Henry Stephens a farmer near Westminster, was born in Monmouthshire, England, in July, 1827, and in 1851 came to the United States. He traveled awhile in the Eastern States, and in 1852 came to California, by sail-vessel from New Orleans to the Isthmus, across which he traveled by the Nicaragua route, and thence to San Francisco, where he landed in August, having been six months in coining.
After spending a year in the mines he returned to the Southern States, purchased a number of cattle and drove them across the plains, starting from Clark County, Arkansas, and arriving in California in September, 1854, after a six-months trip, by the way of the Evansville route. Subfrequently he mined two years near Sacramento, disposed of his cattle, and for twelve years ran a saw-mill in Calaveras County.
He was then a resident of Stockton for a year and a half, and finally moved to Westminster, where he bought land, and has since lived there and bought other tracts of land. He is one of Westminster’s must prosperous farmers. He was one of the partners in the co-operative store at Westminster, and has aided every enterprise wisely inaugurated.
In 1865 he married Miss Olive W. Shaw, who was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania. Her father, O. W. Shaw, was a cabinet-maker by trade, and crossed the plains to this State in 1852. He served as a soldier in the last war and helped build the Government barracks at Wilmington, California. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens are active members of the Congregational Church, and highly respected as members of society. Their four children are: Bessie, wife Hansler Larter; Hiram Y., Lovisa and Etta; Sadie, the fourth child, and Tiny, the sixth, having both died in Westminster.
