The Stevens family was an American family of inventors and railroad engineers. John Stevens (1749–1838) made many contributions to steamboat development, including the first with a screw propeller (1802) and the first seagoing steamboat (Phoenix, 1809). He also built (1825) the first US steam locomotive. His son Robert Livingston Stevens (1787–1856) assisted his father, and invented the inverted-T rail still used in modern railroads (1830) as well as the technique of fastening them to wooden sleepers. Edwin Augustus Stevens (1795–1868), another son, also made contributions to railroad technology.