My Genealogy Hound

MORRIS J. STEPHENS is Recorder of Deeds in Allentown. He has the honor of being a native of Lehigh County, for his birth occurred on the 14th of November, 1857, in Lower Macungie. The family has long resided in the Keystone State. The grandfather, Jacob H. Stephens, was here born and reared, and the father, Harrison S. Stephens, was a native of the same community. He is now a retired farmer, living at East Texas, Lehigh County, Pa.

Our subject acquired his early education in the common schools, and afterward attended the Kutztown Normal and the Collegiate Institute at Hackettstown, N. J. Later he was a student in the normal school at Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pa., where he pursued his studies for two terms. On the expiration of that period he went to East Texas, and for some time engaged in clerking. He dates his residence in Allentown from 1886, and for some time he has been interested in iron mining in this locality. Mr. Stephens carries forward to a successful completion whatever he undertakes. Enterprise and industry are numbered among his chief characteristics, and have made his career a prosperous one.

In 1887 Mr. Stephens was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Blank, a native of Lehigh County, and a daughter of Richard Blank, of Whitehall. They are well known people of this community, who have a wide circle of warm friends and pleasant acquaintances, and in social circles they hold an enviable position. They are members of Salem Reformed Church, and in its growth take a warm interest.

In his political views, Mr. Stephens is a supporter of the Democracy. In 1887 he was made Clerk to the County Commissioners, and filled that position for six years, or until January, 1893. In 1892 he served as Secretary of the Memorial Committee of a state organization of the County Commissioners of the state of Pennsylvania formed for the purpose of revising the state tax laws, and in January, 1893, he was elected County Recorder of Deeds for a term of three years. He is now filling that office with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He has frequently served as delegate to the conventions of his party, and he does all in his power toward promoting the interests of the Democracy and aiding in its upbuilding. He takes some interest in military affairs, and has served as a member of Col. Lewis R. Walter’s staff. He is also connected with a number of civic societies. He is a wide-awake and enterprising citizen, ever alive to the best interests of the community in which he makes his home, and by his sterling worth and excellences of character he has won universal confidence and esteem.