John Stevens - Revision history

Nateoxford at 23:32, 11 October 2010

2010-10-11T23:32:16Z

Pacman: /* Family and early life */

2010-07-23T16:10:44Z

‎Family and early life

Pacman at 16:07, 23 July 2010

2010-07-23T16:07:40Z

Pacman: Created page with '{{wp-also2|John Stevens (inventor)}} '''John Stevens''' KC 1768 was a notable early American inventor who pioneered designs of the steamboat, built the first working rai…'

2010-07-23T16:03:32Z

Created page with '{{wp-also2|John Stevens (inventor)}} '''John Stevens''' KC 1768 was a notable early American inventor who pioneered designs of the steamboat, built the first working rai…'

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{{wp-also2|John Stevens (inventor)}}

'''John Stevens''' [[KC]] [[1768]] was a notable early American inventor who pioneered designs of the steamboat, built the first working railroad locomotive in the U.S., and helped develop U.S. patent law.

==Family and early life==

Stevens' father was prominent in public life, and, beyond setting the border between [[New Jersey]] and [[New York State]], was a delegate to the Continental Congress. His sister was married to King's alum and Founding Father [[Robert Livingston]]. Stevens himself was admitted to the New York bar in [[1771]], although his loyalties remained across the [[Hudson River|Hudson]]. It's unclear what he did during the Revolutionary War, but it allowed him to buy a fled Tory's estate at bargain prices, and Stevens came to own the entirely of what is now the city of Hoboken.

==Inventions and enterprises==

After the war, he served as Treasurer of New Jersey as well as a colonel in the army. He successfully petitioned for the creation of the U.S.' first patent law in [[1790]]. Afterward, he turned to inventing, comlpeting his first steamboat in 1798 with the help of Livingston, Robert Fulton, and Nicholas Roosevelt (ancestor of [[Theodore Roosevelt|Theodore]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]]). But by the early 19th century, Fulton had secured a monopoly over steamboat operations on the Hudson, so Stevens set loose his newest boat on the open ocean, becoming the first to do so, and began operations on the Delaware. In [[1811]], he was operating the world's first steam ferry between New York and Hoboken.

By [[1815]], he had become captivated by the possibilities of railroads instead, and obtained the first rail charter in the U.S. In [[1826]], he built the first steam locomotive that actually pulled a train on track in America.

Stevens openly mocked the construction of the Erie Canal, saying a railroad would be a better investment. The prognostication turned out to be a bit ahead of its time, and was ignored by Governor [[DeWitt Clinton]], [[Gouverneur Morris]], and even Livingston, although it was widely circulated in later years.

==Legacy==

Stevens had eleven children, four of whom (John Cox, 1803; James Alexander, 1808; Richard, 1810; and Francis Bowes, 1810) later graduated from Columbia. Several of his other children went on to become notable inventors in their own right - although none of the Columbia graduates did. John Cox is remembered for being the first commodore of the New York Yacht Club.

His Hoboken estate later became the campus of the Stevens Institute of Technology, founded by his son Edwin Augustus.

[[Category:King's College alumni|Stevens]]
[[Category:Class of 1768|Stevens]]

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 ==Family and early life==
-Stevens' father was prominent in public life, and, beyond setting the border between [[New Jersey]] and [[New York State]], was a delegate to the Continental Congress. His sister was married to King's alum and Founding Father [[Robert Livingston]]. Stevens himself was admitted to the New York bar in [[1771]], although his loyalties remained across the [[Hudson River|Hudson]]. It's unclear what he did during the Revolutionary War, but it allowed him to buy a fled Tory's estate at bargain prices, and Stevens came to own the entirely of what is now the city of Hoboken.
+Stevens' father was prominent in public life, and, beyond setting the border between [[New Jersey]] and [[New York State]], was a delegate to the Continental Congress. His sister was married to King's alum and Founding Father [[Robert Livingston]]. After graduating from [[King's College]], Stevens himself was admitted to the New York bar in [[1771]], although his loyalties remained across the [[Hudson River|Hudson]]. It's unclear what he did during the Revolutionary War, but it allowed him to buy a fled Tory's estate at bargain prices, and Stevens came to own the entirely of what is now the city of Hoboken.
 ==Inventions and enterprises==

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 His Hoboken estate later became the campus of the Stevens Institute of Technology, founded by his son Edwin Augustus.
 [[Category:King's College alumni|Stevens]]
 [[Category:Class of 1768|Stevens]]