{{Short description|American judge}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = {{birth date|1876|5|27}} | birth_place = Old Augusta, Mississippi, U.S. | death_date = {{dda|1951|11|7|1876|5|27}} | death_place = Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. | office = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi | term_start = May 27, 1915 | term_end = September 19, 1920 | party = Democratic Party | children = 7 }} '''John Morgan Stevens''' (May 27, 1876 – November 7, 1951) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1915 to 1920.

== Early life == John Morgan Stevens was born on May 27, 1876, in Old Augusta, Mississippi.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rowland |first=Dunbar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8sGAQAAIAAJ |title=The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi |date=1917 |publisher=Department of Archives and History |pages=535–536 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1951-11-08 |title=Stevens, John Morgan, Judge - Obituary 1951, part 1 |pages=1 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22258267/stevens-john-morgan-judge-obituary/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> He was the son of Benjamin Stevens, a Captain in the Confederate States Army, and Lorena Annette (Breland) Stevens.<ref name=":0" /> Stevens attended the public schools of Augusta, and then attended Millsaps College.<ref name=":0" /> He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a B. A. in 1898 as the valedictorian of his class.<ref name=":0" />

== Career == Stevens passed the Mississippi State Bar Examination, and then moved to Lexington, Mississippi, where he formed a law firm with L. M. Southworth.<ref name=":0" /> He moved to Hattiesburg in 1901, and formed a law partnership with his brother, H. Stuart Stevens.<ref name=":0" /> In 1912, Stevens was appointed to be the Chancellor of Mississippi's 8th District.<ref name=":0" /> After the Elective Judiciary Act was passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1914, Stevens was put into an election for that office, which he won.<ref name=":0" /> On May 27, 1915, Stevens was appointed to a full term to the Mississippi Supreme Court by Governor Earl Brewer.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Stevens resigned from the Court on September 19, 1920.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rowland |first=Dunbar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAo8AAAAMAAJ |title=History of Mississippi, the Heart of the South |date=1925 |publisher=S. J. Clarke publishing Company |pages=452 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> After leaving the Court, Stevens continued practicing law, joining the Wells, Stevens, and Jones law firm in Jackson, Mississippi.<ref name=":1" /> In 1929, Stevens was chosen to be a member of a committee to recodify all of Mississippi's laws.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1951-11-08 |title=Obituary for Judee Stevens |pages=14 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108583075/obituary-for-judee-stevens/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> In 1930, Stevens founded a law firm, known as Stevens and Stevens, with his son, John Morgan Stevens, Jr.<ref name=":1" /> After the younger Stevens' death in 1946, the firm became known as Stevens and Cannada.<ref name=":2" />

== Personal life and death == Stevens married Ethel Featherstun on June 7, 1905.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> They had seven children, named John Morgan Jr. ({{Birth based on age as of date|39|1946|7|26|noage=1}}- 1946),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1946-07-26 |title=Obituary for J. Morgan Stevens (Aged 39) |pages=1 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108583259/obituary-for-j-morgan-stevens-aged-39/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> Emily White (Stevens) McLachlan (1908-?),<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=MacLachlan, Emily S. (Emily Stevens), 1908- - Civil Rights Digital Library |url=https://crdl.usg.edu/people/maclachlan_emily_s_emily_stevens_1908 |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=crdl.usg.edu}}</ref> Joseph Johnston (1909-1911),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1911-05-08 |title=Obituary for Joseph Johnston Stevens |pages=5 |work=Hattiesburg Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60938600/obituary-for-joseph-johnston-stevens/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> Stuart Featherstun (died 1922),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1922-06-10 |title=Stuart Stevens |pages=3 |work=Jackson Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108583992/stuart-stevens/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> Ethelwyn Featherstun (Stevens) Hart (1915-2009),<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethelwyn F Hart in Social Security Death Index |url=https://www.fold3.com/record/93618007/ethelwyn-f-hart-social-security-death-index |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=Fold3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-05-10 |title=Obituary for Ethelwyn Hart (Aged 93) |pages=15 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108583673/obituary-for-ethelwyn-hart-aged-93/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref> Phineas Nicholas (1917-2016),<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-12-18 |title=Phineas Stevens Obituary |pages=A13 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108583503/phineas-stevens-obituary/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Schwarz |first=J. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI8jAQAAMAAJ |title=Who's who in Law |date=1937 |publisher=J.C. Schwarz |pages=896 |language=en}}</ref> and Francis Bigelow (1921-2008).<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-09-05 |title=Obituary for Francis B. Stevens, 1921-2008 (Aged 87) |pages=15 |work=Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73029377/obituary-for-francis-b-stevens/ |access-date=2022-08-30}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Stevens died on November 7, 1951, at 2 PM, at the Baptist Hospital in Jackson.<ref name=":1" />

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi |before=Richard F. Reed |after=William Henry Cook |years=1915–1920}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, J. Morgan}} Category:1876 births Category:1951 deaths Category:People from Hattiesburg, Mississippi Category:Lawyers from Jackson, Mississippi Category:Millsaps College alumni Category:University of Mississippi alumni Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi Category:Mississippi lawyers Category:Mississippi Democrats