Shep's Place Family Tree

In 1896, John married Edith Miami Waugh, the daughter of Charles Waugh ‎(1845-1927)‎ and Elvira Gilmore Waugh ‎(1842-1904)‎. Edith's father was a blacksmith in Ohio Township. Her mother was the great-granddaughter of Anne Bailey, a famed Gallia County pioneer.

A few years after his marriage, Mr. Stevers established a general store at Platform in Lawrence County. In 1906, he moved his young family and his business to Swan Creek in Ohio Township. In 1910 he bought property in Mercerville, and built a store next the house which was to be his home for many years. Until the store was closed in the early 1940s, Mr. Stevers stocked nearly every item needed by a country family--including dry goods, hardware, shoes, and grocery staples.

Also in 1910 Mr. Stevers enrolled in Cincinnati CVollege of Embalming. when graduated, he passed th examination of the State of Ohio Board of Examiners and was issued a license to become a practicing mortician. With the help of his wife and growing family, he was able to maintain both businesses and to prosper.

In the earlyy years of his funeral directing his equipment was horse drawn. This was necessary because there were few improved roads. Some roads even followed the creek beds; the hill roads were steep and rutted. After a few years, he added a motor driven vehicle but continued to use the horses at times until the roads were improved.

After John Stevers retired, his son, F.L. Stevers, continued to operate a funeral home in Mercerville for many years.

Born to John and Edith Stevers were.....
Mr. Stevers had one son, Hugh, who served with the navy in WWII.....

A member of Ohio Valley Masonic Lodge No. 536 for seventy-two years, John Stevers served one term as Gallia County Commissioner. He was a member of the old Cherrington Chapel near Mercerville and, in his later years, attended church and Sunday school at victory Baptist Church. An avid gardener, Mr. Stevers continued to have his garden each year until just a few years before his death. John W. Stevers died July 31, 1966, just two months before his ninety-fifth birthday. He and his wife Edith, are buried in Mound Hill Cemetery, Gallipolis, Ohio.