Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/22

 STEPHENS

STEPHENS

President of the Confederate States under the constitution was held. Nov. 6, 18G1, and Davis and Stephens were unanimouslj' re-elected for a term of six years. Mr. Stephens differed with President Davis on the question of conscription in 1862, and formed a peace party in Georgia in

1864, Gov. Joseph E. Brown and Gen. Robert Toombs supporting it. and through their influence the Lincoln-Stephens resolutions on the suppres- sion of the writ of habeas corpus by the Confed- erate government were passed by the Georgia legislature, March 4, 1864. He headed the un- successful peace commission composed of Mr. Stephens, J. A. Campbell and R. M. T. Hunter, appointed by the Confederate government, and they met President Lincoln and Secretary Se- ward at Hampton Roads, Feb. 3, 1865. The com- mittee reported to President Davis that there could be no peace short of unconditional sub- mission, and when the President refused to con- sider any such terms, Mr. Stephens left Rich- mond for his home in Crawfordville, Ga., Feb. 9,

1865. and reached there on the 20th. He was ar- rested, May 11, at liis home, and confined in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, until Oct. 13, 1865, when he was discharged on parole. In February, 1866, he was elected U.S. senator, but when he reached "Washington he was not permitted to take his seat, Georgia not having complied with the re- quirement necessary to secure a place in the councils of the nation. While in Washington he testified before the reconstruction committee of congress, and he taught a class of law students, at his quiet home at Crawfordville, at least 100 young men being instructed by him during his resi- dence there. In 1872, he became editor and part owner of the Atlanta Sun. in which he opposed the candidacy of Horace Greeley, but the paper did not prove financially successful. He was a candidate for U.S. senator before the legislature of Georgia, November, 1871, but was defeated by Joshua Hill, and again in 1873, when he was de- feated by Gen. John B. Gordon. He was a representative in the 43d-47th congresses, 1873- 82; supported the Tilden and Hendricks ticket in 1876, and in the Hayes-Tilden controversy advocated a disregard of the alleged returns, but did not favor the seating of Tilden by force. He resigned his seat in congress in 1882, having been elected governor of Georgia by 60,000 majority. His health soon failed so as to incapacitate him for official work. He was a trxistee of the Uni- versity of Georgia, 1875-83, and declined the chair of political science and history of that in- stitution in 1868. During his last term as repre- sentative in congress he was an intense sufferer, and appeared each day on the floor of the house either on crutches or seated in a wheel chair from which he was unable to rise unaided. He de-

livered a notable oration on the occasion of the unveiling of Carpenter's painting "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation " at the head of the stairway in the hall of represen- tatives in the National capitol, Feb. 12, 1878. He is the author of: The War Between the States (2 vols., 1867-1870); School History of the United States (1871), and History of the United States (1883). In October, 1900, his name in " Class M, Rulers and Statesmen," received 7 votes for a place in the Hall of Fame, New York University. His greatest speech was delivered on the occasion of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the landing of the first colonists under Oglethorpe, the founding of Savannah and the birth of the state of Geoi'gia, celebrated in Savannah, Feb. 13, 1883. He died from the exposure incident to this journey, in Atlanta, Ga., March 4, 1883.

STEPHENS, Alice Barber, illustrator, was born in Salem county, N. J., July 1, 1858; daughter of Samuel C. and Mary (Owen ) Barber. She stud- ied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in Paris, and became one of the most promi- nent of American illustrators. She was married, June 23, 1890, to Charles H. Stephens, son of Louis H. and Susannah (Menns) Stephens of Phila- delphia, Pa. She became wood-engraver for Serib- ner's Magazine, illustrator for Harj^er's, the Ce7i- tury and TlieLadies' Home Journal, and instructor in portrait and life classes in the Philadelphia School of Design for Women.

STEPHENS, Ann Sophia, author, was born in Derby, Conn., in 1813; daughter of John Winterbotham. She was liberally educated, and in 1831 was married to Edward Stephens, a pub- lisher and merchant of Portland, Maine. She was the founder of the Portland Magazine, which her husband published and at first edited, and was herself its editor, 1835-37, contributing to its columns her best-known poem, Polish Boy, and published a compilation of sketches called " The Portland Sketch Book " in 1836. In 1837 she removed to New York city, where her hus- band had received an appointment in the custom- house; edited The Ladies' Companion and The Ladies' National Magazine; contributed to The Columbia Magazine, Graham's Magazine, and Peterson^s Magazine, becoming associate editor of the two last publications in 1842 and 1844 respect- ively; established The Ladies World in 1843, and Tlie Illustrated New Monthly in 1846. She trav- eled extensively through Europe and the Orient in 1850, for the purpose of collecting literary ma- terial. Her husband died in 1802. She is the au- thor of numerous popular short stories; of contri- butions to The Brother Jonathan, a weekly pub- lished by her husband; Fashion and Famine, a novel (1854), translated into French; Zana, or the Heiress of Clare Hall (London, 1854), republished