{{Short description|American politician (1858–1923)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Lawrence Vest Stephens | image = Lon Vest Stephens.JPG | caption = | alt = Lon Vest Stephens, with signature | office = Governor of Missouri | term_start = January 11, 1897 | term_end = January 14, 1901 | lieutenant1 = August Bolte | preceded1 = William J. Stone | succeeded1 = Alexander Monroe Dockery | office2 = State Treasurer of Missouri | term_start2 = 1890 | term_end2 = 1897 | governor2 = David R. Francis<br>William J. Stone | predecessor2 = Edward T. Noland | successor2 = Frank L. Pitts | party = Democratic | birth_date = {{birth date|1858|12|1}} | birth_place = Boonville, Missouri, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1923|1|10|1858|12|1}} | death_place = St. Louis, Missouri, US | spouse = Margaret Nelson | alma_mater = Washington and Lee University | profession = banker, newspaper publisher | order = 29th | order2 = 18th | nickname = Lon Stephens }}
'''Lawrence "Lon" Vest Stephens''' (December 1, 1858 – January 10, 1923) was an American politician, newspaper editor, and banker from Missouri.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lawrence Vest Stephens |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/lawrence-vest-stephens/ |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=National Governors Association|date=8 January 2017 }}</ref> He served as State Treasurer of Missouri from 1890 to 1897, and as the 29th Governor of Missouri from 1897 to 1901.<ref name=":0" />
==Early life== Stephens was born in Boonville, Missouri.<ref name=":0" /> He was the son of Martha (née Gibson) and Joseph Lafayette Stephens, an attorney, banker, and railroad builder.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Lawrence Vest Stephens |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/stephens.html |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=Political Graveyard}}</ref><ref name=":3">Conard, Howard Louis. [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044097946313?urlappend=%3Bseq=107%3Bownerid=27021597765561526-111 Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri: a Compendium of History And Biography for Ready Reference. Volume 6]. New York: Southern History Co., 1901. pp. 71-74.
</ref><ref name="NCAB" /> His father was also an unsuccessful candidate for governor.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=January 13, 1928 |title=Week in Missouri History |pages=6 |work=Savannah Reporter and Andrew County Democrat (Savannah, Missouri) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101878065/obituary-for-lawrence-vest-stephens-185/ |access-date=May 14, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
He attended Boonville public schools, followed by three years at Cooper Institute.<ref name="NCAB" /><ref name=":5" /> Next, he attended the Kemper Family School for three years.<ref name="NCAB">''"[https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopae12derbuoft/page/356/mode/2up?q=%22lon+stephens%22 Lon Vest Stephens]." The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'', Vol. XII, (1904), p. 309. via The Internet Archive</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Missouri State Past Treasurers - Lawrence Vest Stephens |url=https://www.treasurer.mo.gov/content/about-the-office/1lon-vest-stephens |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=www.treasurer.mo.gov |language=en}}</ref> While he was a student, his father taught him about banking and employed him as a bank messenger and teller.<ref name="NCAB" /><ref name=":3" /> He also took a course in telegraphy, leading to a job with Western Union in Boonville.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="NCAB" />
He enrolled in Washington and Lee University, becoming interested in finance and economics.<ref name=":3" /> While there, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall).<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gNxBAAAAIAAJ Catalogue of the Members of the Fraternity of Delta Psi]''. New York: Fraternity of Delta Psi, 1889 ''via'' Google Books</ref> He graduated with a law degree in 1877.<ref name=":0" />
After college, he traveled in Europe.<ref name=":3" />
== Career == After college in 1878, Stephens became a bookkeeper at the Central National Bank of Boonville, managed by his father.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> There, he rose to cashier, vice-president, and director.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1923 |title=Ex-Governor Lon V. Stephens |pages=21 |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1923/01/11/105840849.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |access-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref> In 1879, he became the owner and editor of the Boonsville ''Advertiser''.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=January 10, 1923 |title=Lon V. Stephens, Ex-Governor of Missouri, Dead |pages=1 |work=The St. Louis Star and Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101879394/stephens-pt-1/ |access-date=May 14, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In 1887, he became the receiver of the Fifth National Bank of St. Louis after it failed.<ref name=":2" /> He was also the financial agent of Cooper County and Morgan County.<ref name=":2" /> He increased his ownership of the Central National Bank, opened a bank in Bunceton, and was key in creating the Central Missouri Trust Company in Jefferson City.<ref name=":7" /> He also owned stockholder in the bank of Versailles and in various banks in St. Louis.<ref name=":7" />
He became aide-de-camp on the staffs of Governor John Marmaduke and Governor David R. Francis, eventually becoming paymaster-general.<ref name="NCAB" /><ref name=":8">"[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101880146/stephens-pt-2/ Lon V. Stephens, Ex-Governor of Missouri, Dead]". ''The St. Louis Star and Times''. January 10, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved May 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.</ref> On March 12, 1890, Governor Francis appointed Stephens as State Treasurer of Missouri, to fill the unexpired term of Edward T. Noland.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He was nominated for a full term by the Democratic State convention 1892, and won the general election.<ref name=":3" /> He remained in that office through 1897.<ref name=":0" />
While State Treasurer, he advocated for bimetallism, contributing money and time to promote the silver standard.<ref name=":3" /> Over the course of two years, he wrote a weekly column, "Silver Nuggets," for his Boonville ''Advertiser''—however, he stepped down as editor of the newspaper when he became State Treasurer.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7" /> These article were republished in a pamphlet and in Democratic newspapers by the Missouri Democratic central committee.<ref name=":3" />
After serving as governor, Stephens returned to his banking interests in Boonville, Jefferson City, and St. Louis.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> He retained the newspaper until several years before his death.<ref name=":7" />
thumb|Lawrence Stephens thumb|Margaret Nelson Stephens
==Governor== In 1896, Stephens was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Missouri by acclamation, the first time that Missouri Democrats had done so.<ref name=":3" /> He used his knowledge of newspapers to advance his campaign, and that of William Jennings Bryan who running for president at the same time.<ref name=":8" /> In the 1896 general election, Stephens won by a sizeable majority.<ref name=":3" />
As Governor, he supported funding for public schools and state universities.<ref name=":3" /> He also supported the expansion of insane asylums.<ref name=":3" /> He took on the state's prison system, turning it into a self-supporting institution and money-maker for the state.<ref name=":3" /> Other bills that he endorsed created a State Fair, a State Historical Society, and homes for Union and Confederate veterans.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> He also supported funding for the St. Louis World's Fair.<ref name=":5" />
Stephens was in favor of progressive taxation, increasing taxes on wealthy corporations in proportion to their value, and reducing the tax burden on farmers and small property holders.<ref name=":2" /> He also was strongly for anti-trust laws.<ref name=":3" />
One of his canvass speeches, "Why I am a Democrat," was published in newspapers across the country.<ref name="NCAB" /> While he was governor, he also continued to write articles for the Boonsville ''Advertiser'' through an anonymous column called "Sharps and Flats."<ref name=":8" /> Freed from his name, he shared his opinions of current political events.<ref name=":8" />
Stephens was also engaged in an ongoing military scandal with the Missouri National Guard due to the organization and failed reforms of the regiments within. One of his notable critics was Colonel Edwin Batdorf of the 1st Missouri who'd engage in debates with Stephens during the Spanish–American War. Batdorf would later file a dropped lawsuit in damages during Stephens' reorganization of the regiments which excluded Batdorf himself.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ämick|first=Jeremy P.|title=The battles of Batdorf - Career of late National Guard colonel characterized by political strife|url=https://www.missouriatwar.com/featured-article/the-battles-of-batdorf-career-of-late-national-guard-colonel-characterized-by-political-strife|website=Missouri at War|date=August 25, 2020|access-date=December 20, 2022|archive-date=December 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220173751/https://www.missouriatwar.com/featured-article/the-battles-of-batdorf-career-of-late-national-guard-colonel-characterized-by-political-strife|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== Stephens married Margaret Nelson of Booneville on October 5, 1880.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> She was the daughter of Margaret (née Wyan) and James M. Nelson, who was associated with the Central National Bank of Booneville and was one of the wealthiest residents of central Missouri.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="NCAB" /> The couple did not have children.<ref name=":2" /> In 1890, they moved to Jefferson City.<ref name=":3" /> Around 1893, they move into Ivy Terrace, a Queen Anne style house on 500 East Capital Avenue in Jefferson City.<ref name="nris" /> They lived there until he became governor in 1897.<ref name="nris" />
He was a Mason and a member of the Knights Templar.<ref name="NCAB" /> He was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.<ref name=":3" /> He was a donor to Central College in Fayette, Missouri which named the Stephens Scientific Hall in his honor.<ref name=":3" />
After he retired from politics, the couple moved to St. Louis and lived on Cabanne Avenue.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /> In his later years, he suffered from failing vision and poor health.<ref name=":5" /> Stephens died at his home in St. Louis in 1923 at the age of 64 from heart disease.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1923 |title=Stephens to be Buried Friday |pages=10 |work=The Springfield News-Leader (Springfield, Missouri) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101877828/obituary-for-lawrence-vest-stephens/ |access-date=May 14, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Boonville, Missouri with Masonic rituals.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />
Ivy Terrace, his former home, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Edward T. Noland}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for State Treasurer of Missouri|years=1892}} {{s-aft|after=Frank L. Pitts}} {{s-bef|before=William J. Stone}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Missouri|years=1896}} {{s-aft|after=Alexander Monroe Dockery}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=Edward T. Noland |title=State Treasurer of Missouri |after=Frank L. Pitts |years=1890–1897 }} {{succession box |before=William J. Stone |title=Governor of Missouri |after=Alexander Monroe Dockery |years=1897–1901 }} {{s-end}}
{{MOTreasurers}} {{Governors of Missouri}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Lon Vest}} Category:1858 births Category:1923 deaths Category:Democratic Party governors of Missouri Category:State treasurers of Missouri Category:Bankers from Missouri Category:Editors of Missouri newspapers Category:People from Boonville, Missouri Category:Kemper Military School alumni Category:Washington and Lee University alumni Category:St. Anthony Hall Category:Methodists from Missouri Category:American Freemasons Category:19th-century Missouri politicians Category:19th-century American newspaper people Category:19th-century Methodists