STEPHENSON, Daniel through his daughter's eyes

STEPHENSON

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/30/2006 at 07:54:11

From the Prill transcriptions, source not cited ~~

"As Told By a Daughter of the Weaver".... He located in the 200 block of Burlaford (Burlington?), where he set up a weaver's shop in 1852. He did his own work till the Civil War, when his business increased so much that he hired a helper. People came from miles, traveling with horses, as the railroad wasn't built till 1857, to purchase the coverlets after staying all night.

Mr. STEPHENSON had brought his loom with him from Ohio, and the flying shuttles that he used were brought from England by an uncle. At first, he put his name, the date of weaving and Fairfield, Iowa, around the edges for a border, but later, put this on the corner of the coverlet. He made his own designs on paper first, and he would make any design that you desired. He was the only weaver in this State.

In 1877, the demand for coverlets was over, so Mr. STEPHENSON and his family moved to a farm, three miles north of Fairfield, where he died July 19, 1892.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.