I represent John Stephenson (also spelled Stevenson). I was a resident of Pensacola during the British period. I was there at least by 1772, as I appear in a transaction that year involving enslaved people. In 1773, I petitioned for a grant of land on the Mississippi River, and I stated that my houshold included my wife, one children, and 20 white servants and enslaved people. I was appointed to the West Florida council in 1776. This council not only advised the governor, but sat as the Upper House of the provincial General Assembly. There would be only one more of those after my appointment, however, as Governor Chester did not convene the Assembly after the 7th one in 1778. I appear in the list of inhabitants of Pensacola for February 1780, and my occupation was “councilor.” Robert Farmar‘s journal of the siege of Pensacola notes that I went several times as a go-between to the Spanish under a flag of truce. I appear in the listing the Spanish made of householders remaining in Pensacola at the time of the capitulation in May 1781, so I was probably made a prisoner of war with the rest of the survivors.
Sources: 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 28, 80