Ebenezer Stevens

Ebenezer Stevens (August 11, 1751 – September 2, 1823) was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, a major general in the New York state militia, and a New York City merchant.

Early life Stevens was born on August 11, 1751, in Roxbury in what was then the Province of Massachusetts Bay in British America. He was the son of Ebenezer Stevens (1726–1763) and Elizabeth (née Weld) Stevens (b. 1727), and his paternal grandfather was Erasmus Stevens, a native of Boston,

Career Ebenezer Stevens was a participant in what became known as the Boston Tea Party. A member of the Sons of Liberty, he began his career in Paddock's Artillery Company along with the likes of Paul Revere and Thomas Crafts. Together with other members of the company, and under the leadership of Jabez Hatch, he participated in the Boston Tea Party. His later recollections to his family debunked the myth that the participants had dressed up as Native Americans.

After the war Although it is stated in several sources that Stevens was a major general in the United States Army, there is no official documentation to support this notion. He was, however, a major general in the New York state militia after the Revolution and mobilized militiamen to defend New York City in case of British attack in September 1814. He was the initial commander of Fort Stevens, which was named after him, which was built to protect Hell Gate from a potential British invasion.

He lived as a merchant in New York City.

Personal life Stevens was married twice. He married his first wife, Rebecca Hodgden (sometimes spelled Hodgdon), in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 11, 1774. He was also a major general in the New York state militia. who married John Peter Schermerhorn, a brother of Abraham Schermerhorn (both sons of Peter Schermerhorn). George Alexander Stevens (1782–1807), who died unmarried, lost at sea. Together, they were the parents of:

Samuel Stevens (1785–1844), a prominent lawyer and commissioner of the Croton Aqueduct. Byam Kerby Stevens (1792–1870), who married Frances Gallatin (1803–1877), the daughter of Albert Gallatin, the 4th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France. John Austin Stevens (1795–1874), a banker who married Abigail Perkins Weld (1799–1886). Abby was a first cousin of Ebenezer.

Stevens died on September 2, 1823, in Rockaway, New York. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. himself the grandfather of Eugenie Mary (née Ladenburg) Davie, a Republican activist who served as a director of the Pioneer Fund.

Through his son John, he was the grandfather of historian John Austin Stevens who founded the Sons of the Revolution. president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Lucretia Stevens (née Rhinelander) Jones (1824–1901), mother to novelist and decorator Edith Wharton (née Edith Newbold Jones) and Frederic Rhinelander Jones.