Richard Stephens (September 7, 1755 – died July 2, 1831) was an
American Revolutionary War soldier, politician,
slave-plantation owner and
Breckinridge County
Breckinridge County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,432. Its county seat is Hardinsburg, Kentucky. The county was named for John Breckinridge (1760–1806), a Kentucky Atto ...
,
Kentucky, pioneer. He is the namesake of
Stephensport, Kentucky, a river town and port along the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
.
[Johnson, E. Polk (1912)]
''A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities''
Volume 3 ( Google eBook). Chicago, New York: Lewis Publishing Company
Edward Gardner Lewis (March 4, 1869 – August 10, 1950) was an American magazine publisher, land development promoter, and political activist. He was the founder of two planned communities that are now cities: University City, Missouri, and Atasc ...
.
Early life and personal life
Stephens was born in the
Colony of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
.
[Leonard, Elizabeth (2011)]
"Lincoln's Forgotten Ally: Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt of Kentucky"
University of North Carolina Press.
In Virginia, in September 1780, Stephens married Elizabeth Jennings, four years his junior and a native of
Fairfax County, Virginia. Elizabeth and Richard produced nine children: Ann (born 1781), Eleanor (born 1783), Robert (born 1786), Richard (born 1788), Elizabeth (born 1791), Sarah (born 1794), Daniel (born 1795), Mary Ann (born 1797), and Jemima (born 1801).
Career
Stephens served as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
in the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
for three years during the American Revolution.
In February 1784, for payment for his service as an American Revolutionary soldier on the
Virginia line, twenty-nine-year-old Stephens accepted a 100,000-acre
land grant on the Ohio River in Kentucky (Nelson, Jefferson, and Breckinridge County). Over time, Stephens added more land to his estate. By 1799, with over 100,000 acres (about 150 square miles), including a large plantation eight miles south of
Hawesville, and a 2,000-acre tract of land that Stephensport was sitting on, and at least a dozen slaves, Stephens was the wealthiest landowner in Breckinridge County.
Stephensport, plotted in 1803, was named in his honor.
Stephens served in the
Kentucky House of Representatives
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...
in 1819, and in the
Kentucky Senate
The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...
from 1823 to 1827.
Death
He died in Breckinridge County.
See also
*
List of people from Kentucky
*
List of slave owners
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Richard
Place of birth missing
1755 births
1831 deaths
19th-century American legislators
American planters
Continental Army soldiers
Burials in Kentucky
Farmers from Kentucky
Kentucky pioneers
Kentucky state senators
Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives
People from Breckinridge County, Kentucky
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People of Virginia in the American Revolution
American slave owners