Old Bergen Church Cemetery
James Alexander Stevens
Of Hoboken · America’s first family of inventors
Col. John Stevens (1749–1838)
James Alexander Stevens was one of five sons and five daughters of Col. John Stevens (1749–1838). In 1776, at age 27, John Stevens was appointed a captain in Washington’s army in the American Revolutionary War. During the war he was promoted to colonel and became Treasurer of New Jersey, serving from 1776 to 1779.
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken is named for the Stevens family — “America’s first family of inventors” — who held influence over American engineering for decades, designing steamboats, locomotives, railroad tracks, and a host of other technical innovations that powered the early United States.
The grave of James Alexander Stevens of Hoboken, died October 7, 1873
In 1784, the land now occupied by Stevens Institute of Technology was purchased by John Stevens, who would later reverse-engineer the British steam locomotive to American standards for domestic manufacture. This innovation would be employed by ferries to Manhattan.
A bequest from James’s brother, Edwin Augustus Stevens, founded the Stevens Institute in Hoboken in 1870.