his wife, also a native of Missouri, was born in Boonville, daughter of James M. and Margaret (Wyan) Nelson. Her father, who is a native of Virginia, came to Missouri nearly fifty years ago, and has been a successful man of affairs. For many years he was associated with the late Colonel Joseph L. Stephens, father of Governor Stephens, in the Central National Bank of Boonville. His family trace ancestry to leading Virginians of Colonial days. Mrs. Stephens' mother was the daughter of Jacob Wyan, a pioneer merchant of Boonville, and a Kentuckian by birth. She was twice married, first to Mr. James Russell, to whom she bore two sons, one of whom is T. W. Russell, coal oil inspector at Kansas City, and James H. Russell, a prominent farmer of Johnson County, Missouri. The children born of her marriage with Mr. Nelson were Lewis C. Nelson, Arthur W. Nelson, Mrs. Charles E. Leonard, of Boonville, and Mrs. Lon V. Stephens. Margaret Nelson Stephens was reared in Boonville, which was the home of her girlhood and young womanhood. As a child and young lady she was afforded every advantage of education, society and travel. Her education was acquired in the Cooper Institute, of Boonville, from which she was graduated with honors, and at Mrs. Reid's Select School in New York City. Supplemental to liberal courses of instruction, she applied herself industriously to systematic reading of the best literature, to commercial studies and to fine art. Her marriage with Governor Lon V. Stephens, then a young banker at Boonville, occurred October 5, 1880. In 1890 they removed to Jefferson City, which has since been their residence. Mrs. Stephens' wifely devotion to her husband has been unwavering, but free from public display, and only known in its fullness to their intimate friends. It found touching expression while he was a candidate for Governor. He had been afflicted with a serious eye ailment, and in the crucial time of the heated political contest in which he was engaged, when he was most sorely harassed, and had greatest need for all his physical and mental vigor, he became subject to intense suffering and was obliged to seek seclusion in a darkened room. During that period, although well nigh an invalid herself, Mrs. Stephens, nerved by that superb courage and endurance which comes to the true woman in

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times of great necessity, conquered her own indisposition and ministered to him unceasingly. She was his constant companion, caring for his every comfort, counseling with him in political and business affairs, conducting his most important correspondence, and keeping him daily advised of current events. As wife of the Governor, she has made the executive residence at once a mansion fitted for the reception of large and distinguished bodies, and a delightful family abode. personality appears in the quiet, homelike elegance of its arrangements and the unaffected gracefulness of person and address with which she entertains her guests. exactions imposed by large assemblages are met with the same quiet self-control which marks her conduct with the informal gathering of intimate friends. In the latter she takes great delight, particularly in gathering about her the young people, and those gifted in music and art, of which she is passionately fond. She has scrupulous regard for others, as well as for herself, discriminating carefully between them, in the light of her own conscience. While she and her husband do not engage in dancing, she permits it, holding that the mansion belongs to the people, and may be used in such recreation as they are accustomed to. On the other hand, being a church worker, and an advocate of temperance, she has banished the punch bowl, holding that the table and its hospitalities are matters to be regulated by herself. Known of all for her warm sympathy with the needy, the suffering and distressed, as the wife of the Governor she is frequently importuned to exert her influence with him for appointments to office, or the pardon of criminals. While accessible to all who seek her presence, and not unmoved by urgent appeal, she studiously refrains from embarrassing her husband with petitions except in cases of the greatest moment. Amid the many duties devolving upon her she makes occasion for philanthropic missions, the inmates of the penitentiary being among those who have learned to expect her frequent visitations. When it became apparent that the country was to engage in war with Spain, Mrs. Stephens recognized the necessities soon to arise, and prepared to meet them, moved by no enthusiastic outburst of feeling, but by a deep and abiding patriotic devotion. Realizing the sorrow and suffering soon to follow,

her interest in the young soldiery of the State was fervent and constant from their departure until their return. She became the president and generous supporter of the Jefferson City Relief Society, and she permitted no need of "their boys," as they were termed, to suffer delay or neglect. In appreciation of her interest the members of the Jefferson City company sent her a gavel made by one of their number out of a piece of tree near their camping ground, mounted in silver, and bearing an inscription expressing their gratitude. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, she is active church work, a liberal contributor to all its beneficences and a teacher in its Sunday school. Mrs. Stephens is president of the "New Church Workers' Society," and gives this work no little of her time and attention. It was her ambition to see erected at the capital, before the Governor's term expired, a new church edifice to cost $20,000. She has not only contributed herself very largely, but has, through friends in other parts of the country, raised a large subscription. The church, already commenced, will be built and no one will deserve more credit for it than Mrs. Stephens. While holding no connection with the various women's clubs, she is ever quick to extend all aid in her power to the educational and philanthropic purposes for which they are designed. She is a lady of charming appearance and personality, graceful in manners, of amiable disposition and a delightful conversationalist. Her influence for good, and her benefactions to the sorrowing and distressed, complete a character of model womanhood. In her high position she has elevated the standards of society in the capital city, and placed higher ideals before the people, affording evidence that public life may be adorned with the same refinement and uplifting graces which beautify the home.

Stephens, William Speed, banker and financier, was born at Boonville, Missouri June 26, 1854, son of Joseph L. and Martha (Gibson) Stephens. Nearly two centuries ago members of a sturdy Scotch family settled in Virginia and North Carolina and reared families. One of the sons of the Virginia family of Stephens was a pioneer of Missouri, to which State, then a Territory, he emigrated, and settled in Cooper County. He was the father of Joseph L. Stephens

and was born in what is now Cooper County, and ultimately became prominent as a lawyer, a railroad builder and a capitalist. He was the father of Governor Lon V. Stephens and William Speed Stephens. The latter named received his primary education at the noted Kemper Family School, one of the famous institutes of central Missouri, and in which a number of prominent Missourians received their early rudiments of knowledge. Leaving the Kemper school, he entered the Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, where he remained for three years, at the end of which time he was called home to assist his father, who had been appointed one of the receivers of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Later he entered the Central National Bank, at Boonville, which had been founded by his father, and since then he has been closely identified with the management and prosperity of that institution, since 1876 having been its cashier. Inheriting the excellent judgment, integrity, industry and fine general business traits of his father, and possessed of a well cultivated and trained intellect, "Speed" Stephens, as he is called by his friends, has acquired a reputation as a straightforward progressive man, which places him in the foremost rank of Missouri's substantial business men. He possesses all the essential qualities of the successful man. In financial transactions and general business routine, he gains and retains the confidence of all with whom he has dealings. His social relations are equally as prominent as his business connections. Quick of perception and having a retentive mind, he has not alone mastered all the details of financiering, but has grasped a store of miscellaneous knowledge that stamps him as a man of more than ordinary mentality. He is an expert telegrapher, and uses the typewriter like a professional. He can prepare an article for the press or deliver an extemporaneous speech with the utmost ease. With his brother, Governor Lon V. Stephens, he was administrator of his father's large estate, and as bond agent of Cooper County has successfully carried out important transactions to the satisfaction of the taxpayers. He has always been most active in public matters and a hard worker in behalf of enterprises of import to his city and county. He is a member of the Democratic party, and stands high in its councils. He is prominent