Person:Benjamin Stephens (10)

Advisory

The father of this Benjamin Stephens has not yet been identified. Caution should be exercised and records need to be found to determine the identity of his father.

Probable Sibling

Benjamin Stephens is thought to be a likely older sibling to John Stephens (1763-1842) of Franklin County, KY. Benjamin Stephens made an affidavit in support of John Stephens' Revolutionary War Service and Pension Application in the following reference found on the Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Application Website:

[Facts in file: Veteran died March 30, 1842; there is reference to the veteran having 9 children but their names are not given nor is there any information regarding his wife in this file. in 1832 In Campbell County Kentucky Benjamin Stephens made affidavit in which he states he was then 78 years old and that he resided during the revolution in Orange County Virginia and that the veteran lived with him at that time. His affidavit was attested by Leonard Stephens, a Justice of the Peace. Their relationship if any, to the veteran is not stated. Benjamin Stephens states that the veteran was born in the year 1763 and was about 14 or 15 years old when Burgoyne's Army was taken prisoner and marched to the barracks at Albemarle, and the veteran was called upon to serve in the militia to guard those prisoners.]

Records in Virginia

Benjamin Stephens was named in the will of his step-father, Stephen "Noblet" Smith, and also named Executor of his estate, as follows:

Will of STEPHEN SMITH.

I give & bequeath to Stephen Smith Rice a parcel of land whereon his dwelling house stands .. between Benjamin Stephens, Stephen Smith Rice and myself .. formerly a line between Samuel Smith and William Smith ...

I give and bequeath to my wife, Blessing, all the estate she possessed before I married her ..

I give to my daughter, Lucy Robinson, my trust of land in Amherst County whereon she now lives ..

I give to Elizabeth Stewart, Milly Waller, Franky Higgins and Benjamin Stevens seventy pounds a peace ..

I leave for the support of my granddaughter, Agness Stephens, wife of Edmund Stephens ..

I appoint my son, Benj. Stephens, sole executor this 13th day of May 1799.

In the presence of (signed - his mark)

Absolom Waller, Stephen Smith

Wm. Lindsay,

Aaron Bledsoe, Benjamin Stephens Junr.

At a court held .. 28th October 1799 .. proved Henry Tandy Senr. & Thomas Adams, securities bond in penalty of ten thousand dollars.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 International Genealogical Index. ( The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, 1999-2008).
2.   Find A Grave.

   Benjamin Stephens
   Birth 15 Apr 1754, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA
   Death 7 Sep 1839 (aged 85), Kenton County, Kentucky, USA
   Burial Stephens Family Cemetery, Erlanger, Kenton County, Kentucky, USA
   
   The lineage of Benjamin Stephens is shrouded in mystery. His mother was Blessing Stephens, daughter of William & Sarah Stephens of Orange county, Virginia. Her father died there in 1767.
   Blessing became the second wife of Stephen Smith on July 4, 1773 when Benjamin was 19. Court documents show that Smith & his two brothers were also known by the last name of Noblet. Research of Orange County VA records show this to be the name of a man who served for a time as a guardian of Stephen Smith and his two brothers. The day before their marriage Blessing & Stephen entered into a more or less equal contract where in each agreed to respect one another's property and to manage and dispose of it as each saw fit. Stephen Smith was 58 and Blessing was about 20 years younger than he. Many efforts have been made to determine Smith's exact relation to Benjamin Stephens. None have been successful. Speculation is not helpful.
   
   Benjamin married Dorothy Jemima Waller in 1775. They lived on a hilltop near the home of Stephen & Blessing Smith on Riga Run, about one mile north of Orange Springs in Orange county, Virginia. In 1779 the legislature of Virginia appointed Dr. Thomas Walker & Daniel Smith to join with Richard Henderson & William Bailey Smith of North Carolina to draw the boundary of the territories of Kentucky & Tennessee westward. The two components parted in dispute & Walker ran the line to the Tennessee River. The boundary deflected 17 miles north of true & there was much ado about this for many years. Benjamin Stephens was appointed as a guard for this expedition & disappeared into the wilderness, leaving his wife with 3 or 4 little sons. It was a bitterly cold winter, and a ruptured endeavor. It is not known how long he stayed on the job. (We know that in September 1757, two individuals, Stephen Smith & Stephen I.K. Smith of Orange County were employed to survey a road past Pine Stake Church to the Spotsylvania line. It is not altogether surprising to see than Benjamin Stephens was appointed to serve with the Walker party. His step-father was a surveyor.
   
   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96467884/benjamin-stephens