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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  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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REV. BENJAMIN V. STEVENSON, a retired clergyman and an esteemed resident of Ware, first opened his eyes on the world in Boston on Christmas morning, a. d. 1815, son of William and Abigail (Varney) Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson is of Scotch descent. His great-grandfather, James Stevenson, came to this country from Glasgow, Scotland. His grandfather, Thomas Stevenson, was a baker in Boston, doing a good business. The latter married Sarah Chadwell, of that city; and they had a family of thirteen children, seven of whom they reared.

William Stevenson, father of the Rev. Benjamin V. Stevenson, was born in Boston in 1785. A pump and block maker by trade, he was an intelligent and well-read man, who, though not wealthy, was fairly prosperous, lived well, gave his children a good education, and died in 1841. His wife, Abigail Varney, was the daughter of Benjamin Varney, who was also a pump and block maker, and taught William Stevenson his trade. Mrs. Stevenson lived to the age of seventy-five years, surviving her husband over thirty years. They were buried beside the grandparents in the old cemetery on Salem Street, Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson had a family of two boys and seven girls, and reared two sons and three daughters. But two are now living, the subject of this sketch and his sister, Sarah Chadwell. The latter, widow of the late Robert W. Hall, who was once a prominent man in Boston and superintendent of public lands, is now eighty-five years of age, and is still active and in full possession of her faculties. She reared two sons and two daughters.

Benjamin V. Stevenson finished his theological studies under Hosea Ballou, second, first President of Tufts College. At the age of twenty-nine he took charge of his first pastorate at Barre, Mass., where he remained six years. He was subsequently pastor at New Bedford, Chicopee, Shelburne Falls, Southbridge, and Ware. He came to the latter town in 1882, and in 1885 purchased his present home at 81 Church Street. About six years ago Mr. Stevenson had a fall which disabled his lower limbs. This obliged him to retire from active pastoral work, but he is always ready to answer the calls of charity. He lives up to the teachings of the word which he was wont to preach, and is held in loving remembrance by his former parishioners.

January 1, 1845, he was united in marriage to Maria A. Standish, of Boston, who died August 2, 1846. He was married a second time on March 30, 1848, to Huldah H. Sibley, of Barre, daughter of Sardius and Betsey (Johnson) Sibley. Mrs. Stevenson’s great-grandfather on the paternal side was Samuel Sibley, one of the early settlers of Barre, where he was a successful farmer. Her grandfather was Captain Charles Sibley, of Barre, an officer in the State militia, who served for many years in both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature. On the maternal side Mrs. Stevenson is a grand-daughter of Perry Johnson, of Barre. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson had three children, namely: Charles Sibley, who died in infancy; Maria Augusta, wife of A. G. Carley, of Northampton, who has one son; and William Henry, a prosperous grocer in Boston, who has three sons.

Mr. Stevenson is advanced in Masonry, having passed three of the chairs, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. An extended account of his family history would be very interesting, as his grandparents were residents of Boston during the stirring times of the Revolution. He has in his possession a heavy solid silver spoon, given to him by his grandmother sixty-three years ago, that was made by Paul Revere.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

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