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Below is a family biography included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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JOSHUA STEPHENSON, retired, post office Mansfield Valley, was born in the county of Durham, England, in 1816. In 1818 his father, Joseph Stephenson, with his wife and four children, came to America, and soon after their arrival settled in Pittsburgh, then a town of eight thousand people. Joseph was a butcher in America, and his high appreciation of our American government and the advantages offered to willing people were ably set forth in his letters to friends across the ocean. He died in Pittsburgh in 1822. His widow later became the wife of Charles J. Naylor, who had been a slaveholder in Jamaica, West Indies, later in life a farmer, and who came to America in 1821. He was proficient in several languages. Joshua Stephenson, the subject of this memoir, was but seven years old when his father died. He received most of his education at home under the able instruction of his stepfather, and at eighteen he learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed for ten years. He then engaged in farming in Scott township, and since 1850 has led a retired life. Mr. Stephenson married Ellen Bell, and by her he had two children, one yet living, John W. His second marriage was with Mary E. Hoffman, daughter of P. N. and Elizabeth Hoffman, of Martinsburg, Va., and one daughter, Adele H., has blessed their union. Mr. Stephenson is independent in politics, but upon national issues he supports the republican candidates.
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This family biography is one of 2,156 biographies included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co.
View additional Allegheny County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Biographies
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