Stevens Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: SCW-SC-002

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials written by and related to members of the Stevens family dating from 1699 to the later part of the twentieth-century. Materials exist in a variety of media including correspondence (original and photocopied), photographs, newspaper clippings, handwritten manuscripts, scrapbooks, subject file articles, pamphlets, general history articles, and oral history transcripts.

Dates

1699 - 1981

Biographical / Historical

The story of the Stevens family in America stretches back to 1699 when John Stevens Sr. immigrated from England at the age of 17 to work as an indentured clerk for a New York City law office. The family would go on to achieve prominence in New Jersey politics and would play a significant role in the development of the town of Hoboken in New Jersey and the advancement of steam-powered transportation in the early ninteneeth century, particularly through the visionary research of Colonel John Stevens III (1749-1838) and his sons, Edwin A. Stevens (1795-1868) and Robert L. Stevens (1787-1856).

Colonel John Stevens III came to prominence as an officer in the Revolutionary War and was an early advocate for the adoption of patent laws in the United States. But he is perhaps best known for his innovative research in steam-powered transportation by water and rail, a technology that would go on to radically reshape the course of industry, trade and communication in the United States and throughout the world in the ninteenth century. Col. Stevens was a tireless promoter of his theories and among his many firsts are the first successful twin-screw propeller steamboat in 1804, the first American publication on the feasability of railroads written in 1812, and the first successful demonstration in America of steam-powered locomotion on rail in 1825 on his estate in Hoboken, NJ. His two sons, Edwin and Robert, went on to establish the Camden and Amboy Railroad, one of the earliest railroads in the country and the first in the state of New Jersey.

When Edwin passed away in 1868, he set aside a bequest in his will as well as a block of land adjoining his family’s estate in Hoboken for an “institution of learning.” His widow, Martha Bayard Stevens (1831-1899), served on the founding Board of Trustees and was particularly instrumental in ensuring this institution would perpetuate the Stevens family’s legacy of innovation and be “devoted to the study of mechanical engineering.” Stevens Institute of Technology, founded in 1870, carries forward the Stevens family's remarkable legacy of invention, innovation and inspiration.

Extent

71.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

The materials that compromise this collection were donated to Stevens Institute of Technology by various members of the Stevens family over the years. Principal donors include Mary Stuart Stevens (Baird), Emily Custis Lewis Stevens Tully, and Basil M. Stevens.

*Much of the collection can be found in its original form at at The New Jersey Historical Society in Newark, NJ.