On the 1900 Census he is listed as "Baby"
WWI draft registration Chas. occupation: student Helena high school. His mother, Margaret, is listed as next of kin. "joseph" is from this source.
There are dozens of stories about the exploits of Charles in the "Helena Independent" newspaper of Helena, Montana between 1928 and 1940.
Here are summaries of some of his escapades:
About 1920 Charles robbed a bank, was tried and found guilty, was sentenced to 10 to 40 years but paroled after four. At the time of the robbery Charles was employed as a bank messenger. After he had collected $40,000 for the bank from the post office he was found tied up in the back of a cigar store. It was later dtermined he had hidden the money in an empty store and tied himself up.
In 1930 his home and chicken ranch burned under suspicious circumstances. His mother tried to collect the insurance on the place to keep it from going to Charles' creditors.
In 1931 Stevens and family member purchased a place called the Parchen Mansion and bought a lot of insurance on it. So after it burned to the ground and the site showed evidence of arson. Charles, afraid of arrest, faked his own suicide and departed leaving seven tenderly written suicide letters behind. Several months later he wrote a letter to the sheriff with a postmark of Wellsburg, Iowa. But this too, was thought to be a fake as several years earlier he had claimed he was going to England to collect his share of a large estate. Friends received letters from cities along the route telling of the sights. They were very impressed until Charles was discovered at a farm not far away. He had sent the letters enclosed in envelopes addressed to the postmasters of the various towns, with instructions to remail them.
In 1940 he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. He entered the office of an acquaintance and tried to sell him 2 tombstones. When the man said he wasn't interested Charles said he'd lend the man the money to buy them. When that didn't work, Charles said he'd give the man the tombstones. When they were still refused Charles pulled a gun and forced the man to a backroom. An accomplice brought in a large number of boxes and packages. When Charles tried to force the victim to the basement, the victim made a dash for freedom, jumping through a glass door. The packages were found to include a vial labeled, “cyanide of potassium,” another vial containing porcupine quills, which was labeled “poisonous darts, do not touch, poisonous darts, deadly poison”; electric wiring, dynamite with caps with fuses attached, bottles of a liquid believed to be nitroglycerin, tape, a hair brush, a hunting knife, dyes similar to those used by notaries in legalizing papers, and a sawed-off shotgun.
Besides letters and papers which appeared to be legal documents there were carelessly scribbled bizarre notes. One suggested that someone scare “him” with snakes; another, scare “him” by saying “he” would be dropped down a deep shaft; another, “put a bomb at the door and lock him in, where he can see the bomb all the time, and have the bomb wired to go off at any minute”; another,”put him in a sack and tie the top of the sack and throw him in the river.” The person meant by “him” was not known.
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Per Jane Wile: Joseph was acidentally killed when caught in the wheel of his grist mill.
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