Joseph worked for the Santa Fe Railroad as an operator and station agent for 12 years. He then began preparing himself for the practice of medicine and hung out his shingle in the town of Sawyer, Pratt County, Kansas, in 1893. He then moved his practice to Bartlesville, Oklahoma (Indian Territory) in 1896. But he was not there long. With the establishment of Ringo, the inland town on the west bank of the Caney River, Dr Stevens and a young dentist from Coffeyville, Kansas erected a joint office in the new settlement. He then moved his house and family in nearby Oglesby, where he could serve the ails and sickness of a larger area. He was one of the first doctors in Ramona, Oklahoma (Indian Territory), along with Dr Wiiliam T Bank, Dr C K Tillison and Dr Lewer. He built house in Ramona "on the hill" but the family never moved there, Mrs Stevens preferred to live in her good home in Oglesby.
The Stevens family left Ramona in 1907, and Dr Steves established a practive with Dr Orange Staff in Drumright, Oklahoma. Thier offices were located on Main Street. He was affiliated with the Drumright Hospital.
Fact 1: He treated Jasper Cortes Purviance when the horse kicked him in the head.
Clara was appointed the first postmaster of Oglesby, Oklahoma (Indian Territory), November 13, 1900. She became the interim postmaster of Ramona on October 29, 1901, and served until November 27, 1901.