Laura was the fourth of ten children, (five boys and five girls). Her siblings [Lafayette, Ira, Etta, Inez, Iva, Agnes and Eber (twins), Leona and Elver].
Jessie Stephens (daughter): "John Henry Stephens, my Father at about the age of 26 went to Boise, Idaho, to work as a carpenter for a contractor putting up dwelling houses there at a time when Boise was enjoying a building boom. There he met and married our mother, Laura Elizabeth Aiken in October 1890. She was 17 years old."
Laura wore a wedding dress of cream cashmere and wide cream silk lace fashioned by her Aunt Flavia Newton White who was a dress maker in Boise. The marriage ceremony for "J. H. Stephens of McMinnville, Oregon, and L. E. Aiken of Boise City, Idaho" was performed in Boise by W. R. Spindler, Minister of the Christian Church. Henry White and Hiram H. Carman witnessed the ceremony. In December 1890, John and Laura left Idaho for Oregon.
Jessie: "There was no work, Father tried everything to find work and it was impossible. Finally Father bought a little piece of ground out at Dilley, Oregon and built a little cottage on it, and left my Mother and us two little children there while he went to Alaska, the first time. He had plenty of work because Alaska was just opening up."
The family then moved to Alaska in April 1896, four months before gold was discovered on 16 August 1896 in the Yukon on Bonanza Creek about three miles from Dawson. News of this gold strike did not reach the United States until January 1897. Between 1897 and 1899, over 30,000 persons went to Alaska looking for gold. Charles Lester Stephens was born on 29 December 1899, on a truck farm outside of Juneau, four days after Christmas and two days before the turn of the 20th Century. His birth occurred 58 years before Alaska became a State. Fred was born in 1902. Jessie said their father lived and worked off and on in Alaska for a total of 22 years.
Laura (21 June 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): You say Henry weighs 209, Well that is nothing I only weigh (250) now having that he will hafto grow a little more to keep up with me dont you see but it is now fun to bee so fat I get I cant walk only a litte Wais at a time and oh but my feet do hurt so bad at night. Iva you wanted to know When We are coming back Well I dont know if I had my Way about it it Would not be very long it seems at times that I can be stay her another day but John does not see it that way ever letter I get from home I expect to herre that Father or mother is gone and I Will not get to see them again...
Laura (23 September 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): We are trying to sell out and if We ever do I will make a break for Idaho Will see if we dont I am getting tired of this waiting it is (11) years in Dec since we left Idaho and I lerned a few things since then ... We are still at the same place and have 20 cows and 1 b. John a gone all the time ..."
On 27 November 1906, when Laura was eight months pregnant, she died in convulsions ("purple eclampsia"). She was survived by her husband and four children: Will was 15 years old, Jessie 14, Charles 6 and Fred 4.
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens died 27 November 1906. Her body was brought down from Alaska to Boise, Idaho for burial in Morris Hill Cemetery. Near her headstone is the grave of her Father (William Henry Akin) marked with a civil war headstone. The marker for Laura's Mother Clarrisa (Lucas) Akin is missing. At one time there was a small flat concrete marker with C Akin. Laura's brother Ira Akin and his wife Ada Akin have no stones. The marker for the baby Akin is now missing. There is a stone for Laura's sister Inez Ailport. The cemetery office can help locate these graves.
----------------
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens: birth entry "Laura E. Aiken borned Sept. 6th 1873 Burt Co. Neb" from Aiken-Lucas Bible Record. From William Akin to his daughter Iva (Aiken) Shafer, to her daughter Agnes Rowena (Shafer) Reynolds, to her daughter Gary and Ann Reynolds of Boise, Idaho. Body Transit Permit (filed 18 December 1806), Office of the Board of Health, Juneau, Alaska; and Standard Certificate of Death (filed 11 January 1907, Portland, Oregon, no. 3),informant J.H. Stephens; father William A. Aiken; mother C.E. Aiken. Both Transit Permit & death certificate deposited at the Oregon State Archives, Salem, Oregon. Mortuary Record: p. 33, Funeral no. 66, 13 January 1907, held by the Gibson Funeral Home, 507 Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho 83702.
Jessie Stephens (daughter): "John Henry Stephens, my Father at about the age of 26 went to Boise, Idaho, to work as a carpenter for a contractor putting up dwelling houses there at a time when Boise was enjoying a building boom. There he met and married our mother, Laura Elizabeth Aiken in October 1890. She was 17 years old."
Laura wore a wedding dress of cream cashmere and wide cream silk lace fashioned by her Aunt Flavia Newton White who was a dress maker in Boise. The marriage ceremony for "J. H. Stephens of McMinnville, Oregon, and L. E. Aiken of Boise City, Idaho" was performed in Boise by W. R. Spindler, Minister of the Christian Church. Henry White and Hiram H. Carman witnessed the ceremony. In December 1890, John and Laura left Idaho for Oregon.
Jessie: "There was no work, Father tried everything to find work and it was impossible. Finally Father bought a little piece of ground out at Dilley, Oregon and built a little cottage on it, and left my Mother and us two little children there while he went to Alaska, the first time. He had plenty of work because Alaska was just opening up."
The family then moved to Alaska in April 1896, four months before gold was discovered on 16 August 1896 in the Yukon on Bonanza Creek about three miles from Dawson. News of this gold strike did not reach the United States until January 1897. Between 1897 and 1899, over 30,000 persons went to Alaska looking for gold. Charles Lester Stephens was born on 29 December 1899, on a truck farm outside of Juneau, four days after Christmas and two days before the turn of the 20th Century. His birth occurred 58 years before Alaska became a State. Fred was born in 1902. Jessie said their father lived and worked off and on in Alaska for a total of 22 years.
Laura (21 June 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): You say Henry weighs 209, Well that is nothing I only weigh (250) now having that he will hafto grow a little more to keep up with me dont you see but it is now fun to bee so fat I get I cant walk only a litte Wais at a time and oh but my feet do hurt so bad at night. Iva you wanted to know When We are coming back Well I dont know if I had my Way about it it Would not be very long it seems at times that I can be stay her another day but John does not see it that way ever letter I get from home I expect to herre that Father or mother is gone and I Will not get to see them again...
Laura (23 September 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): We are trying to sell out and if We ever do I will make a break for Idaho Will see if we dont I am getting tired of this waiting it is (11) years in Dec since we left Idaho and I lerned a few things since then ... We are still at the same place and have 20 cows and 1 b. John a gone all the time ..."
On 27 November 1906, when Laura was eight months pregnant, she died in convulsions ("purple eclampsia"). She was survived by her husband and four children: Will was 15 years old, Jessie 14, Charles 6 and Fred 4.
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens died 27 November 1906. Her body was brought down from Alaska to Boise, Idaho for burial in Morris Hill Cemetery. Near her headstone is the grave of her Father (William Henry Akin) marked with a civil war headstone. The marker for Laura's Mother Clarrisa (Lucas) Akin is missing. At one time there was a small flat concrete marker with C Akin. Laura's brother Ira Akin and his wife Ada Akin have no stones. The marker for the baby Akin is now missing. There is a stone for Laura's sister Inez Ailport. The cemetery office can help locate these graves.
----------------
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens: birth entry "Laura E. Aiken borned Sept. 6th 1873 Burt Co. Neb" from Aiken-Lucas Bible Record. From William Akin to his daughter Iva (Aiken) Shafer, to her daughter Agnes Rowena (Shafer) Reynolds, to her daughter Gary and Ann Reynolds of Boise, Idaho. Body Transit Permit (filed 18 December 1806), Office of the Board of Health, Juneau, Alaska; and Standard Certificate of Death (filed 11 January 1907, Portland, Oregon, no. 3),informant J.H. Stephens; father William A. Aiken; mother C.E. Aiken. Both Transit Permit & death certificate deposited at the Oregon State Archives, Salem, Oregon. Mortuary Record: p. 33, Funeral no. 66, 13 January 1907, held by the Gibson Funeral Home, 507 Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho 83702.
Laura was the fourth of ten children, (five boys and five girls). Her siblings [Lafayette, Ira, Etta, Inez, Iva, Agnes and Eber (twins), Leona and Elver].
Jessie Stephens (daughter): "John Henry Stephens, my Father at about the age of 26 went to Boise, Idaho, to work as a carpenter for a contractor putting up dwelling houses there at a time when Boise was enjoying a building boom. There he met and married our mother, Laura Elizabeth Aiken in October 1890. She was 17 years old."
Laura wore a wedding dress of cream cashmere and wide cream silk lace fashioned by her Aunt Flavia Newton White who was a dress maker in Boise. The marriage ceremony for "J. H. Stephens of McMinnville, Oregon, and L. E. Aiken of Boise City, Idaho" was performed in Boise by W. R. Spindler, Minister of the Christian Church. Henry White and Hiram H. Carman witnessed the ceremony. In December 1890, John and Laura left Idaho for Oregon.
Jessie: "There was no work, Father tried everything to find work and it was impossible. Finally Father bought a little piece of ground out at Dilley, Oregon and built a little cottage on it, and left my Mother and us two little children there while he went to Alaska, the first time. He had plenty of work because Alaska was just opening up."
The family then moved to Alaska in April 1896, four months before gold was discovered on 16 August 1896 in the Yukon on Bonanza Creek about three miles from Dawson. News of this gold strike did not reach the United States until January 1897. Between 1897 and 1899, over 30,000 persons went to Alaska looking for gold. Charles Lester Stephens was born on 29 December 1899, on a truck farm outside of Juneau, four days after Christmas and two days before the turn of the 20th Century. His birth occurred 58 years before Alaska became a State. Fred was born in 1902. Jessie said their father lived and worked off and on in Alaska for a total of 22 years.
Laura (21 June 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): You say Henry weighs 209, Well that is nothing I only weigh (250) now having that he will hafto grow a little more to keep up with me dont you see but it is now fun to bee so fat I get I cant walk only a litte Wais at a time and oh but my feet do hurt so bad at night. Iva you wanted to know When We are coming back Well I dont know if I had my Way about it it Would not be very long it seems at times that I can be stay her another day but John does not see it that way ever letter I get from home I expect to herre that Father or mother is gone and I Will not get to see them again...
Laura (23 September 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): We are trying to sell out and if We ever do I will make a break for Idaho Will see if we dont I am getting tired of this waiting it is (11) years in Dec since we left Idaho and I lerned a few things since then ... We are still at the same place and have 20 cows and 1 b. John a gone all the time ..."
On 27 November 1906, when Laura was eight months pregnant, she died in convulsions ("purple eclampsia"). She was survived by her husband and four children: Will was 15 years old, Jessie 14, Charles 6 and Fred 4.
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens died 27 November 1906. Her body was brought down from Alaska to Boise, Idaho for burial in Morris Hill Cemetery. Near her headstone is the grave of her Father (William Henry Akin) marked with a civil war headstone. The marker for Laura's Mother Clarrisa (Lucas) Akin is missing. At one time there was a small flat concrete marker with C Akin. Laura's brother Ira Akin and his wife Ada Akin have no stones. The marker for the baby Akin is now missing. There is a stone for Laura's sister Inez Ailport. The cemetery office can help locate these graves.
----------------
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens: birth entry "Laura E. Aiken borned Sept. 6th 1873 Burt Co. Neb" from Aiken-Lucas Bible Record. From William Akin to his daughter Iva (Aiken) Shafer, to her daughter Agnes Rowena (Shafer) Reynolds, to her daughter Gary and Ann Reynolds of Boise, Idaho. Body Transit Permit (filed 18 December 1806), Office of the Board of Health, Juneau, Alaska; and Standard Certificate of Death (filed 11 January 1907, Portland, Oregon, no. 3),informant J.H. Stephens; father William A. Aiken; mother C.E. Aiken. Both Transit Permit & death certificate deposited at the Oregon State Archives, Salem, Oregon. Mortuary Record: p. 33, Funeral no. 66, 13 January 1907, held by the Gibson Funeral Home, 507 Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho 83702.
Jessie Stephens (daughter): "John Henry Stephens, my Father at about the age of 26 went to Boise, Idaho, to work as a carpenter for a contractor putting up dwelling houses there at a time when Boise was enjoying a building boom. There he met and married our mother, Laura Elizabeth Aiken in October 1890. She was 17 years old."
Laura wore a wedding dress of cream cashmere and wide cream silk lace fashioned by her Aunt Flavia Newton White who was a dress maker in Boise. The marriage ceremony for "J. H. Stephens of McMinnville, Oregon, and L. E. Aiken of Boise City, Idaho" was performed in Boise by W. R. Spindler, Minister of the Christian Church. Henry White and Hiram H. Carman witnessed the ceremony. In December 1890, John and Laura left Idaho for Oregon.
Jessie: "There was no work, Father tried everything to find work and it was impossible. Finally Father bought a little piece of ground out at Dilley, Oregon and built a little cottage on it, and left my Mother and us two little children there while he went to Alaska, the first time. He had plenty of work because Alaska was just opening up."
The family then moved to Alaska in April 1896, four months before gold was discovered on 16 August 1896 in the Yukon on Bonanza Creek about three miles from Dawson. News of this gold strike did not reach the United States until January 1897. Between 1897 and 1899, over 30,000 persons went to Alaska looking for gold. Charles Lester Stephens was born on 29 December 1899, on a truck farm outside of Juneau, four days after Christmas and two days before the turn of the 20th Century. His birth occurred 58 years before Alaska became a State. Fred was born in 1902. Jessie said their father lived and worked off and on in Alaska for a total of 22 years.
Laura (21 June 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): You say Henry weighs 209, Well that is nothing I only weigh (250) now having that he will hafto grow a little more to keep up with me dont you see but it is now fun to bee so fat I get I cant walk only a litte Wais at a time and oh but my feet do hurt so bad at night. Iva you wanted to know When We are coming back Well I dont know if I had my Way about it it Would not be very long it seems at times that I can be stay her another day but John does not see it that way ever letter I get from home I expect to herre that Father or mother is gone and I Will not get to see them again...
Laura (23 September 1901, letter to Iva Shafer): We are trying to sell out and if We ever do I will make a break for Idaho Will see if we dont I am getting tired of this waiting it is (11) years in Dec since we left Idaho and I lerned a few things since then ... We are still at the same place and have 20 cows and 1 b. John a gone all the time ..."
On 27 November 1906, when Laura was eight months pregnant, she died in convulsions ("purple eclampsia"). She was survived by her husband and four children: Will was 15 years old, Jessie 14, Charles 6 and Fred 4.
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens died 27 November 1906. Her body was brought down from Alaska to Boise, Idaho for burial in Morris Hill Cemetery. Near her headstone is the grave of her Father (William Henry Akin) marked with a civil war headstone. The marker for Laura's Mother Clarrisa (Lucas) Akin is missing. At one time there was a small flat concrete marker with C Akin. Laura's brother Ira Akin and his wife Ada Akin have no stones. The marker for the baby Akin is now missing. There is a stone for Laura's sister Inez Ailport. The cemetery office can help locate these graves.
----------------
Laura Elizabeth (Aiken) Stephens: birth entry "Laura E. Aiken borned Sept. 6th 1873 Burt Co. Neb" from Aiken-Lucas Bible Record. From William Akin to his daughter Iva (Aiken) Shafer, to her daughter Agnes Rowena (Shafer) Reynolds, to her daughter Gary and Ann Reynolds of Boise, Idaho. Body Transit Permit (filed 18 December 1806), Office of the Board of Health, Juneau, Alaska; and Standard Certificate of Death (filed 11 January 1907, Portland, Oregon, no. 3),informant J.H. Stephens; father William A. Aiken; mother C.E. Aiken. Both Transit Permit & death certificate deposited at the Oregon State Archives, Salem, Oregon. Mortuary Record: p. 33, Funeral no. 66, 13 January 1907, held by the Gibson Funeral Home, 507 Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho 83702.
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