Individual Details
John Henry Stephenson
(27 Sep 1873 - 1 Jun 1938)
Delaware Indian roll #27, Pratt Books, December 7, 1867.
Dawes Roll #32211
Census #10420
3/8 blood degree, registered in the Cherokee Nation as an Adopted Delaware.
We found three baby gravesites in the Ketchum Cemetery and assumed they were babies of Mary T. and Andrew Stephenson. Two of the headstones just said baby boy, stillborn.
One said 28 days. At the time I visited the Ketchum cemetery I didn't know much about my ancestors. I had no idea that John Stephenson was my Great Grandmother Fannie's brother.I did see his gravesite as well.
July 8, 2002, I discovered in a letter from Sue Ann Nicely that those belonged to John. Stephenson and Rosa Stephenson. East Row, Section 5, Ketchum Cemetery. In one grave was a set of twins, as per Mary Ann Stephenson Alexander. She said her Dad dug the sites by hand. Mary Ann also states there should only be 2 headstones, not three, but I saw three and it's recorded in the
Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Roll. Field No. 10420. Delaware District residence, Post office Ketchum, I.T. Dawes #32211 John H. Stephenson, age 27, adopted Delaware 3/8 degree indian blood. Year 1880 Delaware No. 2403. Fathers name, Andrew Stephenson, non-citizen. Mother Mary T. Stephenson, Delaware District. Dawes #30970, Rosa L. Stephenson, wife, age 18, 1/4 blood degree, 1896 Coo. District #4434. Father William Smith dead, Deaware/Cherokee, Mother Sarah Smith. Dawes #30971 Mary A. Stephenson, daughter, 1 month 5/16 degree indian blood. Father #1 (John Stephenson) Mother #2 (Rosa L.) Note: No.3 (Mary A.) born February 27, 1901. Enrolled March 22, 1901. Other notes: On Delaware card #27 (old series) Sept 25, 1900. On this card March 31, 1904.
Submitted by Sue Ann Nicely: John and his family lived a quiet, rural life just south of the Ketchum cemetery in the Indian land allotments received by John and Rose and their two oldest children, Mary Ann and Roxie Mildred. Their five younger children were what was commonly called "Too-Lates" because they were born after the Dawes Rolls closed and thereby lost their entitlemnts of being known as "Original Enrollees". His children describe John Stephenson as a quiet, caring man who was always ready to help someone in need. In living so close to the cemetery he could see when a family was hand-digging a grave to bury a loved one, he would grab his shovel and help. When neighbors were hungry during the depression he would always give away part of the family's food to assist those less fortunate. He subscribed to the Kansas City Star Newspaper to stay informed on current events and his daughters remember him saving part of the cotton money to pay the poll tax so he could vote in every election.
The family raised two gardens a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. They all worked to tend the few head of cattle that the family had in the early years, the many hogs sometimes sold for cash, the laying chickens and the sole milk cow. While the family survived well, they were never without food even in the depths of the "Great Depression", from many fruits of the land. The family's cash crop was cotton. Each child weighed the amount of cotton he or she picked and John would pay them five cents per pound. With this money they would principally buy school shoes. Mary Ann remembers being embarrassed because they always bought boys shoes, which were more expensive at seventy-five cents per pair, because they lasted longer.
The farm supported the growing family so that few things were purchased at the Ketchum General Store. The things like sugar, coffee, flour, and salt that were purchased, were bought "on time" and paid for once a year after the cotton crop was harvested. This was the time when the younger kids in the family were allowed the ultimate treat, "store-bought candy".
For fun the family in the early years would attend Sunday School on non-rainy days, when their Mother, Rose, would drive the wagon into town with all the kids in the back. Rose's youngest sister, who was a lay-minister called her a "Bible "Scholar". Mary Ann remembers the horse as being particulary fast and hard to control, she says if they hadn't been trying to get to church she is sure they would have all been killed. The Stephenson kids would attend "singing" at neighborhood homes and John and Mary Ann were champions at throwing horseshoes. Mary Ann would race the neighborhood boys on horseback down the county line road east of the cemetery and always won. She regrets that "in her day" there was not rodeo barrel racing, she is sure she would be a star.
Mary Ann and Maxine remembered boiling corn fresh out of the garden and drying it on the roof of the house and digging a hole under a hill and filling it with straw to keep the potatoes and turnips from freezing in the winter, they described this as a "by-gone" time. The values John and Rose taught their children on that small family farm in the waning days of Indian Territory and the waning years of Statehood are enduring to this day.
Mary Ann recalls a story of her Dad's death in the midst of the depression when poor people REALLY had no money. She had sold her Indian land allotment not long before his death, so she called the Undertaker and told them she had $300. 00 in the bank and she would give it all to them if they would carry out the burial, which they did. She says that Rosie Conor (John's Sister) bought one bunch of flowers and they had a funeral. Maxine was about 17 years old at the time and had just come home from the Indian Bording School near Ponca City during a break and was there for the funeral too.
December 26, 1999: I received a letter from Orville "Red" Holt. He had answered an add I placed with the Cherokee Advocate looking for relatives of ancestors. Red stated that he was a former pro boxer. He said that John and Rosa were his grandparents but he always called him "Dad". He said that John (Dad) would have been a very wealthy man but his oldest son robbed a bank and he had to put up a section of land to post bail and Jack jumped bail, so John (Dad) lost 640 acres.He said John (Dad) was a very good farmer and had a little hill side farm and raised a lot of things until he lost it.
Dawes Roll #32211
Census #10420
3/8 blood degree, registered in the Cherokee Nation as an Adopted Delaware.
We found three baby gravesites in the Ketchum Cemetery and assumed they were babies of Mary T. and Andrew Stephenson. Two of the headstones just said baby boy, stillborn.
One said 28 days. At the time I visited the Ketchum cemetery I didn't know much about my ancestors. I had no idea that John Stephenson was my Great Grandmother Fannie's brother.I did see his gravesite as well.
July 8, 2002, I discovered in a letter from Sue Ann Nicely that those belonged to John. Stephenson and Rosa Stephenson. East Row, Section 5, Ketchum Cemetery. In one grave was a set of twins, as per Mary Ann Stephenson Alexander. She said her Dad dug the sites by hand. Mary Ann also states there should only be 2 headstones, not three, but I saw three and it's recorded in the
Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Roll. Field No. 10420. Delaware District residence, Post office Ketchum, I.T. Dawes #32211 John H. Stephenson, age 27, adopted Delaware 3/8 degree indian blood. Year 1880 Delaware No. 2403. Fathers name, Andrew Stephenson, non-citizen. Mother Mary T. Stephenson, Delaware District. Dawes #30970, Rosa L. Stephenson, wife, age 18, 1/4 blood degree, 1896 Coo. District #4434. Father William Smith dead, Deaware/Cherokee, Mother Sarah Smith. Dawes #30971 Mary A. Stephenson, daughter, 1 month 5/16 degree indian blood. Father #1 (John Stephenson) Mother #2 (Rosa L.) Note: No.3 (Mary A.) born February 27, 1901. Enrolled March 22, 1901. Other notes: On Delaware card #27 (old series) Sept 25, 1900. On this card March 31, 1904.
Submitted by Sue Ann Nicely: John and his family lived a quiet, rural life just south of the Ketchum cemetery in the Indian land allotments received by John and Rose and their two oldest children, Mary Ann and Roxie Mildred. Their five younger children were what was commonly called "Too-Lates" because they were born after the Dawes Rolls closed and thereby lost their entitlemnts of being known as "Original Enrollees". His children describe John Stephenson as a quiet, caring man who was always ready to help someone in need. In living so close to the cemetery he could see when a family was hand-digging a grave to bury a loved one, he would grab his shovel and help. When neighbors were hungry during the depression he would always give away part of the family's food to assist those less fortunate. He subscribed to the Kansas City Star Newspaper to stay informed on current events and his daughters remember him saving part of the cotton money to pay the poll tax so he could vote in every election.
The family raised two gardens a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. They all worked to tend the few head of cattle that the family had in the early years, the many hogs sometimes sold for cash, the laying chickens and the sole milk cow. While the family survived well, they were never without food even in the depths of the "Great Depression", from many fruits of the land. The family's cash crop was cotton. Each child weighed the amount of cotton he or she picked and John would pay them five cents per pound. With this money they would principally buy school shoes. Mary Ann remembers being embarrassed because they always bought boys shoes, which were more expensive at seventy-five cents per pair, because they lasted longer.
The farm supported the growing family so that few things were purchased at the Ketchum General Store. The things like sugar, coffee, flour, and salt that were purchased, were bought "on time" and paid for once a year after the cotton crop was harvested. This was the time when the younger kids in the family were allowed the ultimate treat, "store-bought candy".
For fun the family in the early years would attend Sunday School on non-rainy days, when their Mother, Rose, would drive the wagon into town with all the kids in the back. Rose's youngest sister, who was a lay-minister called her a "Bible "Scholar". Mary Ann remembers the horse as being particulary fast and hard to control, she says if they hadn't been trying to get to church she is sure they would have all been killed. The Stephenson kids would attend "singing" at neighborhood homes and John and Mary Ann were champions at throwing horseshoes. Mary Ann would race the neighborhood boys on horseback down the county line road east of the cemetery and always won. She regrets that "in her day" there was not rodeo barrel racing, she is sure she would be a star.
Mary Ann and Maxine remembered boiling corn fresh out of the garden and drying it on the roof of the house and digging a hole under a hill and filling it with straw to keep the potatoes and turnips from freezing in the winter, they described this as a "by-gone" time. The values John and Rose taught their children on that small family farm in the waning days of Indian Territory and the waning years of Statehood are enduring to this day.
Mary Ann recalls a story of her Dad's death in the midst of the depression when poor people REALLY had no money. She had sold her Indian land allotment not long before his death, so she called the Undertaker and told them she had $300. 00 in the bank and she would give it all to them if they would carry out the burial, which they did. She says that Rosie Conor (John's Sister) bought one bunch of flowers and they had a funeral. Maxine was about 17 years old at the time and had just come home from the Indian Bording School near Ponca City during a break and was there for the funeral too.
December 26, 1999: I received a letter from Orville "Red" Holt. He had answered an add I placed with the Cherokee Advocate looking for relatives of ancestors. Red stated that he was a former pro boxer. He said that John and Rosa were his grandparents but he always called him "Dad". He said that John (Dad) would have been a very wealthy man but his oldest son robbed a bank and he had to put up a section of land to post bail and Jack jumped bail, so John (Dad) lost 640 acres.He said John (Dad) was a very good farmer and had a little hill side farm and raised a lot of things until he lost it.
Events
| Birth | 27 Sep 1873 | Cherokee Tribe, Native American | |||
| Marriage | Bef 1900 | Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, Native American - Rosa Lee Smith | |||
| Residence | 1910 | Township 8, Craig, Oklahoma, United States |  | ||
| Military Draft Registration | 1917 - 1918 | Delaware, Oklahoma, United States | |||
| Residence | 1920 | Township 8, Craig, Oklahoma, United States | | ||
| Death | 1 Jun 1938 | ||||
| Burial | Ketchum Cemetery, East Center Section, | ||||
| FIND-A-GRAVE | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161985948/john-henry-stephenson |
Families
| Spouse | Rosa Lee Smith (1882 - 1963) |
| Child | John Jennings "Jack" Stephenson (1900 - ) |
| Child | Mary Ann Stephenson (1901 - 2003) |
| Child | Rosie Mildred "Eute" Stephenson (1904 - 1997) |
| Child | John S. Stephenson (1907 - ) |
| Child | William Lewyn "Bill" Stephenson (1908 - 1980) |
| Child | Bill Stephenson (1910 - 1980) |
| Child | Paul Stephenson (1912 - ) |
| Child | Paul Everett Stephenson (1915 - ) |
| Child | Louise Maxine Stephenson (1920 - ) |
| Child | Charles Edger "Charlie" Stephenson (1923 - 1991) |
| Father | Andrew Stephenson (1845 - 1900) |
| Mother | Mary Cummins Tiblow (1851 - 1901) |
| Sibling | Rosanna S. Stephenson (1866 - 1952) |
| Sibling | Mary Ann Stephenson (1869 - ) |
| Sibling | Fannie Francis Stephenson (1877 - 1924) |
| Sibling | Infant Daughter Stephenson (1884 - 1884) |
Endnotes
1. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML7N-RWY : accessed 16 February 2020), John H Stephenson, Township 8, Craig, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 37, sheet 17A, family 27, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1249; FHL microfilm 1,375,262..
2. "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJ94-1BS : accessed 16 February 2020), John H Stephenson, Township 8, Craig, Oklahoma, United States; citing ED 14, sheet 10A, line 28, family 186, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1458; FHL microfilm 1,821,458..