Any relations to David J. Stephens 1878-1955?

[ValerieAnne]

Hey all. I'm not a male, so I can't Y-DNA test, my Stephens are on my father's maternal side, so I don't think the Y-DNA would help out in this situation either. I could be wrong though.

My great grandmother, was Rhoda R. Stephens, her father was David J. Stephens. I believe the J stands for John and the R (in her name) stands for Rodgers. He was born in 1878. I have his father as a William Stephens, born 1850 in London.

I'm curious on if anybody has him/them on their list? Not sure if it's possible as they never had DNA testing done (as far as I know). Here is the information I know:

B. 20 Jun 1878, Millvale, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
D. 16 Jul 1955, Cincinnati, Ohio
M. Nannie Long (1882-1944) d/o Thomas Long Sr and Nancy Goudy

They had a daughter (possibly more children, I do have a son listed, but I haven't verified yet)

Rhoda Rodgers Stephens
B. 17 Jun 1915 Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
D. 23 May 1991 Norwood, Hamilton, Ohio


Just curious on if anybody has any of them in their list. So far, the only DNA matches I've found from them (using Ancestry) are people I know offline (cousins,etc) so no new information.

[rms2]

Hey all. I'm not a male, so I can't Y-DNA test, my Stephens are on my father's maternal side, so I don't think the Y-DNA would help out in this situation either. I could be wrong though . . .

If you could find a Stephens male in that line to test, a y-dna test definitely would help, since it might provide matches to other Stephens/Stevens lines who have clues or information you don't have. Even if those matches did not come immediately, they might come in the future.

All the information I have garnered over the years did not come overnight, but, believe me, I have learned an enormous amount via y-dna testing.

[ValerieAnne]

If you could find a Stephens male in that line to test, a y-dna test definitely would help, since it might provide matches to other Stephens/Stevens lines who have clues or information you don't have. Even if those matches did not come immediately, they might come in the future.

All the information I have garnered over the years did not come overnight, but, believe me, I have learned an enormous amount via y-dna testing.

Thanks. Would I be able to test any of my great uncles (if they'd agree)? David J. is my great grandmother's father, on my grandma's side.

I think some of the things I'm trying to clear up are where he was born/who his parents are. The information I have all says Australia (all his siblings born there, his mother born there, his father sent there. He was the only one that shows up being born in the states and everybody but him died in Australia as well). I've recently found documents that have also mentioned that his mother was actually born in Pennsylvania, and his father in UK (which is what everything says). I think if I could figure out the mystery of his mother (Mary Stewart, in some documents, Mary Anne Elizabeth Stewart), it would clear up a lot of things, or help towards that anyway. lol

And honestly, that makes much more sense to why he would be born in the states if his momma was born in the same state but people in the family (some that went to school for genealogy swear up and down Mary was born in either Australia or England).

[rms2]

Thanks. Would I be able to test any of my great uncles (if they'd agree)? David J. is my great grandmother's father, on my grandma's side . . .

If they are Stephens males in that same y-dna line, yes.

[ValerieAnne]

If they are Stephens males in that same y-dna line, yes.

Thanks again. I'll see. I'm not sure if there are actual Stephens left in my line - as all the men I could think of testing for that side are Maury. (Stephens was their grandfather).
Also, random but is there a way I can delete/edit post #3 I've found some information that I'd like to update (or remove that whole section completely lol).

[rms2]

Thanks again. I'll see. I'm not sure if there are actual Stephens left in my line - as all the men I could think of testing for that side are Maury. (Stephens was their grandfather).
Also, random but is there a way I can delete/edit post #3 I've found some information that I'd like to update (or remove that whole section completely lol).

To carry Stephens y-dna, a candidate for testing would need to be a male Stephens, whose father was a Stephens, whose father was a Stephens, and so on, back to your most distant known ancestor David J. Stephens.

Here is the idea in graphic form:

y-dna line of descent.jpg

I don't think there is anything you can do about post #3 now except quote it in a new post and say how it should be updated or corrected.

[msmarjoribanks]

Thanks again. I'll see. I'm not sure if there are actual Stephens left in my line - as all the men I could think of testing for that side are Maury. (Stephens was their grandfather).
Also, random but is there a way I can delete/edit post #3 I've found some information that I'd like to update (or remove that whole section completely lol).

You'd want as close as possible, but it has to be through the male line.

I have this issue with my paternal grandmother's surname -- my dad is not a candidate, since his mom couldn't pass on Y-DNA. She had 2 brothers, but neither had sons, so I had to go up to my dad's great-grandfather (and since my grandmother was in her 30s when my dad was born, she was the youngest of several children, and her father was the youngest of 8, her grandfather was a Civil War vet born in 1830! so I am already back super far).

Anyway, he had 2 other sons besides my great-grandfather, the oldest had male line grandchildren born in 1911 and 1917, but their living descendants seem to be only girls. The middle son died in 1918 in a shipwreck (the Princess Sophia -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Princess_Sophia), but did have one son before then, and that son had one son who through twists and turns ended up becoming a Chicago police officer. He had (finally!) at least one living son and that son seems to even be reasonably near me, but beats me how to approach him. Well, he has a couple of female line cousins who seem to be into genealogy as we matched, so I'm hoping making contact with them and sharing information will be a way into it -- and that if he agrees to test he also proves to be a match to me, so as to make sure there's also no NPE anywhere.

This has really nothing to do with your Stephens line, but just an example of how you sometimes have to do some digging to find someone! Hope yours is simpler.