John Lloyd Stephens

John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805 – October 13, 1852) was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. He was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America. He was also a driving force behind the building of the Panama Canal Railway in the 1850s, which in turn was instrumental to the construction of the Panama Canal.

Early life John Lloyd Stephens was born November 28, 1805, in the Township of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, in an area that would later become Red Bank, New Jersey. He was the second son of Benjamin Stephens, a successful New Jersey merchant, and Clemence Lloyd, daughter of an eminent local judge. The following year, the family moved to New York City, where Stephens received an education in the Classics at two privately tutored schools. At the age of 13, he enrolled at Columbia College, graduating at the top of his class four years later in 1822. They continued investigating Maya ruins with a return trip to Yucatán in October 1841. According to Stephens's book about the trip, they visited a total of 44 Mayan sites such as Chichen Itza, Izamal, Kabah, the gateway at Labná, Mayapan, Sayil, Tulum, Uxmal, and Xtampak. In Uxmal, they documented the Governor's House, the Nunnery Quadrangle, and the Pyramid of the Magician. Catherwood also drew a famous view of the well at Bolonchén.

Catherwood's drawings and lithographs showed the Maya, without question, to have been the authors of some of the most artistic and intellectual works of pre-Columbian America. Besides large constructions, they produced works of artistic refinement such as stone and plaster sculptures, frescoes, painted pottery, and bas-reliefs in wood. As a result of their explorations, Stephens and Catherwood argued convincingly that the Mayans built the ancient Central American cities in contrast to the theory that ethnic groups from European or Asian civilizations had built them.

Stephens's books served to inspire Edgar Allan Poe, who reviewed three of Stephens's books for the New York Review and Graham's Magazine. While in Panama, he was struck down by malaria in spring 1852. He recovered sufficiently to return to New York, only to have a recurrence of the disease. He died October 13, 1852, and was buried at New York City Marble Cemetery.

Legacy Stephens is the subject of the following works: Maya Explorer by Victor Wolfgang von Hagen, first published in 1947, and Jungle of Stone by William Carlsen (2016).

Publications Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land (1837) Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland (1838) Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán, Vols. 1 & 2 (1841) (Reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) Incidents of Travel in Yucatán, Vols. 1 & 2 (1843)