View source for John Stevens (inventor, born 1749)

{{short description|American lawyer, engineer and inventor (1749–1838)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name           = John Stevens
| image          = John Stevens by an unidentified artist, c. 1830, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 75 13Stevens d1.jpg
| office         = [[New Jersey Department of the Treasury|Treasurer of New Jersey]]
| term_start     = 1776
| term_end       = 1779
| caption        =
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1749|06|24}}
| birth_place    = New York City, [[Province of New York]], British America
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1838|03|06|1749|06|24|mf=y}}
| death_place    = [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], U.S.
| alma_mater     = [[Columbia University|Kings College]]
| parents        = [[John Stevens (New Jersey politician)|John Stevens]]<br/>Elizabeth Alexander
| spouse         = {{marriage|Rachel Cox|October 17, 1782}}
| children       = 13, including [[John Cox Stevens|John]], [[Robert Livingston Stevens|Robert]], [[Edwin Augustus Stevens|Edwin]]
| relations      = ''See'' [[Stevens family]]
| residence      = [[Landmarks of Hoboken, New Jersey#Castle Point|Castle Point]]
| occupation     = 
| allegiance     = United States
| branch         = [[Continental Army]]
| rank           = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| battles        = [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]
}}
[[File:StevensEstate.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|1808 engraving of John Stevens estate, Castle Point, Hoboken. Currently the site of [[Stevens Institute of Technology]].]]
[[File:John Stevens Carriage.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Replica of John Stevens' steam carriage]]

'''Col. John Stevens, III''' (June 26, 1749 – March 6, 1838) was an American lawyer, engineer, and inventor who constructed the first U.S. [[steam locomotive]], first steam-powered ferry, and first U.S. commercial ferry service from his estate in [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]]. He was influential in the creation of U.S. [[patent law]].

==Early life==
Stevens was born June 26, 1749, in New York City, New York.<ref name="EB"/>{{failed verification|reason=Only year given in source.|date=June 2021}} He was the only son of [[John Stevens (New Jersey politician)|John Stevens Jr.]] (1715–1792), a prominent state politician who served as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]], and Elizabeth Alexander (1726–1800).  His sister, Mary Stevens (d. 1814), married [[Robert Livingston (1746–1813)|Robert R. Livingston]], the first [[List of Chancellors of New York|Chancellor of the State of New York]].<ref name="Livingston1910">{{cite book|last1=Livingston|first1=Edwin Brockholst|title=The Livingstons of Livingston Manor: Being the History of that Branch of the Scottish House of Callendar which Settled in the English Province of New York During the Reign of Charles the Second; and Also Including an Account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The Nephew," a Settler in the Same Province and His Principal Descendants|date=1910|publisher=Knickerbocker Press|url=https://archive.org/details/livingstonslivi00unkngoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/livingstonslivi00unkngoog/page/n507 393] |access-date=August 10, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

His maternal grandparents were [[James Alexander (lawyer)|James Alexander]] (1691–1756), the [[New Jersey Attorney General|Attorney General of New Jersey]], and [[Mary Alexander|Mary (née Spratt) Provoost Alexander]] (1693–1760), herself a prominent merchant in New York City.  His paternal grandfather, John Stevens, emigrated from London England around 1695, and was married to Mary Campbell.<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901"/>

He graduated King's College (which became [[Columbia University]]) in May 1768.<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901">{{cite book|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time|date=1901|publisher=J. T. White Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-t4DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA21 |page=21 |access-date=January 18, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
After his graduation from King's College, he studied law and was admitted to the bar of New York City in 1771.  He practiced law in New York and lived across the river.<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901"/>  At [[public auction]], he bought from the state of New Jersey a piece of land which had been confiscated from a [[Tory]] landowner. The land, described as "William Bayard's farm at Hoebuck" comprised approximately what is now the city of [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]]. Stevens built his estate at [[Landmarks of Hoboken, New Jersey#Castle Point|Castle Point]], on land that would later become the site of [[Stevens Institute of Technology]] (bequeathed by his son [[Edwin Augustus Stevens]]).<ref>[http://www.getnj.com/historichouses/castlepointhoboken.shtml "Hoboken, Castle Point"], ''Historic Houses of New Jersey'' (1902).</ref> During the 1830s, he developed the land around his estate into the [[Elysian Fields (Hoboken, New Jersey)|Elysian Fields]], a popular weekend recreational and entertainment destination for New Yorkers during the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Stevens bought a farm in Dutchess County, New York from [[John Armstrong Jr.]] Armstrong had converted a barn into a two-story Federal style dwelling with twelve rooms. Stevens made improvements to the estate, including a half-mile race track.<ref name=hag>[http://genealogytrails.com/ny/dutchess/history/chapter13.html ''Historical and Genealogical  Record Dutchess and Putnam Counties New York'', Press of the A. V. Haight Co., Poughkeepsie, New York, 1912] {{PD-notice}}</ref> He later sold the property to John Church Cruger (1807–1879), husband of Euphemia Van Rensselaer, daughter of [[Stephen Van Rensselaer]]. The Crugers named the estate "Annandale".{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In 1776, at age 27, he was appointed a [[Captain (United States)|captain]] in [[George Washington|Washington]]'s army in the [[American Revolutionary War]].  During the War, he was promoted to [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and became [[New Jersey Department of the Treasury|Treasurer of New Jersey]], serving from 1776 to 1779.<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901"/>

In 1789, Stevens was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Stevens|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=John+Stevens|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=American Philosophical Society Member History|publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]]}}</ref>

In 1790, Stevens petitioned Congress for a bill that would protect American inventors. Through his efforts, his bill became a law on April 10, 1790, which introduced the patent system as law in the United States,<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901" /> [[patent law]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Iles |first=George |title=Leading American Inventors |pages=3–28 |year=1912 |url=https://archive.org/details/leadingamericani00ilesrich |place=New York |publisher=Henry Holt and Company}}</ref>

In 1799, Stevens was named to the Board of Directors of the [[Manhattan Company]]. As one of the original stockholders and directors of The Manhattan Company, Stevens was appointed to a three-person committee, along with John B. Coles and [[Samuel Osgood]], to explore the best ways to supply water to New York City. He ultimately became the company's consulting engineer and succeeded in convincing his fellow directors that steam pumping engines should be used and installed.

===Steamboats===
In 1802, Stevens designed and a built a single screw steamboat using a rotary steam engine, a primitive single stage turbine. However, due to poor sealing, the design was abandoned and he would switch to using more conventional reciprocating engines for future steamboats.<ref name=":0">Turnbull, Archibald Douglas. ''John Stevens, an American record.'' London, Century Company, 1928.</ref>

In 1804, Stevens built the ''Little Juliana'', a twin screwed steamboat. She was one of the first steamboats to incorporate twin screws and a high pressure steam engine. She successfully sailed down the Hudson in May 1804.<ref name=":0" />

In 1806, he built the [[Phoenix (boat)|''Phoenix'']], a steamboat that ultimately sailed from Hoboken to [[Philadelphia]] in 1809, thereby becoming the first steamship to successfully navigate the open ocean.<ref name="Viking1939">{{cite book|title=New Jersey, A Guide to its Present and Past|date=1939|publisher=[[The Viking Press]]|location=New York|page=99|url=https://archive.org/stream/newjerseyguideto00federich#page/98/mode/2up|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref>

In October 1811, Stevens' ship the ''Juliana'' began operation as the first [[steam]]-powered ferry (service was between New York City, and [[Hoboken, New Jersey]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=From canoe to tunnel|title-link=s:From canoe to tunnel|page=[[s:Page:From canoe to tunnel.djvu/9|7]]|year=1909|publisher=A. J. Doan|last=Free Public Library of Jersey City}}</ref>

The first railroad charter in the U.S. was given to Stevens and others in 1815 for the [[New Jersey Railroad]]. The charter essentially gave Stevens and his partners, through the [[United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company|Camden & Amboy Railroad]], a monopoly on railroads in the state of New Jersey.<ref name="Stiles2010">{{cite book|last1=Stiles|first1=T.J.|title=The First Tycoon : The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt|date=2010|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1400031740|edition= 1st Vintage Books}}</ref>  In 1825, he designed and built a steam locomotive, which he operated on a circle of track at his estate in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]].<ref name="EB">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stevens|title=John Stevens {{!}} American inventor and lawyer|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=March 14, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Mrs. John Stevens (Rachel Cox).jpg|thumb|Rachel Cox Stevens, portrait by [[Gilbert Stuart]]]]
On October 17, 1782, he married Rachel Cox (1761–1839), the daughter of John Cox. She was a descendant of the Langeveldts (or Longfields) who originally settled [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]].<ref name="Cox1912">{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Henry Miller|title=The Cox Family in America: A History and Genealogy of the Older Branches of the Family from the Appearance of Its First Representative in this Country in 1610|date=1912|publisher=Publisher Not Identified|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PTNGAAAAMAAJ/page/n643 223]–227|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PTNGAAAAMAAJ|access-date=January 18, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Together, they had thirteen children of which seven were sons. The children included:<ref name="Cox1912"/>

* [[John Cox Stevens]] (1785–1857), first commodore of the [[New York Yacht Club]] who married Maria C. Livingston in 1809.
* [[Robert Livingston Stevens]] (1787–1856), applied the ''wave line'' to shipbuilding, and president of [[Camden and Amboy Railroad]], the first railroad built in [[New Jersey]].
* James Alexander Stevens (1790–1873)
* Richard Stevens (1792–1835)
* Francis Bowes Stevens (1793–1812)
* [[Edwin Augustus Stevens]] (1795–1868), the founder of [[Stevens Institute of Technology]] who married Mary Barton Picton and, after her death, [[Martha Bayard Stevens|Martha Bayard Dod]]
* Elizabeth Juliana Stevens (1797–1881), who married Thomas Anderson Conover (1791–1864)
* Mary Stevens (1799–1825), the first wife of Rear Admiral [[Joshua R. Sands]] (1795–1883)
* Harriet Stevens (1801–1844), the second wife of Joshua R. Sands
* Esther Bowes Stevens (b. 1804)
* Catherine Sophia Van Cortlandt Stevens (b. 1806)

Stevens died on March 6, 1838, at his estate in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]].<ref name="Cyclopaedia1901"/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051201083342/http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/d8333.htm John Stevens Collection, 1808 – 1881] Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
* ''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.''  [https://books.google.com/books?id=-t4DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA21 John Stevens article, volume 11, page 21], published 1901 by John T. White,.
* [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/exhibits/nj_railroads/njrr.php?c=1 Rutger exhibitions]
* {{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/johnstevensameri00turn |title=John Stevens, an American record |last=Turnbull |first=Archibald Douglas |date=1928 |publisher=The Century Co. |location=New York, London|isbn=9780836969948 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, John (inventor)}}
[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1838 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:People from Hoboken, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Locomotive builders and designers]]
[[Category:American rail transportation pioneers]]
[[Category:American railroad mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:18th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:19th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from colonial New Jersey]]
[[Category:18th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:Engineers from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Inventors from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]