Vernon K. Stevenson

Vernon K. Stevenson (January 22, 1812 - October 16, 1884) was an American businessman. He served as the president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway for 25 years, and as the president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was a real estate investor in Manhattan, New York City.

Vernon K. Stevenson
BornJanuary 22, 1812
Russellville, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedOctober 16, 1884
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
OccupationBusinessman
Net worth$5 million (1884)
Children4 sons and 1 daughter
Military career
Allegiance Confederate States of America (1861–1865)
Service/branchConfederate States Army
United States Army
Years of service1861–1862
RankQuartermaster (CSA)

Early life

Stevenson was born on January 22, 1812 in Russellville, Kentucky.[1][2] He had three brothers, Maxwell and Volney.[2] and Leander Douglas. His sisters were Eleanor(m. Godfrey M. Fogg) Julia Emily(m. Dr. John Arnold Crowdus, Lemuel Swearengin),and Harriet J.(m. Patrick Boisseau) He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1831.[3] Stevenson’s mother Eleanor Sharp was the sister of Congressman and Kentucky Attorney General and State Legislator Solomon Porcius Sharp who was assassinated in 1835 in what became known as The Kentucky Tragedy.

Career

Stevenson began his career as a clerk in a dry goods store in Nashville.[3] He later became head manager, and he invested in a store with his brother Volney.[2]

Stevenson was the founder of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway in 1848.[4] To fundraise for its construction, Stevenson sold stocks to investors in Nashville and Charleston, South Carolina.[5] Stevenson built the railroad with iron-rails from London thanks to George Peabody.[1][6] It was completed in 1854, and Stevenson served as its president.[1] He hired Edmund William Cole as superintendent in 1857,[4] and Stevenson became "a kind of co-president, or president ex officio."[3]

Stevenson was elected as the "president" of the board of directors of the Winchester and Alabama Railroad in Winchester, Tennessee in 1857.[7]

In 1861, at the outset of the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Stevenson was appointed as the quartermaster for the Confederate States Army by General Albert Sidney Johnston.[2][8] Shortly after the Battle of Nashville in 1862, he moved to Murfreesboro, where he managed a portion of the tracks.[8] However, the vast majority of the railroad was taken over by the Union Army.[8] Stevenson sold the railroad to August Belmont in 1880, and it merged with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.[4][9]

After the war, Stevenson moved to New York City and invested in real estate in uptown Manhattan.[2] He was the owner of 44 Broadway, rented by the Standard Oil Company.[2]

Personal life, death and legacy

Stevenson’s first wife was Maria L. Bass and they had one son Hugh Stevenson. His second wife was Bessie, the daughter of John Childress who owned a farm near the modern-day campus of Vanderbilt University.[10] His third wife was the daughter of surgeon Paul F. Eve.[2] Stevenson had three sons and one daughter with her, Vernon King Stevenson Jr., Paul Eve Stevenson, Maxwell Stevenson, and Eloise Stevenson.

Fun Fact: Actress Annie Potts of Designing Women, Young Sheldon, Pretty In Pink, and Ghostbusters Fame is a 4th Great Niece of V.K. Stevenson through his sister Julia Emily Stevenson and her first husband, Dr. John Arnold Crowdus of Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky.

Stevenson resided at 59th Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City,[11] and he was a member of the Manhattan Club.[6] He was worth $5 million by 1884.[1]

Stevenson was a donor to the Democratic Party.[2] He supported Andrew Jackson and Stephen A. Douglas, and he was friends with James K. Polk and John C. Calhoun.[2]

Stevenson died on October 16, 1884 in New York City.[1] He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.[11] His tomb was designed as "an exact replica of Napoleon's tomb in Paris."[12]

Stevenson, Alabama was named in his honor.[2]

References
  1. "Colonel Vernon K. Stevenson Dead". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 19, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Obituary". The Washington Standard. Olympia, Washington. November 28, 1884. p. 3. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Burt, Jesse C., Jr. (June 1950). "Four Decades of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, 1873-1916". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 9 (2): 99–130. JSTOR 42621038.
  4. Burns, Frank (1989). Jones, Robert B. (ed.). Tennessee County History Series: Davidson County. Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis State University Press. pp. 58–59. OCLC 644728584 – via The Internet Archive.
  5. Carey, Bill (February 1, 2004). "Railroad cars arrived in Nashville in 1850--by boat". The Tennessean. p. 3E. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Col. Vernon K. Stevenson. A Noted Man's Career". Chicago Tribune. October 18, 1884. p. 6. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Railroad meeting. Winchester, May 7, 1857". The Home Journal. May 8, 1857. p. 2. Retrieved May 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Shacklett-Christy, Gloria (February 23, 2014). "Vernon Stevenson finds escape to Murfreesboro". Murfreesboro Post. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  9. Walker, Hugh (September 4, 1983). "A Cornerstone in Banking History Was Place in 1883". The Tennessean. p. 1-G – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Thomas, Jane H. (1897). Old Days in Nashville, Tenn. Reminiscences. Nashville, Tennessee: Publishing House Methodist Episcopal Church, South. pp. 27–28. OCLC 1011667441 – via Internet Archive.
  11. "Vernon K. Stevenson". The New York Times. October 18, 1884. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  12. "A walk through history, plot by plot. Mount Olivet tour samples who was who". The Tennessean. May 8, 1996. p. 63. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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