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EDWIN AUGUSTUS STEVENS
Originally published in 1900 |
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EDWIN AUGUSTUS STEVENS, another son of John Stevens, the inventor,
was born at Castle Point, Hoboken, N. J., July 28, 1795. He learned
the profession of civil engineer with his father and his brother Robert L.
The two brothers were very closely connected in business affairs. Both
were men of great capacity, the elder taking the lead as engineer and the
younger as a business man.
Edwin A. Stevens was occupied largely in the management of his father's estate, on which the City of Hoboken now stands. He was also connected with the organization, construction, and operation of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, the charter for which he and Robert L. Stevens obtained from the State of New Jersey in 1830. The road was opened for traffic in 1839-42, Robert L. being President and Edwin A. Treasurer and Manager. The germ of many improvements afterward perfected on other roads can be traced back to the Camden and Amboy line. The vestibule car is a modern instance. While engaged in railroad affairs the brothers still retained their great interests in navigation, made many improvements therein. and were especially prominent in the invention, introduction, and development of appliances for railroads, locomotives, and cars. In 1842 Edwin A. Stevens patented the air-tight fire-room for the forced draught which had been applied by his elder brother in 1827 to the "North America," and which came into general use at once. This double invention of the brothers is now used in all the great navies of the world. They spent a great part of their lives in devising and effecting improvements in the means of attack and defense in naval warfare, especially for ironclads. Robert had bequeathed the Stevens battery to his brother, and the latter, at the beginning of the Civil War, presented the government a plan for completing the vessel together with another small vessel called the "Naugatuck." This small vessel was accepted by the government, and was one of the fleet that attacked the "Merrimac." The government refused to appropriate the money on the plans proposed by Mr. Stevens, and upon his death he left the vessel to the State of New Jersey together with one million dollars for its completion. Edwin A. Stevens invented the steam plow, which was extensively used for years. He remained the business manager of the Camden and Amboy Railroad for upward of twenty-five years. He founded the Stevens Institute in Hoboken, and bequeathed to it and to the high school a large plot of ground and $150,000 for the building and $500,000 for endowments. His widow, whose maiden name was Martha Bayard, afterward devoted $200,000 to religious and charitable institutions, among which was the Church of the Holy Innocents at Hoboken.
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