He was the son of John Stevens and Elizabeth Connoly, and a descendant of the Quakers who had initially settled both Dorchester and Talbot Counties.

[2] He was chosen to the Maryland House of Delegates from Talbot County in 1807 and served a number of non-consecutive terms until 1820.

His tenure is remembered for the enfranchisement of the Jews, the abolition of a religious test for Maryland office holders, the extension of the civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to State law, and the creation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

The governor also welcomed the Marquis de Lafayette to Maryland during his triumphal tour of the nation.

[1] He was succeeded as governor by Joseph Kent on January 9, 1826, and retired to his home on "Dividing Creek."