The STEVENS family can be traced back to the ancient city of Brechin in Scotland. The name was STEVEN and was occasionally spelled STEPHEN, STEVENSON and STEPHENSON - and that was in the official parish records for one generation!

William STEVEN (1815-1890) and Margaret ARNOTT (1814-1901) of Brechin, Angus, Scotland. 

They are buried in the new cemetery in Brechin. Go through the gate, up the road and theirs in in the second area to the right. Their large stone is up against a stone wall. Look for STEVEN.

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE ABOVE GRAVESTONE:

“Erected in memory of William Steven Slater   Brechin Born 2 March 1815 Died 25 Aug 1890 also his son John Arnott who died in infancy and of his wife Margaret Arnott who died 27 April 1901  aged 86 years also his daughter Isabella Kinnear widow of William Clark  Accountant  Greenock Died 2 January 1912 Aged 70 years. 

STEVEN” (across bottom)

Their son William STEVEN (1846-1902) came from Brechin, Angus, Scotland, to Brooklyn, New York, NY, USA after 1857.

The last name STEVEN was spelled with a "V" by the family, but in the Old Parochial Register of Brechin, it is spelled both ways - with a V and with a PH - on the same line! The "S" was added on the end of the surname while William Steven was in the USA but I do not yet know the reason or date (some time in the late 1800s), although I know that it was NOT when he came through immigration (a time when many family names were changed). 

William Steven (1846-1902) worked for his Uncle David S. Arnott (the "S" stands for Shiress, an old Brechin family name) in Brooklyn, NY. David owned a stone yard and made tombstones etc. William's father (also called William) was a slater (roofer) in Brechin, and the younger William at first worked for his uncle as a clerk, and in 1895 became a partner. 

In 1879, William STEVEN became a US Citizen, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. He died in Brooklyn in 1902, and was buried in Victoria Lawn Cemetery, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

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