Stevens was born Edmund Ray Stevens on June 20, 1869, in Lake County, Illinois. His family later moved to Janesville, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1895. As a young man, he was a prolific writer on the problems of government and pushing for progressive solutions. He also worked as a special correspondent for the Milwaukee Sentinel, making trips to Europe to report on the urban European perspective.
Career
From 1896 to 1903, Stevens and future U.S. Representative Burr W. Jones operated the law firm Jones & Stevens. Additionally, Stevens was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1900. In 1903, Stevens was appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge by Governor Robert M. La Follette. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1925 and served as a member until his death. During his time with the Supreme Court, he was also a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Stevens died at his home in the Nakoma neighborhood, in Madison, Wisconsin, on the morning of August 25, 1930. He suffered a brief illness that resulted in a heart attack.
Personal life and family
Stevens married Kate Sabin of Windsor, Wisconsin. Sabin was a leading Wisconsin educator; she graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1893, served as Dane County superintendent of schools, and was the first female Regent of the University of Wisconsin. She also worked as a high school teacher in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and taught at the Milwaukee-Downer College, where her sister, Ellen Clara Sabin was president. They had three children together, though one died young.
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (1900)
Wisconsin Assembly, Dane 1st District Election, 1900
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