Albert David Stevens 1875 - 1960

Born September 10, 1875, son of Henry A. Stevens and Laura A. Southwick, in Onawa, Iowa.

Married BERNICE BEATRICE CRANE in Frankfurt, Michigan.

Children:

THADDEUS SOUTHWICK STEVENS
Elsie Stevens
Sybil Stevens
Lawrence Crane Stevens

Died March 5, 1960 in Springfield, Illinois

Little is remembered of the career of Albert David Stevens (known as "A.D." to his friends and colleagues), but there must certainly be a wealth of records that survive, judging from what is known about him by my father. A.D. was a partner in the law firm Stevens & Herndon along with one Gray Herndon, undoubtably a descendent of Archer Gray and Rebecca Day Herndon and therefore my mother's blood kin. Their offices were in the Illinois Building on the west side of the square in Springfield, a magnificent art deco edifice.

The A.D. Stevens home is still a very prominent house -- although no longer in the family -- on the north side of Washington Park, a large tudor style house standing across Williams street from the historic Yates Mansion, where a descendent A.D.'s law partner now resides, himself a prominent lawyer.

As his biographical sketch recounts, A.D. was a Springfield city attorney and served on the Board of Election Commissioners of Sangamon County. It is also known that he was a member of the Spaulding Commission which established Springfield's municipal power company and built Lake Springfield, securing inexpensive water and electricity that we enjoy to this day and expect to enjoy for many more generations.

A web search reveals a case in which Stevens & Herndon represented the interests of a community of farmers against a Railroad company that wanted to shut down a line that had served the community. In the history of The Toluca Marquette and Northern Railroad by Nancy Piper, we find:

Public Versus the Railroad

The people retained the law firm of Stevens & Herndon of Springfield and appointed representatives from each school district to try to raise funds and inform the public. According to the January 29, 1925 edition of the Henry News Republican Newspaper the following committee members were elected: Union School District- Doss King and Ray Eddingfield; West College School District - Walter Helper and Henry Shields; Center School District- Dan McKirgan; Clear Creek School District - Frank Kochler and Art Westerlund; Bobbit School District - Mark Kays and Fred Stansell; Union School District - Tony Glenn; Arnold School District - Dot Judd and Dewey Spear; French School District- Ralph French, Wilbur Mann and A. Capponi.

The Public Hearing is Scheduled

At10:00 AM, Friday, February 13, 1925, a public hearing was scheduled in the Hopkins Township high school at Granville for the commission to hear the plea of abandonment. The firm Newman, Poppenhousen, Stern and Johnston of Chicago appeared for the C&A railroad, while Stevens & Herndon of Springfield were hired by the Illinois Agricultural Association and the Marshall-Putnam Farm Bureau to represent the interest of the people. According to the February 12, 1925 edition of the Henry News Republican Newspaper, a “valiant effort” was made by the villages along the line to save the branch. Posters were put up that were signed by the Granville Merchant’s Association, the Greater Toluca Club and the Magnolia Commercial Club. The article stated that most of the people of the eastern part of Putnam county were expected to appear for the hearing and a special train would run for the hearing because of bad roads in the area. The train would leave Toluca at 8:30 AM and would “return in time for farmers to do their chores.”

February 13, 1925 - The Hearing

The February 19, 1925 edition of the Henry News Republican Newspaper stated that approximately 500 people from the surrounding area attended the hearing. Both sides had to present their case to Commissioner Clark of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who was gathering testimony to present to the Commission. Based on the information gathered at the meeting, the Commission would make a decision whether or not to allow the abandonment of the railroad.

The railroad’s law firm contended that the line “traversed waste country that was of little value agriculturally.” The people’s defense brought in F.E. Fuller, a farm advisor who testified that it passed through rich farm land. His testimony was based on “his intimate knowledge of agricultural pursuits through the territory served by this branch road”. Next the people’s defense had merchants from Granville show their freight bills, which amounted to $800 - $1,100 a year. They alleged the railroad had purposely neglected business “through failure to solicit, late shipments and poor service on perishables”. One merchant claimed that the railroad had taken five days to ship a car of potatoes from Granville to Streator. Another merchant claimed that if perishables arrived on Saturday afternoon, they were not available until Monday.
Magnolia, who had the most to lose, stated that before the railroad was built, there were no businesses in Magnolia. The village now had a saw mill, lumber yard, elevator and bank. A. Hecht testified that the annual income from the saw mill was $22,000. He alleged that this mill would close if the railroad was allowed to discontinue. The defense also contended that the elevator’s income would be seriously affected. It was the largest in Marshall or Putnam County, with a capacity of 70,000 bushels of grain. The owner of the elevator, H.E. Hutton testified that carloads of grain were billed out for a week before being moved. The people’s defense contended that this was evidence the C&A railroad was not trying to make the line pay.

After all the testimony from both sides, a final hearing was scheduled for 10:00 AM, Friday, February 27th at Toluca, Illinois. The Commission ruled in favor of the public and the railroad was not allowed to discontinue service.

C&A Wins Right to Abandon

The C&A railroad finally won the right to abandon the railroad. The railroad had continued to lose money. In July of 1926, only three passenger fares were sold in Magnolia. The Interstate Commerce Commission recommended on Monday evening, August 15, 1926, that the railroad, which was now the in hands of receivers, be allowed to discontinue operation of the RT&N railroad. The Commission granted the abandonment in February of 1927 and the railroad ceased operations on midnight April 23, 1927. The stock was immediately sold to John R. and Lura Cox.

Although Stevens & Herndon lost this case, it reveals the kind of lawyers they were.
Biographical sketch extracted from History of Illinois and Her People, Prof George W. Smith, American Historical Society, Inc 1927:

"Albert D. Stevens [known to his friends and associates as A.D. Stevens] is one of the representative members of the bar of Springfield, capitol city of Illinois, and he has served continuously since 1912 as legal advisor for the city government, besides which he has been a member of the Board of Election Commissioners of Sangamon County.

"Mr. Stevens claims the Hawkeye State as the place of his nativity, but on the maternal side is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Illinois. He was born on the 10th of September, 1875, at Onawa, Iowa, and is a son of Judge Henry A. and Laura (Southwick) Stevens, the former of whom was born at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada [Ed. note: Henry A. Stevens was born in Sheffield County (probably South Stuckely), Quebec. His father, John M. Stevens, was born at St. John], and the latter of whom was born and reared in Illinois, where their marriage was solemnized and where they continued to reside until their removal to Iowa. Mrs. Stevens was a daughter of William and Levica (Baxter) Southwick [Ed. note: Laura (Southwick) Stevens was a daugher of William and Louvicy (Proctor) Southwick], her father having been a native of Pennsylvania [Ed. note: conflicts with known facts], a birthright member of the Society of Friends [also not true], and having settled in Illinois about the year 1820 [Ed. note: 1818 is the correct year], as one of the sterling pioneers of Sangamon County. Judge Henry A. Stevens became a prominent member of the bar in Iowa, where also he served as Judge of the Probate Court, and he continued his residence in that state until his death [Ed. note: Henry A. Stevens and his family, according to other biographical sketches and verified by the Springfield, Illinois City Directories, returned to Springfield about 1875 or 1876 and lived his remaining life there, as a member of the Sangamon County bar and as Sangamon County Probate Judge - not in Iowa], which occurred in 1910, his wife having passed away in 1893. Of the three children the first born is Bertha, who resides in the city of Chicago; Albert D., of this review, was the next in order of birth and is the only son, and Laura, the youngest of the children, died in infancy.

"Albert D. Stevens is indebted to the public schools for his earlier educational discipline, and in 1899 he was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor [Ed. note: Albert D. Stevens is listed as a non-graduate in the Alumni Catalog, U of M, 1837-1921]. He passed the ensuing three years in professional work in the city of Chicago [Ed. note: conflicts with the birth of his eldest son, Thaddeus, at Joplin, Missouri, on April 25, 1901, and with Thaddeus' second-hand account that his father was unsuccessfully attempting to operate a brick-making business in Joplin at the time of his birth], and since that time has been engaged in active and successful General practice in Springfield, as one of the able and honored members of the bar of Sangamon County. His political allegiance is to the democratic party, he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and hs is a member of the Sangamo Club and the [Illini] County Club.

"At Frankfort, Michigan, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevens and Miss Bernice B. Crane, who was born and reard in that state and who is a daughter of Lawrence W. and Annetta (Rolinson) Crane, her father having long been a prominent figure in connection with the lumber industry in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have four children: Thaddeus, Elisie [Ed. note: Elsie according to David L. Stevens], Sibyl and Larry."