Family of
Sarah A. Stever (3/2/1819--?)
and
Willis Stever (8/27/1827--?)

Sarah married Willis (thought to be her first cousin) in late 1849, or early 1850, as the 1850 census lists them as "married within the year". That census record listed them as "William and Sarah Stever". It seems, then, that his given names might have been William Willis, or vice versa. Could this have been the William Stever who wrote James Madison Stever in 1866 from Centerville, Mo., who called James "cousin"?
Their marriage license was probably purchased in Dallas Co., Mo.. Sarah was nine years older than Willis. They spent some of their life together in Randolph County, Illinois, where they were living at the time of her father's death in 1858. As far as we know, there were no children. In 1866, Sarah sued for, and was granted, a divorce from Willis, April 24. in Randolph Co., Ill. The charges againest him were "drunkeness and adultery". There were no mention of children in the divorce.
We have some old letters form Sarah to her brother, James Madison, in 1866, in which she was pleading for her share of their father's estate. The letters evidence a great need. At that time she was living in Perry Co., Mo.. Sarah appears in the 1870 census of Dallas Co., Mo. having a Thomas McCloud, age 13, living with her. We have been unable to find anything more about her. It is possible that she is buried in the Stever Cemetery but there is no marker.

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