[1] He was the second son of Benjamin Stephens, a successful New Jersey merchant, and Clemence Lloyd, daughter of an eminent local judge.

He was recommended for the post of Minister to the Netherlands in 1837, but President Martin Van Buren nominated Harmanus Bleecker, who served until 1842.

Stephens read with interest early accounts of ruined cities of Mesoamerica by such writers and explorers as Alexander von Humboldt and Juan Galindo.

Stephens and his traveling companion, architect, and draftsman Frederick Catherwood first came across Maya ruins at Copán, having landed in British Honduras (now Belize).

Stephens was able to buy the city of Copan for a sum of $50 and had dreams of floating it down the river and into museums in the United States.

According to Stephens's book about the trip, they visited a total of 44 Mayan sites such as Chichen Itza, Izamal, Kabah, the gateway at Labná, Mayapan, Sayil, Tulum, Uxmal, and Xtampak.

[5] Catherwood's drawings and lithographs showed, without question, the Maya to have been the authors of some of the most artistic and intellectual works of pre-Columbian America.

Besides large constructions, they produced works of artistic refinement such as stone and plaster sculptures, frescoes, painted pottery, and bas-reliefs in wood.

Stephens is the subject of the following works: Maya Explorer by Victor Wolfgang von Hagen, first published in 1947, and Jungle of Stone by William Carlsen (2016).