Editing Isaac Stevens (section)

==Early life and education==
Stevens was born in [[North Andover, Massachusetts]], to Isaac Stevens and Hannah Stevens (née Cummings), a descendant of early [[Puritan]] settlers from a gentry family that had produced several distinguished members of the clergy and military.{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}} He was a cousin of brothers [[Moses Tyler Stevens]] and [[Charles A. Stevens|Charles Abbot Stevens]].{{sfnp|Bioguide, ''Stevens, Charles A.''}}{{sfnp|Bioguide, ''STEVENS, Isaac I.''}} As a young man, he was noted for his intelligence, particularly his mathematical acuity.{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}}{{sfnp|HL, Stevens, Isaac Ingalls (1818–1862)}} His diminutive stature – in adulthood he stood {{convert|5|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} tall – has been attributed to a possible congenital gland malfunction.{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}}

Stevens resented his father, described by historian Kent Richards as a "stern taskmaster", whose unrelenting demands on his son pushed the young man to his breaking point. While working on the family farm, Stevens once nearly died of [[sunstroke]].{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}} After Stevens' mother died in a carriage accident, his widowed father married a woman whom Stevens disliked. According to Stevens, he came close to suffering a mental breakdown in his youth.{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}}

Stevens graduated from the male prep school [[Phillips Academy]] in 1833 and was accepted to the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point. He graduated in 1839 at the top of his class.{{sfnp|Richards|1972|pp=81–86}}