FRANKLIN WILLIAM STEVENS
circa 1885 in Missouri
Great Great Grandfather

My late grandfather Paul Stevens used to tell me about his own grandfather Franklin, at left. As a child, Paul sat beside this great pioneer and heard stories of the Old West.

Growing up in Illinois, Franklin Stevens was lucky to see Abraham Lincoln speak during an early appearance. For whatever reason, this wasn't enough to prevent him from enlisting in the Southern Army as a young man during the Civil War, where he had a few close calls with death.

He later became a successful farmer and took part in the Oklahoma Land Run in 1889, coming to own a 160 acre farming operation near Stroud -- he grew peaches and pecans, among other things.