The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Stevens, John Austin (banker)

STEVENS, John Austin, American banker, son of Ebenezer Stevens (q.v.): b. New York, 22 Jan. 1795; d. there, 19 Oct. 1874. He was graduated at Yale University in 1813, and became his father's partner in the mercantile business in 1818. He was president of the New York Bank of Commerce in 1839-66. As chairman of a committee of bankers of New York, Boston and Philadelphia he greatly assisted the United States government in negotiating its loans during the Civil War, and he was frequently called into consultation by the Treasury Department. He was for many years secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce and was of the organizers of the New York Merchants' Exchange, of which he was the first president.