Stephens Stuff to Pursue Later

Stop me before I google again.

 

STEPHENS, LAMONT LEVERN: Attorney; b Rockville, Neb Dec 8, 1887; s of William Harrison Stephens-Anna Martha Thoresen; ed Rockville; KSTC; U of N, LLB 1914; Order of Coif; m Elizabeth Lucretia Warren May 25, 1915 Ulysses; s Norman E; d Ruth; 1914 adm to Neb bar; 1914- prac law, Loup City; 1916-23 Sherman Co atty; 1925-29 Sherman Co judge; during World War chmn of Sherman Co legal advisory bd & 4-min man; chmn Sherman Co Bar Assn; Neb St Bar Assn; IOOF; AF&AM; Scot Rite 32o; RAM, past dep custodian 9 years; parents came to Sherman Co 1872; grandparents, William Harrison & Ruama Randall Stephens; great grandparents George S & Serah Wood Stephens; res Loup city.

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/who1940/co/sherman2.htm

 

Lamont L. Stephens

One of Nebraska’s able lawyers is Lamont L. Stephens who has been engaged in legal practice at Loup City, Nebraska, since 1914. He was born at Rockville, Nebraska, December 8, 1887, and is the son of William Harrison and Anna Martha (Thompson) Stephens. His father, who was a farmer and stockraiser, was born at Durand, Illinois, January 17, 1851, and died at Hot Springs, South Dakota, December 24, 1908. His mother was born in Norway, November 12, 1852.

William Harrison Stephens was the son of William Harrison and Ruama (Randall) Stephens, who were natives of Onondaga County, New York, Theirs was the first marriage recorded in Wayne District and occurred October 26, 1836.

Mr. Stephens attended the Roekville Public School, was a student at Nebraska State Normal College at Kearney, Nebraska, and received the LL. B. degree in 1914 at the University of Nebraska where he received the Order of the Coif. He opened a law office in Loup City immediately after his admission to the bar and has been a leader in professional affairs since that date.

He was married at Ulysses, Nebraska, May 25, 1915, to Elizabeth Lueretia Warren, who was born at Rising City, Nebraska. Three children were born to them, of whom two are living: Ruth, born April 29, 1918; and Norman, July 21, 1920. Lowell Warren, who was born November 12, 1916, died January 20, 1917.

Mr. Stephens is a member of the Nebraska State Bar Association, the Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He served as county attorney of Sherman County, 1915-23, and was county judge there from 1925 to 1929. Residence: Loup City.

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/Nebraskana/pages/nbka0256.htm

 

Stephens Family Genealogy Forum

William Harrison Stephens, Camillus, NY
Posted by: Gary Studebaker Date: April 04, 2001
Looking for family origins and relatives:
William Harrison Stephens, Jr. B. 1-17-1841 in Il. Married Anna Martha Thompson (Thoreson)
William Harrison Stephens, Sr. B. 1-10-1815, Camillus, NY. Married Ruama Randall.
George Stephens, B. 9-11-1775, Schnectady, NY. Married Serah Wood.
William Stephens, married to Eunice(?). This family was related to Benedict Arnold. Wm. Harrison Jr. was my great grandfather who settled in Sherman County, Ne.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?william,harrison::stephens::3689.html

 

Family of Joshua Randall and his wife Sarah Smith (!!)

Ruama Randall

George “Catalina” Drake

Just uploaded a bunch of photos of my half great uncle, Ronald McGarel Hogg, who wrestled under the name George “Catalina” Drake. I copied the photos from Ron’s photo album, which my cousin Kat inherited after her mother, Nan, died.

Ron and Nan were half-siblings of my grandmother, Penny, and Nana, Hypatia. Their mother was Millie Dunton Noordwal Hogg.

I liked this intro to a newspaper column he wrote: “George Drake normally is as soft spoken as they come in or out of the ring. He rarely becomes angry unless an opponent gets far out of line. Outside the ring he prefers to spend his time on the beach rather than in an argument.”

He died a month after I was born, but I idolized him as a kid and even took wrestling because of him.

I love this photo of him. He was one of THOSE guys!

Family Photos

I just uploaded a bunch of Stephens (paternal) and Noordwal (maternal) photos to my Family History album on Flickr.

I need help identifying the people in these Stephens photos:

This caption goes with the above photos, but they’re not in order, so I don’t know who is who. (Other than that Anna Martha is second from left, front row, and Lamont Lavern is fourth, back row. It’s easy to pick him out because he’s the only blond!) If you click through to the Flickr photo, you can see tags with guesses I’ve made based on other photos.

Dead Buffaloes

This is an excerpt from a letter to written to my great-great-grandfather, William Harrison Stephens Jr., by his brother George Stephens, on March 4, 1860, describing his trip across Nebraska. William was living in Illinois and George was traveling from Illinois to Camp Floyd, Utah, possibly with the calvary. William later homesteaded in Nebraska.

“Plenty of timber on the Platte to Fort Kearney. Here we saw the first buffaloes. They often came within sight of the fort. For 200 mi. west of the fort you will see herds everywhere on both sides of the river. The Pikes Peakers killed them in great numbers last spring. I have stood in one place and counted over 25 dead buffaloes. Next stream is Plumb Creek about 100 mi. from Fort Kearney. Here is where the buffalo is the plentiest of anywhere.”

Noordwal Discoveries

Finally found the parents of my great-grandfather, Hartog Philippus Noordwal, as well as his siblings and earlier ancestors in Holland: Philip Noordwal and Iettje Klazes

Philip Noordwal’s parents: Hartog Naftali Noordwal and Sara Mozes Le Grand (number 13 under her parents: Mozes Salomon Le Grand and Betje Barend De Vries)

A long line of Philippus Noordwals going back to pre-surname days, when apparently they were known as Abrahams. Here’s an excerpt via Google Translate:

Philip Abraham in 1812 took the family to Noordwal.

He lived in Gorredijk and his house was on the Noordwal.

On that basis, he chose that last name.

Another page with numerous Noordwals.

And a page, “Descendants of Isaac Keijzer,” that includes several Noordwals, including some who were killed at Auschwitz. I’ve known for a while that we lost some of our family in the Holocaust. I still need to connect the dots.

Eventually, when I get my info entered into Reunion, I’d like to contact the owners of these pages and share information. I can’t make sense of any of this until I enter it, one person at a time. For now, just quick notes and links.

Also, going forward, I discovered a page called “The Children of Phillip Boyd Noordwal,” created eight years ago by my cousin Ruth Noordwal. I’m in touch with Phillip’s daughter Penny, who is in touch with her half-sister Ruth. Phillip is my mother’s older half-brother. They were separated at a young age, after their mother’s death.

OK. I’m overwhelmed now.

HeritageQuest

Just discovered HeritageQuest, available free from home with my library card number. Offers searches of U.S. Census, family history books, PERSI (genealogy and local history articles), Revolutionary War records, Freedmen’s Bank and the U.S. Serial Set (congressional records?).

Did a quick test search and found the 1920 census record for my great-grandparents, Hartog Philippus Noordwal and Millicent Dunton Noordwal, as well as their children, Philippus and Penelope (my grandmother). They were living in Minneapolis. I need to spend more time reading and recording everything on the document and enter it into Reunion as an official source document. The text is small, blurry and hard to read.

Noordwal – 1920 Census

Who Am I?

“Over 99.9 percent of the human genome (which means the complete set of genetic material in a person) is exactly the same across the species and around the world. All human variation, from height to hair color to freckles, comes down to just the 0.1 percent of our genetic makeup that differs. It’s a small world after all.” — Buzzy Jackson in “Shaking the Family Tree”

I’ve been doing genealogy research on and off (mostly off) since about 1999, when I first got online at home. Before that, I knew very little about my heritage. I basically knew my grandparents’ names and the names of two great-grandparents. My heritage was a big, yawning gap. I had an urge to learn more, to try to understand where I came from — what made me who I am.

When I was a kid, I tried a couple of times to ask my paternal grandparents, Acey and Winnie Stephens, where our family came from. I remember one time when I was trying to collect information for a homework assignment. My dainty little Grandma started to answer, “Well, honey, on my side we’re English and Irish and ….” My Grandpa, a blustery old cowboy, interrupted. “Those people were rapists and murderers! Don’t you tell people about them. You tell people you come from Bohemian royalty!”

I was mystified. I didn’t figure out what Bohemians were until I was in my twenties. (Mostly Czechoslovakian.) I still don’t know why my Grandpa thought the Brits were rapists and murderers. But through genealogy, I’ve learned that my Grandpa’s mother’s maiden name was Frances Zalud, which is probably where any royalty is hiding. I’ve also learned that he had a grandmother (Anna Martha Thoresen) who immigrated from Norway to Nebraska around 1864, a great-grandfather (William Harrison Stephens Sr.) who died in the San Francisco Gold Rush in 1850, a Dutch great-great-grandmother (Sarah “Sally” Smith Randall) whose ancestors settled Manhattan (AKA New Amsterdam), and a sixth great-grandfather (John Randall) who came from England to the colony of Rhode Island around 1666 — more than a hundred years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.

These are just a few of the threads that tie my Grandpa and me to the past. They give me context, pride, a feeling of belonging. Not that my heritage is any better than anyone else’s. Royalty or not, I believe we all have a heritage to be proud of — ancestors who lived and struggled and raised children and crossed continents and sometimes oceans. And if you go back far enough, we’re all related.

I’ve been reading “Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist” by Buzzy Jackson. Part memoir, part how-to, it’s a fun and fascinating romp through her family history journey.

“Those clever geneticists have been able to trace the origins of human beings back to two genetically specific human beings who lived tens of thousands of years ago [in eastern Africa]. Allow me to introduce your ancient ancestors: Y-Chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve … the oldest known ancestors of everyone on earth.”

It makes you wonder: Can’t we all just get along?