Eliza Jane, the youngest daughter of Hodge L. Stephenson and his wife, Eliza P. Wasson, was fairly well educated. She was a very quiet, sensible girl; she grew to womanhood in the stormy times of the Civil War,
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but she was always prudent and wise. She married James G. Dement, a son of an upright, faithful minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Dement was a respectable farmer in Limestone County, Alabama. They reared a family in North Alabama, on the north side of the Tennessee River.
Rebecca Eliza Dement, the oldest living daughter of James G. Dement and his wife, Eliza Jane Stephenson, was born in Limestone County, Alabama, November 3, 1874. She was an unusually intelligent girl, cheerful and gay. She was educated at Huntsville, Alabama. She was an ambitious girl, desirous to stand at the head of her class. Her physical constitution was not equal to her thirst for knowledge and distinction. As a consequence her progress was checked to some extent. She wrote for the newspapers occasionally. Her productions were of a moral and literary nature. March 4, 1903, she married Lawrence A. Johnson, a farmer near Greenville, Texas. Mr. Johnson is a noble specimen of humanity. He is of a family distinguished for mental and physical strength and forensic power as well as its moral worth. There are thousands of men and women in Tennessee and North Alabama who have heard with gladness the persuasive eloquence, and felt the power of the pulpit when it was occupied by Dr. Felix Johnson, or his brother, Alvia. These good men were uncles of Lawrence A. Johnson. Of the union of Rebecca E. Dement and L. A. Johnson a son, Jack Dement, was born. The child is the pride of the young parents. Jack is an extraordinary child, if a mother's testimony is good in such cases. But the average man knows how much salt to use to cure the statements of the mother, especially where there is but one child. Rebecca did not marry until after her mother's death. She and her husband are well situated on a rich prairie farm near the beautiful little city of Greenville, Hunt County, Texas. Mrs. Johnson has only one living brother, John M. Dement, and two sisters, Mrs. James H. Easter and Mrs. William Bruce Strong. The brother and the two sisters have families and live in Limestone County, Alabama. Mrs. Johnson's father, James G. Dement, is remarried and lives on his farm at the old home. Hodge L. Stephenson's wife, Eliza P. Wasson, died; after which he married Mrs. Margaret Barker, nee Broyles, of Lawrence County, Alabama. Mrs. Barker was a worthy woman, a good and kind stepmother. Of this union there was a child born, Ann, named in honor of her aunt, Ann Broyles. Ann married Calvin Martin; there was a son born. Calvin died. The young widow married John Wear. To this marriage several children were born. Ann died. Mr. Wear lives on his farm with his little children. Ann's first child is a farmer and lives at the old Stephenson homestead.
Sallie R. Stephenson, the eighth child and fourth daughter of Hugh W. Stephenson and Margaret, his wife, married Ellison McGaughey. They reared a family near Mount Hope. Sallie died. Ellison married Miss Lively Little and went to Marshall County, Mississippi. I think the family are all dead.
Finis is a Latin word and means the end, but my grandfather was not a Latin scholar. I will not accuse him of naming the boy of his old age Finis on that account; but the fact is Finis Ewing Stephenson was the fifth son, ninth and last child of Hugh W. and his wife, Margaret Stephenson. Finis married Talitha McWhorter. They reared a family in Pontotoc County, Mississippi.
In accordance with the plan of this work, I have given the generations beginning with Hugh W. Stephenson, the oldest son of William Stephenson, 1st, one of the Four, and his wife, R. Green Beattie.
My grandfather, Hugh W. Stephenson, was the oldest child of William Stephenson, one of the Four. He was born in Ireland, January 25, 1765. He had four full and two half-brothers in South Carolina. They were called "Stinson," the Scottish vernacular for Stephenson, but they knew their proper name was Stephenson. My grandfather, in 1787, married his cousin Margaret, daughter of Capt. James Stephenson, one of the Four. In the year 1794 he moved with his family from York County, South Carolina, to Smith County, Tennessee. He was never called "Stinson" any more. The six brothers "Stinsons" who were left in South Carolina have now not a single "Stinson" descendant to bear the name; but their descendants by their daughters are quite numerous.
I will give here a list of male descendants, now living, of Hugh W. Stephenson, through his sons, not counting the descendants of his daughters. The number now voters is forty-three. I am not reckoning those under age:
Descendants of William Watson Stephenson.
1. William Henry Stephenson, Collinsville, Texas.
2. Felix W. Stephenson, Collinsville, Texas.
3. Dick Lee Stephenson, Collinsville, Texas.
4. Nim L. Stephenson, Collinsville, Texas.
5. William Newton Stephenson, Leighton, Alabama.
6. Hugh William Stephenson, Tuscumbia, Alabama.
7. Donald Reagan Stephenson, Juanita, Louisiana.
8. Dr. Hugh Watson Stephenson, Oakman, Alabama.
9. Roscoe Owen Stephenson, Oakman, Alabama.
10. William Claiborne Stephenson, Rockwall, Texas.
11. John Calvin Stephenson, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
12. Edwin Napier Stephenson, Chicago, Illinois.
13. William Myatt Stephenson, Waco, Texas.
14. William Watson Stephenson, Lois, Arkansas.
15. Thomas Floyd Stephenson, Lois, Arkansas.
16. Hugh Albert Stephenson, St. Charles, Arkansas. Descendants of Rev. John Campbell Stephenson.
17. Porter Stephenson, Rice, Texas.
18. Amos Jarmon Stephenson, Des Arc, Arkansas.
19. Dr. Charles C. Stephenson, Little Rock, Arkansas.
20. John C. Stephenson, Rice, Texas.
21. Scott Stephenson, Rice, Texas.
22. Eugene Stephenson, Ennis, Texas.
23. Thomas Hercanus Stephenson, Boyce, Texas.
24. John B. Stephenson, Greenville, Texas.
25. Joseph Stephenson, Waxahachie, Texas.
26. James Albert Stephenson, Greenville, Texas.
27. Henry Stephenson, Dallas, Texas.
Descendants of Pleasant Wright Stephenson.
28. William Anderson Stephenson, Memphis, Tennessee.
29. Robert Lee Stephenson, San Francisco, California.
30. Frank E. Stephenson, Memphis, Tennessee.
31. Frank Stephenson, Memphis, Tennessee.
Descendants of Hodge L. Stephenson.
32. Henry Harvey Stephenson, Dyer, Tennessee.
33. William Argyle Stephenson, Ro Ellen, Tennessee.
34. Mort Stephenson, Yorkville, Tennessee.
35. Marvin Stephenson, Yorkville, Tennessee.
36. Frank Stephenson, Ro Ellen, Tennessee.
37. O-ther Stephenson, Ro Ellen, Tennessee.
38. Charles Michaux Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.
39. Fred L. Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.
40. Russell E. Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.
41. Frank Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.
42. Edward Alfred Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.
43. Deaton Monroe Stephenson, Mt. Hope, Alabama.