Henry Washington Stephens
Deer Lodge County
History of Montana, Sanders, 1913

The proud record of being the oldest physician and 
surgeon in the city of Anaconda belongs to Dr. Henry 
Washington Stephens.  Coming to the west when the 
country was new, he has grown up with it and has 
given of himself not only in a professional way, 
but along other lines of service for the betterment 
of conditions.  

Dr. Stephens was born on the 17th of March 1862 at St. 
Joseph Missouri, the son of Peter Stephens.  The latter 
is a native of Kentucky, the year of his birth being 
1833.  When the strife between the north and south 
broke out, Peter Stephens was among the first to 
enlist and served through the whole four years of 
the war as Captain Stephens of the Federal Army.  
His command was Company B., of a Missouri regiment 
of cavalry.  He is no longer in active life, being 
retired and living at Anaconda.  His wife was Pernina 
Crank, a native of Ironton, Ohio, who died at the age 
of sixty eight in Anaconda.  Only two children were 
born to Captain and Mrs. Stephens: Dr. Stephens and 
his sister Anna, who is the widow of Charles Graham 
and makes her home in Anaconda.

The childhood of Dr. Stephens were spent in St. 
Joseph Missouri.  Here he attended the public 
schools and was graduated from the high school 
in 1879.  Having long since determined to become 
a doctor, he then took up the study of medicine 
at St. Joseph's Medical College, and after four 
years there received his degree of M.D.  This was 
in 1883 and the next few years were spent in St. 
Joseph in the practice of his profession.  That 
part of the country was fairly well settled and 
life for a struggling young physician was not 
easy for in all old communities the professions, 
such as law and medicine are apt to be over 
stocked.  The young man, therefore, in 1887 
came to Anaconda, Montana. He arrived in the 
town without even a dollar in his pocket but 
with knowledge in his head and skill in his 
fingers.  These possessions soon brought him a 
practice and it has grown until today he has 
one of the largest in the city and county.  

Dr. Stephens was married on the first of January 1888 to 
Katherine J. Allcott, who is a native of San Francisco.  
Dr. Stephens and his wife are the parents of seven 
children.  Lucinda is a graduate of the high school 
and is now a teacher in the public schools; Ruth 
Phyllis is a graduate of the high school; and the 
younger children are Katherine Drucilla, Anna, 
Francis, Howard W. and Helen Virginia.