Researching James Stevenson

On March 14, 2007, Stevenson was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series" for his role on Passions. He lost to Bryton McClure as Devon Hamilton. Stevenson has since left the series; his last airdate on Passions was July 23, 2007.

Stevenson dated Days of Our Lives star Nadia Bjorlin, who appeared with him on the series Sex, Love & Secrets. He grew up on a horse farm in Tolland, Connecticut.

He was born in County Fermanagh, the son of William Stevenson and Mary Rowe, and went to Port Hope, Upper Canada with his parents in 1840. Stevenson came to Peterborough in 1843, where he found work as a clerk for a stove and tinware business, later becoming manager and finally purchasing the business. In 1858, he married Emma Appleton. In 1873, he sold the business and became involved in the trade in wool, grain and farm produce. Stevenson was a member of the council for Peterborough town and Peterborough County, also serving as mayor of Peterborough for six years. He was chairman of the school board, chairman of the Town Trust and a justice of the peace. Stevenson was also president of the Peterborough Gas Company and a director of the Port Hope Midland Railway.

Stevenson's wife was the American ethnologist Matilda Coxe Stevenson (1849-1915, m. 1872). She helped James prepare reports, analyses, and catalogs of the collection that were later published in the Bureau of Ethnology Annual Reports, as James disliked writing reports and was described as lacking the creative mind and discipline needed for writing. Together, the Stevensons formed the first husband-wife team in anthropology.

James Stevenson died due to Rocky Mountain fever. At the time of his death, the couple had been preparing an ethnography of the Zia people of New Mexico.

Some accounts report Stevenson asked to buy the Zia tribe's sacred pot, which was decorated the tribe's Zia symbol, which the tribe declined. The ceremonial pot then disappeared and reappeared in a museum collection. Stevenson's own book, now out of print, apparently referenced the theft. Leslie A. White wrote a book, Zia: The Sun Symbol Pueblo, which also documented the theft of the pottery.