Byam K. Stevens

Byam Kerby Stevens Jr. (January 5, 1836 – December 12, 1911) was an American banker who was prominent member of New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Stevens was born on January 5, 1836, in New York City. He was the son of banker Byam Kerby Stevens (1792–1870) and Frances (née Gallatin) Stevens (1803–1877). His father inherited Stevens House, the historic home of his grandfather, Maj. Gen. Ebenezer Stevens. Among his siblings were brothers and fellow bankers Frederic W. Stevens and Alexander Henry Stevens. His paternal grandfather was Albert Gallatin, the 4th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France. His maternal grandparents were Major General Ebenezer Stevens and Lucretia (née Ledyard) Sands Stevens. From his grandmother's first marriage to Richardson Sands (younger brother of Joshua and Comfort Sands), she was the grandmother of fellow banker Samuel Stevens Sands. Among his many prominent relatives were uncles John Austin Stevens, a banker with his father, and Alexander Hodgdon Stevens, a surgeon. Among his first cousins were John Austin Stevens, founder of the Sons of the Revolution, and Lucretia Stevens (née Rhinelander) Jones, the mother of author Edith Wharton. Career Stevens started working in the merchant business importing sugar from Cuba to New York. He later became a member of the Gold Board of New York, formed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War, the forerunner to the New York Stock Exchange, where he was an active figure holding a seat until his retirement from the exchange in 1883. After 1883, he invested his wealth in real estate, particularly with buildings downtown.