Ebenezer Stevens
| Ebenezer Stevens | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 11, 1751 Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died |
September 2, 1823 (aged 72) Rockaway, New York, United States |
| Occupation | General, merchant |
Ebenezer Stevens (August 11, 1751 in Roxbury, Massachusetts[1] – September 2, 1823 in Rockaway, New York[2] 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.
Relations
His first wife was Rebecca Hodgden. They married in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 11, 1774. He married secondly on 4 May 1784 in New York City to Lucretia Ledyard (22 February 1756 - 2 July 1846). He is the father of banker John Austin Stevens and surgeon Alexander Hodgdon Stevens, and thus the grandfather of historian John Austin Stevens.[2] He is also the great-great-grandfather of Eugenie Mary Ladenburg Davie.[3]
Involvement in Boston Tea Party
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.[4] 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.[4]
Revolutionary War service
Not long after the Boston Tea Party he moved to Rhode Island and there, upon receiving news of the Battle of Lexington, volunteered for the Continental Army. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Company of Rhode Island Artillery in May 1775, and fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill under Major General Nathanael Greene.[1] He was promoted to major of the Independent Battalion of Artillery on November 9, 1776.
Ebenezer was selected by George Washington to raise battalions against Quebec, Canada. Ebenezer was present at the surrender of the British General Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777. He served under the French general the Marquis de Lafayette in Virginia with distinction.
On November 24, 1778 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Lamb's Continental Artillery Regiment (later the 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment) to rank from April 30, 1778. In 1781 he was one of the artillery commanders at the Siege of Yorktown. He was discharged from the Army in June 1783.[5]
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 lived as a merchant in New York City.[2]
References
- 1 2 Library.marist.edu, The Reese Family Papers, Marist College Archives and Special Collections.
- 1 2 3
Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "Stevens, Ebenezer". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.) - ↑ Library.marist.edu, The Stevens Family Genealogy, Marist College Archive and Special Collections.
- 1 2 Boston-tea-party.org, The Boston Tea Party Historical Society.
- ↑ Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. Francis B. Heitman. p. 382.
External links
- John Austin Stevens (1877). "Ebenezer Stevens: Lieut.-Col. of Artillery in the Continental Army". The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries (A.S. Barnes & Co.) 1: 588–610.
- Stevens on the Boston Tea Party
- "Stevens, Ebenezer". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
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