
Son of Roger Stevens
and Mary (Doolittle) Stevens
Brother of
Roger Stevens Jr., Amy Stevens, Ephriam Stevens, Abigail (Stevens) Crippen, Mary (Stevens) Story, Elihu Stevens, Elizabeth Stevens, Thomas Stevens, Moses K Stevens, Henry Stevens, Daniel Stevens, Abraham Stevens and Diadamia (Stevens) Haskins
Husband of
Eunice (Buck) Stevens
— married
1779 in Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont
Descendants 
Father of
Clarissa (Stevens) Jolls, Uriah Stevens U.E., Abel Stevens Jr., Elizabeth Stevens, Eunice Stevens, Mariam Stevens, Isaac Stevens, David Buck Stevens UE, Sarah Ann Stevens, Alfred Stevens, Elihu Stevens, Henry Stevens and Horace Stevens
Died
at age 60
in Bastard, Leeds, Upper Canada
Profile managers:
Jay Fletcher 
[send private message], David Benedict [send private message], and Beverly Henry [send private message]
[send private message], David Benedict [send private message], and Beverly Henry [send private message]Profile last modified
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Abel Stevens was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Proven
Date: Undated
UEL Status:Proven
Date: Undated
Contents |
Biography
Abel Stevens was born on November 11, 1755 at Quaker Hill, Dutchess County, New York. (Or Mar., 1756 Beekman, Dutchess County New York, , -Death: Oct. 9, 1816 Delta, Ontario, Canada per his gravestone,[1][2]
Abel is the son of Roger Stevens and Mary Doolittle.
Abel married Eunice Buck, daughter of Isaac Buck and Elizabeth Barns about 1779 at Pittsford, Vermont. Eunice was born on November 11, 1758, at New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut.
In 1779, Abel Stevens (son of Roger) married Eunice daughter of Isaac Buck and on the 21st of November bought of his father one hundred and forty-five acres of land . . .. The consideration was 400 pounds. . .. Mr Stevens built the low part of the present house and resided there till 1796 when he removed to Bastard County of Leeds Canada where he died in 1816. We are informed that he was a man of earnest piety and a preacher of the Methodist doctrine. [3]
Abel STEVENS is said to have been born Quaker Hill N.Y. a short distance east of Poughkeepsie and moved with his parents to Pittsford VT in 1770 where he became a noted trapper.
He married Eunice Buck (b Nov 11 1758, the oldest child of Isaac Buck and Elizabeth Waters. Isaac Buck was the 5th settler in Pittsford, coming there in 1770.) If Abel & Eunice were married in 1779, as the Buck History States, then Abel's oldest son may not be the son of Eunice. According to his father, Uriah was age 21 in Feb 1798. [4].
Abel, Eunice, and their children lived in Vermont until 1792. After that time Abel seeks to move the family north to Canada to start a Baptist colony. In 1793 he and a group of other locals jointly petition for land in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec). He submitted two applications to establish the Baptist colony which were initially rejected, however in 1794 he is granted land in Bastard Township, Leeds County, Upper Canada. Eventually, this land becomes known as "Steventown".
Abel dies on October 9, 1816, Eunice dies in about 1828 both in Bastard, Leeds, Ontario, Canada.
A Memorial sign was dedicated to him at in Delta, Leeds & Grenville, Ontario and it reads:[5]
Abel Stevens:
Born at Quaker Hill, New York in about 1750, Stevens served as a British agent during the Revolutionary War despite being enrolled in the rebel militia. After the war he lived in Vermont where, as an ardent Baptist, he became a Deacon in 1786.
Attracted by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe's offer of land in Upper Canada, he moved to the province and settled in this area in 1796. A vigorous colonizer, Stevens within two years of his arrival had encouraged some 100 families many of them Baptists, to locate in Kitley and Bastard Townships. He built mills and laid the foundation for the establishment of an iron-work at present-day Lyndhurst. Stevens remained a leader in the Baptist Church in which he had been ordained a minister in 1804.
Children of Abel Stevens and Eunice Buck are:
1. Clarissa Stevens was born in 1775 in New York. She was of Mohawk descent and adopted by Abel Stevens and Eunice Buck. She marries to Garner Jolls in New York. Clarissa died on May 11, 1851 at Perrysburg, Cattaraugus, New York.
2. Uriah Stevens was born on January 5, 1776 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died on February 21, 1849 in Jasper Co., Illinois. He marries on May 17, 1805 to Nancy Kevil. Uriah is possibly also adopted.
3. Abel Stevens was born on November 11, 1779 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died on May 29, 1858 in Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, Ontario. Abel Jr. marries in 1800 to Ruth Huntley.
4. Elizabeth Stevens was born in 1782 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont. Marries in 1799 to Lemuel Haskins.
5. Mariam Stevens was born in 1786 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died in about 1802 aged 16.
6. Eunice Stevens was born in 1786 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont. Marries to Clarence Haskins.
7. Isaac Stevens was born on March 28, 1787 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died on May 2, 1849 in Newboro, Leeds Co, Ontario, Canada. Marries on April 16, 1814 to Elizabeth Maude Day.
8. David Buck Stevens was born on March 9, 1790 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died on June 10, 1877 in Upper Canada. Marries to Mary Phelps.
9. Sarah Ann Stevens was born in 1792 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died after 1870 in Ontario, Canada. Marries to Daniel Day Fraser.
10. Alfred Stevens was born in 1796 in Pittsford, Rutland, Vermont and died in 1870 in Lindsay, Victoria Co, Ontario, Canada. Marries to Ruby Halliday.
11. Elihu Stevens was born in 1796 in Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, Ontario, Canada and died before 1806. The cause of his death was Drowned.
12. Henry Stevens was born in 1801 in Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, Ontario, Canada and died in 1802 in Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, Ontario, Canada.
13. Horace Stevens was born in 1802 in Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, Ontario, Canada and died in 1838 in Perry, Pike, Illinois at aged 36. Marries to Phoebe Houghton.
United Empire Loyalist
The United Empire Loyalist (UEL) designation is complicated. Any settler in Ontario (or Upper Canada as it was then called) could petition the government for land. Able obtained 2,000 acres in this manner. However, they had to pay survey and filing fees. These fees were waived for settlers that had been designated UEL. Abel was on the first list (now called the Old List). The remarks next to his name were 'a settler, did not bare (sic) arms against the colours.' The government then purged the list saying that UEL status was only for those that could prove membership in a Loyalist unit. Abel was among those removed from the list. He appealed and was restored. His appeal was supported by an affidavit from a former Loyalist officer and then a Justice of the Peace, who certified that Abel had saved the life of (His half-brother) Loyalist Ensign Roger Stevens, Jr. of Jessup's Rangers [The Loyal Rangers, or Jessup's Loyal Rangers, which was a volunteer regiment of Loyalists in the American Revolution established in 1781 by the amalgamation of several smaller units, including the King's Loyal Americans. They were commanded by Major Edward Jessup], during the war. Abel's restoration to the list is no surprise considering that the council, including Governor Simcoe, knew Abel in person and on paper. He had made written and oral presentations to them, traveled with them, and had private meetings with the Governor.
The UEL designation had a couple of other benefits. Children of UEL's could get 100 acres of their own upon marriage or age 21. At least four of Abel's children obtained land this way. The other benefit provides the only inheritable title in North America. Abel's Canadian descendants may use the suffix 'U.E.' after their names.
Loyalist who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard (in America) before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783,"Put a mark of Honor upon the Families" of the U.E. Loyalists.
Approved the granting by the Land Boards of 200 acres of land (without fees) to the sons and daughters of the U.E. Loyalists. Accompanying the resolution to London to be laid before the King, was attached a "Form of Militia Roll for the Western Districts to discriminate the Families before mentioned" which included the following heading:
- "N.B. Those Loyalists who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard (in America) before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783, and all their children and their descendants by either sex, are to be distinguished by the following Capitals, affixed to their names: U.E. Alluding to their great principle The Unity of the Empire."
In the covering letter, Lord Dorchester explained: "Care has been taken to reward the spirit of loyalty and industry, to extend and transmit it to future generations…". [6]
Loyalist Directory: Abel Sr. Stevens (Stephens) Stevens (Stephens) Abel Sr. Where Resettled : 1796, Bastard Township, Leeds & Grenville Co, ON Status as Loyalist : Proven Notes (Expunged, Suspended, Reinstated) : Date & Place of Birth : Quaker Hill, Dutchess Co, New York, USA 11 Nov 1755 Date & Place of Death : 9 Oct 1826 - Bastard Twp, ON Place of Burial : Denault Cemetery, Delta, Bastard Twp, Leeds Co, ON Wife Name : m. c1779 in Pittsford, Vermont to Eunice Buck (b. 1758 at New Milford CT, d. 1828 in Bastard Twp ON, buried in Delta, Bastard Twp. dau of Isaac Buck Sr and Elizabeth Barnes. [7] Petition of Abel Stevens, to keep his name on United Empire List]; read this day; Order in Council 4th December 1806 The name Abel Stevens so ordered to be continued on this list.
On the 9th of November 1789, in Council at Quebec City, Lord Dorchester, Governor-in-Chief of British America, gave particular recognition to the 'First Loyalists' by differentiating them from other Loyalists and settlers, i.e. 'Late' Loyalists, 'Treasury' Loyalists, 'Simcoe' Loyalists, and from regular British and German soldiers who were considered to be 'Military Claimants'. The 'Dorchester Resolution proved by the Council-Defined the 'U.E. Loyalists' as those "who had adhered to the United of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard in America before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783". [8],
Biography : See his Petition; read this day; Order in Council 4th December 1806 when his name is Abel Stevens and ordered to be continued on this list. Proven Descendants : Hamilton 1999.09.13; Toronto 2000.03.14; Toronto 2001.10.08; Hamilton 2003.07.07; Heritage 2009.08.24; Governor Simcoe 2015.07.16 (Eunice Carolyn Matresky, John Matthew Armstrong Wesley, Luke Joseph Gray Wesley); Military Info : Loyalist Genealogy : See the certificate application of Eunice Matresky[9]
Military
DAR Ancestor #: A108670 STEVENS, ABEL Notice: FUTURE APPLICANTS MUST PROVE CORRECT SERVICE
Birth: CIRCA 1750 QUAKER HILL DUTCHESS CO NEW YORK Death: CIRCA 1816 LEEDS CO CANADA Residence PITTSFORD - County: RUTLAND CO - State: VERMONT. Spouse: EUNICE BUCK
- Document from the Ontario Heritage Foundation states "this man was a British Agent while serving in the Vermont Militia. (See Datacfel).
Abel made several other applications for Land in Upper Canada:
Occupation: Noted trapper.
Marriage Marriage 1776 New Milford,,,CT. Marriage 1779 Pittsford,Rutland,Vermont,United States. [10] Husband Abel Stevens. Wife @IP702@. Child: @IP310@. Pedigree: birth.
Sources
- ↑ Denault Cemetery (Defunct) Delta, Leeds and Grenville United Counties Ontario, Canada
- ↑ Death - "United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada". Date of Death per Loyalist Directory for Abel Sr. Stevens (Stephens).
- ↑ from "History of the Town of Pittsford, VT.
- ↑ from "Our Stevens Story"
- ↑ Denault Cemetery i
- ↑ "Loyalist Lineages of Canada 1783-1983".
- ↑ [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-119.01-e.php?q2=29&q3=2613&sqn=719&tt=1315&PHPSESSID=rgi7t06a60or2jdheocn6v65f4
- ↑ "Loyalist Lineages of Canada 1783-1983".
- ↑ Family History : Family Genealogy : Sources : UEL List Reserved
- ↑ Source: #S-349498041 Book Title: Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 164 : 1921
- Death - Find A Grave Memorial# 42407564. Memorial Record Maintained by Jack Stevens. Originally Created by: anonymous. Record added: Sep 26, 2009. Request for Image of Headstone submitted.
- Publications - "Delta Cemetary Records on Stevens Road," in Leeds County, Ontario. Compiled by Colleen Ellworth Johnson. Oakwood Drive, Bountiful, Utah. Pages 1 to 33.
- Publications - "Dictionary of Canadian Biography," Curtis Fahey, “STEVENS, ABEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 12, 2017,
- Publications - "History of the Town of Pittsford," with Biographical Sketches and Family Records. Author A.M. Gaverly. Published 1872. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized 23 Nov 2005. Referencing Page 63.
- Publications - "Our Stevens Story," Stuart, Elizabeth Stevens (Main Author). Format: Books/Monographs/Book with Film. Publication: Osgoode, Ontario : E.S. Stuart, 1991. Physical: 150 p., [7] p. of plates : ill., facsims., maps, ports. ISBN: 1895638003 Subject Class: 929.271 St47. 1992. Spiral Bound Family History. Referencing page 12.
- Military - "United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada Directory". Information File for Abel Stevens Sr.
- Military - Genealogical Database entry for Stevens, Abel Ancestor #: A108670. No evidence has been found suggesting he ever fired a shot. However, records were found showing he drew pay of militia duty in Vermont at the time of Burgoyne's ill-fated invasion of upstate New York. Abel's unit was posted east and southeast of the battlefields near Bennington and Saratoga. The Vermont pay records have allowed female American descendants of Abel to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).[11]
- Land Petitions - "Request for land above the 200 acres already received". Library and Archives Canada. Year: 1793. Volume: 448. Bundle: S1. Petition: 40. Reference: RG 1 L3. Microfilm: C-2805. Referencing Page 1242 of online database.
- Land Petitions - "Road cutting Gananoque Falls to Kingston," Library and Archives Canada. Year: 1799. Volume: 446A. Bundle: S Misc. 1783-1818. Petition: 63. Reference: RG 1 L3. Microfilm: C-2805. Referencing Page 182 of online database.
- Land Petitions - "Upper Canada Land Petitions," Library and Archives Canada. Name: Stevens, Abel. Year: 1793. Volume 448. BundleS 1. Petition No: 40. Reference: RG 1 L3. Microfilm C-2805.
- Land Petitions - "Lower Canada Land Petition," Library and Archives Canada. Given Name(s): Abel Surname: STEVENS Year: 1792 Volume: 160 Page: 78473-78476 Microfilm Reel Number: C-2555 Reference: RG 1 L3L Item Number: 82693.
- Source: S-349498041 North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Repository: #R-1043494282 CRE 06 AUG 2016 Time: 13:33:31 Book Title: Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 164 : 1921
- Source: S-349499543 Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Repository: #R-1043494282 CRE 06 AUG 2016 Time: 13:33:31
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Abel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Abel:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Abel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Abel:
-
~1.56%
Dori (Gutchess) Anonymous
:
23andMe
-
~1.56%
Jack Sheldon :
23andMe, GEDmatch A083646 [compare]
+
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A083646 [compare], Ancestry member JackSheldonSGS
-
~0.78%
Jay Fletcher :
23andMe, GEDmatch M324417 [compare]
+
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A626525 [compare], Ancestry member jaywfletcher
-
~0.39%
Jacqui (Collins) Porter :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch 5038489 [compare], Ancestry member JacquiP94
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Images: 6
Rejected matches › Abel Stevens (1745-)
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Categories: Bastard Township, Upper Canada | United Empire Loyalists
No evidence has been found suggesting he ever fired a shot during the American revolution. However, records were found showing he drew pay of militia duty in Vermont at the time of Burgoyne's ill-fated invasion of upstate New York. Abel's unit was posted east and southeast of the battlefields near Bennington and Saratoga. The Vermont pay records have allowed female American descendants of Abel to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Known in DAR and UEL lists. Abel Stevens Sr. was an early settler who moved with his wife and family from Vermont in 1795 to Bastard township, Leeds County, Upper Canada. He was a Baptist Clergyman.
In 1754, the year before Abel was born; his family was living on a farm near South Dover, in Lot 7 of the Beekman Patent, in Dutchess County, New York. They were still there in 1757.
Abel and the Revolutionary War can be shrunk down to the battle of the initials - DAR and UEL. No evidence has been found suggesting he ever fired a shot. However, records were found showing he drew pay of militia duty in Vermont at the time of Burgoyne's ill-fated invasion of upstate New York. Abel's unit was posted east and southeast of the battlefields near Bennington and Saratoga. The Vermont pay records have allowed female American descendants of Abel to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
The United Empire Loyalist (UEL) designation is more complicated. Any settler in Ontario (or Upper Canada as it was then called) could petition the government for land. Able obtained 2,000 acres in this manner. However, they had to pay survey and filing fees. These fees were waived for settlers that had been designated UEL. Abel was on the first list (now called the Old List). The remarks next to his name were 'a settler, did not bare (sic) arms against the colours.' The government then purged the list saying that UEL status was only for those that could prove membership in a Loyalist unit. Abel was among those removed from the list. He appealed and was restored. His appeal was supported by an affidavit from a former Loyalist officer, and then a Justice of the Peace, who certified that Abel had saved the life of Loyalist Ensign Roger Stevens, Jr. of Jessup's Rangers [The Loyal Rangers, or Jessup's Loyal Rangers, was a volunteer regiment of Loyalists in the American Revolution established in 1781 by the amalgamation of several smaller units, including the King's Loyal Americans. They were commanded by Major Edward Jessup.], during the war. Abel's restoration to the list is no surprise considering that the council, including Governor Simcoe, knew Abel in person and on paper. He had made written and oral presentations to them, traveled with them, and had private meetings with the Governor.
The UEL designation had a couple of other benefits. Children of UEL's could get 100 acres of their own upon marriage or age 21. At least four of Abel's children obtained land this way. The other benefit provides the only inheritable title in North America. Abel's Canadian descendants may use the suffix 'UE' after their names.
Abel was in the middle of the Revolutionary Way in other ways. His half-brother Roger Jr. was the above-mentioned Loyalist officer for the English. His brother Ephraim was a rebel and spent several years as a prisoner of war because of it. Abel's Uncle Benjamin was a member of the same Vermont Militia Company as Abel and later on a Lieutenant and a member of a Pittsford committee concerning the war. Abel's father, Roger Stevens, had loyalist leanings and would join Able in Canada.
Herewithin, Roger Stevens, Jr. is shown as half-brother to Abel. Roger Stevens, before he married Abel's mother Mary Doolittle, had an adulterous affair with Martha Doolittle, older sister of Mary, and wife of Jonas Galusha. Martha left her husband, a constable in the Beekman Patent, and went to live with Roger and bore him two children including Roger Jr. Galusha divorced Martha. No further record has been found of Martha and the second child.
His petitions and letters to the government reveal that he had detailed knowledge of the iron making process. He knew what iron ore looked like. He knew what trees would be suitable for making coke to smelt the iron ore. He knew people that would come to Ontario with their foundry gear and set up shop. While Abel's petitions for the land with the ore and coke making timber were unsuccessful, they triggered a chain of events that resulted in the production of iron for English ships in the upper Great Lakes during the War of 1812 and thereafter. As to clues to where Abel learned about iron production, look toward the Dover Furnace in Dutchess County. The Dover Furnace was a smelter built by a Stevens (a distant relative) near where Abel was born.
Able also knew about water powered mills. Today, the Old Stone Mill in Delta (formerly Stevensville) gives credit to Abel as its founder. It appears that he learned about such mills from his half-brother Roger Jr. who had a mill in Pittsford until the war.
In today's world Abel would have been called a Baptist Minister. In yesteryear’s world he was called 'Elder' because, under English law, only the clergy of the Church of England could be called Minister and perform marriages. He helped establish a Baptist Church in Pittsford. His Uncle Benjamin and Aunt Hope are buried in the cemetery of that church. Able is credited as the founder of a Baptist Church in Phillipsville, near Delta, Ontario. His son Isaac, Isaac's wife Betsey Day and her mother are buried side by side in the Phillipsville Cemetery. Abel’s Baptist roots are traced back to South Dover, Dutchess County, New York. There Samuel Waldo was the first and longtime minister. Samuel Waldo was a witness to the will of William Stevens. This William Stevens had purchased the Pittsford farm of Roger Stevens when Roger went to Canada to join Abel. It appears that Samuel Waldo may have tutored Abel in reading and writing as well as religion. Many South Dover Baptists were from Swansea, Connecticut where Abel's ancestors had lived.
Abel Stevens was a leader who could motivate people. In a ten-year period, he convinced over 100 families to move to the Ontario wilderness with him where they also could get land. He organized a road building effort that built 31 miles of road and 15 bridges. He found mill and smelter sites and people to build and operate them. Each such endeavor would usually result in another petition to the council requesting he be rewarded more land in exchange. Some petitions were successful, some were not.
There are three key references that provide excellent insight into Abel Stevens. First on the reading list would be 'On the Move - Our Stevens Story' by Elizabeth Stevens Stuart. Elizabeth's work is genealogical in nature starting with the brothers Roger and Benjamin Stevens and working down through generations of descendants. Second on the list is A. M. Caverly's 'History of Pittsford, Vermont'. This 1872 book includes the Stevens families moving from Dutchess County to settle in Pittsford, Vermont and the war years. Third is Brigadier General E. A. Cruikshank's 'The Activity of Abel Stevens as A Pioneer.' This 34-page article was published by the Ontario Historical Society in 1936. General Cruikshank builds his story on the many documents written by Abel and now in the Canadian archives.
Abel and his literary skills are amazing considering that the average person in his time and place could not read or write. His many petitions and letters to the Ontario government have been preserved and bridge the past with the future concerning this remarkable man and the events he precipitated.