My Genealogy Hound

L. M. STEVENSON, teacher, Versailles, Ohio. Samuel W. Stevenson, the father of L. M., was born in the city of Belfast, Ireland, Oct., 24, 1809; his father, Anthony, was keeper of the King’s Cheque on Duties and Customs. His mother, Sarah, was a descendant of Sir John Cornwall, whose daughter married a French exile, named La Waie, a Huguenot, who had to fly for his life during the religious revolts in his native country, and crossed the channel, landing in Ireland, where he made his home for the remainder of his life. He made the acquaintance of Sir John Cornwall, while shooting birds in a small strip of timber belonging to the estate, known as Edendork, about one mile northwest of the town of Dungamour, County Tyrone, Ireland, and about eight miles south of that beautiful body of water, Lough Neagh); his parents being all Protestants, he received his early religious instructions in the creed of the established Church of England, and, in his early training, had inculcated the hereditary hatred of the Papists so common on the Island, where but two parties are known, the Papists and the Protestants, the latter being generally known as the “Orangemen,” from William, Prince of Orange, Samuel W., like so many boys brought up in such close relationship with marine life, formed a great desire to be a sailor, and have his home on the mighty deep; so strong did the desire become, that, at the early age of 14, he left school and apprenticed himself to a sea-captain, for the purpose of becoming a sailor and navigator. The choice of office had been very suitable, and so well did he conduct himself, that he gained the confidence of the commander, and, before the first voyage was completed, he was promoted to second mate, which office he filled with credit to himself, and was promoted to first mate. His first voyage was made to Cronstadt, Stockholm, thence up the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg, Russia. The second was to cross the Atlantic with a miscellaneous cargo to the United States, in which branch of the service he remained until October, 1829, having landed first at Pictora, Nova Scotia, on the 9th of July; during the night between October 31 and November 1, he was shipwrecked near Eastport, Me., from where he arrived at Quebec, July 2, 1830; at this time he was engaged in the shipment of timber, and on the 10th of July, while loading his vessel, he fell from the rigging to the deck, receiving such severe injuries as to prevent him going to sea afterward; he was placed in the Marine hospital at Quebec, known as the Sailors’ Hospital, where he remained until he so far recovered from his injuries as to be able to again earn a livelihood; during the time of his illness he heard from home, but, as an estrangement had arisen between him and his father, he determined not to return home until he could own and command a vessel of his own; being, however, prevented from going on in his chosen vocation, he never accomplished his purpose; immediately after leaving the hospital he went with a party to the “front,” as it was called, to cut and prepare ship-timber, with a contractor named Raney, in whose employ he remained one year; thinking he could now improve his condition he quit with the contractor who tried to defraud him of his year’s earnings; from this a vexatious lawsuit arose, which lasted for three years, but was finally decided in his favor, and the contractor was compelled to pay the amount due; having obtained his money, he started again, but was prostrated at Rochester, N. Y., for nearly a year by sickness, and was able to go to work with only 50 cents in his pocket; his determination never wavered; he started in search of something to do, and found it with a civil engineer named Col. Hovey, with whom he remained for some time, and left his employer with mutual regret, the Colonel saying, “You think the great El Dorado is Ohio;” this remark at once decided him that, be his fortune what it might, he never would come back in a worse condition financially than he then was, and if his condition was better he did not wish to return; putting his purpose into execution, he arrived at Oswego, N. Y., Sept. 5, 1835, where he remained for some time, obtaining and finishing several contracts of a canal then being contracted for; his desire to go to Ohio being paramount to all else, he left New York, and arrived in Shelby County, Ohio, sometime in 1838 or 1839; the canal extending from Cincinnati to Toledo being in process of construction, he obtained a contract from Jesse McClure; he again went to ditching, in the prosecution of which he so injured his health by exposure that he could work no longer physically; he then, by the solicitation of his friends, began to teach school; having fully determined to make the United States his home, he filed his intentions in the Court of Shelby County, Ohio, on the 9th of November, 1839, and in 1842 received his certificate of citizenship; having once entered upon the vocation of teaching, he was so successful that he could not withdraw, and his services were in continual demand; he became somewhat engaged in local politics, serving for several terms as Clerk of Cynthiana Township, and was finally brought out as a candidate for the office of Auditor of Shelby County; in this he was defeated by only six votes. On the 24th day of December, 1841, he married Mary Ann McClelland, by whom he had two sons; the elder, Alexander Finley, was born Sept. 4, 1842; and the younger, Leander Montgomery, April 12, 1845. After his marriage, he tried farming, but could not make it a success, and finally abandoned it altogether. On the 27th of July, 1847, his wife died, and he was again cast out upon the world. Leaving his two children with their grandfather, he opened a school in Sidney, Shelby Co., which he taught with his usual success, and at the close of the term he engaged with Mr. McGrew to run his line of boats from Sidney to Cincinnati until the freezing up of the canal, but trade became so depressed and freight so light that he released Mr. McGrew from the contract after making two trips to Cincinnati. Again becoming a pedagogue, he opened and taught a school in Wapakoneta, the present county seat of Auglaize Co., closing his school in September, 1849. He was then called to Houston, Shelby Co., to take charge of the school there, and in the spring of 1850 he entered a piece of land in Shelby Co., lying about four miles east of Berlin. He now resumed teaching during the winter, and in the summer he cleared his land. May 15, 1851, he married Mary Ellen, the second and only living daughter of Mr. William English, of Wayne Township, Darke Co. He now began to keep house a second time, and during the winter he taught the school near Speer’s landing, on the Laramie, about two miles east of Houston, removing in May, 1852, to his “home in the woods,” where he remained until September, when he was again called to take charge of the school at Wapakoneta and to act as County Examiner. To his great surprise, he found the same figures on the blackboard that he had placed there in 1849. He now gave up the project of clearing his farm and gave his whole attention to teaching, serving in this capacity at Hardin, Shelby Co.; Morant, Jefferson Co., and Versailles, Darke Co., Ohio, from which place he removed May 1, 1856, to Covington, Miami Co., where he had purchased a small property. There he remained seven years, and began to accumulate some wealth, purchasing property in the town, now owned and occupied by D. C. Shellabarger. This, with his little farm, he exchanged for what was known as the “ Two Mile House,” on the Covington and Gettysburg Pike, two miles west of Covington. In March, 1864, he sold out and removed to Versailles, Darke Co., purchasing a farm about two miles northwest of the town, where he resided until Nov. 7, 1872, when he again removed to Hill Grove, near Union City, Ind., where he took charge of the flouring-mill, for which he had exchanged his farm. He remained here until June 7, 1873, when he again returned to Versailles and lived with his younger son until his death, May 31, 1876. During life, he was always an upright and honest man, a fearless and uncompromising patriot, giving both his sons to the service of his country during the war, both of whom returned safe at its close. He finally sank peacefully to rest, sincerely mourned by many; loved, honored and respected by all. Leander M. Stevenson, whose name heads this sketch, is a young man of fine address, and possesses rare abilities as an educator and instructor, and merits more than a passing notice. As will be seen in his father’s sketch, he was left an orphan while he was quite young, having passed through the many struggles and trials so common to those that have been left without the instructions of a loving mother; but being of the same turn of mind as his father, to dispel the dark clouds that would gather around him, and keeping the motto steadily in view, “No excellence without labor,” he has come oft more than conqueror, acquiring a good academic education by his own exertion; the writer of this article can truthfully say that he is strictly a self-made man, and deserves a wider notice than the writer can possibly give on account of space and ability. When he was 18 years old, he enlisted in the army and went forth in defense of his country, giving two years of his life in hard-fought battles and long and dreary marches; when he returned home he entered the “Iron City College,” from which he graduated in April, 1866, he also took a course in telegraphy; in April, 1879, he made a visit to Ireland and England. On the 1st of May, 1873, he celebrated his marriage with Mary McKnight, who is a native of Ohio, born in Darke County, on the 24th day of September, 1855; in September, 1873, he was called and appointed Superintendent of the High School of Versailles, Ohio, where he taught two years with good success, during which time he wrote out an entire course of study for the school, which injured his health so that he was compelled to relinquish teaching for two years. Three children have been born to this union, viz.: Sir Harcourt Lee, born Jan. 30, 1874 (he was named in honor of the editor and publisher of the Brunswick, Club, the only Protestant paper in Belfast at that time); Edith J., born 2d of October, 1875; Susannah, died Dec. 5, 1878.