NANCY AGNES (LUSK) STEEN

NANCY AGNES (LUSK) STEEN
1753 - 1841

Nancy Agnes Lusk was born in 1753 in Union County, South Carolina, one of ten children born to Robert Lusk and Mary Vance of Augusta County, Virginia. The Lusk family moved to South Carolina in the 1750’s. They owned a plantation and a ferry on the Broad River. Robert and Mary Vance Lusk moved to Kentucky in the 1790’s are buried in the Carrsville Cemetery in Carrsville, Kentucky. Mississippi Reconstruction Governor James Lusk Alcorn is a great-grandson of Robert and Mary Lusk and Nancy Agnes Lusk is his great-aunt.

Nancy married William Steen in 1772 in Union County. He was born in 1749 in Chester County, Pennsylvania the son of John Steen and Jane Moore. William served in the Revolutionary War. He was wounded in the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780, taken prisoner by the British, and subsequently rescued by his friend Jacob Neely who is also an early settler of Rankin County, Mississippi. William’s brother, Col. James Steen, was stabbed to death in the summer of 1781 while endeavoring to arrest a Tory.

Nancy and William Steen had eleven children:

  • John Steen - (1774-1847 m. Margaret Vance)
  • Mary Steen (died in infancy)
  • Elias Steen (1779-1847 m. Elizabeth Smith)
  • James Steen (1781-1843 m. Sarah Collins)
  • William Steen (1783-1846 m. Mary Enochs)
  • Nathaniel Steen (1786-1827 m. Mary Collins)
  • Robert Steen (1787-1837 m. Malony Hollingsworth)
  • Sarah Steen (1790-1859 m. Thomas Enochs)
  • Mary "Polly" Steen (1794-1848 m. Judge John Rumley Enochs)
  • Jane Steen (c.1795-c.1858 m. Levi Noble)
  • Silas Steen (1804-1858 m. Hannah Myers)
About 1810, the Steen family began their move from South Carolina to Mississippi. They stopped for a time in what was Indian Territory (now Carroll County, Tennessee) where William Steen was possibly killed by Indians or died from sickness. After his death, the Steen family, with the exception of John Steen, moved to Mississippi Territory (now Lawrence County, Mississippi), where they resided in 1814.

After the death of his father, John Steen returned to Union County, South Carolina where he was a planter and died in 1847 at “Steen City”. After the division of his estate, his children settled in Lafayette, Tippah, and Yalobusha Counties, Mississippi in the late 1840’s and early 1850’s. John and Margaret Steen are buried in the Jefferies Family Cemetery near Gaffney, South Carolina.

Nancy Steen and most of her children moved to Rankin County in 1820. The area was named “Steen’s Creek”, later renamed Florence. Elias, William, Nathaniel, Robert, and Silas Steen were among the early settlers and influential citizens of Rankin County. All were planters and brought up large families. Elias, Robert, Silas, their wives, and many descendants are buried in Steen’s Creek Cemetery, now known as the Florence City Cemetery. William Steen, Jr. moved to Texas in 1846, after the death of his wife, Mary Enochs, but was taken sick on the way and died in Nacogdoches at his sister, Jane Noble’s, residence. He is buried in the old North Churchyard near Nacogdoches. James Steen stayed in the Lawrence County area and is buried at Fair River Baptist Church. The Nathaniel Steen family moved to Madison County.

Sarah and Thomas Enochs moved to Carroll County, Tennessee and are buried in the Barr Springs Cemetery. Mary and John Enochs resided at “Steen’s Creek”. John Enochs was a Probate Judge and elected twice to the state legislature. Mary and John Enochs are buried in the Enochs Family Cemetery in Rankin County. Jane and Levi Noble moved to Nacogdoches, Texas and they are buried in the Noble Family Cemetery in Kaufman, Texas.

Nancy Agnes (Lusk) Steen died on May 29, 1841 at “Steen’s Creek”. She is buried in Florence City Cemetery.

Descendants of Nancy Agnes Lusk Steen
 John Romily Enochs III
 Margaret Clyde Bryant Everett
 Joel Stanford Hays
 Marjorie Steen Martin
 Susan Crain Railsback
 Elizabeth Steen
 Mary Elva Smallwood Wilson

Written and submitted by Joel Stanford Hays

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