Samuel Stevens Jr. (July 13, 1778February 7, 1860) served as the 18th Governor of the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1822 to 1826. He intermittently represented

Talbot County, Maryland Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton, Maryland, Easton. The county was named ...

in the House of Delegates from 1807 to 1820.

Biography

Samuel Stevens Jr. is thought to have been born in

on July 13, 1778. He was the son of John Stevens and Elizabeth Connoly, and a descendant of the Quakers who had initially settled both Dorchester and Talbot Counties. His father died when he was 16 years old. He had no formal education and was in business in Philadelphia for a short time. In 1804, he married Eliza May of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

, and they had one son. He inherited the estate

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

from his father in 1794. He was chosen to the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

from Talbot County in 1807 and served a number of non-consecutive terms until 1820. Stevens was elected Governor on December 9, 1822, defeating James B. Robins. His tenure is remembered for the enfranchisement of the Jews, the abolition of a religious test for Maryland office holders, the extension of the civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to State law, and the creation of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, wh ...

. The governor also welcomed the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

to Maryland during his triumphal tour of the nation. He was re-elected in 1823 and 1824. He was succeeded as governor by

Joseph Kent Joseph Kent (January 14, 1779November 24, 1837), a Whig, was a United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 1833 until his death in 1837. He also served in the House of Representatives, serving the second district of Maryland from 1811 to ...

on January 9, 1826, and retired to his home on "Dividing Creek." He died at "Compton" on February 7, 1860, at 81 years old and buried in the family cemetery at Spring Hill Cemetery in

Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,945 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2019 of 16,671. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...

Legacy

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Samuel Governors of Maryland 1778 births 1860 deaths Maryland Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States People from Talbot County, Maryland