Mary M Howard Stephens: Documentary Evidence that her parents were James Seth and Harriet C Howard

A man named Wilson Elihu Stephens is one of my 3rd great-grandfathers. He married Mary M Howard on March 25, 1869, in Manatee County, Florida.

Marriage record for Wilson E Stephens and Mary Howard. This record is noted as not being filed until Mar 22, 1871. At the bottom of the Marriage License: "This is to show that I the undersigned has joined the aforementioned couple in the holy state of Marriage Wilson E Stephens and Mary Howard March the 25 <year faded but likely 1869>" on page 2 of 3. "Bradenton, Manatee, Florida, United States records, Aug 5, 2018," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-894X-YVHC?view=explore : Jan 3, 2024), image 314 of 1205; Florida. County Court (Manatee County).

According to Mary’s tombstone, she was born on May 1, 1848 (in Hillsborough County, Florida) and she died on April 12, 1879 (in Manatee County, Florida).

Gravestone for Mary M. Wife of W.E. Stephens.

Photo courtesy of Donna McPherson. Find-A-Grave memorial ID 27078735 for Mary M. Stephens.

However, there is some confusion about her date of death. The last two children born to Mary were twins named Wilson Elihu Jr and Mary Magdalene and the date of birth listed on each of their tombstones is December 31, 1879. 

Gravestone for Willie E. Stephens.

Photo courtesy of Donna McPherson. Find-A-Grave memorial ID 125226500 for Willie E. Stephens.

Gravestone for Mary Magdalene Driggers.

Photo courtesy of billiongraves.com. Billion Graves memorial for Mary Magdalene Driggers.

If Mary had passed away on April 12, 1879, the twins could not have been born on Dec 31st of the same year. Due to the proposed births occurring less than 9 months after Mary’s passing and due to the naming pattern of the twins, it is clear that there was no other wife that could have been their mother as Wilson would not have remarried before Mary’s death and the twins were named after Wilson and Mary.   

Normally, I would say that Mary’s date of death on the tombstone was more reliable than the dates of birth for the twins on their tombstones since Mary’s tombstone was created at the time of the event versus the date of birth for the twins was being remembered at the time of the twins’ deaths. However, there is one chink in this logic, and it is that Mary’s tombstone is a double headstone. She shares it with her son John H Stephens who died in 1892.

Gravestone for John H son of W.E. & M.M. Stephens.

Photo courtesy of Donna McPherson. Find-A-Grave memorial ID 27078722 for John H. Stephens.

So, there is a possibility that her headstone was not created or engraved until years later and her date of death was mis-remembered at that time. (Of note, it is also possible that the double stone was originally placed at the time of her death and that the second portion of the tombstone was to be reserved for Mary’s husband, Wilson. But by the time of their son John H Stephen’s death, Wilson had re-married a woman named Jenny Arnold and it is possible that he no longer felt obligated to be buried next to his first wife.  But there are no likely avenues of research to pursue regarding this theory.) 

So, I turned to the 1880 Federal Mortality Schedule for Manatee County, Florida. This mortality schedule documented persons who died during the previous 12 months ending May 31, 1880.

United States. Department of the Interior. Manatee County Mortality Schedule for the Federal Census of 1880. 1880. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/345770>, accessed 2 January 2024.

Note, Mary Stephens is not listed on this mortality schedule, thus she likely did not die between June 1, 1879, and May 31, 1880. So, I would conclude that the date of death on her tombstone of April 12, 1879, is likely correct and her twins, Mary M and Wilson Elihu Jr, were likely born on Dec 31, 1878, and NOT 1879 as noted on their tombstones. 

It has been widely assumed as fact that Mary M Howard Stephens was the daughter of Seth Howard and Harriet Weeks. In Issue #15/16 of South Florida Pioneers Quarterly published in Jan-Apr 1978, Mary M Howard who married Wilson E Stephens was listed as the third child born to Seth and Harriet Howard.   

Biography on Seth Howard. Issue #15/16 from Jan-Apr 1978 of the South Florida Pioneers. Page 3.

While this researcher has found no direct evidence that names Seth and Harriet Howard as the parents of Mary Howard, there certainly is much circumstantial evidence to compel us to believe that Mary Howard Stephens is their daughter.  

 On both the 1850 and 1860 Federal Censuses, a Mary Howard was living in the household of Seth and Harriet Howard.  

Household of Seth Howard. Year: 1850; Census Place: Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida; Roll: M432_58; Page: 263A; Image: 516

Household of Seth Howard. Year: 1860; Census Place: Hillsborough, Florida; Roll: M653_107; Page: 641; Family History Library Film: 803107

By the time of the 1870 Federal Census, no Mary Howard was living in the household of Seth and Harriet Howard, which correlates with a March 25, 1869 marriage to Wilson E Stephens. There was also no other family with the surname of Howard living in Manatee, Florida at that time.  

Household of Seth Howard. Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 35, Manatee, Florida; Roll: M593_132; Page: 161A; Family History Library Film: 545631

Just one page over from the Howard’s household in the 1870 Federal Census, the household of Wilson E and Mary Stephens can be located.  

Household of Wilson Stephens. Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 35, Manatee, Florida; Roll: M593_132; Page: 161B; Family History Library Film: 545631

Wilson’s nephew, Daniel Pate, was living with the Stephens household on the 1870 Federal Census. In an article published in 1956, Molly McLeod Whidden, the granddaughter of Seth and Harriet Howard, describes going to school with “…my two older half-sisters, and besides us there were my grandfather’s three boys and two girls, the Roberts children, Lizzie Tucker, two Hendry girls and a boy named Dan Pate. Yes, there were two Arno girls too.”

“They Were the Mothers of Florida.” Interview with Mrs. Molly McLeod Whidden by Mrs. Sudie Knight, date unknown. Published under the Column entitled “Pioneer Florida” by D.B. McKay in the Tampa Tribune on January 1, 1956 on page 32.

So, this makes for a pretty good circumstantial case. This is the type of proof statement that has been made for most of the children of Seth and Harriet Howard and these circumstantial proof arguements have been accepted for many years. This is an established family line and is acknowledged by the Florida State Genealogical Society as a family of Pioneer Descendants. BUT, it is 2024 and current genealogical proof standards would require corroborating DNA evidence. So, that’s just what I set out to do! Join me next week as I discuss my findings.