Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Stephens, John Lloyd

STEPHENS, John Lloyd, traveller, b. in Shrewsbury, Monmouth co., N. J., 28 Nov., 1805; d. in New York city, 10 Oct., 1852. He was graduated at Columbia in 1822, and, after studying law at Litchfleld, Conn., and New York, was called to the bar. He practised his profession during eight years in the latter city, at the same time figuring occasionally as a public speaker at meetings of the Democratic party, of which he was a warm supporter. His health becoming impaired, he undertook a journey to Europe for recuperation in 1834, and extended his travels to some parts of Asia and Africa along the Mediterranean. He wrote a series of letters describing his journey, which appeared in Hoffman's "American Monthly Magazine." When he returned to New York in 1836 he found that these letters had been the most popular feature in the periodical. This fact induced him to give a more detailed account of his travels, and he published " Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraja, and the Holy Land" (2 vols.. New York. 1837). This was followed by "Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland" (1838). These works achieved success in England as well as in the United States, and repeated editions of them appeared in London. In 1839 he was sent by President Van Buren to negotiate a treaty with the government of Central America; but the confederation was falling to pieces when he arrived there and he did not succeed in the object of his mission. He resolved, however, to explore the country to which he had been accredited. Accompanied by an English artist, Frederick Catherwood, he made himself familiar with the most important cities of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala, and was the first to irive nn accurate account of the antiquities of Central America, He published after his return to New York "Incidents of Travel in Central America. Chiapas, and Yucatan" (2 vols., 1841). It contained graphic accounts of the social and political condition of Central America, but its chief title to the celebrity that it at once attained was its revelation of a new and rich field for archaeological research. The illustrations, taken on the spot by Mr. Catherwood, added to the interest of the work. He returned to Central America, making Yucatan the principal scene of his next investigations, which were carried on in a more thorough manner. The fruits of his labors appeared in his "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," with 120 engravings from drawings by Frederick Catherwood (2 vols., 1843). He was^elected delegate to the New York constitutional convention in 1846, and he also took an active part in organizing the first line of ocean steamships between New York and Bremen. He went to the latter city on board the "Washington" as an officer in the company and paid a visit to Baron Humboldt. In 1849 he became a member of the company that was formed for building a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, and the rest of his life was devoted to the prosecution of this enterprise. He was successively vice-president and president of the company and negotiated with the government of New Granada, and the constant and personal supervision that he gave to the work planted the seeds of the disease of which he died. A monument to him has been erected on the highest point overlooking the railroad.