Stevens was founded on February 15, 1870, as the first institution in the U.S. to offer a degree in mechanical engineering. Since then, February 15 has been considered Founder’s Day, bringing plenty of events each year, including Founder’s Day Ball and Duck Days. However, there lies a rich history behind the founder of Stevens and his family.
In Edwin A. Stevens’ will, he left a bequest of land, construction funds, and instructions to trustees to create an institution of higher education. His wife, Martha Bayard Dod Stevens, insisted the university be centered around science and engineering. Stevens’ first president, Henry Morton, helped create a curriculum designed around both technology and humanities. Dr. Lindsey Swindall, a HASS Teaching Associate Professor, notes that Morton was critical to the start as he gave away his time and money from his own pocket to help students.
Colonel John Stevens III, the father of Edwin A. Stevens, bought the land that’s now considered Hoboken in 1784. To appeal to homesteaders, Colonel Stevens developed open meadows, walkways along the river, and inns. He also built a steamboat named the Phoenix and became the first in history to operate a steamboat in the open ocean. Moreover, after establishing the Hoboken Ferry Company, it brought Hoboken’s first commuters from Manhattan.
As for his sons, Robert and Edwin Stevens helped their father create the first American-built prototype locomotive in 1826. From there, they constructed an overland rail line from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to the state capital in Trenton. There, passengers could transfer to Philadelphia using a steamboat, thus cutting several days off their journey.
Furthermore, Martha Bayard Dod Stevens helped nurture Hoboken in several ways. She established the Industrial Education Association, a school for young women, and the Martha Institute for training boys in industrial skills. She also helped to fund the Hoboken public library and founded the St. Martha’s Ward in St Mary’s Hospital and the charity Helping Hand Club.
Despite their numerous contributions, the Stevens family was also involved in the slave trade, both as investors and as owners of several enslaved people. While most of their income came from land ownership, there are estimates that they made $900,000 (in 2018 terms) in a single year of slave trading. Swindall states slave trading helped start the Stevens family’s wealth and, in turn, helped establish the university.
John II Stevens, or ” Honorable John, ” was Colonel John’s father and a slave trader and owner. He sold slaves to prominent men in New York and New Jersey and it helped raise him to the status of a wealthy man. Since he was a young man, Colonel John would receive enslaved people as “gifts” from his father. Throughout the years, John II would continue to be a source of slave labor for his son.
One noteworthy instance was the story of Peter Lee, a household slave for the Stevens family. Elizabeth, Colonel John’s mother, stated in her will, “I leave all my Slaves their freedom,” which included Silvia, Lee’s mother. As his mother was free, Lee should have been born free. However, after his mother’s death, Colonel John didn’t free Siliva or Lee. Moreover, there are questions regarding whether he should have manumitted, released from slavery, under gradual emancipation.
The history of the Stevens family is interwoven with the history of our university. It’s important to understand the impact the Stevens family had and how it affects Stevens as an institution so we can create a brighter future.
