Stephenson Family Website

The Chandler connection....

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr.

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr

(July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was the 44th and 49th Governor of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator, the second commissioner of Major League Baseball, from 1945 to 1951 and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. His jovial attitude earned him the nickname "Happy," which stuck for the remainder of his life.

Chandler's first term as governor is still regarded as one of the most productive of any Kentucky governor. Following on this success, he unsuccessfully tried to unseat Senate Majority Leader and fellow Kentuckian Alben Barkley, but was appointed to the Senate shortly after the election due to the death of the state's junior senator. He would later resign this position to become Commissioner of Baseball, steering it through the difficult period of integration, which many contend led to his not being offered a second contract for the position. Instead, twenty years after his first term as governor of Kentucky, Chandler returned to the Governor's Mansion using the slogan "Be Like Your Pappy and Vote For Happy."

Later in life, Chandler's commitment to civil rights was questioned as he supported DixiecratStrom Thurmond's bid for President. Having been elected to his first term at the age of 37, Kentucky's "Boy Governor" was both the last surviving governor of any U.S. state to serve before 1939 and the last living Senator to have served before 1940 by the time of his death in 1991.

Note: His grandmother was Eudora Virginia Stephenson b. 4 Feb. 1875 , m. Marcellus Lee Watkins, 12 Aug. 1896 , d. 23 May 1962 . Eudora Virginia Stephenson was born 4 Feb. 1875 near Lithonia, De Kalb Co., GA, and died 23 May 1962 in Farmville Community Hospital , Farmville , VA. She married Marcellus Lee Watkins, son of Thomas Watkins and Susan Watkins, on 12 Aug. 1896 at Bowdon Baptist Church , Bowdon , GA , by Rev. W. J. Roop. He was born 25 Dec. 1864 and died 21 Nov. 1933 , both in Keysville, Charlotte Co. , VA. Their first 2 children were born in Keysville , VA , and the third one in Durham , NC .

Eudora Virginia Stephenson's children - Watkins Marriage

Susan Edith Watkins, b. 3 Oct. 1897 , d. 31 May 1898 ( Jersey , GA).
Mildred Lucille Watkins, b. 23 Nov. 1899 , m(1) Duane Franklin Reed, 13 Feb. 1921 , m(2) Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler , 12 Nov. 1925 , d. 23 Jan. 1995 .
Dorothy Lee Watkins, b. 23 May 1904 , m. Campbell Fletcher Epes, 21 Aug. 1928 , d. 24 Aug. 1971 .
unnamed infant, b. and d. 31 July 1906 .
unnamed infant, b. and d. 22 Sept. 1909 .