The following letter from E.R.A. Seligman that recommended the appointment of three young economists to junior positions in Columbia College for 1912/13 was the starting point for this post. B. M. Anderson, Jr. and R. M. Haig were already well known to me. The third economist, W. S. Stevens, was completely new however, even though I have become reasonably familiar with the comings and goings of people who had taught economics at Columbia during the first half of the 20thcentury. And so I went to work to figure out the future career (with respect to this April 23, 1912 letter) of Mr. W.S. Stevens. My results are found below, following the letter and they present a teachable moment about the use of the subscription genealogical website ancestry.com in tracking down economists of yore. Incidentally many research and public libraries provide access to ancestry.com for their users. That site together with the digital archives of hathitrust.org and archive.org were used to follow this economist’s career.
What did I learn from this exercise? Well, a reprint of a single QJE article represented a dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania in 1912. Also the life of an itinerant scholar is a real challenge to reconstruct, but especially for those cases when the absorbing state turns out to be a job outside of academia. An obituary or a tip from a death certificate pointing to the last employment is extremely useful should you be able to find one.
Incidentally, for those with more of a genealogical interest in this economist: W. S. Stevens was married three times: to Edyth Josephine Frost (1911-1922, divorce; one child, Joseph Libby Stevens b. 1913, d. 2000); to Mary E. Laird (1923-?); and to Rachel Bretherton (?-1966, died in 1966).
_________________
Copy of Seligman letter recommending three instructional appointments to Columbia College
April 23, 1912
Mr. F. P. Keppell
Dean, Columbia College.
My dear Dean Keppel:-
I take pleasure in nominating herewith the following gentlemen for positions in the College:-
Dr. B. M. Anderson, Jr., [A.B., Missouri, 1906; A.M., Illinois, 1910; Ph.D., Columbia, 1911] instructor, reappointment.
W. S. Stevens, Colby College, A.B., 1905; George Washington University, A.M., 1909; Chicago University, Summer, 1910; Cornell University, 1910-11; Chicago University, Summer, 1911; University of Pennsylvania, 1911-12; Fellow in Economics and Political Science, George Washington University, 1908-1909; Fellow in Economics, Cornell, 1910-1911; Assistant in Economics, Pennsylvania, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics.
R. M. Haig, A.B., Ohio Wesleyan University, 1908; A.M., University of Illinois, 1909; Secretary and Research Assistant to the Dean of Graduate School, University of Illinois, 1909-11; Garth Fellow, Columbia, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics. (Will receive degree of Ph.D. this autumn).
If there is any further information that I can give you about these gentlemen, pray command me.
Faithfully yours,
SE-S
Source: Columbia University Archives. Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman Collection, Box 36, Folder “Box 98A, Columbia (A-Z) 1911-1913”.
_________________
William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
Publications
William Harrison Spring Stevens (University of Pennsylvania). The powder trust, 1872-1912. [cover: “Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1912. Reprint of QJE article].
William S. Stevens (William S. Stevens). The powder trust, 1872-1912. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 26, No. 3 (May, 1912), pp. 444-481.
W. S. Stevens (Columbia University). A group of trusts and combinations. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 26, No. 4 (August, 1912), pp. 593-643.
William S. Stevens (Ph.D. Columbia University), ed. Industrial combinations and trusts. New York: Macmillan, 1914.
William H. S. Stevens (Ph.D. Sometime Professor of Business Management in the Tulane University of Louisiana). Unfair Competition: A Study of Certain Practices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1917. [Dedication: “To Professor James C. Egbert of Columbia University with pleasant recollections of my experience in administrative work as his subordinate”]
_________________
William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
C.V.
Born April 15, 1885 [3, 4] in Eau Claire, Wisconsin [4]
Colby College, A.B., 1905 [1]
George Washington University, A.M., 1909 [1]
Chicago University, Summer, 1910 [1]
Cornell University, 1910-11 [1]
Chicago University, Summer, 1911 [1]
University of Pennsylvania, 1911-12 [1]
Fellow in Economics and Political Science, George Washington University, 1908-1909; [1]
Fellow in Economics, Cornell, 1910-1911 [1]
Assistant in Economics, Pennsylvania, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics. [1]
University of Pennsylvania. Ph.D., 1912 [2]
Instr. in econ., Columbia Univ., 1912-15 [2]
Prof. bus. management, Tulane Univ. of La., 1915-16 [2]
Special expert, Federal Trade Commission, 1917 [2]
Assistant chief economist, Federal Trade Commission [3]
Economist at Interstate Commerce Commission, 1942 [4]
Last occupation. “Dr. of Econ., Fed Government” [5]
Died September 14, 1972 in Alexandria Virginia [5]
Sources:
[1] Seligman letter (above) April 23, 1912
[2] General Alumni Catalogue, University of Pennsylvania, 1917, p. 474.
[3] World War I, Draft Registration Card. September 12, 1918.
[4] World War II, Draft Registration Card, April 27, 1942
[5] Death Certificate, State of Virginia September 20, 1972
_________________
William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
Fun Fact: Son of the American Revolution
“John Boyes, my great grandfather, enlisted in April 1777 in the 6thCompany, 3d N.H. regiment; Daniel Livermore Capt., Alex Scammell Col. He served three years, participated in battles of Hubbardstown, Stillwater, first and second Monmouth and was in Gen. Sullivan’s expedition against the six Indian Nations (Iroquois). He was wounded in the arm at Stillwater and later was captured and transported to Limerick, Ireland, and thence to Mill Prison in England where he was confined for one year. He was honorably discharged after three years service, on April 6, 1790.”
Source: Application by William H. S. Stevens (September 24, 1962) for Membership in the Virginia Society of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution. as great-grandson of John Boyes (27 September 1760 in Boston, died 2 May 1833 in Madison Maine).
Image Source: William H. S. Stevens class portrait from the his college yearbook, Colby Oracle, 1906.