ELEANOR JULIA STEPHENSON
1803 – 1880

Eleanor Julia, known as Julia, the Stephenson’s first child, was born November 24, 1803. She was born a few years too early to enjoy the wealth and social life her father’s position in Edwardsville provided. She married at seventeen years to Palemon H. Winchester, a promising, talented, young lawyer. Within the first two years of marriage, she had given birth and buried the couples first child. Several months later her father died, and at that time it was also becoming apparent that the talented Winchester had an alcohol problem.

In 1830, the Winchesters and their four daughters moved to Carlinville, a very new settlement on the edge of the rugged frontier. Palemon co-owned a general store for a period of time and was elected Macoupin County Probate Judge. Julia gave birth to four more children in Carlinville. She cared for Winchester the last four years of his life, when he was confined to his bed with a broken thigh that he suffered when he tripped over a doorstep. Winchester turned to religion while confined to bed, and apparently quit drinking. Julia, a devout Presbyterian, was a member of the first Carlinville Presbyterian Church. She was a strong woman who managed a difficult marriage, cared for her mother, and raised a successful large family.

After Winchester’s death, Julia and son James moved to Columbia, Boone County, Missouri, to join her children Benjamin S. and Elvira. Julia died April 17, 1880, and is buried in Columbia City Cemetery.