In his spare time as a cashier and at night in the office of attorney and judge Marvin Ellis Blackburn he began studying law, with specific focus on the history of law.

Stevenson's interests were not limited to banking. The Stevensons had their first child, a son named Coke Jr., in 1913 and on the same day purchased the first tract of what would become the Stevenson Ranch on the South Llano River. Because Stevenson could not afford to construct a home for the newlywed couple, he bought two abandoned houses and demolished them, using the materials from the houses to build a new home of his own during evenings after his work at the bank. They were married on Christmas Eve, 1912. While cashier, Stevenson began courting the youngest daughter of Junction's town physician, Fay Wright. Stevenson was promoted to cashier at age twenty, so he had to be legally declared an adult in order to accept. Stevenson worked as the bank's janitor until he had the opportunity to fill in for the bookkeeper during an illness, and his capable performance resulted in promotion to the bookkeeper's position.

Hoping for an opportunity to prove himself and move up in the bank later, Stevenson accepted the position and sold his freight and hauling business. When Stevenson learned about the opening of the First State Bank in Junction, he applied for a bookkeeping job but was passed over and instead offered a position as a janitor. On these trips he studied bookkeeping correspondence courses, history and government by the light of his nighttime campfires as part of a plan to begin a business or banking career. Īs a teenager, Stevenson went into business hauling freight with a six-horse wagon on a seventy-five mile trip between Junction and Brady, a trip that took a week to complete. Stevenson's father, Robert Milton Stevenson, was a surveyor and school teacher who later opened a mercantile store in Junction. Stevenson's parents would go on to name each of their four sons after a prominent Methodist bishop. Although some works submit that Stevenson was named after former Texas Governor Richard Coke, he was in fact named after Methodist Bishop Thomas Coke. Stevenson was born in a log cabin in Mason County, to Robert Milton and Virginia Hurley Stevenson. In 1966, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark marker number 5118, honoring Stevenson, was placed on the Kimble County Courthouse grounds in Junction, Texas. He was the first Texan politician to hold its three highest offices ( Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, lieutenant governor, and governor), as well as the only one to do so in the 20th century.

Stevenson Memorial Center meeting hall is located off Interstate 10 in Junction, Texas.Ĭoke Robert Stevenson (Ma– June 28, 1975) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Texas from 1941 to 1947.

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