Capt. Charles George Stevens [CC B6-D] b. 1816 (1814?) Denmark  d. 1865 Died Prisoner of War at Fort Delaware
m. Sarah Dorothy Hay [CC B6-E] b. 13 Sep 1819 Sunderland, England d. 25 Jun 1898 St. Simons Isl. ,Ga.
3 Children
(1) Sarah Dorothy Allen Stevens [CC B6-E] b. 25 Apr 1846 At Fort Frederica d. 25 May 1881
(2) Elizabeth Lizzy W, Stevens [CC B6-H] b. 3 Aug 1848 At Fort Frederica d. 5 Apr 1874
m. ?? Mims
(3) Isabelle Vincent Stevens [CC B6-A] b. 16 Oct 1850 St. Simons Isl., Ga d. 14 Nov 1937
m. William Curtis Taylor [CC B6-B] b. 1847 d. 1917

Captain Charles Stevens (1816-February 1, 1865) and his daughter, Mary Henrietta (“Aunt Het,” February 8, 1855-April 15, 1937). This photograph was taken about 1860 and the original is owned by a descendent, George Hay Stevens, Jr. Charles Stevens was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States, arriving at New Orleans in February 1836. He soon moved to Georgia and became involved in the coasting trade, sailing sloops and schooners along the Georgia coast. In December 1840 he signed an Aliens Declaration in Savannah to become a U.S. citizen. On September 18, 1843, Stevens married Sarah Dorothy Hay who resided at Frederica on St. Simons Island with her Uncle and Aunt, James Frewin and Sarah Dorothy Rountree Frewin. Stevens settled at Frederica and eventually acquired about 500 acres that included the old colonial fort and most of the old town. At Frederica he established a modest plantation, plus he continued to operate several coasting sloops and schooners in the coasting trade, carrying coastal produce into and out of Savannah. Charles Stevens became a member of Company I, 19th Battalion Georgia Cavalry in 1864 and was captured by Union forces in late December 1864 while serving picket duty on the Altamaha River. He was taken to the Union prison at Fort Delaware where he died of an inflammation of the larynx on February 1, 1865. He was buried at the prison cemetery at Finn’s Point, New Jersey, now a National Cemetery. Mary Henrietta Stevens married John Campbell Currie and resided on St. Simons Island her entire life.

 

Sarah Dorothy Hay Stevens (September 13, 1819-June 25, 1896). This photograph was probably taken in the 1870s or 1880s. The original is in the possession of Sally Taylor Jones, a great granddaughter. Sarah Dorothy Hay was born in Sunderland England. She came to St. Simons Island to live with her aunt and uncle, James and Sarah Dorothy Frewin, possibly in about 1838. In 1843 she married Charles Stevens and they had seven children, all of whom resided on St. Simons at Frederica. During the Civil War, the Stevens family evacuated St. Simons and resided on the mainland. After her husband’s death in 1865 as a prisoner of war, Sarah Stevens took her family back to St. Simons and reestablished their lives at Frederica. She, with the help of her eldest daughter, Ann Frewin Stevens, managed the family property. For a time Sarah Stevens served as postmistress at Frederica. She died at the home of her son, John Lawrence Stevens, and is buried at Christ Church, Frederica.

 

 

Isabelle Vincent Stevens Taylor (October 17, 1850-November 14, 1937). This photograph was probably taken in the 1870s or 1880s. The original is in the possession of Sally Taylor Jones, a granddaughter. Isabelle Vincent Stevens was the fourth child of Charles and Sarah Dorothy Stevens. Known as “Belle” she was born at Frederica and resided in the old Stevens home her entire life. She married William Curtis Taylor in 1875 and they had nine children, all of whom lived on St. Simons and all of whom are buried at Christ Church, Frederica. Isabelle inherited the old family home at Frederica and the property containing the ruins of old Fort Frederica. In 1903 she donated the fort ruins and a small area of surrounding land to the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames.

Three of the children of Charles and Sarah Dorothy Stevens. Left to right these are: Mary Henrietta Stevens Currie (“Aunt Het,” February 8, 1855-April 15, 1937); Isabelle Vincent Stevens Taylor (“Aunt Belle,” September 17, 1850-November 14, 1937); and John Lawrence Stevens (“Uncle Johnnie,” September 12, 1852-August 6, 1929). This photograph was taken at Frederica, probably in the mid to late 1920s. All three of these individuals were born at Frederica, lived their entire lives there and are buried at Christ Church Frederica. It is possible that John Stevens’ middle name “Lawrence” came from either James A.D. Lawrence or Antonio Lawrence, both of whom were coasting captains and well known by John’s father, Captain Charles Stevens. James A.D. Lawrence, resided at Frederica in the 1830s and Antonio Lawrence seems to have worked in the coasting trade with Charles Stevens in the 1850s, ultimately acquiring one of Stevens’ vessels, the sloop Splendid. Another of Stevens’ children, his daughter Elizabeth Watson, also seems to have been named for a coasting captain and close friend. This person was William Watson, who was from Denmark, like Charles Stevens, and who seems to have known and worked with Stevens for many years. Both men took out Aliens Declarations in Savannah on the same day in 1840 and they may have come from Denmark together and worked together on coasting vessels. They seem to have remained close friends over the years and, occasionally, William Watson served as captain of one of Charles Steven’s trading vessels. During the Union occupation of St. Simons in the Civil War John Lawrence Stevens, then a teenager, remained on St. Simons with his uncle James Frewin to look after the family property. They were among the few residents to remain on the island during the war. They would sometimes signal with a lantern across the marsh to the west where John’s father, Charles Stevens, could see from Belle Point on the mainland. When 82-year-old James Frewin died in January 1863, young John Lawrence went to the south end of the island and notified Acting Master Edward Moses, in command of the U.S. Bark Fernandina. In a letter to his sister dated February 3, 1863, Moses wrote that “I sent out a party of men on Sun morning and buried him [James Frewin] in the little churchyard by the side of his wife & children he had a daughter on the main almost in sight of his house when he died but no communication is allowed

Boat Annie.  A work boat owned by Captain John L. Stevens and used to haul passengers and supplies in the waters around St. Simons and elsewhere along the Georgia coast.  In his use of the Annie, John Stevens was following in the footsteps of his father, coasting captain Charles Stevens.