Stephens Family in Orange

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Stephens family in Orange, Texas. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that run deep and branches that reach wide. It starts in 1884, down in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, where a man named Benjamin Anderson Stephens, known to everyone as Ben, married a Louisiana woman named Martha Eolean Eddleman.

Ben was Arkansas-born, came into this world in 1850. Martha, a Louisiana native, was born in 1866. Together they made something that would last.

When they came to Orange in the early 1890s, they already had two daughters in tow, and they'd go on to have three more children before it was all said and done. In June of 1907, Ben and Martha bought a house on Pine Street. That house had been built back in 1889, originally for a man named Wolf Bluestein, and by 1907 it was in the hands of a J.A.

Holland, who sold it to the Stephens family for fifteen hundred dollars. That house on Pine Street would remain the family home for the next seventy-five years. Now, you want to talk about a family with a calling, well.

Ben was listed as Deputy City Marshal by 1904. Then in April of 1907, just a couple months after buying that house, he was elected City Marshal. Reelected in 1909.

Reelected again in 1911. After that he served as city recorder and Justice of the Peace. Public service ran in the blood.

Ben and Martha's youngest child, Edward Moore Stephens, went by Buck, and in 1926 Buck married a woman named Sadie Woods. Now, here's where the story takes a turn that deserves a quiet moment. Sadie's father was Deputy Sheriff W.C.

Woods, and he died suddenly, just two weeks before the wedding. Two weeks. Buck and Sadie moved into the family home on Pine Street, and that house held them through grief and through all the years that followed.

When Ben and Martha passed, Buck and Sadie stayed on. During Orange's World War II shipbuilding boom, they even took in a boarder. Buck worked as a machine operator over at the American Bridge Shipyard.

And Sadie, well, Sadie had a career that quietly became something remarkable. She started as secretary to County Judge DeWitt Bennett, then spent many years in the county clerk's office, moving through the work steadily, faithfully. In 1950 she was appointed County Clerk.

In 1951 she was elected to the position. She kept on in that office until she retired in 1969. Along the way she served as president of the Texas County and District Clerks Association.

Ben and Martha Stephens, Buck and Sadie Stephens, all four of them are laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Orange. One house on Pine Street, built in 1889, bought in 1907, and for seventy-five years the address of a family that served this county in ways large and quiet both. That's the Stephens family.

Orange, Texas remembers.

What the marker says

Arkansas-born Benjamin Anderson (Ben) Stephens (1850-1932) and Louisiana native Martha Eolean Eddleman (1866-1933) married in Cameron Parish, Louisiana in 1884. The couple had two daughters when they moved to Orange in the early 1890s and would go on to have three more children. In June 1907, Ben and Martha bought a house on Pine Street, built in 1889 for Wolf Bluestein, from J.A. Holland for $1,500. This remained home to the family for the next 75 years. Many of the Stephens family had careers in law enforcement and public service. Ben was listed as Deputy City Marshal by 1904 and was elected City Marshal in April 1907 and reelected in 1909 and 1911. Later he served as city recorder and Justice of the Peace. Ben and Martha's youngest child, Edward Moore ("Buck") Stephens, married Sadie Woods in 1926, and the couple moved into the Stephens house after Sadie's father, Deputy Sheriff W.C. Woods, had suddenly died two weeks before their wedding. Buck and Sadie continued to live in the family home after Ben and Martha died. They took in a boarder during Orange's World War II shipbuilding boom. Buck was a machine operator in the American Bridge Shipyard. Sadie began her career as secretary to County Judge DeWitt Bennett, then spent many years in the county clerk's office, eventually being appointed County Clerk herself in 1950, being elected in 1951 and continuing in office until retiring in 1969. She served as president of the Texas County and District Clerks Association. Ben and Martha Stephens and Buck and Sadie Stephens are buried at Evergreen Cemetery. (2023)