Eli Stevens is my great grandfather; his father is Joshua Stevens, my
g-g-grand.
The following is a portion of a letter (Feb. 10, 1968) I received from George
J. Pope, son of George R. Pope (4 Apr 1847 - 10 Dec 1924) & Caroline Stevens
Pope (26 Sep 1868 - 1 Dec 1912), and grandson of Joshua Stevens.
"You mentioned about grave markers. No regular stone slab with records was
ever placed at his [Joshua's] grave site, however, my uncle George put two
limestone blocks about a foot high at the site of Grandfather and
Grandmother's graves. He was buried beside his second wife. I have no ideas
where the other two are buried."
"Joshua Stevens was born Aug. 1, 1817, died October 7, 1899 (taken from the
family record of George R. Pope & Caroline Stevens Pope, my father and
mother.)
"He was married three times. He had three children from his first wife
[Elizabeth Owen, Jan 7, 1858], namely Eli, William, and Mariah. Six children
from his second wife [Sarah E. Mar 29, 1873] , John, Joshua, George,
Elizabeth, Caroline, and Charles who died when a child. Two from his third
wife [Catherine Gravesmire m. April 19, 1896], Eliza and Andrew." [Marriages
recorded Record Dept. Greene Co., Bloomfield, Indiana]
According to _Cemeteries of Western Greene County, Indiana_ Vol. II, these
Stevens are buried at Olive Branch:
Stevens, George, 3 Jul 1864 - 5 Feb 1945
" , Mary Ann, 1 May 1874 - 1 Jun 1925
STEVENS, Mary L., d. 9 Mar 1920, 75 Y
" , Eli, 3 Mar. 1849 - 8 Dec 1912 [son of first wife]
STEVENS, William, 10 Jan 1844 - 6 May 1907 63y 3m 26da [?]
" , Joshua, 1 Aug 1817 - 7 Oct 1899 (no stone) [father]
[I remember a stone placed in the ground as a marker for his grave, close to
Eli]
STEVENS, Emmit, no dates [?]
STEVENS, Infant, no dates; s/o Joshua & Kathren Stevens [Andrew?]
" , Infant, no dates; d/o " " " [Eliza?]
" , Goldie, 1900-1912 [?]
STEVENS, Kathren, 1877 - 1911 [infant children listed above?]
" , Joshua, 1862 -1939 [?]
STEVENS, William, 1904 - [?]
" , Mary, 1907 - [?]
" , Lester Wayne, 21 Feb 1925 - 22 Feb 1925 [?]
[Can anyone supply the relationships with the ?]
Back to George J. Pope's letter
"Grandfather Stevens lived on a farm about 1/2 mile southwest of Olive Branch
Baptist Church and is buried in the adjoining cemetery, about thirty feet
north of the graves of my father and mother.
"He was a farmer and basket weaver by trade. He used the long straight grain
of the white wood of young hickory saplings which grew in abundance on his
farm, as the material for his baskets. He made bushel, one-half bushel, and
smaller baskets which he sold to customers throughout the surrounding
community. I still have the basket he made for me when I was born. He was
about seventy nine years old at that time and yet his workmanship was very
good. I also have a small paddle which he made to mix colors for his
baskets."
"Grandfather Pope and Grandfather Stevens bought adjoining sections of land
from the Wabash and Erie Canal Co.; they were close neighbors (about 1/2
mile)."
I will send information about Eli Stevens in a separate post. Perhaps this
will help those researching Olive Branch and/or the Stevens & Pope families.
Erma Jean Loveland
Erma Jean Loveland
Abilene Christian University
Abilene, Texas
lovelande(a)acu.edu