John Peters Stevens (February 2, 1868 – October 27, 1929) was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the J. P. Stevens Textile Corporation. He was the president of Cotton Merchants' Association and Woolen Manufacturers' Association.

Early life

Stevens was born on February 2, 1868, in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

, to Horace Nathaniel Stevens (1837–1876) and Susan Elizabeth (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Peters) Stevens (1835–1871). He was the seventh generation descendant of John Stevens, who came to the United States in 1638. His paternal grandfather was Nathaniel Stevens (1786–1865). His uncles were

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Charles Abbot Stevens (1816–1892), Moses Tyler Stevens (1825–1907), and George Stevens (1832–1871). He attended

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

, Andover.

Career

After leaving Philips, he entered the dry goods commission business in Boston with Faulkner, Page & Co. In 1899, he established J.P. Stevens Textile Corporation in New York. He was the president of Cotton Merchants' Association and Woolen Manufacturers' Association, a director of the Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company, the Plainfield Trust Company, M. T. Stevens & Sons Company, Stevens Linen Works, Arragon Baldwin Cotton Mills, Watts Mills, Duneen Mills, the Lawrence Manufacturing Company, and other textile companies. A Republican, he served as an alternate delegate to

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

from New Jersey in 1920.

Personal life

On February 12, 1895, married Edna Ten Broeck (1874–1964), the daughter of Rensselaer Ten Broeck (1838–1918) and Phebe (née Wilson) Ten Broeck (1846–1916). Together, they had three sons: * John Peter Stevens, Jr. (1897–1976), who married Edith Stevens (1899–1989). President of the Edison Township Board of Education from 1943 to 1958, President of John P. Stevens and Co. and namesake of J.P. Stevens High School in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

* Robert Ten Broeck Stevens (1899–1983), who married Dorothy Goodwin Whitney (1901–1988) * Nathaniel Stevens, II (1900-1966), who married Ruth Alden Bovey tevens Family Records, Tenth Edition, 1993 He died on October 27, 1929, in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

Legacy

* J.P. Stevens High School in

, was named in his son's honor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, John Peters 1868 births 1929 deaths People from Plainfield, New Jersey Businesspeople from Union County, New Jersey American textile industry businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople