I have been trying to discover who the parents of Susanna Stevenson were. She was born in about 1750 (based on the date of her husband’s birth) and married for the first time in about 1768/9. After her first husband, Samuel Lusk, died (1792), she was married again, to Thomas Godfrey, and they moved further west, to Tazewell County. The received wisdom is that she was born in Augusta County, Virginia, so I have been looking at the Stevensons who were there in the early days, to see if there is a good match. So far, I have more puzzles than solutions.
All I have to go on at the moment, since I do not have access to a library right now, is Chalkley’s Chronicles (available online) and the Stevenson/Stephenson Genforum sites.
For general background information, the totally wonderful site by Leo McDowell can't be beat. John McDowell was the surveyor for Benjamin Borden, and I believe some of these Stevensons lived near where McDowell settled, on Timber Ridge. But even with no connections, his site is well worth a visit - he makes you feel something of what it must have been like in those times - and he has loads of interesting characters to tell stories about.
There are some nice maps, of parts of Augusta County
The Beverly Manor and Borden Grant Map http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaaugust/b&bmap.html
This is a larger map of Beverly Manor, and comes in four pages: North East, North West, South East, South West
The Borden Grant http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaaugust/bordon.html
And while I am mentioning generally helpful and interesting sites, there is a nice short biography of Benjamin Borden online. Benj. Borden bio. And another one here. Another short Borden bio.
~~~~~~~~
The earliest mention of a Stevenson in Chalkley is John, who got a patent in 1741. (Chalkley does not include that patent; it is mentioned later, when the property changes hands.) Other early Stevensons were: David (first mentioned in 1744), Thomas (1746) (he came from Pennsylvania), William (1747), Andrew, George, Robert and Silas (all first mentioned in 1748) and James (1749). In most cases, there seems to be more than one person of a given name, and I am not very good at separating them out. I am going to send for some maps to help in this process. There are some very nice maps online (links above), but I haven't been able to find the Stevensons on them.
The pages that follow are basically just collections of citations from Chalkley.
There is one other thing - not only is Stevenson sometimes spelled Stephenson, it is also sometimes just Stephens or Stevens - or even STINSON. At times it is obvious that the person referred to is one of our Stevensons, but others I am not so sure of. I have included them in the lists anyway, just to be safe.
Adam - mentioned in Chalkley 1757-1789 (with legal cases after his death). A second possible Adam d. 1760.
At one time he was suggested as the father of Susanna, but he actually seems like one of the least likely prospects - neither his will, nor the law suits afterwards, mention Susanna
Andrew - mentioned in Chalkley 1748-1766 Possible parent of Susanna? witness along with Hugh Lusk, who is our best guess for father of Samuel, Susanna's future husband.
David - mentioned in Chalkley 1744-1815. Probably not the father of Susanna - he appears to have died childless (unless he disinherited all his children!)
George - mentioned in Chalkley 1748-1763, with a much later entry (lawsuit) in 1796 - possibly a younger George. Possible parent of Susanna? Not as strong a candidate as Andrew perhaps, or John?
James - mentioned in Chalkley 1749-1819 (law suits) - but there are obviously several Jameses meant. I haven't done too well separating them out, and a couple are possible as parent of Susanna, but with nothing additional (like a specific juxtapostion with a Lusk) to make any James a strong candidate.
John - mentioned in Chalkley 1741-1794, with later lawsuits. There are at least 8 different Johns, so please excuse me if I am too boggled to separate them. ONE lived near John/Hans Bomgardner, for whom Thomas Godfrey worked, so he is a good candidate for father of Susanna. Another, possibly the same one?, had close connections with Andrew Stevenson, who was mentioned along with Hugh Lusk, so there is another good possibility.
Robert - mentioned in Chalkley 1748-will 1772; another one later. Nothing in particular to connect him to Susanna - except that he mentioned "daughters" in his will, and left them a measly $1 apiece.
Thomas - mentioned in Chalkley 1745-1790, with later lawsuits. There are obviously several Thomases meant. One actually has a daughter named Susanna - but she married John Cook (sigh). Nothing in particular to connect the others to our Susanna.
William - mentioned in Chalkley 1747-1803, with a final mention in an 1816 will as deceased. There are obviously several Williams here, and once again, I haven't done well separating them out. The earliest leaves a will which does not mention Susanna, and some of the later ones seem probably too young - so there is nothing really to make any William a strong candidate.
Random Stevensons - either mentioned late, or mentioned only once, with little to identify them.
And then there is this:
1760 Oct 16
Same (ie Maurice Poutz (signed Pound), of Fairfax) to Henry Pirgy, ú154, 360 acres, part of Jacob Steven's great tract, formerly conveyed to Christopher Francisco, the elder, and by Stophel Francisco, his attorney in fact, to Maurice Pound, 2d July, 1752, on north side Shenandore; John Stevenson's meadow; cor. Ludwick Francisco. Delivered: Jacob Pirkey, February, 1767.
(Deed Book 9 - 9)
Who is this guy?
And that’s it. Any help would be greatly welcome!
To Susanna Stevenson's page
To first husband, Samuel Lusk
To sons David and Samuel Lusk
To page about her 2nd husband's family (About the Godfreys)
Back to Lee's Genes Home Page
Contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 14 Feb 2006