John Bradford Stevens, Jr. was born at Upper Factor Village in Dover on May 29, 1835 the son of John B. and Susan (Rowell) Stevens. His father was overseer of the spinning rooms at Cocheco Manufacturing Co. John, Jr. graduated from Dover High School in 1854 a member of the first class to graduate from the new school on Chestnut Street that was opened in 1851. He attended New Hampton Literary Institute and a commercial school in Boston.
He was elected as City Clerk for the city of Dover in 1864 and held that position for 30 years. He was also a Trustee of the Dover Public Library and served on the School Board and the Water Board. He served in the New Hampshire Legislature in 1862 and 1863.
On April 23, 1860 he married Lydia A. Hammond, the daughter of William and Mary (Kimball) Hammond of Dover. Lydia was born on Nov. 16, 1839 in New Durham, N.H. They had two sons: Col. Frank P. Stevens, a graduate of Yale and Herman Stevens, a graduate of Harvard, both of whom moved to the Boston Area.
Mr. Stevens was a member of the Northam Colonists Historical Society and presented many interesting papers to that organization based on historical research and his boyhood remembrances of Dover. He also wrote a column in the Somersworth Free Press called “Dover Inklings”. He lived at 159 Washington Street.
Mr. Stevens died March 1, 1927, just 10 days after the death of his wife Lydia, who died Feb. 20, 1927.
Photograph from Dover Public Library archives, text from Marston, Robert, Dover, NH: People, Businesses and Organizations: 1850 to 1950. Dover, NH, 2004.