Sheriff Edward A. Stevens

Sheriff Edward Alexander Stevens
Bexar County Sheriff's Department, TX
Born: September 9, 1827
Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: Saturday, November 7, 1885
Date of Incident: 1881
Age: 58
Tour of Duty: 25 years
Suspect Info: Shot to death
Weapon Used: Unknown gun
Buried: San Antonio City Cemetery #1
Location of Name on National and Texas Monuments
NLEOMF:
TPOM: 15, B, 13

In 1881, Sheriff Stevens was serving as a deputy for then Bexar County Sheriff Thomas McCall and attempted to arrest two horse thieves near Luling, Texas. The posse and the suspects became engaged in a violent gun fight; Sheriff Stevens was severely wounded in the left arm during the gunfight. The wounds were so serious that it required the amputation of the arm. During the gunfight, Gillespie, a well known horse thief, was shot to death.
On November 7, 1885, while serving as Bexar County Sheriff; Sheriff Stevens died as a result of an infection set in following the surgery from his left arm being amputated.

Edwards A. Stevens was a veteran of the U.S.-Mexican War and served in 1855 as a member of a company of Texas Rangers. Stevens was first elected Sheriff of Bexar County and served from August 1, 1864, and served until August 11, 1865. Stevens was replaced after the end of the Civil War by an appointee (James Fisk) of provisional Governor H.J. Hamilton. (During Reconstruction, Radical Republicans in Congress pressed for "fairly sweeping disenfranchisement of former Confederates," says the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, edited by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris. Southerners were asked to sign loyalty oaths to the United States to hold even the most minor local government post. In 1866, Stevens served as City Marshal of San Antonio. He later became a Deputy Sheriff for Bexar County and served in that capacity under Sheriff Thomas McCall.

In 1884, he was elected Sheriff of Bexar County for a 2nd time. Stevens took office on November 4, 1884, and remained as Sheriff until he succumbed to the infection in his left arm on November 7, 1885. Sheriff Edward Alexander Stevens was born at Harper's Ferry, VA. He was married on June 30, 1862, in San Antonio, Texas, to Elise Fromentier from Paris, France. They had 7 children; Virginia, Louise, Adella, Charles, Lizza, Oliver, Charles Stevens and Edward Oliver Stevens. He is buried with his wife at the San Antonio City Cemetery #1 in San Antonio, Texas.

The above information was obtained from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office web site which used sources from newspaper stories, history books and Bexar County records.






Sheriff Stevens son, Prohibition Agent Charles Stevens was was also killed in the line of duty, serving as a Prohibition Agent. Prohibition Agent Charles F. Stevens began his long and respected law enforcement career at the age of 18, with the Bexar County Sheriffs as a Jailer when his father, Edward A. Stevens was Bexar County Sheriff. At the age of 23, Stevens was elected and served 3 terms as a Bexar County Constable. Stevens was then appointed as a Bexar County Deputy Sheriff in 1898 during the 1st term of Sheriff John Tobin. In 1908 He ran for Sheriff against Ben Lindsey, but was defeated. After Tobin was re-elected Bexar County Sheriff, Stevens was appointed his Chief Deputy. In 1910 he was appointed a Texas Ranger Captain of Company “B” Patrolling the Border from Brownsville to El Paso. Stevens was appointed in 1912 as Captain of the San Antonio Police Department by Mayor Gus Jones, and in 1921 he served as Supervisor for the U.S. Customs service until his appointment as a U.S. Prohibition Agent.

Prohibition Agent Charles F. Stevens was the son of Edward Alexander Stevens, pioneer Indian fighter, Confederate Solider and Bexar County Sheriff. Sheriff E.A. Steven was shot in the line of duty and later succumbed to his wounds in 1885. Sheriff Stevens came to Texas from Harpers Ferry Va. The mother of Charles Stevens was Mrs. Elisa Fromanties Stevens. She came to Southwest Texas in 1849, with her mother who was part of a group of early French settlers locating in the San Antonio area.

Charles Francis Stevens, 60, was survived by his wife, Mrs. Trixie Cross Stevens, 615 Ave E, Satex, formerly of Greenville, brother, Oliver A. Stevens, 235 Dashiell St Satex; 3 sisters, Mrs. Adele Mueller of Buffalo, New York, Mrs. David Jones of San Antonio, and Mrs. Elizabeth Bowsky of Paris France. He was also survived by a nephew, Oliver Jones, brother in laws Dave Jones and D.S. Cross of San Antonio and mother in law, Mrs. E.S. Cross of Alpine, Texas. He was a member of San Fernando Cathedral and was a native of San Antonio and educated in San Antonio Public Schools. Charles F. Stevens’s funeral services were held on Thursday, September 26 at San Fernando Cathedral and his body was interred at San Jose Cemetery. -----from ODMP