[1] He attended Phillips Academy and entered Dartmouth College in 1861, but left school to join in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Stevens served in the Department of the Gulf under Nathaniel P. Banks and was present at the Siege of Port Hudson.
In 1880 he was appointed district attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts by Governor John Davis Long.
[8] In 1898, Stevens was appointed guardian for John Frank Weeks, a wealthy New Hampshire-native whose financial eccentricities resulted in the creation of a spendthrift trust.
[9] A legal battle ensued which decided Stevens did not have to power to prevent Weeks from marrying or living wherever he wanted.