John Wesley Stewart

This article is about the 19th century Wisconsin state senator and Chicago politician. For others with a similar name, see John Stewart.

John W. Stewart
Portrait from Chicago Tribune obituary
Chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
In office December 1, 1879 – December 1, 1880
Preceded by	Henry Senne
Succeeded by	D. B. Purington
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 24th district
In office January 2, 1860 – January 6, 1862
Preceded by	John Holden Warren
Succeeded by	Edmund A. West
Member of the House of Representatives of the Wisconsin Territory for Dane, Green, and Sauk counties
In office January 4, 1847 – May 29, 1848 Serving with Charles Lum (1847), William W. Wheeler (1847), Elisha T. Gardner (1847–1848), & Alexander Botkin (1847–1848)
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1822-06-01)June 1, 1822 Vincennes, Indiana, U.S.
Died	September 7, 1899(1899-09-07) (aged 77) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Cause of death	Edema
Resting place	Greenwood Cemetery, Monroe, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican Whig (before 1854)
Spouse	Armida Ann Bowen ​ ​ (m. 1843⁠–⁠1899)​
Children	Libbie Stewart (b. 1846; died 1902) John F. Stewart (b. 1849; ) Charles Stewart (b. 1853; died 1853)
Education	Augusta College
Profession	Lawyer

John Wesley Stewart (June 1, 1822 – September 7, 1899) was an American lawyer, banker, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Green County during the 1860 and 1861 sessions. Before Wisconsin's statehood, he served in the lower house of the 5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly. Later in life, he was active in Chicago politics, and was chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1880. His name was often abbreviated as J. W. Stewart.

Early life and education

John W. Stewart was born in Vincennes, Indiana, in June 1822. Due to his father's ministry, he traveled frequently during his childhood around southern Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. At age 12, he went to work as an apprentice in the office of the Times newspaper in Troy, Ohio. He worked there for two years before returning to his education, attending the preparatory course at Ohio University, then attending Augusta College in Augusta, Kentucky, for three years.

Wisconsin career

In the Spring of 1841, he traveled west to the Wisconsin Territory, taking a steamboat down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River, then up to Prairie du Chien. He arrived on March 4, 1841, to booming fanfare, due to the coincidence of William Henry Harrison's inauguration as president that day. After arriving at Prairie du Chien, he quickly made new acquaintances. He moved to the nearby town of Lancaster, where he went to work in the law offices of Barber & Dewey to study law. With the assistance of Barber and Dewey, he was appointed deputy clerk of the United States district court. He was soon admitted to the bar, and was also named postmaster of Lancaster. During his leisure time, he continued studying law with Barber and Nelson, who became lifelong friends.

After a year as postmaster, he moved east to Monroe, where he began his own legal practice. At that time, he was only the second practicing lawyer in what is now Green County, Wisconsin. He was appointed district attorney of Green County in 1843, and was called upon to prosecute the infamous case of Wisconsin territorial legislator James Russell Vineyard, who shot and killed fellow legislator Charles C. P. Arndt. The killing had occurred in February 1842, but in 1843 was brought to Green County as a change in venue. Stewart was assisted in the prosecution by Dane County district attorney Alexander L. Collins. Vineyard was ultimately acquitted, with the jury finding he acted in self-defense.

In 1846, then only 24 years old, he was elected to the 5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly running on the Whig Party ticket. He was one of three at-large representatives of Dane, Green, and Sauk counties. Stewart went on to serve in both regular sessions of the 5th Legislative Assembly, and the special session called to prepare a second constitutional convention after the rejection of the first attempt at a Wisconsin constitution.

In 1851, he purchased the Green County Union newspaper, then a neutral paper, and turned it into the Monroe Sentinel, a partisan Whig newspaper. He employed as editor John Walworth, who was later an important figure in the founding of the Republican Party. He largely abandoned his legal career in the 1850s, instead becoming a real estate speculator, buying land from the federal government and selling to settlers.

When Monroe was incorporated as a village, Stewart was elected as the first village president.

Stewart was a member of the Whig Party state central committee in 1853, and joined the Republican Party after it was established in 1854. In 1859, he was elected to the Wisconsin Senate on the Republican Party ticket. He defeated Democrat Henry Adams in the general election and represented all of Green County in the 1860 and 1861 legislative sessions. During his term in the Senate, he was elected by the Legislature as one of their appointees to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

During the 1850s, Stewart had served as a brigade paymaster in the Wisconsin militia. In 1862, he was appointed an allotment commissioner for Wisconsin regiments of the Union Army. He spent much of the American Civil War traveling to the various Wisconsin regiments spread across the theaters of the war to assist soldiers in directing their pay to their families back home.

Chicago years

In 1867, Stewart began an extensive vacation through Europe. When he returned to the United States, he moved to Chicago. Before leaving Wisconsin, he had been a part owner of the State Bank of Monroe, and after the federal banking law, he became an original shareholder in the Second National Bank of Freeport, Illinois.

He was subsequently elected to the Chicago City Council and was part of the "reform city council" of Mayor Monroe Heath. He was the author of the measures to abolish and re-organize the board of public works and the city health department. He was subsequently elected as a representative of Chicago on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, and was elected chairman of the county board in December 1879. He ran for another term as chairman in December 1880, but was defeated by D. B. Purington.

In his later years, he resided mostly in Daytona, Florida. He died of Drospy at his home in Evanston, Illinois, on September 7, 1899.

Personal life and family

John W. Stewart was a son of Reverend John Stewart, a Methodist minister of the Ohio conference. Although a fourth generation American, his family was almost entirely of Scottish descent.

John W. Stewart married Armida Ann Bowen, a daughter of another prominent Wisconsin Territory lawyer, William Bowen. They had at least three children, though at least one died in infancy. Their only known surviving son, John F. Stewart, followed his father to Chicago and also worked extensively in city government.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1859)

Wisconsin Senate, 24th District Election, 1859

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 8, 1859
	Republican	John W. Stewart	1,633	58.16%	+1.64%
	Democratic	Henry Adams	1,175	41.84%
Plurality			458	16.31%	+3.28%
Total votes			2,808	100.0%	+41.82%
	Republican hold