Rev James B & Eva Mae Whissel

STEVENSON WHISSEL

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/18/2010 at 21:04:28

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Rev James B and Eva Mae (Whissel) Stevenson
By Jeanette (Copenhaver) Stevenson

Rev James Boyd Stevenson II was born 18 June 1876, son of Rev James Boyd and Sarah Elizabeth (Beall) Stevenson of Cross Creek, Pennsylvania. Eva Mae (Whissel) Stevenson was born 29 November 1881, daughter of George and Jennie Christine (McArthur) Whissel of Fenlon Falls, Ontario.

Rev J Boyd II was raised in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He went to Park College, Parkville, Missouri. He met Eva in college. Receiving his degree in 1906, he then went to Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, graduating in 1909. He and Eva were married 5 May 1909 at Alta Vista, Kansas. Rev J Boyd II was ordained in Winnebago Presbytery. His first church was in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, in 1909.

Three children were born to J Boyd and Eva while they lived in Weyauwega: Dorothy Elizabeth, Florence Christine and James Boyd Stevenson III. They moved to St Croix Falls, Wisconsin, in 1916, and son, Donald Ross, was born there. The family moved to Carson, Iowa, in 1924, and then to Bronson, Iowa in 1929. They lived in Bronson for fourteen years. Eva Whissel Stevenson died of pneumonia, 23 December 1935 in Bronson, Iowa.

Rev J Boyd II married Nellie (Lovejoy) Simms in 1943. She was a close friend of the family; Rev J Boyd had, in fact, performed the wedding ceremony in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, for Nellie and her first husband, Roy Simms. The new couple moved to Saratoga, Wyoming, then to Ireton, Iowa, and to Emmerson, Iowa. He was preaching in Presbyterian Churches in all of these towns.

He was a good preacher and well liked. He loved all sports, especially fishing. He had a light stroke in 1954, so retired, moving back to Sioux City, Iowa, where they lived until his death, 26 February 2960. Both Rev J Boyd and his first wife are buried in Graceland Park Cemetery, Sioux City.

Nell Stevenson moved back to Wisconsin; after her death she was buried by her first husband.

Dorothy Elizabeth Stevenson born 3 March 1910, graduated from Carson High School and Park College, Parkville, Missouri. She married Peter Arie Struyk, 6 June 1937. They have three sons, William James Struyk, Curtis Dean Struyk and Steven Jay Struyk, nine children, and three great grandchildren (triplets). Dorothy was a school teacher and Peter sold insurance. Bob was retired; they are now living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Florence Christine Stevenson, born 5 May 1913, graduated from Bronson High School. She attended Wayne State Teachers College, Wayne, Nebraska, and Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, graduating from Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa. She married George Washington Shriner, 25 June 1942. They have two daughters, Gloria Mae and Virginia Beth, and six grandchildren. Florence (Stevie) taught school and George farmed. Both are retired now living in Pocahontas, Iowa.

James Boyd, born 1 July 1915, married Jeanette (Copenhaven) Stevenson, 23 Augsut 1939. Their story is given separately.

Donald Ross Stevenson, born 6 June 1918, graduated from Bronson High School and Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa. He married Lois Ashbough, 22 March 1941. They have four children, Robert, Carol, and twins Mary and Gary, and four grandchildren. Donald, now retired, was manager of Boys Club of America in Fresno, California, where they still live. Lois was a teacher, but is doing office work at this time.

The Stevenson lineage goes back to before 1740 in Berkeley County, VIriginia, now West Virginia, where Richard Stephenson, the first of our ancestors of whom we have authentic records, was born and reared. His son, James Stevenson, was born in 1740, died in 1813. He married Rachel McKeever. Their son, William Stevenson, married Eliza Boyd. Their son, James Boyd Stevenson, born 20 January 1829, died 15 March 1892, married Sadie E ‘Sarah’ Beall.

The spelling of Stevenson or Stephenson is used interchangeably in several of the above families.