{{Short description|American businessman (1806–1889)}} {{Infobox person | name = James B. Stephens | image = James_B._Stephens,_cartes-de-visite,_circa_1870%27s_(cropped).jpg | caption = | birth_date = November 19, 1806 | birth_place = Brooke County, Virginia | death_date = {{death date and age|1889|3|22|1806|11|9|mf=y}} | death_place = Portland, Oregon | occupation = Businessman | spouse = Elizabeth Walker }} '''James B. Stephens''' (November 9, 1806 – March 22, 1889) was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon. A cooper by trade, he operated one of the first ferries across the Willamette River at what was East Portland, Oregon. His father was the first burial at Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery. A native of Virginia, he was the founder of East Portland and Stephens Street in Portland, Oregon is named in his honor.
==Early life== James Stephens was born on November 19, 1806, in Brooke County, Virginia (later West Virginia) to Emmor Stephens.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 234.</ref> When he was eight, his family moved to a farm in the Indiana Territory.<ref name=penpix>{{cite book |last=Hodgkin |first=F. E. |author2=J. J. Galvin |title=Pen Pictures of Representative Men of Oregon |publisher=Farmer and Dairyman Pub. House, Portland |year=1882 |page=121 }} </ref> He learned the cooper trade, and practiced for several years in Indiana and in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name=penpix/> James married Elizabeth Walker in 1830 while living in Kentucky.<ref name=Oregon/> They would have seven children, of whom they would outlive all but one.<ref name=penpix/> He established a farm and a grocery store<ref name=penpix/> before moving to the Oregon Country in 1844, where he settled near what is now Portland, Oregon.<ref name=Oregon/>
==Oregon== [[File:Elizabeth Stephens, 1889 lithograph (cropped).png|thumb|Elizabeth Stephens from Elwood Evans history (1889).]] He started a cooper shop in Oregon City and got his barrel-making stock from William Overton, one of the founders of Portland.<ref name=Minto>{{cite web |last=Minto |first=John |authorlink=John Minto (Oregon pioneer) |url=http://www.oregonpioneers.com/doc45.htm |title= Oregon in 1845 |publisher=oregonpioneers.com |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
Stephens refused Overton's offer to sell him his Portland land claim for 300 new salmon barrels because he planned to bid for another claim, which he secured in 1845 and on which East Portland was founded.<ref name=Minto/> East Portland was also known as Stephens' Addition.<ref name=penpix/> In 1846 he made 1000 flour barrels and 400 salmon barrels for the Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1847 he made 400 beef barrels for shipment to the Sandwich Islands.<ref name=penpix/>
In East Portland he operated the first ferry, located near the present location of the Morrison Bridge.<ref name=plaque>Sullivan, Ann. Four historical commemorative plaques to be replaced in Waterfront Park. ''The Oregonian'', March 9, 1989.</ref> It began operations in 1846, and was the first ferry in what became Multnomah County (it was part of Twality District at that time).<ref name=Oregon/> During the California Gold Rush, Stephens sold his land and headed south to the gold fields.
He returned in 1850 and purchased land in what is now Southeast Portland from John McLoughlin.<ref name=se>Barnett, Erin Hoover. Southeast Portland, revisited. ''The Oregonian'', May 27, 2007.</ref> Stephens laid out the town from the Willamette River to East First Street, and from Glisan Street to Hawthorne Street.<ref name=Oregon/> Dividing his land into town lots, which he offered to settlers on their own terms, Stephens was said to materially aiding the development of the east side of the river.<ref name=penpix/> The Stark Street Ferry across the Willamette River began operating in 1853.<ref name=se/> In 1855, he helped organize the Pacific Telegraph Company.<ref name=Oregon/>
Stephens expanded East Portland in 1861 and opened the East Portland Savings and Loan Bank.<ref name=Oregon/> In 1862, he donated the land for the construction of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane in East Portland.<ref name=se/> The bank, which was at First and Oak streets, closed in 1873.<ref name=Oregon/> Stephens operated a ferry across the Willamette River at Oregon City for 17 years.<ref name=People>{{cite web |url=http://www.armed-guard.com/pbtns.html |title=U.S. Navy Armed Guard: People Behind the Names |accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>
===Cemetery=== thumb|upright|Gravestone of James and Elizabeth Stephens James’ father Emmor died in 1846 and was buried on the family land in East Portland.<ref name=lonefir>Terry, John. Oregon’s Trails: Past luminaries at peace all across Oregon’s landscape. ''The Oregonian'', May 25, 2003.</ref> When Stephens sold the land to Colburn Barrell in 1854, he required Barrell to maintain the grave site. On April 8, 1854, Barrell's ship ''Gazelle'' exploded and killed his partner and several others, all buried next to Emmor Stephens.<ref name=lonefir/> Barrell then created Mt. Crawford Cemetery on {{convert|10|acre|m2}}, which became Lone Fir Cemetery after 1866 when {{convert|20|acre|m2}} more had been added to the grounds of the cemetery.<ref name=lonefir/> Stephens and his wife Elizabeth are buried at the cemetery.<ref name=plaque/>
==Legacy== James B. Stephens died on March 22, 1889, at the age of 82.<ref name=Oregon/> The liberty ship ''SS James B. Stephens'' was named for him. The National Register of Historic Places-listed James B. Stephens House is one of the oldest houses in Portland.<ref name=Houses>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cee5WVmIzy8C&pg=PA80 |title=Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon, 1850-1950 |author=William J. Hawkins, III and William F. Willingham|isbn=9780881924336 |year=1999 |publisher=Timber Press }}</ref> Stephens Street in Portland is named for him.<ref name=Oregon/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124808/https://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=0002137B-1688-1E6E-891B80B0527200A7 East Portland 1874] from Oregon Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, James B.}} Category:1806 births Category:1889 deaths Category:Oregon City, Oregon Category:Businesspeople from Brooke County, West Virginia Category:People from Oregon Country Category:People from Oregon Territory