Stevens Institute of Technology - Link Yearbook (Hoboken, NJ)

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Col, John Stevens. inspired by his own success with steamboats, was early satisfied that he could do even better with steam on tracks. He had applied for charters: had operated experimentally his own locomotive, and had done all that was possible to educate public opinion on the subject. And now in 1830 came the incorporation of the famous Camden and Amboy Railroad,with Robert Stevens as its president and chief engineer, and Edwin A. l Stevens as its treasurer. The 'Y invention and development of the T-rail, the hooked spike, the tie piece and the bolts and nuts required to give rigidity to the tracks are all the result of Robert Stevens'mgenu1ty, while the formulation and mastery of conditions of railroad work at a time when there was no precedent are lasting tributes to the business sagaeity of Edwin A. Stevens. OLD FORGE SIIOI' VVhen Edwin A. Stevens became active business manager of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, all the intricate fundamental principles and methods had to be discovered or worked out, but his genius and training were all in the line of harmonious predisposition for the great task. A seventh son, he was born at Castle Point, Hoboken, in 1795. At the age of twenty-five, by family agreement, he became trustee of the bulk of the family estate. At the age of thirty he took charge of the huge transportation system known as the Union Line. At thirty-five he became the treasurer and manager of its offspring, this pioneer steam railroad, and at once there sprang into light and full vigor his splendid qualities of initiative, ability, and diplomacy. Merely to state that during the thirty-five years of his management of the Camden and Amboy Railroad its stock appreciated steadily in value and never passed a dividend, would be sufficient indication of masterly skill, but it tells a very significant part of the story. Not only had the 'property' to he created but it had to be - ' E - 1: ng conserved amid all the storms of political intrigue and com- mercial rivalryg through all the scenes of financial disaster and national trouble: despite all the vicissitudes due to the redistribution of population and shifting of industries. Mr. Stevens was a keen dis- cernerof ability in other men. allying himself with the best engineers of the time. He en- listed in the companys serv- ice, the best legal talent of the State, whereby he combated political onslaught and con- ciliated public sentiment. He saw the first pacts made om ELECTRIVAL 1.AuonA'1'om' T ivanty-seven

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Hoboken. This was the first engine and train that ever ran on a railroad in America -built by a. man verging on his eightieth year. Sucl1 a record as this, very few men are privileged to make. Of Colonel Stevens' eleven children, those who distinguished themselves most were John Cox, Robert Livingston and Edwin Augustus. Robert was born in 1787. When he was but seven- teen years of age he helped his father buildand fit out thefirst screw steamship. The first sea trip of a Steamship was cap- tained by Robert. five years later, when he took the Phoenix , a sidewheeler, from Hoboken to the Delaware. This trip was ,not made to establish a record, but it was rather one of necessity, Col. Stevens being unable, because of Fulton's Hudson River monopoly, to navigate on that river. 'It was now as a builder of steamships that Robert Stevens made himself famous, each successive boat being faster, until in 1832, with the handsome 'North Ameriea,' using forced draft, he attained a speed of fifteen miles an hour. For a quarter of a century, and while he gave his atten- tion to that line of work, he stood at the head of the naval engineering profession in this country: and his inventions and improvements up to 1840 were so valuable and numerous that a bare catalogue would fill pages. We may specify, for example, the invention. as early as 1818, of the cam-board cutoff, being the first use of steam cxpansively for navigation purposes: the universally prevalent forms of ferry-boat and ferry-slipg the overhanging guards: the fendersg the spring piling, the adoption of the walking beam in 1821: the invention of the split water wheel in 18Q6g the invention of the balance valve for beam engines in 18313 the location of the steam- boat boilers on the wheel guards: and the increase of strength in the boilers until they could stand fifty pounds to the square inch, although English naval engineers had got no further than five pounds as late as 184-8. Nothing could be sharper than the contrast between the lines of an ordinary steamboat and those of a fast clipper, yet it was Robert Stevens who designed and built in 18-H the 'Mariaf a yacht literally as fast as his steam- ers. She was the conqueror of the 'America', owned in part by John C. Stevens and Edwin A. Stevens, just before the lat- ter wcnt across the Atlantic to capture, in the Solent, the famous cup which now glist- ens on Uncle SZUIIVS sideboard. ow cmmrsrnn' tknoanouv LOOKING TH ROUGH GATE Y'11-wily-si.:

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,, l V' Vi i , - A IN 1870 between the conflicting railroad and canal interests, assisted in the successive extensions or t'0llS0llfl2ll.l0llS, and was quick to beg.:in again new railroad workin New Jersey when released from earlier l'0SlJ0llSllHlltICS... Robert L. Stevens died in 1856, having just completed the erection of the present Castle after his own plans. Edwin A. Stevens then fell heir to the estate which at this time extended west as far as Washington Street. Col. John Stevens had developed the island so that Mntlie visitor, on arriving by the ferry, would be landed at the foot. of a little hill, on which stood the U76 Housef a little to the south of what is now Newark Street. between Hudson and lVashington Streets. North of the ' '76 'House' was the beautiful lawn known as 'The Greenf which sloped down l'rom Washington Street to the river and was bounded on the north by First Street. Here the visitor might spend his hours enjoying the pleasant scene or indulging in some of the many anmsements which were all around for his entertainment. but if he desired to find a quieter spot or to explore the natural beauties of the place. there was a path, lined with fine old elms. which led up toward Castle Point and then turned off to the river, where it ran between the cliffs and the river's edge and was known as the River Walk, until, north of the Point. it led into the Elysian Fields, where tall trees stood in a fine. park-like expanse which extended from the present location of Tenth Street to the Cove at Fifteenth Street, and from Wfillow Avenue to the river. Although the southern part of the city had been built up. the River Walk and the Elysian Fields still retained most of their natural beauty. At this time the Knickerbocker Baseball Club flourished and it is said that the first game of baseball ever played was played on these fields. As the eity has become commercialized. the River Walk and Elysian Fields have given place to the Hobo- ken Shore Road and the shipping.: piers, although a small park still remains at the northern end of Castle Point 'l'erraee.,' Edwin A. Stevens died in the year 1868. and left as a final gift to the nation for which he had already done so much, provision for the establishment of the :W Castle Point, by J, H. Cunlz. 'H7 Trwnly-vigil!