EDWARD W. STEPHENS
Major

Major Edward W. Stephens was the son of Edward W. Stephens, Sr. and Mary Moore, who came to Wheeling from St. Louis, Missouri in the early 1850s. Edward, Sr., a native of the Pittsburgh, Pa. area, was a partner in Gill, Hardman & Stephens, the builders of the Crescent Iron Works on Wheeling Creek. Later, Edward, Sr. was a Claims Agent.

1860 Census, Wheeling, Ohio County, (West) Virginia
Edward W. Stephens, 54, RR Iron Manufacturer, $2000 personal real estate, b Pa.
Mary A., 50, b Pa.
Lila, 24, b Va.
Webster, 22, Clerk, b Pa.
Edward W., Jr., 20, Student at Law, b Pa.
Mary A., 14, b Va.
Andrew Patterson, 11, b Va.
Mary Weldon, 15, Domestic, b Ger.

Major Edward Stephen's brother, Webster, served as Quartermaster in the Second Infantry from 1861-1862, and then resigned. That regiment was later designated the 5th West Virginia Cavalry. Webster married Mary S. Gill.

Edward's sister, Leila, married George R. Tingle, the one-time sheriff of Ohio County. Leila died in 1871, and George moved to Alaska and then Washington, DC. This writer (Linda Cunningham Fluharty) owns 6 letters that were written by Leila to her friend in Missouri.

The military service of Major Edward Stephens is detailed elsewhere on this site, but the details are sparse. At the outset of the war, his Iron Guards became Company "B" of the First Infantry, organized for 3 months, May to August 1861; he served as Captain. He was Captain of Company "F" when the First Infantry was re-organized in October 1861. He was captured at Bull Run 30 Aug 1862, was promoted to major that year. He was captured 11 Sep 1863 at Moorefield, and after his release, he was arrested and charged with neglect of duty. Prior to the court martial proceedings, he was exonerated. Following the war, he was appointed a Lieutenant Colonel by Brevet on 22 June 1867, to date from 13 Mar 1865, "for gallant and distinguished service."

He married Annie T. Cox 18 Dec 1866, and he died in Denver, Colorado in in 1886. He is buried at Allegheny Cemetery, Lawrenceville, Pa. His father was one of the founders of the cemetery in the 1840s.