Uriah Smith Stephens,(1821-82), born near Cape May, N.J., trained for the Baptist ministry, apprenticed as a tailor, and taught school in New Jersey before moving to Philadelphia in 1845. He worked there as a tailor until 1853 when he embarked on travels through the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and California.

Returning to Philadelphia in 1858, he became a member of the Garment Cutters' Association in 1863 and, after its dissolution in 1869, joined with several cutters to launch the Knights of Labor. He became the first master workman of KOL District Assembly 1 in 1873 and the first grand master workman of the KOL in 1878. In 1878 he ran unsuccessfully for Congress on the Greenback ticket. Stephens resigned his KOL post in 1879.