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Below is a family biography included in The History of Pulaski County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Prof. John W. Stewart, principal of the Richland Institute, and attorney at law, is the second born in the family of five children of William P. and Mary (Gordon) Stewart, and was born in Maury County, Tenn., on the 28th of December, 1848. William P. Stewart was born in North Carolina in 1824, and is of Scotch origin. He married in Tennessee, and in 1859 removed to Lebanon, Mo., where he still lives; he was formerly engaged in the boot and shoe business, but is now a farmer. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Charles Stewart, was also a native of North Carolina, and was an early settler of Maury County, Tenn., where he died. The maternal grandfather was John Gordon, who was born in North Carolina, and died in Maury County, Tenn., of which county he was a pioneer. John W. Stewart received the principal part of his education at Lebanon Academy, then the best school in Laclede County, and in 1868, at the age of twenty years, he taught his first school in Dallas County, and afterward taught near Lebanon. He was assistant teacher in the Lebanon public schools for years, one year principal of the Ozark school, and one year principal of the Lebanon graded schools. In 1875 he graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, after attending one year, having previously read one year in a law office, and devoting considerable attention to the study of law while he was engaged in teaching. In August, 1875, he was admitted to the Laclede County bar before Judge W. F. Geiger. In 1877 he became editor and publisher of the Richland Sentinel, which he ably conducted until 1880, when he removed to Steelville, in Crawford County, and during the campaign of that year he published the Crawford County Sentinel. In December of the same year he sold out and returned to Richland, and the following year became principal of the Richland Institute, to which he has since devoted almost his entire attention. He is one of the most active educational workers in the county, and as such is well and favorably known. During the summer vacation for several years past Mr. Stewart has conducted a normal school at Richland, with remarkable success, and it has been of almost inestimable value to the educational interests of the county, greatly advancing the standard of the teachers in the county. In 1878 Mr. Stewart married Mary, daughter of Oliver and Caroline Gillespie, natives of Pulaski County, their parents being early settlers. Mrs. Gillespie still resides in the county. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart four are now living. The parents are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Stewart is a member of the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W.

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This family biography is one of 80 biographies included in The History of Pulaski County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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