The esteem in which hundreds held their friend, "G. A.," was furnished by the monster funeral cortege in connection with the interment Sunday, September 19, 1920, of the late George Asher Stevens, pioneer Adirondack hotel man, at Lake Placid, New York, whose death had occurred Friday, September 17, 1920. Two hundred automobiles, each laden with sorrowing friends, formed a funeral procession five miles in length as the remains were borne from Lake Placid across the hills and through beautiful Wilmington Notch to the last resting place beneath a giant pine in the cemetery at Au Sable Forks, New York, not far from the place where Mr. Stevens was born.
William C. Feathers of Troy, cashier of the Manufacturers National Bank, was one of the honorary bearers, the others being former State Senator James A. Emerson of Schroon Lake, Prof. John M. Hopkins, head of the Hopkins School for boys at Lake Placid, John Harding, proprietor of the Van Ness and Vermont Hotels, Burlington, Vermont, R. A. Gushee, proprietor of the Claremont Hotel, New York, and Al H. Rennie, manager of the Ten Eyck Hotel of Albany, New York. The active bearers were Walter C. Witherbee of Port
Henry, New York, Phelps Smith, president of the Paul Smith Hotel Company; William J. McConville, Brooklyn; Clarence Watson, cashier of the Bank of Lake Placid, and Albert Stickney and James Shea of Lake Placid.
Like "Uncle Paul" Smith, who in early years was his intimate friend and advisor, Mr. Stevens was a self-made man and an Adirondack hotel man of the old school. His start in Adirondack hotel life dates back to the days of Adirondack Murray when the great "playground of the people" of today was an almost tractless wilderness.
Born in Black Brook, New York, near Au Sable Forks, the son of Curtis B. Stevens, he came with his elder brother, the late John A. Stevens, to Lake Placid from Plattsburgh, New York, in the early spring of 1878. There they had been "traveling salesmen" for the Isham Carriage Works. They brought a load of provisions here and purchased the old Excelsior House on the site of the present Stevens House, owned by Joseph Nash. They changed the name to the Stevens House and started in the hotel business.
Lake Placid and vicinity then was little more than a beautiful wilderness. The village was assessible by but one or two wagon roads which were in wretched condition, the nearest rail station being Au Sable Forks, 25 miles distant.
The firm of J. A. and G. A. Stevens began business with very limited means but met with fair success until on Christmas, 1887, when the hotel was destroyed by fire. What the brothers lacked in money they made up in pluck, and on March 25, 1888, they began to rebuild. The hotel was again up and under cover and things looked rosy for the determined young men, when in a terrific wind storm, the nearly finished structure was blown to the ground on May 14th. Its second rebuilding stands as a record for speed in hotel construction for on July 4th the Stevens House, finally completed, was thrown open for the reception of guests. On the 10th of the month a "Raymond" excursion of 110 was entertained. On September 22nd the brothers were scouring the little village and its vicinity for rooms in cottages for guests who insisted upon coming in thru the wilderness as the fame of Lake Placid spread.
In later years the brothers received another setback when the newly erected annex was destroyed by fire one winter. That was also rebuilt and ready for use before the opening of business the following spring.
In April 1906 John A. Stevens, the elder brother, retired from the firm and the business was assumed by George A. Stevens who later organized and became president of the Stevens Hotel Co.
Mr. Stevens was a member of the executive committee of the New York Hotelman's Association and was chairman of the Adirondack Resorts association. He was president of the Bank of Lake Placid from the date of its incorporation until his death. He was prominently identified with the Board of Trade. In his capacity as a hotelman he became a friend of many men of prominence in political and financial circles. He fished and hunted with President Grover Cleveland when the latter vacationed in the Adirondacks and personally superintended arrangements for the entertainment of President William McKinley during his stay at the Stevens House. When Charles Evans Hughes as governor and later as United States Supreme Court member summered here, details of the entertainment of himself and family received the personal attention of Mr. Stevens.
Despite his intimate acquaintance and association with men high in political circles, Mr. Stevens did not himself aspire to office, the extent of his political service being two terms as member of assembly from this district, 1893 and 1894. He was a staunch Republican and a member of the Lake Placid Lodge F. & A. M.
William C. Feathers of Troy, cashier of the Manufacturers National Bank, was one of the honorary bearers, the others being former State Senator James A. Emerson of Schroon Lake, Prof. John M. Hopkins, head of the Hopkins School for boys at Lake Placid, John Harding, proprietor of the Van Ness and Vermont Hotels, Burlington, Vermont, R. A. Gushee, proprietor of the Claremont Hotel, New York, and Al H. Rennie, manager of the Ten Eyck Hotel of Albany, New York. The active bearers were Walter C. Witherbee of Port
Henry, New York, Phelps Smith, president of the Paul Smith Hotel Company; William J. McConville, Brooklyn; Clarence Watson, cashier of the Bank of Lake Placid, and Albert Stickney and James Shea of Lake Placid.
Like "Uncle Paul" Smith, who in early years was his intimate friend and advisor, Mr. Stevens was a self-made man and an Adirondack hotel man of the old school. His start in Adirondack hotel life dates back to the days of Adirondack Murray when the great "playground of the people" of today was an almost tractless wilderness.
Born in Black Brook, New York, near Au Sable Forks, the son of Curtis B. Stevens, he came with his elder brother, the late John A. Stevens, to Lake Placid from Plattsburgh, New York, in the early spring of 1878. There they had been "traveling salesmen" for the Isham Carriage Works. They brought a load of provisions here and purchased the old Excelsior House on the site of the present Stevens House, owned by Joseph Nash. They changed the name to the Stevens House and started in the hotel business.
Lake Placid and vicinity then was little more than a beautiful wilderness. The village was assessible by but one or two wagon roads which were in wretched condition, the nearest rail station being Au Sable Forks, 25 miles distant.
The firm of J. A. and G. A. Stevens began business with very limited means but met with fair success until on Christmas, 1887, when the hotel was destroyed by fire. What the brothers lacked in money they made up in pluck, and on March 25, 1888, they began to rebuild. The hotel was again up and under cover and things looked rosy for the determined young men, when in a terrific wind storm, the nearly finished structure was blown to the ground on May 14th. Its second rebuilding stands as a record for speed in hotel construction for on July 4th the Stevens House, finally completed, was thrown open for the reception of guests. On the 10th of the month a "Raymond" excursion of 110 was entertained. On September 22nd the brothers were scouring the little village and its vicinity for rooms in cottages for guests who insisted upon coming in thru the wilderness as the fame of Lake Placid spread.
In later years the brothers received another setback when the newly erected annex was destroyed by fire one winter. That was also rebuilt and ready for use before the opening of business the following spring.
In April 1906 John A. Stevens, the elder brother, retired from the firm and the business was assumed by George A. Stevens who later organized and became president of the Stevens Hotel Co.
Mr. Stevens was a member of the executive committee of the New York Hotelman's Association and was chairman of the Adirondack Resorts association. He was president of the Bank of Lake Placid from the date of its incorporation until his death. He was prominently identified with the Board of Trade. In his capacity as a hotelman he became a friend of many men of prominence in political and financial circles. He fished and hunted with President Grover Cleveland when the latter vacationed in the Adirondacks and personally superintended arrangements for the entertainment of President William McKinley during his stay at the Stevens House. When Charles Evans Hughes as governor and later as United States Supreme Court member summered here, details of the entertainment of himself and family received the personal attention of Mr. Stevens.
Despite his intimate acquaintance and association with men high in political circles, Mr. Stevens did not himself aspire to office, the extent of his political service being two terms as member of assembly from this district, 1893 and 1894. He was a staunch Republican and a member of the Lake Placid Lodge F. & A. M.
The esteem in which hundreds held their friend, "G. A.," was furnished by the monster funeral cortege in connection with the interment Sunday, September 19, 1920, of the late George Asher Stevens, pioneer Adirondack hotel man, at Lake Placid, New York, whose death had occurred Friday, September 17, 1920. Two hundred automobiles, each laden with sorrowing friends, formed a funeral procession five miles in length as the remains were borne from Lake Placid across the hills and through beautiful Wilmington Notch to the last resting place beneath a giant pine in the cemetery at Au Sable Forks, New York, not far from the place where Mr. Stevens was born.
William C. Feathers of Troy, cashier of the Manufacturers National Bank, was one of the honorary bearers, the others being former State Senator James A. Emerson of Schroon Lake, Prof. John M. Hopkins, head of the Hopkins School for boys at Lake Placid, John Harding, proprietor of the Van Ness and Vermont Hotels, Burlington, Vermont, R. A. Gushee, proprietor of the Claremont Hotel, New York, and Al H. Rennie, manager of the Ten Eyck Hotel of Albany, New York. The active bearers were Walter C. Witherbee of Port
Henry, New York, Phelps Smith, president of the Paul Smith Hotel Company; William J. McConville, Brooklyn; Clarence Watson, cashier of the Bank of Lake Placid, and Albert Stickney and James Shea of Lake Placid.
Like "Uncle Paul" Smith, who in early years was his intimate friend and advisor, Mr. Stevens was a self-made man and an Adirondack hotel man of the old school. His start in Adirondack hotel life dates back to the days of Adirondack Murray when the great "playground of the people" of today was an almost tractless wilderness.
Born in Black Brook, New York, near Au Sable Forks, the son of Curtis B. Stevens, he came with his elder brother, the late John A. Stevens, to Lake Placid from Plattsburgh, New York, in the early spring of 1878. There they had been "traveling salesmen" for the Isham Carriage Works. They brought a load of provisions here and purchased the old Excelsior House on the site of the present Stevens House, owned by Joseph Nash. They changed the name to the Stevens House and started in the hotel business.
Lake Placid and vicinity then was little more than a beautiful wilderness. The village was assessible by but one or two wagon roads which were in wretched condition, the nearest rail station being Au Sable Forks, 25 miles distant.
The firm of J. A. and G. A. Stevens began business with very limited means but met with fair success until on Christmas, 1887, when the hotel was destroyed by fire. What the brothers lacked in money they made up in pluck, and on March 25, 1888, they began to rebuild. The hotel was again up and under cover and things looked rosy for the determined young men, when in a terrific wind storm, the nearly finished structure was blown to the ground on May 14th. Its second rebuilding stands as a record for speed in hotel construction for on July 4th the Stevens House, finally completed, was thrown open for the reception of guests. On the 10th of the month a "Raymond" excursion of 110 was entertained. On September 22nd the brothers were scouring the little village and its vicinity for rooms in cottages for guests who insisted upon coming in thru the wilderness as the fame of Lake Placid spread.
In later years the brothers received another setback when the newly erected annex was destroyed by fire one winter. That was also rebuilt and ready for use before the opening of business the following spring.
In April 1906 John A. Stevens, the elder brother, retired from the firm and the business was assumed by George A. Stevens who later organized and became president of the Stevens Hotel Co.
Mr. Stevens was a member of the executive committee of the New York Hotelman's Association and was chairman of the Adirondack Resorts association. He was president of the Bank of Lake Placid from the date of its incorporation until his death. He was prominently identified with the Board of Trade. In his capacity as a hotelman he became a friend of many men of prominence in political and financial circles. He fished and hunted with President Grover Cleveland when the latter vacationed in the Adirondacks and personally superintended arrangements for the entertainment of President William McKinley during his stay at the Stevens House. When Charles Evans Hughes as governor and later as United States Supreme Court member summered here, details of the entertainment of himself and family received the personal attention of Mr. Stevens.
Despite his intimate acquaintance and association with men high in political circles, Mr. Stevens did not himself aspire to office, the extent of his political service being two terms as member of assembly from this district, 1893 and 1894. He was a staunch Republican and a member of the Lake Placid Lodge F. & A. M.
William C. Feathers of Troy, cashier of the Manufacturers National Bank, was one of the honorary bearers, the others being former State Senator James A. Emerson of Schroon Lake, Prof. John M. Hopkins, head of the Hopkins School for boys at Lake Placid, John Harding, proprietor of the Van Ness and Vermont Hotels, Burlington, Vermont, R. A. Gushee, proprietor of the Claremont Hotel, New York, and Al H. Rennie, manager of the Ten Eyck Hotel of Albany, New York. The active bearers were Walter C. Witherbee of Port
Henry, New York, Phelps Smith, president of the Paul Smith Hotel Company; William J. McConville, Brooklyn; Clarence Watson, cashier of the Bank of Lake Placid, and Albert Stickney and James Shea of Lake Placid.
Like "Uncle Paul" Smith, who in early years was his intimate friend and advisor, Mr. Stevens was a self-made man and an Adirondack hotel man of the old school. His start in Adirondack hotel life dates back to the days of Adirondack Murray when the great "playground of the people" of today was an almost tractless wilderness.
Born in Black Brook, New York, near Au Sable Forks, the son of Curtis B. Stevens, he came with his elder brother, the late John A. Stevens, to Lake Placid from Plattsburgh, New York, in the early spring of 1878. There they had been "traveling salesmen" for the Isham Carriage Works. They brought a load of provisions here and purchased the old Excelsior House on the site of the present Stevens House, owned by Joseph Nash. They changed the name to the Stevens House and started in the hotel business.
Lake Placid and vicinity then was little more than a beautiful wilderness. The village was assessible by but one or two wagon roads which were in wretched condition, the nearest rail station being Au Sable Forks, 25 miles distant.
The firm of J. A. and G. A. Stevens began business with very limited means but met with fair success until on Christmas, 1887, when the hotel was destroyed by fire. What the brothers lacked in money they made up in pluck, and on March 25, 1888, they began to rebuild. The hotel was again up and under cover and things looked rosy for the determined young men, when in a terrific wind storm, the nearly finished structure was blown to the ground on May 14th. Its second rebuilding stands as a record for speed in hotel construction for on July 4th the Stevens House, finally completed, was thrown open for the reception of guests. On the 10th of the month a "Raymond" excursion of 110 was entertained. On September 22nd the brothers were scouring the little village and its vicinity for rooms in cottages for guests who insisted upon coming in thru the wilderness as the fame of Lake Placid spread.
In later years the brothers received another setback when the newly erected annex was destroyed by fire one winter. That was also rebuilt and ready for use before the opening of business the following spring.
In April 1906 John A. Stevens, the elder brother, retired from the firm and the business was assumed by George A. Stevens who later organized and became president of the Stevens Hotel Co.
Mr. Stevens was a member of the executive committee of the New York Hotelman's Association and was chairman of the Adirondack Resorts association. He was president of the Bank of Lake Placid from the date of its incorporation until his death. He was prominently identified with the Board of Trade. In his capacity as a hotelman he became a friend of many men of prominence in political and financial circles. He fished and hunted with President Grover Cleveland when the latter vacationed in the Adirondacks and personally superintended arrangements for the entertainment of President William McKinley during his stay at the Stevens House. When Charles Evans Hughes as governor and later as United States Supreme Court member summered here, details of the entertainment of himself and family received the personal attention of Mr. Stevens.
Despite his intimate acquaintance and association with men high in political circles, Mr. Stevens did not himself aspire to office, the extent of his political service being two terms as member of assembly from this district, 1893 and 1894. He was a staunch Republican and a member of the Lake Placid Lodge F. & A. M.
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