The J. W. Stevens papers contain correspondence (1849-1855) to J. W. Stevens, his account books (1836-1850), an orderly book for the Green Mountain Rangers of Morristown, Vermont (1830) which was later used as a farm account book, and a Stevens family genealogy compiled by George Willis Stevens (1933).

James Wellington Stevens was born in Middlebury, Vermont, on April 28, 1815. He was apprenticed to a man named Sweet and moved to Craftsbury, Vermont, in 1836. He was a cabinet-maker and photographer. He married Caroline Brickett Dustan in 1838. He died in Craftsbury on February 22, 1870.