Merced-Mariposa County CA Archives Biographies.....Stevinson, Louisa Jane 1840 - 
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Author: John Outcalt (1925)

MRS. LOUISA JANE STEVINSON

   One of the oldest living of the pioneer women of Merced County is Mrs. Louisa
Jane Stevinson, daughter of that pioneer Isham J. Cox, of Cox's Ferry fame on
the Merced River and one of the stanch upbuilders of the county from its
beginning. Isham J. Cox was born in Tennessee, went to Shelby County, Ill., and
thence to Texas, and with ox-teams and wagons came overland to California,
arriving at Hill's Ferry in March, 1850. He went to the gold mines on Sherlock's
Creek, Mariposa County, and met with more than ordinary good luck; and when he
returned to his family, they moved to a place four miles below Snelling, where
he settled on the Merced River and built a ferry, which was operated as Cox's
Ferry for many years. His wife was Rebecca Chisenhall in maidenhood and was of
Scotch descent. Her progenitors were early settlers in Virginia and were large
planters.

   Louisa Jane (Cox) Stevinson was born in Shelby County, Ill., over eighty-five
years ago, and was only two years old when she was taken across the plains by
her parents to Texas, where they lived during 1846-1847. In 1849 they came to
California via the southern route to San Diego, where they spent the winter of
1849-1850. She was ten years old at the time and well remembers the journey from
Texas and the early-day history of this section of country, where she grew to
womanhood. She attended school at Quartzberg, Mariposa County.

   The marriage of Louisa Jane Cox and James J. Stevinson was solemnized on
December 27, 1855. Of this union the following children were born: Samuel, Mary
E., and Fannie B. Samuel married Alice Reed and had three boys: Archibald, in
the cattle business in the Stevinson Colony, is married and has two children;
Howard, who married Blanche DeGraff, by whom two children were born, died in
1917; Floyd I., a rancher, married Carmella Sorensen, and they have five
children. Mary E. became the wife of Charles P. Harris of San Francisco, who
died in 1899, and she is now living with her mother. Fannie B. married Howard H.
Hogan, promoter of the Stevinson Colony, and had two children: Paul Iribe, art
designer with Cecil De Mille at Culver City; and Judith B., wife of George
Hatfield, an attorney in San Francisco. Mr. Hogan died in 1917.

   Mr. and Mrs. Stevinson worked hand in hand and in time accumulated 25,000
acres of land, upon which they became independent. Together they planned their
home and made extensive improvements on their property; and at the same time
they did their full duty as citizens of their county. Their home has always been
the center of a delightful California hospitality to their many friends. The
commodious house was completed in 1891. It is fitted with all conveniences and
is surrounded by a spacious lawn, which is decorated with flowering shrubs and
trees. Here, amid the surroundings so dear to her, Mrs. Stevinson is living in
peace and contentment, the center of a large circle of dear friends, and her
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mr. Stevinson, an account of
whose life is given on another page, passed away on November 13, 1907, when
seventy-nine years of age.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Biographical Review
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
JOHN OUTCALT

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925

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