John Stevens Jr. (c. 1715 – May 10, 1792) was a prominent colonial American landowner, merchant, and politician.^[1]

Stevens was born in 1715 atPerth Amboy in theProvince of New Jersey in what was thenBritish America.^[1] He was the son of John Stevens Sr., who came to America in 1699 at the age of 17 as an indentured clerk, and his wife Ann Campbell.

With his brother Richard, he owned mercantile vessels and commanded them on voyages toMadeira and theCaribbean between 1739 and 1743. He then settled in Perth Amboy, where he was a vestryman at St. Peter's Church from 1749 to 1752. He was a large landowner in the New Jersey counties ofHunterdon,Union, andSomerset, and he owned a copper mine atRocky Hill that was later abandoned.^[2]

Stevens was a member of theNew Jersey General Assembly in 1751. He served as paymaster of the1st New Jersey Regiment (the "Jersey Blues") under ColonelPeter Schuyler from 1756 to 1760. In 1758, he was appointed by the Assembly of New Jersey to serve as a commissioner to the state's Indian tribes. In 1762, he was named a member of theNew Jersey Provincial Council, a position that he resigned in 1770.^[2]

Stevens was a vocal opponent of theStamp Act.^[3] When the act went into effect in 1765, he was one of a committee of four (withRobert Livingston,John Cruger Jr., and Beverly Robinson) to prevent the issue of stamps inNew York City.^[3] In 1770, he was appointed a commissioner, along with Walter Rutherfurd, to establish the partition line between New York and New Jersey.^[2]

In 1776, after the Provincial Congress had become theNew Jersey Legislature under the state's first Constitution, Stevens was electedVice-President of Council of New Jersey, holding the office of chairman of the joint meetings of the legislature until 1782, representing Hunterdon County. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1784. He was president of the convention of New Jersey when the state ratified theUnited States Constitution on December 18, 1787.^[2]

In 1748, he married Elizabeth Alexander (1720–1800), daughter ofJames Alexander (1691–1756),Surveyor General of New Jersey and New York and counsel forPeter Zenger, andMary Spratt Alexander, a merchant in her own right. Together, they were the parents of two children:^[4]

• John Stevens III (1749–1838), who married Rachel Cox, a descendant of the Langeveldts who originally settledNew Brunswick, New Jersey.^[5] Rachel was the daughter of John Cox, Esq. ofBloomsbury, New Jersey, and the sister of Elizabeth Cox, who marriedHorace Binney.^[4]
• Mary Stevens (1751–1814), who married ChancellorRobert R. Livingston (1746–1813), negotiator of theLouisiana Purchase.^[6]

His later years were spent with his son atHoboken, where he died in May 1792. He was buried at the Frame Meeting House inBethlehem Township,Hunterdon County, New Jersey.^[7]

Through his son John, he was the grandfather of thirteen grandchildren, includingJohn Cox Stevens (1785–1857), first commodore of theNew York Yacht Club,Robert Livingston Stevens (1787–1856), the president ofCamden and Amboy Railroad, James Alexander Stevens (1790–1873), Richard Stevens (1792–1835),Francis Bowes Stevens (1793–1812),Edwin Augustus Stevens (1795–1868), founder ofStevens Institute of Technology, Elizabeth Juliana Stevens (1797–1821), Mary Stevens (1799–1825), who was the first wife of Rear AdmiralJoshua R. Sands, Harriet Stevens (1801–1844), who was the second wife of Joshua R. Sands, Esther Bowes Stevens (b. 1804), and Catherine Sophia Van Cortlandt Stevens (b. 1806).^[4]

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress

• 1710s births
• 1792 deaths
• Politicians from colonial New Jersey
• Continental Congressmen from New Jersey
• Politicians from Perth Amboy, New Jersey
• Politicians from Hunterdon County, New Jersey
• Members of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Members of the New Jersey Provincial Council
• Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council
• People from Rocky Hill, New Jersey

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from January 2018
• Place of birth missing