Individual Details
(Bet 1791 and 1794 - Aug 13, 1859)
Nickname:<NICK> Shuck Also Known As:<_AKA> Stephens Name Suffi x:<NSFX> Jr. B IOGRAPHY: At the age of 18 he enlisted as a soldie r in the war of 1812. He ser ved in Colonel Ben Dumas' Regiment, Elij ah Haltom Company, North Carolina State Militia. After the war, he m ade a trip west and visited his brother Elijah wh o was living near Br ookville in Franklin County, Indiana. Soon he took a trip on the ol d Indian trail to Fort Harrison on the Wabash River near Terre Haute , passing through Indianapolis when it was mostly trees and stumps exc ept for a f ew houses. He and Elijah then took the old Indian trail f rom the Wabash River to Six Mile Creek near Bowling Green, Indiana. A fter looking at the land and v isiting relatives, they returned to Bro okville, after which James is said to ha ve walked most of the way bac k to the old home in North Carolina. Shortly afte r James Stephens go t home he united in marriage first with Miss Sallie Jordon, sister o f Rueben Jordon. He then married Wealthy Beaman and had eight child r en. As a result of his two marriages he was father of 16 children w hich shows he took the admonition in the Bible to go forth and multipl y seriously. In 182 4, James Stephens with Rueben Jordan and Isaac Be aman and their families moved to Indiana, by way of the Cumberland Ga p in Tennessee and Kentucky crossing the Ohio River at Madison instea d of the way James' uncle, James and company had c rossed at Cincinnat i when there were only four cabins there. James and family settled i n Owen County, Indiana near the old Stephens Cemetery or Oterbein U. B Church. Rueben Jordan settled six miles north of Spencer, Indiana a nd Issac Be aman settled near Atkinsonville. In 1825 Sallie Jordan St ephens died and James married Wealthy Beaman daughter of Isaac Beama n in 1826. Those who moved from North Carolina to Indiana were Jame s Stephens, wife and five children in a two wheel cart with one horse , Reuben Jordan, wife and five children, in a tow whe el cart with on e horse, Isaac Beaman, wife and seven children in a two horse wa gon . These all came together, left in the fall of the year for Indiana . Seven hundred miles through Salisbury, crossed the Laurel Spur Gap , then the French Broad River then through Bull's Gap to Jonesville, t hen down the Powell valley to Cumberland Gap, East Tennessee, Flat Lic k, London, Crab Orchard, Danville, S omerset and Lexington in Kentucky , crossed the Ohio River at Madison, Indiana o n the way to settlemen t at Six Mile creek. On this trip of seven hundred miles , they trave led one hundred miles a week, taking seven weeks to complete the tr ip . When they started in North Carolina, they would detail one man to h unt, as there were plenty of deer and turkeys so they had all the ven ison and turkey t hey could eat. They would boil the meat at night t o eat the next day. They se ttled in the woods, cleared land, and eac h family had a piece of ground ready t o plant in the spring of 1827 . They dressed deer and cow hides and made their own clothes. Each pl anted flax on a portion of their clearing and clothing was made from i t. They also traded for some wool of the earlier settlers, which th e y spun and wove into jeans and linsey. The former for breeches for th e men an d later for dresses for the women and children. They manage d to trade for corn , which they made into bread. They had no floor s in their houses, but had plen ty of deer and bear hides to sleep o n and to cover with. They made large firep laces in their houses and h ad plenty of wood to burn. They learned from the In dians how to dres s and tan hides. The men made moccasins and leather breeches. All s lept in one room twenty two by twenty four feet. After clearing the l an d they planted corn, beans and pumpkins with the seeds they had bro ught with th em. There was an abundance of wild fruit such as grapes , gooseberries, cherries , plums, crabapples and etc. Wild honey wa s gathered from many hollow trees an d sugar trees were tapped in spri ng for enough su
Events
| Birth | Bet 1791 and 1794 | Montgomery County, North Carolina | | | |
| Marriage | 1816 | Sallie Jordan | | | |
| Marriage | Jun 18, 1829 | Owen County, Indiana, USA - Wealthy Beaman | |  | |
| Death | Aug 13, 1859 | Clay County, Indiana | | | |
| Title (Nobility) | | Jr. | | | |
Families
Endnotes