[1] As a young man, he was living in Pontiac, Michigan when he was contacted by a group of Latter-day Saint missionaries, including Joseph Smith, who were on a return leg of a trip to Upper Canada.

He later relocated with the main body of Latter Day Saints to Missouri, then Nauvoo, Illinois, and finally Salt Lake City, Utah Territory in 1847.

Like most prominent Mormon leaders at the time, Stevenson practiced plural marriage, eventually marrying seven simultaneous wives, including two sets of sisters.

[3] Today it is the earliest surviving documentary source supporting the story of Smith having taught prior to 1836 that he had seen God and Jesus Christ as two separate beings in his First Vision.

[citation needed] A large collection of Stevenson's journals are available and have served as a significant historical resource.