[1] Stevens moved to Texas in the early 1840s, where he began working as a clerk in a store.
Meanwhile, he opened his own mercantile store and amassed enough wealth to invest in emerging transportation companies.
Most notably, he was a founding subscriber to the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway, the first railroad to operate in Texas.
During his tenure, he obtained a charter from the State of Texas on behalf of the City of Houston to run a railroad to tap into the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway at Pierce Junction.
[2] Harold Platt included Stevens on his list of Houston antebellum "commercial-civic elites.