Bastard son of deceased scion of the Harkness family, Harry Stephen Harkness. He has been acknowledged by the current Harkness patriarch Edward S. Harkness, but only privately, and only through a small trust managed by his contemporary cousin, William Hale Harkness, for the purposes of discretion and propriety.
Stevie is a wounded veteran of the Great War, who served in the US Army, the 332nd Infantry Regiment, and earned the rank of Captain. He served briefly as an Allied Command liaison with the Italians, particularly the Alpini Arditi in Norhtern Italy, during the late Austro-Hungarian campaign.
After the war Stevie discovered his connection to the Harkness family among the papers of his mother, who died while he was serving abroad. It seems his grandfather, Lamon Harkness, discovered his father Harry Stephen Harkness' brief dalliance with a young secretary working for the family, Barbara Lynn Barrows. Lamon arrived at Brooklyn Hospital on the day Stevie was born, giving his mother a cashier's check for $1000 to support the child, on the condition she never contact Harry or the Harkness family again. When she became upset he fumbled for his wallet, fishing out another $127, then in his pocket for another $2, a pair of shiny new Morgan Silver Dollars. He mumbled about the child looking like his own younger brother, then stormed out.
Stevie searched out his family a few weeks later, jumping through numerous hoops to finally get a meeting with the patriarch of the Harkness line, his Great Uncle Edward. Edward reluctantly acknowledged Stevie was a Harkness, but vowed to ruin him if he tried to press his claim. He agreed to set up a small trust to help see to his needs, then put a nephew in charge of overseeing and accessing the funds, William "Bill" Hale Harkness, two years younger than Stevie. The pair are on good terms, share a few common interests, and on occasion meet for dinner and to discuss the news of the day.
