The
Stephens/Stevens Family of the Caribbean (BVI)
*Note: This family's surname has been
found in records spelled as Stevens and Stephens.
Matthew Stephens of Tortola is my maternal 3rd
great grandfather. In 1860, Matthew married Malvina Pickering in
Tortola, and they had at least three children:
1. Matthew Stephens - he was the father of at
least two sons: Matthew and Nathaniel. While I know nothing yet about
his son Matthew, his son Nathaniel Stephens was born in 1910 and
married Theresa Stout. They had 10 children.
2. Abraham Stephens - married Isabella Caroline
Thomas. They had at least two children: Olinda Stephens was born 16
Dec 1889, and Henrietta Letesia Stephens who married Herbert Stephens
(son of Herbert Henry and Mary Eliza Stephens).
3. Diana Stephens who is my 2nd great
grandmother.
My 2nd Great
Grandmother
Diana Stephens
Diana Stephens was born and died in Tortola. It
is not known what she did for a living, but some family members have
mentioned that Diana was known as a neighborhood midwife, and assisted
with the births of many children in Tortola. She was the mother of
seven children - a daughter for James Peter "Tooncy" Gordon, two
children for a Lettsome man, and four children for my great great
grandfather, William James "Ole Hell" George of
Virgin Gorda:
1. Jane Gordon-Innis was born in 1889 in
Tortola. She was married to a police officer whose surname was
Innis. I am told Jane had no children. According to the 1930
U.S. Federal Census of St. Croix, Jane Innis was 40 years old on 14
April 1930, and lived alone in a rented home at Hill Street,
Christiansted, St. Croix. She was married, born in Tortola as
were both of her parents, and had migrated to the U.S. Virgin Islands
in 1920. Jane was employed as a laundress for a private family
for wages. She died in St. Croix.
2. Catherine Ophelia "Shisha" Lettsome-Ludlow,
was born in 1891 in Tortola. She married Arnold Ludlow, who was
born in St. Thomas and died in St. Thomas in 1932. She had one
child. I am told that Shisha was known for her delicious baked
goods.
3. William Alfred Lettsome (also known as Alfred)
was born in 1893 in Tortola and died 19 Aug 1980 in St. Thomas (he
is buried in the Western Cemetery, St. Thomas). Alfred was
married to a woman named Mitabel Thomas, also from Tortola. According
to the U.S. 1930 Federal Census of St. Thomas, USVI, Alfred migrated
from Tortola in 1910, and his wife "Isabella" (a misspelling of her
real name, Mitabel) joined him five years later in 1915. Alfred was
employed as a laborer at the Virgin Islands Power Plant. They lived in
the Long Bay area, and later moved to the Tutu area on St. Thomas.
Alfred was the father of one son.
Diana Stephens had four more children with her lifelong
spouse (never married),
William James "Ole Hell' George. Ole Hell was born to Adam and
Ann George in 1854 on Virgin Gorda. Diana Stephens and William
George's children were:
1. Clareata Caroline George was born in 1896 in
Tortola. Clareata migrated to Puerto Rico to work and I am told that
this is where she died. Clareata may have had one child.
2. Ezekiel Alexander "Jump" George was born in
1899 and is deceased. I am told he might have lived between
Virgin Gorda and Tortola, and was the father of one child.
3.
Casilda Elisa George, my great grandmother was born in Tortola
in 1902 and died in 1993; she was 90 years old. Miss Cassie
never married, and was the mother of six children (two are deceased).
4. Theodore Franklin George, most commonly
known as Frank George. He lived in Long Look, Tortola, and was born in
1904 and died in 2004 - a few weeks short of his 100th birthday. His
first wife was Alexandria "Santa" Williams of Tortola and they had 14
children together (four died in infancy). He later remarried, but
separated from his wife. Frank was a lay preacher, and a builder
by trade. He was also a skilled cricket player and competed in
games in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Special thanks to Gloria Malone-Neal who provided
information from the BVI Registry's records for this family. If
you are a member of the Stephens family, please write to Monifa Marrero
at
CaribbeanKingdom@yahoo.com.
