Stephen Hollingsworth was born in 1690 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA, and died in 1750 in Muddy Creek, Duplin County, North Carolina. His wife, Ann Robinson, was born in 1695 in White Clay Creek, Delaware. They were married on February 18, 1716, in New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware.

He was living in Cecil County, Maryland, in 1730. He was a magistrate. He moved to Virginia and obtained a land grant in 1734 of 472 acres on the west side of the Shenandoah River in Orange County.

Stephen died on March 2, 1748, in Duplin County, North Carolina. -— Michael Hollingsworth (47147941)

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"About 1711, Stephen moved with his father to Cecil County, Maryland, where he was connected with their extensive milling interests. He was the magistrate of the Court of Cecil County and an Episcopal Church leader. He moved to Orange County, Virginia, about 1734, where he received a grant of 472 acres on the west side of the Shenandoah. A year later, he moved to Bladen County, North Carolina. Here he received a grant of 640 acres on September 9, 1735. His last move was to Duplin County, where he was granted 600 acres on Muddy Creek in 1746. Here, Stephen selected a site and established his flour mill.

Stephen became a large landowner and was prominent in the county. He was also a warden in the Church of St. Gabriels Parish.

He began dividing his land among his children in 1748. Some of his children were minors, so he left the final decision to his son Henry. Henry completed the final division in 1754, after his father's death.

Stephen and Anne had six children, perhaps more."

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Stephen Hollingsworth served as a magistrate in Cecil Co., MD., in 1730. In 1734, he obtained a grant for 472 acres in Orange County, VA. By 1735, he was acquiring land in Bladen Co., NC. In 1745, he patented land on Muddy Creek in a part of New Hanover Co., NC, that in 1750 became Duplin County. He died in Duplin about 1750. Stephen and his wife Anne are believed to have had eleven children, all probably born before the family arrived in North Carolina. Source: The Chesnutt Family of SE NC

Concerning Cecil County, Scott writes, "There are in the county 53 grist, and merchant mills, 50 sawmills, three fulling mills, and two oil mills; besides the fulling mill belonging to the woolen factory" (114). George Johnston devotes a significant portion of his 1881 work to describing the history of Cecil County mills. Indeed, the milling industry was an important economic facet for the time: the Hollingsworths owned mills at least as early as 1721, when the first Henry Hollingsworth migrated to Cecil County. In an indenture dated June 16th of that year, Henry and Lydia Hollingsworth conveyed to their son Stephen Hollingsworth half of their mill located on the west branch of the Elk River, referred to as the Hollingsworth Mill. The Stephen Hollingsworth mentioned must have been a brother to Zebulon Hollingsworth, Sr.; in fact, Zebulon Hollingsworth signed the indenture as a witness. No other deeds concerning mills owned by Hollingsworths were discovered at the Cecil County Courthouse, however, others may be available at this location. Also, the will of Colonel Henry Hollingsworth refers to his association with a manufacturing company. The terms of their relationship were not specified but may refer to the Cecil Manufacturing Company.

— Michael Hollingsworth (47147941)