PERSONAL
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n the 29th day of March, 1859, I wrote a briefGenealogy of my near relatives, from my great-grand-father, Ebenezer Stevens, one time an inhabitant ofCanaan, Conn., also of Sheffield and New Marlboro,Berkshire County, Mass. Forty years later, with this manuscript as a guide, Ibegan a systematic study of the publications of the NewEngland historical and genealogical societies, town,county, and church records and histories, Colonial andState papers, secured from town and church clerks spe-cial reports from places in Connecticut and Massachu-setts, where any of the family had lived, and made per-sonal search in some of the towns and cities. I have been very fortunate in securing notebooks andother papers from the family of the late Mrs. AntoinetteStevens of East Canaan, Conn., and the old letters andpapers of Mrs. Susan M. Stevens, widow of Ichabod P.Stevens, of Bridgeport and East Canaan, Conn. In thelatter those of her grandfather, Benjamin Stevens, aRevolutionary soldier, are included. I also secured theresults of the researches made by Rev. Edgar A. Enosof Troy, N. Y., Leonard E. Opdycke of New York,—in-cluding a copy of the manuscript of Mrs. Adelia Burt,—and Frank R. Stevens of Minneapolis, Minn., and re-ceived very active help from Dr. M. E. Stephens ofGardner, N. Y., Mrs. Belle R. Walker of Avoca, andMr. and Mrs. J. H. Stewart of Canisteo, N. Y., in get-ting family records. The manuscript of the late JoshuaC. Stephens of Canisteo was furnished by Mrs. J. H.Stewart. The research and preparation of this Genealogy hastaken most of my vacation times, holidays, and eveningsfor the past ten years.
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