Margaret Only Wardlaw Stephens
BIRTH 1794
DEATH 21 Aug 1874 (aged 79–80)
BURIAL Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery Old
Ralph, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA
Margaret was living near Hodges, Abbeville County, SC by about 1800. The Henderson, Stephens, Logan, Wardlaw, and Heard families were neighbors and friends in near Hodges, SC prior to 1820. Apparently, Margaret was married in SC to unknown husband #1 - who died about 1825 without any children. Margaret remained in SC when the Wardlaw family emigrated to Greene County, AL in 1824. Benjamin Waller Stephens (Margaret's future husband) also emigrated to Greene County, AL in 1824. Benjamin returned to SC in 1826 where he married Margaret - the couple then returned to Greene County, AL in 1827.
The Wardlaw family as well as Benjamin & Margaret Stephens purchased 80 acres located about 1.5 miles west of Erie, AL and about 3.5 miles NE of present-day Eutaw. Erie (now a ghost town) was located on east bank of the Black Warrior River.
By 1840, Benjamin & Margaret Stephens (as well as David Henderson family) purchased 80 acres just south of Bethel Baptist Church at Ralph, AL. Benjamin & Margaret were buried in the old Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery - which was abandoned about 1880. Acidity of soil in this old cemetery destroyed most of its tombstones by early 1900s. Eight tombstones (incl one for Agness Stephens Henderson) were relocated to the new Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery - likely after 1890.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158370882/margaret_only_stephens
