Steuart family
Encyclopedia
The Steuart family of Maryland
was a prominent political family in the early History of Maryland
. Of Scottish
descent, the Steuarts have their origins in Perthshire
, Scotland
. The family grew wealthy in the early 18th century under the patronage of the Calvert
family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland
, but would see their wealth and status much reduced during the American Revolution
, and the American Civil War
.
educated physician
, who settled in Annapolis in the Crown Colony of Maryland in c1721, where he established a medical practice, married, and became a tobacco
planter, and politician.
Politically, Steuart's interests were closely aligned with those of the Calvert
family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland
. In 1742 Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
(1699–1751) sent his eldest but illegitimate son, Benedict Swingate Calvert
, then aged around ten years old, to Annapolis and placed him in Steuart's care. Steuart evidently benefited from the Calvert family's patronage as he went on to hold a number of important Colonial offices.
However, as a wealthy landowner with estates in both Maryland and Scotland
, Steuart was forced by the outbreak of the American Revolution
to decide whether to remain loyal to the British Crown or to throw in his lot with the American rebels. Unable to remain neutral, in 1775 he sailed to Scotland, where he remained until his death in 1784. His sons however remained in Maryland, loyal to the fledgling United States of America.
Steuart's grandson, Major General George H Steuart (1790–1867) was a United States
general who fought during the War of 1812
. His military career began in 1814 when, as a young captain, he raised a company of Maryland volunteers, the Washington Blues
, leading them at the Battle of Bladensberg and the Battle of North Point
, where he was wounded. After the war he rose to become major general of the Maryland Militia. In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, Steuart left his home state of Maryland and joined the Confederacy
, though at 71 he was by then too old for active service.
During the American Civil War
, Maryland remained loyal to the Union, but the Steuarts were substantial slaveholders and supported the Confederate States of America
. On April 16, 1861 George H. "Maryland" Steuart, then an officer in the United States Army, resigned his captain's commission to join the Confederacy. Much of the family's property was confiscated by the Federal Government as a consequence. Old Steuart Hall was confiscated by the Union Army
and Jarvis Hospital
was erected on the estate, to care for Federal wounded. The family's wealth and status never recovered from the catastrophe of the "Lost Cause
".
The Steuarts built a number of homes in Maryland, none of which have survived intact. Among them were:
George H. Steuart (1700–1785), founder of the Steuart family in Maryland, was an enthusiastic horse breeder, and he instigated the The Annapolis Subscription Plate
, the name given both to the first recorded formal horse race in colonial Maryland and to the silver trophy awarded to the winner of the race. It is the second oldest known horse racing trophy in America. The race was held in 1743 and was won by Steuart's horse, Dungannon
.
A silver replica of the original Annapolis Subscription Plate
was commissioned in 1955 by the Maryland Jockey Club
. The "Dungannon Bowl" is a perpetual trophy presented to the winner of annual Dixie Stakes, the oldest stakes race run in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states.
A stone obelisk at Dodon
marks the burial place of Richard Sprigg Steuart and a number of other family members. Brigadier General George H. Steuart and his father Major General George H. Steuart are both buried beneath a family obelisk at Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore
, and The Steuart Hill area of Baltimore recalls the family's long association with the city.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
was a prominent political family in the early History of Maryland
History of Maryland
The history of Maryland included only Native Americans until Europeans, starting with John Cabot in 1498, began exploring the area. The first settlements came in 1634 when the English arrived in significant numbers and created a permanent colony. In 1776, during the American Revolution, Maryland...
. Of Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
descent, the Steuarts have their origins in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The family grew wealthy in the early 18th century under the patronage of the Calvert
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
, but would see their wealth and status much reduced during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, and the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
History
George Hume Steuart (1700–1784) was an EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
educated physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, who settled in Annapolis in the Crown Colony of Maryland in c1721, where he established a medical practice, married, and became a tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
planter, and politician.
Politically, Steuart's interests were closely aligned with those of the Calvert
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
. In 1742 Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
(1699–1751) sent his eldest but illegitimate son, Benedict Swingate Calvert
Benedict Swingate Calvert
Benedict Swingate Calvert was a Maryland Loyalist during the American Revolution. He was the son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, the third Proprietor Governor of Maryland , and may have been the grandson of King George I of Great Britain...
, then aged around ten years old, to Annapolis and placed him in Steuart's care. Steuart evidently benefited from the Calvert family's patronage as he went on to hold a number of important Colonial offices.
However, as a wealthy landowner with estates in both Maryland and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Steuart was forced by the outbreak of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
to decide whether to remain loyal to the British Crown or to throw in his lot with the American rebels. Unable to remain neutral, in 1775 he sailed to Scotland, where he remained until his death in 1784. His sons however remained in Maryland, loyal to the fledgling United States of America.
Steuart's grandson, Major General George H Steuart (1790–1867) was a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
general who fought during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. His military career began in 1814 when, as a young captain, he raised a company of Maryland volunteers, the Washington Blues
Washington Blues
The Washington Blues were a company of Maryland Volunteers which saw action during the Battle of Bladensberg and the Battle of North Point, during the War of 1812.-History:When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain, George H...
, leading them at the Battle of Bladensberg and the Battle of North Point
Battle of North Point
The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major General Robert Ross. Although tactically a British victory, the battle delayed the British advance against Baltimore, buying valuable time for the defense of...
, where he was wounded. After the war he rose to become major general of the Maryland Militia. In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, Steuart left his home state of Maryland and joined the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, though at 71 he was by then too old for active service.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Maryland remained loyal to the Union, but the Steuarts were substantial slaveholders and supported the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. On April 16, 1861 George H. "Maryland" Steuart, then an officer in the United States Army, resigned his captain's commission to join the Confederacy. Much of the family's property was confiscated by the Federal Government as a consequence. Old Steuart Hall was confiscated by the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
and Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis U.S. General Hospital was a military hospital founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, for the care of wounded Federal soldiers. The hospital was built on the grounds of Maryland Square, the former residence of the Steuart family, which had been...
was erected on the estate, to care for Federal wounded. The family's wealth and status never recovered from the catastrophe of the "Lost Cause
Lost Cause of the Confederacy
The Lost Cause is the name commonly given to an American literary and intellectual movement that sought to reconcile the traditional white society of the U.S. South to the defeat of the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War of 1861–1865...
".
Family tree
- George H. Steuart (planter) (1700–1784)
- George Steuart HumeGeorge Steuart HumeDr George Steuart Hume was a Maryland physician and landowner who emigrated to Scotland before the American Revolutionary War. Born George Hume Steuart in Maryland, he left for Scotland in 1758, where he studied Medicine, changing his name to his maternal name of Hume in order to inherit his...
(1747–1787), physician. Returned to Scotland to inherit the family estates in PerthshirePerthshirePerthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. - William SteuartWilliam Steuart (Mayor of Baltimore)Lieutenant Colonel William Steuart was a wealthy planter in colonial Maryland, and Mayor of Baltimore from 1831 to 1832. He inherited the estate of Dodon in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, from his father, planter and politician George H. Steuart...
(1754–1838), mayor of Baltimore 1831-1832, lietenant-colonel in the US Army in the War of 1812. - James Steuart (physician) (1755–1846)
- George H. Steuart (militia general) (1790–1867), raised a company of volunteers and was wounded during the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.- George H. Steuart (brigadier general) (1828–1903), fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.
- Lieutenant William James Steuart (1832–1864), C.S.A. Killed at the Battle of the WildernessBattle of the WildernessThe Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
, 1864.
- Richard Sprigg SteuartRichard Sprigg SteuartDr. Richard Sprigg Steuart was a Maryland physician and an early pioneer of the treatment of mental illness. He was instrumental in the expansion and modernisation of The Maryland Hospital for the Insane, now known as the Spring Grove Hospital Center, which became his life's work...
(1797–1876), founder of the Maryland Hospital for the InsaneSpring Grove Hospital CenterSpring Grove Hospital Center, formerly known as Spring Grove State Hospital, is a psychiatric hospital located in the Baltimore, Maryland suburb of Catonsville....
, at Catonsville, Maryland.
- George H. Steuart (militia general) (1790–1867), raised a company of volunteers and was wounded during the War of 1812
- George Steuart Hume
Notable residences
- Maryland Square, a mansion on the outskirts of BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, owned by the Steuart family until 1861, when, at the beginning of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, it was confiscated by the United States Federal Government. In 1862 Jarvis HospitalJarvis HospitalJarvis U.S. General Hospital was a military hospital founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, for the care of wounded Federal soldiers. The hospital was built on the grounds of Maryland Square, the former residence of the Steuart family, which had been...
was constructed on the grounds of the Steuart estate, built for the care of wounded Union soldiers, the house itself being used as the hospital's headquarters. The house was restored in 1866 to Brigadier General George H. Steuart after the war, but he never lived there again, choosing to live at Mount Steuart, his family estate on the Chesapeake in Anne Arundel County. The building was sold and became a school for boys, known as Steuart Hall, and in 1884 the mansion was demolished, to make way for the Bon Secours HospitalBon Secours HospitalBon Secours Hospital is a hospital in Baltimore. The hospital has the largest renal dialysis center in the city of Baltimore.The name Bon Secours is French for "good help." The hospital is part of the Marriottsville, Maryland-based Bon Secours Health System, a $2.9 billion not-for-profit Catholic...
which stands there today. - DodonDodonDodon, is a farm and former tobacco plantation in Maryland, located near the South River about south west of Annapolis. Purchased in around 1744 by the planter and politician Dr George H. Steuart, it remains the home of Steuart's descendants to this day...
, a 550 acres (2.2 km²) farm and former tobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
plantation in MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, located near the South RiverSouth River (Maryland)The South River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in the United States.The South River is located south of the Severn River, east of the Patuxent River, and north of the West River and Rhode River, and drains to the Chesapeake Bay.It has a watershed area of ,...
about 10 miles (16.1 km) south west of Annapolis. It is still home to the eighth generation of Steuarts today, who continue to farm, and to breed and race horses. Parts of the original house still remain, though most was destroyed in a fire c1950.
Racing
Annapolis Subscription Plate
The Annapolis Subscription Plate is the name given both to the first recorded formal horse race in colonial Maryland and to the silver trophy awarded to the winner of the race...
, the name given both to the first recorded formal horse race in colonial Maryland and to the silver trophy awarded to the winner of the race. It is the second oldest known horse racing trophy in America. The race was held in 1743 and was won by Steuart's horse, Dungannon
Dungannon (horse)
Dungannon, , was a thoroughbred racehorse owned by the tobacco planter and horse breeder George Hume Steuart , who imported the horse from England to race against his rival, Charles Carroll of Annapolis...
.
Modern Legacy
The unusual spelling of "Steuart" was widespread in the 18th century ("Steuart", "Stewart" and "Stuart" being essentially interchangeable), but has since mainly fallen into disuse. However, Steuart's numerous North American descendants have retained the archaic spelling.A silver replica of the original Annapolis Subscription Plate
Annapolis Subscription Plate
The Annapolis Subscription Plate is the name given both to the first recorded formal horse race in colonial Maryland and to the silver trophy awarded to the winner of the race...
was commissioned in 1955 by the Maryland Jockey Club
Maryland Jockey Club
The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organization in North America...
. The "Dungannon Bowl" is a perpetual trophy presented to the winner of annual Dixie Stakes, the oldest stakes race run in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states.
A stone obelisk at Dodon
Dodon
Dodon, is a farm and former tobacco plantation in Maryland, located near the South River about south west of Annapolis. Purchased in around 1744 by the planter and politician Dr George H. Steuart, it remains the home of Steuart's descendants to this day...
marks the burial place of Richard Sprigg Steuart and a number of other family members. Brigadier General George H. Steuart and his father Major General George H. Steuart are both buried beneath a family obelisk at Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, and The Steuart Hill area of Baltimore recalls the family's long association with the city.
External links
- Richardson, Hester Dorsey (1913). Side-lights on Maryland history: with sketches of early Maryland families. Vol. II. Williams and Wilkins. Retrieved Feb 21 2010
- Official Dodon website and history of the estate Retrieved Feb 21 2010
- article on Dodon farm at www.hometownannapolis.com Retrieved Feb 21 2010