Early Life and Career
Stevens grew up in Washington, D.C. He enrolled as an undergraduate at Ohio's Oberlin College, from which he graduated in 1871; he then returned to his hometown to study law at Columbian University and Howard University, and was admitted to the bar association of the District of Columbia in 1873. His career with the Department of State began in October of that same year, when President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him secretary of the United States Legation at Tokyo, where he served under then-United States minister to Japan John Bingham. He enthusiastically accepted his new position, in part due to his fondness for learning new languages; he had previously studied Latin, Greek, French, and German. He was initially one of only three staff members at the Legation. He served as secretary until July 1883, and also took up the post of Charge d'Affairs ad interim in 1878–79, while Bingham was on home leave. After resigning his post, he returned to the United States.
Read more about this topic: Durham Stevens
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