John Austin Stevens (banker)

John Austin Stevens, Sr. (January 22, 1795 – October 19, 1874) was a prominent American banker who was the son of Revolutionary War General Ebenezer Stevens and father of Sons of the Revolution founder John Austin Stevens.

John Austin Stevens
Born(1795-01-22)January 22, 1795
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 19, 1874(1874-10-19) (aged 79)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma materYale University
Occupation(s)Merchant, banker
Spouse
Abigail Perkins Weld
​
​
(m. 1824)​
ChildrenJohn Austin Stevens Jr.
Parent(s)Ebenezer Stevens
Lucretia Ledyard Stevens
RelativesAlexander Hodgdon Stevens (brother)

Early life

Stevens was born on January 22, 1795, in New York City.[1] He was the youngest of four sons of American Revolutionary War soldier and merchant Ebenezer Stevens,[2] and his father's second wife, Lucretia (née Ledyard) Sands Stevens (1756-1846),[3] herself the widow of Richardson Sands (brother of Joshua and Comfort Sands).[4] His brother was Alexander Hodgdon Stevens, a surgeon who served as the second President of the American Medical Association from 1848 to 1849.[5]

He graduated from Yale University in 1813, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity[6] and the Linonian Society, one of the university's oldest secret societies.[7]

Career

After graduating from college, Stevens entered mercantile life, and became a partner in his father's business in 1818. He was for many years secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce,[8] and one of the organizers and the first president of the Merchants' Exchange.[9] From its first establishment in 1839 until 1866, he was president of the Bank of Commerce.[10] He was a Whig in politics, but an earnest advocate of low tariffs.[3]

He was chairman of the committee of bankers of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia which first met in August 1861, and decided to take $50,000,000 of the government 7.30 loan. They subsequently advanced $100,000,000 more, and the terms of the transactions were arranged chiefly by Stevens, as the head of the treasury note committee. His advice was frequently sought by the officers of the United States Department of the Treasury during the American Civil War.[3]

For many years, Stevens was a governor of the New York Hospital, and took an interest in other benevolent institutions.[4]

Personal life

In 1824, Stevens was married to Abigail Perkins Weld (1799–1886), the daughter of Benjamin Weld of Boston (the namesake of Weld, Maine).[2] Together, they were the parents of:[4]

  • John Austin Stevens (1827–1910), a historian who founded the Sons of the Revolution.[11]
  • Caroline Weld Stevens (1828–1904), who married Alfred Colvill (1810–1878) in 1860.[12]
  • Lucretia Ledyard Stevens (1830–1907),[13] who married Richard Heckscher (1822–1901).[14][15]
  • Mary Emeline Stevens (1833–1895), who married Maurice Bonjour de Limoelan and Peter Remsen Strong.[16]
  • Abigail Austin Stevens (1836–1913), who married Gen. Robert Brown Potter (1829–1887), a son of Bishop Alonzo Potter, in 1865.[17]

Stevens died on October 19, 1874, in New York City.[4]

Notes
  1. Appendix: American Revisions and Additions to the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th Ed. R.S. Peale Company. 1892. p. 1811. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. Stevens, Eugene Rolaz; Bacon, William Plumb (1914). Erasmus Stevens and his descendants. Tobias A. Wright. p. 98. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  3. Ross, Peter (2017). A History of Long Island, Vol. 2. Jazzybee Verlag. p. 571. ISBN 9783849650063. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  4. OBITUARY RECORD OP GRADUATES OF TALE COLLEGE Deceased during the academical year ending in June, 1875, including the record of a few who died a short time previous, hitherto unreported (PDF). New Haven, CT: Yale University. June 30, 1875. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  5. "Full List of Annual Meetings and Presidents". American Medical Association. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  6. Yale University Brothers in Unity (1841). A Catalogue of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, Founded 1768. Hitchcock & Stafford, printers. p. 40. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  7. A Catalogue of the Linonin Society, of Yale College: Founded September Twelfth, 1753. The Yale University Linonian Society. 1841. p. 40. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  8. Bryant, William Cullen (1975). The Letters of William Cullen Bryant: 1858-1864. Fordham Univ Press. p. 106. ISBN 9780823209941. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  9. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1967). The Letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1814-1843. Harvard University Press. p. 127. ISBN 9780674527256. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  10. Chase, Salmon Portland (1993). The Salmon P. Chase Papers. Kent State University Press. p. 312. ISBN 9780873384728. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  11. "John Austin Stevens, Founder, First President". SonsOfTheRevolution.org. New York: Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  12. Kernan, John Devereux (1949). The Utica Kernans: Descendants of Bryan Kernan, Gentleman, of the Townland of Ned in the Parish of Killeshandra, Barony of Tullyhunco, County of Cavan, Province of Ulster, Kingdom of Ireland. Kernan Enterprises. p. 14. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  13. Pennsylvania, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (1898). Register of Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America. National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. p. 52. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  14. "STRONG DIVORCE CASE.; Evidence of John Austin Stevens and Richard Hecksher. Testimony of a Clergyman and a Detective. Peter Accused of Inhumane Treatment of His Wife. A WITNESS DEFENDS HIS RIGHTS. Sharp Altercation Between Messrs Cram and Norris. THE MUMMY'S FOOT AGAIN Before Judge Garvin and a Jury. CROSS-EXAMINATION RESUMED". The New York Times. 12 December 1865. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  15. of 1896, Harvard College (1780-) Class (1916). Harvard College Class of 1896 Secretary's Fifth Report. Plimpton Press. p. 127. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  16. Stevens, Eugene Rolaz (2016). Erasmus stevens, boston, mass;, 1674-1690, and his descendants (classic reprint). FORGOTTEN Books. ISBN 978-1333564155.
  17. Potter, Charles Edward (1888). Genealogies of the Potter Families and Their Descendants in America to the Present Generation: With Historical and Biographical Sketches. A. Mudge & Son. p. 13. Retrieved 2 February 2019.

References
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