miller, inventor, businessman, b. Llechryd, Cardiganshire, Wales. He migrated to Canada at an early age, and to the U.S. with his parents in 1850, settling in Fremont, Ohio. In 1854 the family moved to Wisconsin, settling in Neenah, and in 1859 Stevens began work in the flour mills. Rising rapidly in the milling trade, he formed a partnership with J. L. Clement in 1864, and the two operated the Falcon Flouring Mills at Neenah until Stevens sold his interest in 1881. In 1874 he developed the roller mill process of flour production, on which the main patent was issued in 1880, although five additional patents, both before and after that date, were required to secure ownership. Greatly increasing the output and quality of high-grade flour production, the process came into widespread use. Its ability to utilize the harder-grained spring wheat of the western plains and Canada was a factor in the shift of the wheat belt from the Lake States to the West. After selling his patent interests in 1893, Stevens retired from the milling business, and lived in Neenah until his death. Prot. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 1907 (1908); Neenah Daily News-Times, Aug. 6, 1920; J. Stevens Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the John Stevens Papers for details.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]