David Phillips Stephens and Jane
Evan Stephens
By Viola Kent Morgan
David Phillips Stephens was born December 27, 1810, in Llanfihangel
ar-arth, Carmarthen, Wales,
the son of Daniel Daniel Stephens and Ann Phillips.
He married Jane Evans, who was the daughter of Thomas Evans and Elinor Jones Evans. She was born July 15, 1812, at Llanarth,
Cardigan, Wales.
They lived in a straw-thatched cottage common to the Welsh
farms in those days.
Their parents were very religious and were members of the
Congregational Church until they joined the L.D.S.
Church around 1849.
They did not all come to America
at the same time. Ann came first on the ship "Cynosure" and sailed
the latter part of May 1863. Thomas came the next year on the ship
"General McClellan" and sailed for New York,
May 21, 1864, and he
arrived some time later in the year at Salt Lake City,
Utah. He worked on a farm in Willard and
did mining in the winter months to save money to send for his parents so they
could come to America.
David Stephens, his wife and two youngest sons, David and Evan, sailed for New
York on May
30, 1866. They arrived in Salt Lake City
on October 2, 1866, and a
week later went to live in Willard, Utah.
John arrived in New York, August 6, 1868, on the ship
"Constitution." Daniel and his wife sailed for America
on the ship "Minnesota"
on June 2, 1869. Elinor also came to America
about this same time.
Around 1869, the parents and all the children who came to America
except Evan settled in St. John.
This couple was the parents of ten children: Elinor (Nellie) (1. Morris Thomas 2. Moses Dudley); Daniel
(Margaret Evans); Thomas (Emma Leigh Morgan); Ann (Louis Deschamps);
Mary (David C. Jones); John (Elizabeth Williams); Jan ; David (Margaret Maria
Jones); Rachel; and Evan. Rachel and Jane were buried in Pencader,
Wales.
David died May 19,1882, at St. John,
and his wife Jane, died November 10,
1889, at Salt Lake City, Utah.
They are both buried in the St. John Cemetery.
(From St. John, Oneida County, Idaho: A
collection of personal histories from the time of the first settlers to the
present day, p. 231.)
