Stephen/Stevens Family "Journal"

(Jody Gray): I started this Blog Post as a draft on October, 30, 2016.
A lot has happened since my last Family "Update" email, which contained all the Blog Posts I had created for the Stephens/Stevens Family... to "shorten things up", from now on I'm just going to refer to them as the Stevens Family... back when I was searching for the parents of Selah Murray Stevens I hit a dead end; there was nothing for him on the internet. Not a single family tree listed parents for him. (refresher) Elizabeth aka Eliza Helm married Selah Murray Stevens; they are our 4th Great-Grandparents. Eliza was the daughter of Woodhull Helm Sr and Elizabeth McDowell aka McDonald. Eliza was five years old when her mother died in 1807 (I have not found any death records for Eliza McDowell Helm; I'm basing her death date on the birth of Woodhull's son, Edward b. 3/14/1808). Through the marriage of Woodhull Helm and Thaly Ann Stevens, I connected our (Piper Family Branch) to Airard Fitz Stephens b. 1036 who was commander of the "Mora" the ship that transported William the Conqueror to the Battle of Hastings; William became the 1st Norman King of England. I also connected our family tree through marriage to Jim's tree (my SO); his immigrant ancestor, Jonathan Murray is paternal grandfather of the husband of our 6th GGM, Sarah aka Lois Wilcox, who married 2nd, Jonathan's grandson, Selah Murray. Sarah married 1st, Aaron I. Stevens; their son Aaron II. named his son, (our 4th GGF) Selah Murray Stevens, after his stepfather. Aaron II. was about seven months old when his father died. Connection to the Murray Family allowed me to include some of their interesting relatives in our Family Tree, including Winston Churchill and his mother, Jennie Jerome. "Spiritual connections" - Jim and I reconnected back in 2016 (after losing touch with each other in 1991); I noticed two biographies of Jennie Jerome in his bookcase, when he told me he was related to Winston Churchill, I gave them to him, back in 1989. Biographies have been my favorite reading material since I became an avid reader in 7th grade. I will have to create a Blog Post for Jennie, later.
getting back to these new Blog Posts... After visiting Piper cousin, Joan Moore Baker, who borrowed me a copy of Piper genealogy. I learned the father of Selah Murray Stevens was the son of Aaron Stevens b. 1762; changing Airard Fitz Stephens from a step-ancestor to our 30th Great-Grandfather. A side-note: I call people related through marriage (not "bloodlineage") "TWIGS" -we have some interesting "TWIGS" in our family!
We have a another branch of ancestors who immigrated to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066; Walter aka Seir de Flanders, de Seton, our 27th Great-Grandfather (he later immigrated to Scotland and died there) . With Walter's son, Thomas, the surname became de Wahull (de means "of" - Wahull). One of the first things William I. did was to establish the Doomsday Book and the use of stable surnames as a means of keeping track of who owned land in his kingdom and how much they owed him in taxes. It is through the de Wahull (Woodhull) and the Fitz Stephen (Stevens) bloodlines that we are related to several different persons of "royal blood" in England. Ancestors from both branches lived-through, and many participated in, historical events and religious reformation. Many laws and customs changed over the years; some old ones were dropped and some new ones were added. As a result of these changes, many people were, executed and there were many suspicious deaths.
I was thrilled to learn who the parents of Selah Murray Stevens were; but, it caused me many headaches in that it changed a lot the information I had previously added to our Ancestry.com Piper Family Tree and the Blog Posts I had created while I was looking for his parents. Those MONTHS of research were very productive, resulting in many new branches and TWIGS being added our Family Tree; along with them more history was learned. So, I'm not regretful of the time I spent. My only concern would be that I have added to your confusion. I have edited my Blog Post: Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephen, b. 1036. It follows "father-to-son" his descendants down to the connection of the Stevens Family to the Helm Family, in America. And, you can see how the line continues down through marriage into other "Branches" to our Paternal Grandmother, Lucile Marie Piper: through the marriage of Stevens to Hendry, and DeLong to Piper. Note/Reminder: the Piper Family is the "Trunk", the Stevenses, Hendrys, DeLongs are the "Branches"; those related through marriage, not "blood" I call "TWIGS".

Discovery #2. I found the Full Text of the 1904 Stephens/Stevens Genealogy by C. Ellis Stevens. I decided to use it as my primary reference for the "Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephens"; instead of the 1968 Genealogy by Clarence Perry Stevens -which is very confusing because he combines his genealogy with the 1904 genealogy and I found it hard to decipher which author was speaking!

Start by "clicking on" on this weblink, Ref-https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/06/descendants-of-airard-fitz-stephens.html which will take you to, Blog Post: Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephens, b. 1036. At the bottom of the page are links to other Blog Posts for the Stephens/Stevens Family, in England. These Blog Posts cover The Norman Kings of England, 1066-1154 coinciding with the Stephens family from our 30th GGF, Airard b. 1036 to our 28th GGF, Ralph b. 1090 d. 1135. Note: the reference Blog Posts are for lineage verification, mainly useful to genealogical researchers, like myself. For interesting more interesting reading, "click-on" the weblink, Blog Post: Norman Kings of England, 1066-1154 -Many of our ancestors were related to and/or in close association with many of the Norman Kings; as such, they participated in and/or were affected by the events and customs of the period they lived in. Following “Kings and Queens” gives us insight into the customs and historic events of the period they lived. I am enjoying learning history through my ancestors. I’m certain this will be an ongoing project and additional information will be added to this Blog Post. At the end of this Blog Post, you’ll find: Royal Heritage of Matilda of Flanders and a review of our Fitz Stephen and de Wahull ancestors, who came from Normandy to England with William the Conqueror; Duke of Normandy, who became the 1st Norman King of England -he was the 3rd Great-Grandson of the Viking King, Rollo. -featured in the Vikings, television series; I've been watching, while doing my ancestry research and it's been interesting to learn, what's based on "truth" and what's been added for "dramatic effect", for example, our 36th GGM, Judith, Princess of West Francia, didn't concieve a child with a monk, and, there appears to be no "truth" to her being intimate with her father-in-law, King Egbert of Wessex. She is an interesting historical figure in her own right, I will be creating a Blog Post for her, later.

Noteworthy: when it comes to our family's Royal Heritage in England and Europe, both the de Wahull/Woodhull and the Fitz Stephen/Stevens Families are connected. The de Wahull family connects earlier than the Fitz Stephen family. To verify the our Piper Family "Royal Heritage" on my Ancestry.com Family Tree, I began with our "farthest back" ancestor, Charlemagne, "clicking on" 29th Great Grandfather. See, below.
Ancestry.com, the Royal Lineage from (36th GGF) Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans; (29th GGF) Yaroslav, Grand Prince of Russia, of Russia m: Ingegerd, Princess of Sweden; links up with the Woodhull family 1st, with Fulk Woodhull, Knight b. 1530. Connects to the Helme family in America with Phineas b. 1723. Connects with the Stevens family with Marie Antoinette Stevens b. 1825…. Hendry… DeLong… Lucile Marie Piper, our Grandmother. The Connection to (36th GGF) Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and (36th GGM) Judith, Princess of West Francia (alliances in Flanders and Boulogne), links up with the de Wahull (Woodhull) family progenitor in England with Walter aka Seirer de Flanders, de Seton. Royal Connects to the throne of England begin with (1st cousin 29x removed) Matilda of Flanders marrying William, Duke of Normandy, who became the 1st Norman King of England; connects to the de Wahull family with Fulk Woodhull, Knight b. 1530... *At the end of the The Norman Kings of England, 1066-1154; there are links for Blog Posts about these ancestors.

P.S. I've edited and re-read this so many times that my eyes tend to wander when I start to read it again to check for errors...