Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Stevens, William Wallace ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 6, 2008, 4:13 am Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907 William Wallace Stevens, the nestor of the Will county bar, the oldest member of the different Masonic bodies in Joliet, and one among the oldest residents of the city, was born in Rumford Falls, Maine, July 14, 1832. His parents were Bernard C. and Esther A. (Lufkin) Stevens. The father was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, in 1800, and was a son of Jonathan and Mary Stevens, also natives of that town. At the age of twenty-one years Bernard C. Stevens went to Rumford Falls, Maine, where he met and married Esther Abbott Lufkin in 1825. She was born in Rumford, June 14, 1797, and was a daughter of Benjamin and Mehitable (Abbott) Lufkin, also natives of that place. Mrs. Stevens was a lineal descendant of the Abbotts, the first settlers of Concord, New Hampshire, and of the Lufkins, the first settlers of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Her father was a soldier of the Revolutionary army and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. Afterward he served in Captain John Drury's company, in Ezra Wood's regiment and participated in several of the important battles from 1778 to 1780, when he was discharged. Benjamin and Mehitable Lufkin had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. Three of the sons were ministers in the Methodist Episcopal church and for many years were very prominent in church circles in their native state. Among the daughters were Esther A. Lufkin, who in 1825 gave her hand in marriage to Bernard C. Stevens, who was a farmer by occupation. They became the parents of seven children, of whom only two now survive: William Wallace, of this review; and Reuben F. Stevens. Both are residents of Joliet. The father died in October, 1874, and the mother on the 19th of April, 1849. W. W. Stevens, after attending the common schools in his early youth, become a student in Tubbs Union Academy, at Washington, New Hampshire, and later in the Andover (N. H.) Academy, from which he was graudated in the summer of 1854. In the following winter and spring he was assistant principal of the McIndoes Falls (Vermont) Academy and in November, 1855, he came to Joliet, where he entered the law office of Messrs. Parks & Elwood and commenced the study of law. He remained with that firm until March, 1859, when he was admitted to practice as an attorney, so that he has been a member of the bar for almost half a century. On the 6th of September, 1859, Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Althea Hawley, a daughter of the late Judge Oscar L. and Nancy (Burdge) Hawley. Mrs. Stevens was born in Lockport, this county, April 13, 1839. Her father was born in Schoharie county, New York, in 1809, and was a son of Lyman and Althea Hawley, also natives of the Empire state. They came to this county with their son Oscar in 1834, establishing their home here when Will county was a frontier district and Joliet little more than a crossroads village. Judge Hawley became one of the prominent men of the county. He was elected county clerk in 1849 and held the office until 1857, when he was elected county judge, continuing to serve upon the bench until his death, on the 8th of November, 1861. Mrs. Hawley was born in Chautauqua county, New York, August 18, 1819, was married in April, 1838, and died in Lockport, in 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are the parents of seven children: The eldest, Ada H., in 1881, became the wife of Charles M. Becker, of Joliet, who died in Daytona, Florida, September 19, 1888, leaving a son, Claude W. Kate Esther, the second daughter is at home. Will H. married Fannie Oviatt, of Lansing, Michigan, and they have two children, William Wallace and Maude Winifred. They are residents of Daytona, Florida. Ella V. is the wife of Will S. Hamm and they reside at Lakeside, Illinois, with their two daughters, Grace Winifred and Willa Elanore. Jennie M. is at home. Frank M. married Miss Sadie Perkins, of Joliet, lives at Oak Park, Illinois, and has two children, Edna Althea and Harold Perkins. Winifred Wallace, the youngest, is also at home. Mr. Stevens is a member of Mount Joliet lodge, No. 42, A. F. & A. M.; Joliet chapter, No. 27, R. A. M.; and Joliet commandery, No. 4, K. T., and is the oldest member of each of the three bodies and also the oldest past master of the lodge and high priest of the chapter. He is likewise dean of all the attorneys of the county, and because of his long connection with the bar, with fraternal interests and with those movements and measures which have direct bearing upon the welfare and upbuilding of the county, it would be difficult to find one who has more intimate knowledge of the events which have shaped its history and the men who have promoted its progress. Additional Comments: PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/stevens2555nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.5 Kb