Rufus Stephenson was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 newspaper editor and political figure. He represented Kent

Kent (Ontario electoral district)

Kent was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904, 1917 to 1968, and 1979 to 1997. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as a Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 member from 1867 to 1882.

He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

 in 1835, the son of Eli Stephenson and Chloe Chapin. He was educated at the Grantham Academy in St. Catharines, Ontario

St. Catharines, Ontario

St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...

. Stephenson worked as a printer in St. Catharines and came to Chatham

Chatham, Ontario

Chatham is the largest community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Formerly serving as the seat of Kent County, the governments of the former city of Chatham, the county of Kent, and its townships were merged into one entity known as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in 1998.Located on...

 around 1850. With Charles Stuart, he took over the ownership of the Western Planet, later the Chatham Planet, which he managed until 1878. He was elected to the town council in 1861, served as reeve in 1863 and mayor in 1865-1866. He served as government whip

Chief Government Whip (Canada)

In Canada the Party Whip is the member of a political party in the Canadian House of Commons, the Canadian Senate or a provincial legislature charged with ensuring party discipline among members of the caucus...

 from 1878 to 1882. After he retired from federal politics, he served as customs collector at Chatham until his death in 1901. Stephenson was a member of the Freemasons.

In 1854, he married Georgianna Emma Andrew.