An American Family History

Nebraska Fox Stephens was born about 1858 in Benton Township, Lucas County, Iowa. She was the daughter of Levi Fox and Sarah Hartley Teas Fox. She was three at the time of the 1860 census and was eleven in 1870.

She married George Washington Stephens when she was 22 and he was 23 on October 25, 1876. George was born about 1854 in Tennessee.

Nebraska and George had two sons. John Henry Stephens was born on March 20, 1878 in Iowa and Thomas Emery Stephens was born on April 26, 1880 in Kentucky or Iowa.

Photo taken in Comanche, Texas about 1885.
From the estate of R. L. Stephens, Jr.,
grandson of John Henry Stephens
courtesy of Marie Stephens White

The family appeared in the 1880 census in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee. The household consisted of George, age 26 who was working as a brakeman, Nebraska age 23, who was keeping house, John age 2 and Emery age one month

Chattanooga City Directories show George was a brakeman in Chattanooga through 1883.

In 1900 John and Emery were living in Ellis, Texas and Nebraska's brother, Levi Fox, was also in Ellis.

Levi Fox Jr.'s granddaughter, Patricia Crim Dietlein wrote that

Emery was a bachelor and came from Texas to visit the Alabama kin almost annually. He was very religious, active in his Texas church, Church of God, and would attend the tent revivals sponsored by the church in Birmingham. He died in Abilene, Texas, and according to an undated newspaper obituary clipping, he was age 81. From other information it appears Emery died in 1961, so would have been born about 1880. The obituary said that Emery had a brother, John H., and a nephew, R. L. Stephens, both of Ralls, Texas.

Emery died on December 7, 1961 in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas and John died  December 21, 1964 in Big Spring, Howard County, Texas.

Children of: Levi Fox and Eliza Yerkes William Pierce Fox Josiah B. Fox John Newton Fox Anne E. Fox Sarah Hartley Joseph Teas John Tease Barbara Hannah Tease Tuttle Levi Fox and Sarah Hartley Teas Missouri Fox Clowser Levi Fox, Jr. Nebraska Fox Stephens