Stevens, Joseph

Born: 1808-03-07 New York

Flourished: 1830-05-26 Decatur, Illinois

Stevens moved with his family to Randolph County, Illinois, in 1818, and then to Macon County sometime between 1821 and 1823. He was one of the founding members of the first Macon County Methodist Church, with Peter Cartwright as its preacher, in 1829. In 1830, he married Mary Warnick, with whom he had three children. After Mary's death, Stevens married Margaret Sentenay, with whom he had one more child. He served as a member of the Decatur Board of Trustees in 1841. Stevens earned his living as a farmer.

John W. Smith, History of Macon County, Illinois, from its Organization to 1876 (Springfield, IL: Rokker's, 1876), 175, 221, 282-83; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Macon County, IL, 23.