Andrew Jackson Stephens was the son of William Stephens and Dorothy Wigginton. He was born on August 6, 1837, in Mississippi.

Andrew married his cousin, Lucy Stephens, on April 5, 1858 in Ripley County, Missouri. There, they had their first child, a daughter named Nancy, who died in Metcalfe Co, Kentucky on June 9, 1861. Their 2nd child, William Dudley Stephens, was born later that year in Metcalfe Co. on October 13.

Andrew and Lucy were both grandchildren of Welcome Stephens and Nancy Bailey. Lucy’s mother was Mary “Polly” Stephens, who was never married.

Andrew and Lucy can be found twice in the 1860 census, both in Franklin Co, Alabama. In one of the listings, Andrew, Lucy and Nancy are living with Andrew’s parents, William and Dorothy. (Ancestry has their name transcribed as “Stearnes”.) This entry shows that Nancy was a one-year-old who was born in Missouri. The second listing shows the family of 3 living next door to Lucy’s mother (and Andrew’s aunt) Polly, along with Polly’s 2 other children, Elizabeth and Andy.

The fact that Nancy was born in Missouri in 1859, followed by the 1860 census in Alabama, followed by the death of Nancy and birth of William Dudley in Kentucky seems to show that Andrew and Lucy were not prone to staying in one location very long at this point of their lives.

At this time, the 1870 census for the family has not been found, leading one to wonder if Andrew might have fought in the Civil War during the gap between census records. However, in the 1910 census, Andrew did not indicate that he had been a soldier, although others in the county do have that information listed. “A.J. Stephens” can be found listed in the Civil War Draft Registration book for Metcalfe Co, Kentucky in 1864 and he purchased land from William Hopper in Russell County in 1868.

The Andrew Stephens listed as a veteran in the 1890 Russell County, Kentucky census is the brother of Lucy, son of Polly. (Memorial #32963536) In his pension packet and the pension packet for Elias Smith, it is shown that Andrew first married his mother’s cousin, Martha Jane Stephens, daughter of William Stephens and Dorothy Wigginton. Martha passed away in 1887 and Andrew married Victoria Coffey, the widow of Elias Smith, on February 16, 1890. They were divorced in October of 1900.