Stevens family

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The Stevens family was a prominent American family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especially New York City and New Jersey), in leading government and business in North America and served as leaders in business, military, politics, and engineering.

Stevens
Current regionUnited States
EtymologyStevens is a patronymic surname as old as the 1300s.
Place of originbelieved to originate in England
Connected familiesBayard family
Livingston family
DistinctionsHoboken founders,
Rail and Naval,
Stevens Institute of Technology
Estate(s)Castle Point (aka Stevens Castle)
The first American locomotive on rails at Castle Stevens from 1825

History

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John Stevens Sr. came to America in 1699 at the age of 17 as an indentured clerk. His son, John Stevens Jr., ended up serving in the American Revolutionary War and ended in a career of politics where he served as president of the convention of New Jersey when the state ratified the United States Constitution on December 18, 1787. His son, John Stevens III, was the first Treasurer of New Jersey, a lawyer, engineer, inventor who constructed the first U.S. steam locomotive, first steam-powered ferry, and first U.S. commercial ferry service, and was influential in the creation of U.S. patent law.

First Family of Inventors

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Robert L. Stevens
 
John Stevens III c. 1830.
 
Line engraving of Edwin A. Stevens published in The Stevens Ironclad Battery
 
Martha Bayard Stevens

Stevens Institute of Technology is named for "America's First Family of inventors" — the Stevens family. The Stevens Family was known as "America's First Family of inventors".[1] Holding influence over American engineering for decades, designing steamboats, locomotives, railroad tracks and a host of other technical innovations that powered the early United States.[1]

In 1784, the land now occupied by Stevens Institute of Technology was purchased by John Stevens,[2] who would later reverse-engineer the British steam locomotive to American standards for domestic manufacture. This innovation would be employed by ferries to Manhattan. Later generations of ferries still run from Hoboken's piers.[3] Robert L. Stevens, one of John's sons, invented the flanged T rail, a form of railroad rail in prevalent use today, including from the Lackawanna Terminal of Hoboken whose docks are also in a style Robert designed. Along with his brother Edwin A. Stevens, Robert created America's first commercial railroad[2] presently operating as a large portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

John Cox Stevens, John Stevens' eldest son, was the first commodore of the New York Yacht Club.[4] He and his brother Edwin built the yacht America and were aboard its 1851 regatta victory in England, later recognized as the first winner of the America's Cup;[4][5][6] the competition bears the name of the Stevenses' yacht. The New York Yacht Club would defend its title until the 1983 race.

Edwin died in 1868. In his will, he left a bequest for the establishment of an "institution of learning," providing his trustees with land and funds.[7] Edwin's will was executed by surviving wife, Martha Bayard Stevens, who would also serve as a lifetime Trustee of the institute that now bears the family's name. Martha Stevens oversaw much of the family's philanthropy toward the City of Hoboken, including founding of the Church of the Holy Innocents as a free Episcopal church; a foundling hospital and birthing center at St Mary's Hospital; the Robert L. Stevens Fund for Municipal Research; manual training schools for both boys and young girls in Hoboken; the Hoboken Public Library and Manual Training School.[8]

Family tree

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References

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  1. ^ a b "The First Family Of Inventors | Invention & Technology Magazine". www.inventionandtech.com. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  2. ^ a b "About Stevens: A Brief History". Stevens Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  3. ^ "The Stevens Family". Hoboken Historical Museum. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b "John Cox Stevens: First Commodore of the NYYC". New York Yacht Club. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ^ "John Cox Stevens' Yacht Club". Stevens Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  6. ^ Bell, Jack (5 December 2008). "Where Science Rules, but Soccer Thrives". The New York Times. p. B11. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Will of Edwin A. Stevens". Stevens Institute of Technology. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Martha Bayard Stevens: Building a School, City and Helping the Poor". S.C. Williams Library, Stevens Institute of Technology. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  9. ^ "Francis Bowes Stevens". librarycollections.stevens.edu. Stevens Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  10. ^ Banta, Theodore Melvin (1901). Sayre Family: Lineage of Thomas Sayre, a Founder of Southampton. De Vinne Press. p. 127. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  11. ^ The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. 1880. p. 120. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Countess Roberti, Wife of Diplomat". The New York Times. 1958-02-24.
  13. ^ Lambert, Bruce. "Millicent Fenwick, 82, Dies; Gave Character to Congress", The New York Times. September 17, 1992. Accessed March 21, 2011.
  14. ^ "Ogden H. Hammond, Financier, Dies in Winchester, Va., at Age 64". The New York Times. 1976-10-20.
  15. ^ a b c d e Glenn, Justin (2014). The Washingtons: A Family History: Volume 4 (Part One): Generation Eight of the Presidential Branch. Savas Publishing. p. 353. ISBN 9781940669298. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  16. ^ "E. A. STEVENS 3D, ENGINEER, 72, DIES; Specialist in the Design of Propellers for Ships Led W.S.A. Unit in War". The New York Times. 2 December 1954. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Divorce of Washington L. Stevens Revealed As Former Wife Prepares to Wed H. P. Nash". The New York Times. 28 June 1922. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Bayard Stevens". The New York Times. 17 November 1927. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  19. ^ "BASIL M. STEVENS, LAWYER, 68, DIES; Former U.S. Commissioner in Jersey Was Descendant of Washington Family". The New York Times. 9 November 1957. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  20. ^ a b Glenn, Justin (2014). The Washingtons: A Family History: Volume 5 (Part One): Generation Nine of the Presidential Branch. Savas Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 9781940669304. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  21. ^ Sorley, Merrow Egerton. Lewis of Warner Hall (1935, reprinted 1979), pp. 217–21.
  22. ^ "Mrs. Martha B. Stevens Dead. She Passes Away at Her Home, "Castle Point," Hoboken". The New York Times. 2 April 1899. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Stevens, Richard". hoboken.pastperfectonline.com. Hoboken Historical Museum. Retrieved 2 February 2019.