Captain
Frank L. Stevens was born on October 28, 1864.
He was the son of Marcia and Samuel S. Stevens, one of the founders of
the Stevens and Thompson Paper Companies of Walloomsac, North Hoosick and
Greenwich. He attended Peekskill Military Academy and graduated from Worcester
Polytechnic Institute in 1884, as a
mechanical engineer and practical machinist.
He
went to work in his fathers mill and learned the business from Athe ground up.@ He became President of the firm in 1913 and remained in this
position until 1935 when he was made Chairman of the Board. He was one of the organizers of the Noble
and Wood Machine Company. He was
President of this company at his death on May 19, 1941.
Mr.
Stevens was active in local Republican politics. In 1890, he was appointed
the Postmaster of North Hoosick. In
1904, he was elected a State
Assemblymen for one term. In 1884, he
was a charter member of the old 32nd Separate Company of the New
York National Guard which was the first unit in the local Armory. He became a First Lieutenant in 1885 and
promoted to Captain in 1893. Captain
Stevens retired from the Guard in 1901 after seeing service in the Spanish
American War. He was referred to as ACaptain Frank@ until his death.
He
was involved in banking. Locally he was
a Director of the old First National Bank.
After the death of Ira J. Wood, President of this bank, Captain Stevens
acted as head until it consolidated with Peoples National Bank. For several years he was a Director of the
Federal Reserve Bank, Second District.
Mr.
Stevens was an excellent story teller and with his interest in history he
became very active in history groups.
He was a member of the Rensselaer County Historical Society and
President of the Hoosick Falls Historical Society. He was an authority on the early history of Rensselaer County
and the Revolutionary War, especially the Burgoyne campaign. He owned many
pieces of memorabilia of this whole era.
In the 1920s, he started a
campaign to gain State recognition for the Bennington Battlefield in
Walloomsac, New York. Through his long
and arduous campaign, the Bennington Battlefield was built and recognized by
the State. The Battlefield was
dedicated on August 16, 1927 with Alfred E. Smith the Governor of New York
State the Principal Speaker. Captain
Stevens was appointed President of the Bennington Battlefield Park Commission.
Mr.
Stevens was a Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, the Mary McClellan
Hospital and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
He belonged to the Sons of the Revolution and was a thirty-second Degree
Mason. The Bennington Battlefield is there because of Captain Frank Stevens.