STEVENS FAMILY PLAYED IMPORTANT PART
IN UNION VILLAGE HISTORY
By Jan Jacot
[From Warren History, Vol. Two, No. 7, Spring 1997]
Once upon a time in the enchanting little hamlet of Union Village, at the mouth of the road leading to David Smalley's and situated on the triangular parcel, four structures emerged: A blacksmith shop, general store, Methodist church and just west of the church site, the house where the Stevens family lived for more than 50 years. Today these are known as numbers 6, 8,10 and 12 Mountain Avenue at the crossroads of Union Village.
Exactly when James Stevens and family arrived in Union Village is not clear, but it is known that his widow, Rhoda, and four adult daughters were living there prior to 1830. We also know that son William married Susan Moore, the 17th child of Isaac Moore on September 22, 1823. (Susan's ancestry through her mother, Lydia Bedell, can be traced back to George Littell who immigrated to Massachusetts from London in about the year 1635.)
James Stevens (born c.1770) was one of eleven children of Jonathan Stevens, an early Passaic Valley settler in Morris County, north of the river in the vicinity of Smalley's bridge. Jonathan's other children were John (m. Phebe Potter), Sarah (m. Caleb Mulford), Betsey (m. John Shipman), Jane (unmarried), Christopher (m. Rachel Dunham), Jonathan (m. Keziah Jennings), William (m. Phebe Roff), Jacob (m. Betsey Miller), Frazee (m. Charlotte Headley) and Joseph. Through Jonathan's will written in 1804 which was witnessed by David and Samuel Smalley, and recorded upon his death in 1805, son James was to receive part of the dwelling house lot, plus three acres of wood land in the Great Swamp. It is likely James sold his Morris County land shares to a brother either before or after making his way to Union Village. | |
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