Lemuel Stevens

Character Key Number: 
211
Display Name: 
Lemuel Stevens
Sort Name: 
Stevens, Lemuel
Parent Character Key: 
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

Lemuel Stevens - usually Judge Stevens, but "Captain Stevens" in "Tomorrow" (96) - is the father of Gavin, and probably, although scholars disagree about this, the son of another man named Judge Stevens. He appears or is mentioned in 7 different texts. We see him in his role as a judge, but the military title is confusing, since there is no evidence that any of the Stevens family serve in either the U.S. or the Confederate armies. More important than the man is his law office on the Square in Jefferson, where Gavin in turn practices law and which is a frequent setting for events in the later fictions.