Scope and Contents note
The Hazard Stevens Papers contain correspondence, documents, diaries and ephemera related to Stevens’ life and work in the Washington Territory and New England. Also included are papers relating to his father, Isaac I. Stevens, who was a Major General and Governor of Washington Territory, and papers concerning Stevens family history and genealogy extending back to the late 17th century. A large number of correspondences are found in files and letterbooks and a large assortment of ephemera is contained within the numerous scrapbooks. Among the papers are manuscripts by Hazard Stevens, including those for his book The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens. Prominent topics such as Internal Revenue files, railroad matters, Indian treaties, Isaac Stevens and family history are organized in individual series. The information contained herein could be of great value to researchers studying business and finance in the Washington Territory, American military history and late 19th century politics.
The photographs in the collection consists of 64 photographic prints, an engraving and a drawing, and are arranged by size. The bulk consists of portraits of associates, friends and family members, and family properties including the Newport house. Images 43-53 depict cadet life at the Naval Academy at Annapolis c. 1890s, although their connection to Stevens is undetermined. Images 55-60 show Civil War officers in camp. Images 29-30 and 61-66 show the Mazamas and another hiking group. Images 33-37 are a series of Northwest landscapes by A.C. Warner, many taken during John Muir's 1888 ascent of Mt. Rainier.
Dates
- 1885-1913
Creator
- Stevens, Hazard, 1842-1918 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use note
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical/Historical note
Hazard Stevens was born in Newport, Rhode Island on June 9, 1842. His great-grandfather was Colonel Daniel Lyman, who served in the Revolutionary War, and his father was Major General Isaac I. Stevens, who was governor of the Washington Territory.
Stevens attended Chauncy Hall School in Boston, and served as a volunteer in the Indian War from 1855-1856. He enrolled in Harvard College in 1860, but left at age nineteen to join the army during the Civil War. After his appointment to Captain and Assistant Adjutant General of the first brigade on October 19, 1861, he served under the command of his father. He fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg and served in the Battle of Fort Hunger, for which he received the Medal of Honor.
After the war he traveled to the Washington Territory, where he worked for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in Wallula. In May, 1868 Stevens moved to Olympia to work as an Internal Revenue collector for the Washington Territory. While in Olympia, he studied law and became a lawyer. Stevens worked as an attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company beginning in 1870, during which time he helped stop timber stealing on public land and organized a successful effort to bring the railroad to Olympia.
Stevens also climbed Mt. Rainier with P.B. Van Trump, which is the first documented account of explorers reaching the top. He wrote about the climb for the November 1876 issue of the Atlantic monthly. In 1874 he was appointed by the President to investigate British land claims on San Juan Archipelago.
Stevens built a home in Mount Bowdoin, Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1880 and was elected to the House General Court. He helped reform the city charter and worked on a tax limitation bill. In addition, Stevens was a founder of the Massachusetts Reform League. In 1901 he published a book about his father, The life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens.
In recognition of this and his life's achievements, he was given an honorary MA degree by Harvard College. In 1908 Stevens ran as a congressional candidate but was not elected. He helped found the Mount Bowdoin Library. Stevens died in 1918.
Extent
21.75 linear feet (39 containers) : 13 boxes, 11 oversize folders, 15 volumes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Hazard Stevens was born in Rhode Island in 1842 and educated in New England. His father, Major General Isaac I. Stevens was governor of the Washington Territory. Hazard served in the Indian war from 1855-1856 and later in the Civil War. Thereafter, he moved to Washington territory where he worked for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, then as Internal Revenue collector form the Territory and eventually became a lawyer and worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Stevens, along with P. B. Van Trump, climbed what would later be named Mt. Rainier in the first recorded ascent to the summit. By the 1880s Stevens returned to the east coast, building a home in Dorchester Massachusetts. He became active in regional politics, including an unsuccessful run for congress. This collection contains correspondence, documents, diaries and ephemera related to Stevens life, professional pursuits and business matters. It also contains considerable information dealing with the life of his father and the history of his family, reaching back to the 19th century.
Arrangement note
Collection is organized into the following series: Diaries and Record Books; Correspondence Files; Railroad Files; Publications Essays and Address Files; Legal and Miscellaneous Document Files; Hazard Stevens Family File; Indian Treaty Files; Scrapbooks; and Photographs.
Physical Description
13 boxes, 11 flat files, 6 volumes, 9 scrapbooks
Processing Information note
Collection processed by staff.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Diaries Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Indians of North America--Treaties Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Lawyers--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Manuscripts for publication Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Northern Pacific Railroad Company
- Photographs Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Stevens, Hazard, 1842-1918
- Stevens, Isaac Ingalls, 1818-1862
- Tax collection--Washington (State) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Transportation Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Washington (State) Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Title
- Guide to the Hazard Stevens papers Ax 042
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Erick Arenas
- Date
- 2004
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
