{{short description|19th century American politician}} {{About|the 19th century Wisconsin state senator and Chicago politician|others with a similar name|John Stewart (disambiguation){{!}}John Stewart}} {{infobox officeholder | name = John W. Stewart | image = John_Wesley_Stewart_obit_pic.png | caption = Portrait from ''Chicago Tribune'' obituary | office = [[President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners|Chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] | term_start = December 1, 1879 | term_end = December 1, 1880 | predecessor = Henry Senne | successor = D. B. Purington<!-- | office1 = Member of the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]] from ... | term_start1 = | term_end1 = | predecessor1 = | successor1 = --> | office2 = Member of the [[Chicago City Council]] from the [[4th ward, Chicago|4th ward]] | alongside2 = James H. Gilbert | term_start2 = 1876 | term_end2 = 1878 | predecessor2 = Rensselaer Stone | successor2 = Herbert E. Mallory | state3 = Wisconsin | state_senate3 = Wisconsin | district3 = [[Wisconsin's 24th Senate district|24th]] | term_start3 = January 2, 1860 | term_end3 = January 6, 1862 | predecessor3 = [[John Holden Warren]] | successor3 = [[Edmund A. West]] | office4 = Member of the {{nowrap|House of Representatives}} of the {{nowrap|[[Wisconsin Territory]]}} for [[Dane County, Wisconsin|Dane]], [[Green County, Wisconsin|Green]], {{nowrap|and [[Sauk County, Wisconsin|Sauk]] counties}} | term_start4 = January 4, 1847 | term_end4 = May 29, 1848 | alongside4 = {{nowrap|Charles Lum (1847)}}, {{nowrap|[[William Wheeler (Wisconsin politician)|William W. Wheeler]] (1847)}}, {{nowrap|[[Elisha T. Gardner]] (1847–1848)}}, {{nowrap|& [[Alexander Botkin]] (1847–1848)}} | predecessor4 = ''Position established'' | successor4 = ''Position abolished'' | party = {{unbulleted list | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (before 1854) }} | birth_date = {{birth date|1822|6|1}} | birth_place = [[Vincennes, Indiana]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1899|9|7|1822|6|1}} | death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S. | death_cause = [[Edema]] | resting_place = Greenwood Cemetery, {{nowrap|Monroe, Wisconsin}} | spouse = {{marriage|Armida Ann Bowen|1843|1899}} | children = {{unbulleted list | Libbie Stewart | {{sup|(b. 1846; died 1902)}} | John F. Stewart | {{sup|(b. 1849; )}} | Charles Stewart | {{sup|(b. 1853; died 1853)}} }} | education = [[Augusta College (Kentucky)|Augusta College]] | profession = Lawyer }} '''John Wesley Stewart''' (June 1, 1822{{spnd}}September 7, 1899) was an American lawyer, banker, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politician, and [[Wisconsin]] pioneer. He was a member of the [[Wisconsin Senate]], representing [[Green County, Wisconsin|Green County]] during the [[13th Wisconsin Legislature|1860]] and [[14th Wisconsin Legislature|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 [[President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners|chairman]] of the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]] in 1880. His name was often abbreviated as {{nowrap|'''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 (Kentucky)|Augusta College]] in [[Augusta, Kentucky]], for three years.<ref name="green">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/historyofgreenco00unio/ |title= History of Green County, Wisconsin |year= 1884 |publisher= Union Publishing Company |pages= [https://archive.org/details/historyofgreenco00unio/page/367 367] |access-date= May 21, 2023 }}</ref>
==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, Wisconsin|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.<ref name="obit-lancaster">{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-teller-john-w-stewart-obit/125082383/ |title= In Memoriam - John Stewart |newspaper= The Weekly Teller |date= September 28, 1899 |page= 4 |accessdate= May 21, 2023 |via= [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref> After arriving at Prairie du Chien, he quickly made new acquaintances. He moved to the nearby town of [[Lancaster, Wisconsin|Lancaster]], where he went to work in the law offices of [[J. Allen Barber|Barber]] & [[Nelson Dewey|Dewey]] to study law. With the assistance of Barber and Dewey, he was appointed deputy clerk of the United States district court.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/> He was soon admitted to the bar, and was also named postmaster of Lancaster.<ref name="green"/> During his leisure time, he continued studying law with Barber and Nelson, who became lifelong friends.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/>
After a year as postmaster, he moved east to [[Monroe, Wisconsin|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]].<ref name="green"/> 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.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/>
In 1846, then only 24 years old, he was elected to the [[5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly]] running on the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] ticket.<ref name="green"/> He was one of three at-large representatives of [[Dane County, Wisconsin|Dane]], Green, and [[Sauk County, Wisconsin|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.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/> He employed as editor John Walworth, who was later an important figure in the founding of the Republican Party.<ref name="biog">{{Cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/commemorativebio01unse/ |title= Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin |year= 1901 |publisher =J. H. Beers & Co. |page= [https://archive.org/details/commemorativebio01unse/page/369 369] |access-date= May 21, 2023 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/>
When Monroe was incorporated as a village, Stewart was elected as the first village president.<ref name="obit-lancaster"/>
Stewart was a member of the Whig Party state central committee in 1853, and joined the [[Republican Party (United States)|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 (Wisconsin politician)|Henry Adams]] in the general election<ref name="green"/> and represented all of Green County in the [[13th Wisconsin Legislature|1860]] and [[14th Wisconsin Legislature|1861]] legislative sessions.<ref name="annals">{{cite report|url= https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/742ZPKF2KGL2D8H |title= The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin 1882 |year= 1882 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Heg |editor-first= J. E. |chapter= Annals of the Legislature |pages= [https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A742ZPKF2KGL2D8H/full/AXSLWXP3H2KOA58P 199], [https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A742ZPKF2KGL2D8H/full/AQD5UWBOUHRIJC8T 201] |accessdate= May 20, 2023 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="green"/>
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.<ref name="green"/><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/appleton-post-union-army-allotment/125078654/ |title =Allotment Commissioners |newspaper= Appleton Post |date= March 13, 1862 |page= 2 |accessdate= May 21, 2023 |via= [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>
==Chicago years==
In 1867, Stewart began an extensive vacation through Europe. When he returned to the United States, he moved to [[Chicago]].<ref name="obit-lancaster"/> 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]].<ref name="obit-trib"/>
Stewart was subsequently elected to the [[Chicago City Council]] and was part of the "reform city council" of Mayor [[Monroe Heath]].<ref name="green"/> While on the council (1876–1878), he held a seat representing the city's [[4th ward, Chicago|fourth ward]],<ref name="Centennial List">{{cite web |title=Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. |url=http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |archive-date=September 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> andwas the author of the measures to abolish and re-organize the board of public works and the city health department.<ref name="green"/>
Stewart 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.<ref name="green"/> He ran for another term as chairman in December 1880, but was defeated by D. B. Purington.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean-cook-county-chair/125080613/ |title= The members of the Board of County Commissioners |newspaper= The Inter Ocean |date= December 2, 1880 |page= 4 |accessdate= May 21, 2023 |via= [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>
In his later years, he resided mostly in [[Daytona, Florida]]. He died of [[Edema|Drospy]] at his home in [[Evanston, Illinois]], on September 7, 1899.<ref name="obit-trib">{{Cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-john-wesley-stewart-obit/30989823/ |title= Death of John W. Stewart |newspaper= [[Chicago Tribune]] |date= September 9, 1899 |page= 7 |accessdate= May 21, 2023 |via= [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>
==Personal life and family== John W. Stewart was a son of Reverend John Stewart, a [[Methodism|Methodist]] minister of the Ohio conference. Although a fourth generation American, his family was almost entirely of Scottish descent.<ref name="green"/>
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.<ref name="cook">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_V_A1AQAAMAAJ/ |title= History of Cook County, Illinois |year= 1884 |publisher= A. T. Andreas |editor-last= Andreas |editor-first= A. T. |pages= [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_V_A1AQAAMAAJ/page/453/ 453] |access-date= May 21, 2023 }}</ref>
==Electoral history== ===Wisconsin Senate (1859)=== {{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Senate, 24th District Election, 1859 }} | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| '''General Election, November 8, 1859'''<ref name="green"/> {{Election box winning candidate with party link |party = Republican Party (US) |candidate = John W. Stewart |votes = 1,633 |percentage = 58.16% |change = +1.64% }} {{Election box candidate with party link |party = Democratic Party (US) |candidate = [[Henry Adams (Wisconsin politician)|Henry Adams]] |votes = 1,175 |percentage = 41.84% |change = }} {{Election box plurality |votes = 458 |percentage = 16.31% |change = +3.28% }} {{Election box total |votes = 2,808 |percentage = 100.0% |change = +41.82% }} {{Election box hold with party link no swing |winner = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-sen}} {{s-bef|before = [[John Holden Warren]] }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the [[Wisconsin Senate]]}} {{nowrap|from the [[Wisconsin's 24th Senate district|24th]] district}} |years= January 2, 1860{{spnd}}January 6, 1862 }} {{s-aft|after = [[Edmund A. West]] }} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before = Henry Senne }} {{s-ttl|title = [[President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners|Chairman of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] |years= December 1, 1879{{spnd}}December 1, 1880 }} {{s-aft|after = D. B. Purington }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{Cook County Board President|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, John Wesley}} [[Category:1822 births]] [[Category:1899 deaths]] [[Category:People from Vincennes, Indiana]] [[Category:People from Ohio]] [[Category:People from Lancaster, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Politicians from Grant County, Wisconsin]] [[Category:People from Monroe, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni]] [[Category:Politicians from Chicago]] [[Category:Republican Party Wisconsin state senators]] [[Category:Wisconsin postmasters]] [[Category:District attorneys in Wisconsin]] [[Category:Chicago City Council members]] [[Category:Presidents of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] [[Category:Wisconsin pioneers]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature]]