William Asher Stevens (July 19, 1879 – March 9, 1941) was an American jurist and Republican Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate and

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limite ...

. As Attorney General he conducted the early phase of the state's investigation into the

Lindbergh kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Am ...

Early life

Stevens was born in

Stapleton Heights, Staten Island Stapleton Heights (or Stapleton Hill) is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island, New York City. It stands on the second of a series of hills that form a "backbone" running diagonally across the island from northeast to southwest, between War ...

in 1879. In his youth he moved with his parents to Long Branch, New Jersey, where he graduated from Chattle High School in 1897 (since renamed as

Long Branch High School Long Branch High School is a comprehensive high school, comprehensive, four-year community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school that serves students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades in the city o ...

). He studied at the State Normal School (now

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

) in Trenton and then entered the law office of Public Utility Commission President John W. Slocum. He attended

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree in 1901, and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar the following year.

Career

In 1912, when Long Branch adopted the commission form of government, Stevens was named City Solicitor. He served until 1921, when he was appointed Monmouth County Solicitor. His political career began in 1919 when he was elected to fill an unexpired term in the New Jersey Senate. He was re-elected to a full term in 1920 and again in 1923 and 1926. He was selected by his fellow Senate Republicans as floor leader in 1923. In 1928 he became President of the Senate, serving as Acting Governor while Governor

A. Harry Moore Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...

was out of the state. In 1929, Governor

Morgan F. Larson Morgan Foster Larson (June 15, 1882March 21, 1961) was an American Republican politician who served as the 40th governor of New Jersey. Early life Morgan Foster Larson was born on June 15, 1882 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey to Peter and Regina (K ...

appointed him to a five-year term as

. When the

occurred in March 1932, Stevens took personal charge of the case, since

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,David T. Wilentz, to lead the prosecution of Bruno Hauptmann in the 1935 trial. While Attorney General Stevens also led the fight against pollution of New Jersey beaches by garbage dumped at sea. He succeeded in forcing New York authorities to dispose of garbage by incineration. After his tenure as Attorney General he returned to Monmouth County to serve as solicitor for

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

, West Long Branch, Little Silver, and

Rumson Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,343, reflecting a 3.1% increase from the 7,122 enumera ...

. He was also a partner in the law firm of Applegate, Stevens, Foster, & Reussille in Red Bank. Stevens died in 1941 at the

University of Pennsylvania Hospital The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

after undergoing a brain operation. He was 61.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, William A. 1879 births 1941 deaths Long Branch High School alumni People from Stapleton Heights, Staten Island Politicians from Long Branch, New Jersey New York Law School alumni New Jersey lawyers Republican Party New Jersey state senators Presidents of the New Jersey Senate New Jersey Attorneys General The College of New Jersey alumni