RootsChat.Com

The "Steavinson" 1990 census contains more than one riddle.

2521 Perot does not exist and never did. Perot Street runs east/west and stops at 25th Street.  It has no 2500 block of houses.  When you reach the intersection of Perot and 25th, you can turn left and walk about 50 feet and reach the 2500 block of Olive Street.  If you turn right, you walk about 100 feet and you reach the 2500 block of Meredith Street. 

The census taker switched Perot for Olive. The top of the page on which John Stephenson appears contains houses from the 2500 block of Meredith so our census taker didn't make that mistake.  If you look at the intersection on Google Maps, you can see that Perot and Olive are not far off-line from each other, and he may have thought Olive ended and Perot continued.  Ordinarily we would never know because in the construction of a new building, most of the 2500 block of Olive Street was demolished.  But Mary Spearing Stephenson died at 2512 Olive Street in 1908.  And John died at 2518 Meredith in 1924.  Walk up 25th Street to Aspen, turn left and walk another block and you reach Richard and Rose Stephenson's house at 2615 Aspen Street.

So now we can confirm ...   

1.  The 1900 census entry is for John and Mary Spearing Stephenson, Sr.
2.  The correct address is 2521 Olive Street, where Mary would die eight years later.
3.  The Stephensons had seven children - four survived, two died and one is unaccounted for.
4.  The 1900 census entry that John was born in May 1845 may be the most reliable.

At this point, it seems to me that the only thing missing are facts concerning John and Mary's immigration.  We have basis to believe he arrived in 1866 from Ireland, and that she arrived from Ireland but we don't have a date.  Nor do we have a port of entry.  I believe I saw an naturalization for John.  It may be part of the Ancestry Stephenson tree.  But the naturalization papers I've seen from that era merely contain the affirmation of the applicant to be naturalized.  I haven't seen an application that contains details.  Do you know of a source in the immigration process circa 1866 that would capture details?  As you may have seen, I am now working with the Irish Spearing/Sparing family forum.  That provokes another interesting question.  Either Radcliff or Heywood pointed out that Stephenson is not a common name in Limerick but has been there for 300 years.  Apparently Spearing/Sparing is very common.  What if John and Mary knew each other from Limerick?  They were just under two years apart in age.  Finding one in Limerick might target where to look for the other.  According to the 1900 census, they were married in 1870.  He was age 25 and she was age 23.  Sounds right.

Again, thanks for all your interest, help and guidance in piecing together this puzzle.

Mark

With whatever we get from that, it looks like its time to virtually visit Newcastle West.  Thoughts?

Good Evening Margaret:

Thank you for the invitation.  I took a quick look at your site.  I am registered at the Stephenson site and am happy to register on the Spearing site too.  I don't have a match yet but let's give it time.  I'll find my DNA kit and join up.

I look forward to working with you.  Best wishes.

Mark

I've just received the burial records of the Cathedral Cemetery ("CC") and can clear some things up. 

For clarity, I am referring to John Patrick Stephenson (b. 1850) as John, Sr., and his son as John Jr. I am basing this on all of the information that you have uncovered as well as my work at Ancestry and the cemetery records.  For the sake of brevity, I've omitted the citations.  I have provided the information received from the Cathedral Cemetery at the end.

John Stephenson, Sr. was born in 1850 and died on September 26, 1924.  He was interred on September 26, 1924.  He emigrated to the United States in 1866. He married Mary Spearing in 1871.  By way of confirmation, Ellen Spearing (b. 1854; d. 1938) is also buried in the plot, Everyone else is a Stephenson, and I was informed that she was Mary's sister.  Also by way of confirmation, in 1920, John Sr. or Jr. reported John Sr.'s birthdate as about 1840 and his immigration date as about 1860. 

Mary Spearing Stephenson was born on February 2, 1841.   Based on her death certificate, she died on June 17, 1908 and was interred on June 20, 1920.  Her DOB appears in her death certificate.  At the time of Mary's death, John and she lived at 2521 Olive Street.  At the time of John Sr.'s death, he lived at 2518 Meredith Street.  At the time of his death, the Cathedral Cemetery recorded his age as 74, making his DOB to be 1850.

In addition to the four sons that we know about, John Sr. and Mary had two children that did not survive.

Joseph was born in 1876. He died in 1888.  At the time, John and Mary Stephenson lived at 265 Bagoda Street, Philadelphia.

Mary Stephenson was born on in 1877. She died on January 18, 1892.  At the time, they lived at 844 Bambrey Street.

John P Stephenson (Jr.) was born in 1872 and died in 1946.  He married Mary Fee, who was born in 1875 and died in 1938. They resided at 2518 Meredith Street together until 1938.  John remained there until his death.  His widow, Agnes Fee Russell, remained there until her death in 1976.

I am going to do a more detailed summary that links each of these facts to its citation but I wanted to share with you how much we have achieved.  Gadget, Aghadowey, Radcliff and Heywood - you are masters at this and I am very grateful for your help.

Best wishes all.

Mark

______________________

Cathedral Cemetery

Joseph Stephenson, age 12, interred 12-15-1888
Mary Stephenson, age 15, interred 1-18-1892
Agnes Stephenson, age 92, 8-28-1976

Mary Stephenson, age 67, 6-20-1908
John Stephenson, age 74, 9-26-1924

Ellen Spearing, age 75, interred 6-2-1938
Mary Stephenson, age 62, interred 12-29-1937
John Stephenson, age 74, 11-13-1946

Gadget:

Exactly. As you point out, he's there for census.  It's what prompted me to get over to the Cathedral Cemetery records and sort that out.  But I think you will be proved to be correct.

Mark