19 Facts About Durham Stevens

Durham White Stevens was an American diplomat and later an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working for the Japanese colonial office in Korea, the Resident-General.

Durham Stevens was fatally shot by Korean-American activists Jang In-hwan and Jeon Myeong-un in one of the first acts of nationalist rebellion by pro-Korean activists in the United States.

Durham Stevens was born and grew up in Washington, DC He enrolled as an undergraduate at Ohio's Oberlin College, from which he graduated in 1871.

Durham Stevens, who had graduated from Oberlin like his son and had been involved in anti-slavery activities since the 1830s, a passion Bingham shared.

Durham Stevens enthusiastically accepted his new position, in part due to his fondness for learning new languages; he had previously studied Latin, Greek, French, and German.

Durham Stevens was initially one of only three staff members at the Legation.

In November 1883, Durham Stevens entered the service of the Japanese Government as English Secretary to the Imperial Legation at Washington, a position which he obtained thanks to the influence his former superior Bingham had with the Japanese government.

Durham Stevens served under Count Mutsu Munemitsu, then Minister at Washington; during that time, he assisted in the negotiation of the treaty with Mexico, which was the first treaty made by Japan fully recognizing her right to exercise all the sovereign powers of an independent state.

Durham Stevens travelled twice to Hawaii to represent Japanese interests there, once in 1901 and again in 1902.

Durham Stevens was decorated two more times by the Japanese government, the third time receiving the Second Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, and then in October 1904, the fourth time, being awarded the Grand Cross of the Sacred Treasure.

In November 1904, Durham Stevens was appointed as adviser to the Korean Foreign Office.

The Japanese government expected that Durham Stevens supported their efforts to block Korean emigration to Hawaii, but he was initially open to the idea.

Durham Stevens had several meetings with Swanzy in Tokyo in mid-1905 on the subject, but in the end, Swanzy's efforts were unsuccessful.

In early 1906, Durham Stevens made a bet with Kiuchi Jushiro, a Japanese official resident in Korea, about the length of time before Japan would annex Korea.

Durham Stevens returned to the United States in March 1908 to visit his family in Washington, DC, and vacation with his sisters at a cottage they owned in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Jang, who was seeking to assassinate Durham Stevens, saw the fight and then fired into the melee, striking Durham Stevens twice in the back; Jeon was shot in the confusion.

Durham Stevens's doctors, seeing signs of inflammation in his wounds, placed him under anesthesia and began to perform surgery at six that evening.

Durham Stevens never regained consciousness after that, and died shortly after 11 pm, with Japanese Consul Chozo Koike at his bedside.

Durham Stevens was buried in his hometown of Washington, DC, after a funeral service at St John's Episcopal Church; Secretary of State Elihu Root was among his pallbearers.