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Colonel John Stephens (Uriah, Uriah, Thomas, Henry) was born April 10,1766 at Stillwater, New York. He removed to the Wyoming Valley, with hisparents, where he married November 24, 1785, Olive Franklin, daughter ofLieutenant Roswell and Jerusha (Hickock) Franklin. She was born atWoodbury, Connecticut, May 7, 1766. Her mother and brother were killed bythe Indians, but she and the other members of the famiy were rescued. Mr. Stephens bought land in Chemung, Ontario County. He lived at what isnow Elmira, but in 1790, was one of the twelve proprietors of the "oldCanisteo Castle", and he had lot No. 6 of Canisteo and No. 7 ofHornellsville assigned to him. In 1822 he built the mill known asStephens Mills on Bennetts Creek. He was Town Clerk of Canisteo from 1809to 1812. He was Captain of a Militia Company in 1796, First Major in1803, and Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Regiment in 1806. He diedMarch 1837, and his widow November 6, 1848. Colonel Stephens and his wifewere both of the old school Presbyterian Church. *The above information was obtained from the "Stephens/Stevens Genealogy"by Plowdon Stevens (1909). Colonel John and Olive (Franklin) Stephens view 1 2 3. This monument waserected in Greenwood Cemetery, Steuben County, NY. Inscription: OurFather and Mother, Colonel John Stephens Born April 10, 1766, in Canaan,Connecticut, Died March 19, 1837 in Greenwood, NY, Aged 70 ys 11 ms 9 d.,Olive, his Wife, Born May 7, 1766 in Middleton, Connecticut, Died Nov. 6,1844 In Greenwood, NY, Aged 82 ys 6 ms. (Right side of stone) We thychildren in grateful rememberance of thee, dedicate this token of respectto thy memory. Elias Born Sept. 26, 1796 John H. Born Feb. 16, 1799 Alex M. Born Sept. 8, 1801 Daniel M. H. Born Oct. 13, 1806 Pamilia Olin Born Apr. 19, 1810 All of Canisteo Submitted by Pam Davis Notes for OLIVE FRANKLIN: The Capture of Olive Franklin From Historical Gazetteer of Steuben County, New York by Millard F. Roberts, p. 199: "...of Woodbury,Conn., who settled in the Wyoming Valley with many othersfrom Connecticut, in the year 1770. Mr. Franklin was engaged in severalskirmishes with the Pennamites, and suffered imprisonment at their hands.During the Indian raids upon the settlements of Wyoming he suffered themost distressing and irreparable losses. In the year 1781, a number ofhis family were captured by the Indians. These were Mrs. Franklin, Olive,then a girl of thirteen, Susanna, aged eleven, Stephen, four years old,and Ichabod, aged eighteen months. It was about noon on Sunday, April 8,when Mrs. Franklin sent one of her little daughters to a spring not farfrom the house, to procure some water. There were bushes about thespring, behind which persons might hide from the sight of those who camefor water. When the little girl approached the spot, Indians were thereand seized her. It was done without noise and she did not dare to make anoutcry. Mr. Franklin was abroad in the woods to look for a swine that wasmissing. As the child did not return nor answer their call, Mrs. Franklinand Oliver began to fear that Indians were lying in ambush, and hadcaptured her. They were not left long in suspense. "The first we knew,"said Mrs. Stephens, (Olive) who when seventy-two years of age, relatedthe events of the exciting period, "the door was pushed open and eight guns were pointed right inupon us. Here were eight Indians ready to rush in upon one defenselesswoman and her little ones." After securing much plunder and dispatchingthe mid-day meal which, had been prepared for the family, they hurriedthe prisoners off out of the way of discovery and pursuit. They put ashovel of live coals upon the feather bed and a pillow upon the coals,and thus burned the house. The prisoners labored onward with greatdifficulty over hills an through laurel swamps, tangled thickets and muchmud and water, until, from lameness and fatigue they were scarcely ableto proceed. The third day of their captivity, they traveled through somepart of the great swamp, which lies east of Wilkesbarre, between theSusquehanna and Delaware rivers. In the course of the day they had tocross a road, and the Indians required them to step from one stone toanother, so as to make no tracks. They were evidently afraid of pursuers.On the fourth day - Wednesday - they were nearly or quite destitute ofprovisions; on Thursday they had nothing to feed upon but winter-greensand nothing on Friday, till toward the latter part of the day, when theIndians shot two or three black squirrels and caught a few small fish. OnSaturday they went on their way moderately, and before noon made halt.After resting awhile, the Indians began to look carefully around and peethrough the oak bushes, which covered the hill. White men were in pursuitof them. Each party was on the alert to seize every advantage, whichmight present itself in its favor. The afflicted mother and her littleones lay between the combatants and heard their bullets whistle throughthe air. They were instructed by the Indians to lie down or they would be killed. The mother was woundedalready. After the firing ceased, Mrs. Franklin, anxious to know whetherher husband was there, raised herself up upon her elbow to look. Shedirected her attention toward the white people, up the hill above them.Her daughter Susanna, meanwhile, turned her eyes the other way, andseeing an Indian approach, said: "Mother, lie down, there is an Indiancoming, and he will kill you." The words were scarcely out of the child'smouth before her prediction was fulfilled. The fatal bullet pierced herback between the shoulders, and she sunk down, dead.She fell upon herdaughter Olive, who lay partly behind her, and who spoke to her butreceived no answer. Olive moved a little and laid down by her side,seeing the Indian re-load his gun, expected he would shoot her next. Fullof the dreadful thought, she said: "I hid my face among the leaves andlay waiting the fatal shot. I remained in the same spot until I thoughthe had taken tie enough to kill me, if he intended it, and then raised myhead, very cautiously, as you may well suppose, and just caught a glimpseof his back, as he was running from us." The children were taken incharge by the whites, and finally restored to their father, who wentdirectly back to the spot where the house stood which the Indians hadburned. Having returned to the old place and into the midst of objectsfamiliar to her, Olive found inducements and leisure for reflection."Often," she remarked, "in the course of the summer following, was Iovercome with my feelings in thinking over what we had gone through. Icould see and feel our loss much more sensibly, than at the time when itfirst took place. Then there was such a stir and excitement in me andabout me, that I could scarcely tell whether I felt my mother's death atall. I knew it as though I knew it not. I had no time to reflect upon it.But afterward, when the struggle and excitement of the trying time hadpassed away, the tide of thought and feeling returned upon me." Submitted by Toni Stevens ------William Lackey Stephens;http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/e/William-Lackey--Stephens/index.html
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