John W. Stephens

John W. Stephens (October 13, 1834 – May 21, 1870) was a state senator from North Carolina. He was assassinated by the Ku Klux Klan on May 21, 1870.

Born John Walter Stephens near Bruce's Crossroads (now Summerfield) in Guilford County, North Carolina, he was the oldest child of Absalom Stephens and his wife, Letitia. Stephens had four siblings, including three brothers and a sister.

His family moved to Rockingham County when Stephens was still young, living first in Wentworth and then in Leaksville. Stephens' father, a tailor by trade, died in 1848, while the family was living in Leaksville.

Stephens married his first wife, Nannie Walters, in 1857. Only two years later, she died, leaving Stephens a widower, and the single father of an infant daughter, Nannie. Living in Wentworth in 1860, he married Martha Frances Groom. From this marriage, his daughter Ella was born.

Said to have been an active member of the Methodist Church at Wentworth, Stephens also served for a time as an agent for the American Bible and Tract Society. Soon after, he became a tobacco trader, moving to York, South Carolina.

Early on in the American Civil War, Stephens was based in Greensboro, North Carolina. He served the Confederacy by commandeering horses for the Confederate army. Later, he moved back to Wentworth, and worked as what was known as an "impressment agent", mustering draftees for the Confederate army. Toward the end of the war, Stephens signed up for the armed forces, but it is unclear whether he actually saw action during this time.

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