My Genealogy Hound

CAPT. PERRY STEWART. There is not within the limits of Green Township a citizen whom the people are more delighted to honor than Capt. Stewart. Intelligent, energetic and enterprising, he has not only been a prominent man in the affairs of Clark County, but has accumulated a fine property and has held many positions of trust and responsibility. He was in former years a County Commissioner, served in the State Legislature and commanded a company during the late Civil War. All the enterprises tending to advance the interests of the people, morally, intellectually and financially, have received his unqualified endorsement and substantial aid. He keeps himself thoroughly posted upon the leading events of the day, and is possessed of those qualities of character most desired in one who manifestly was born to be a leader and who exercises a marked influence upon those around him.

Capt. Stewart is the offspring of excellent ancestry and the son of John T. Stewart, who was born in Dauphin County, Pa., in March, 1781. The latter, while not a surveyor by profession, platted the city of South Charleston, in Clark County. During the War of 1812 he furnished cattle in large numbers to the United States Government and looked after the wants of the family of his brother, Samuel, who was serving as a Captain in the army of Gen. Hull, when the latter surrendered at Detroit. Capt. Samuel Stewart had raised a military company from Clark and Champaign Counties.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was likewise Samuel Stewart, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to America about 1735, and settled in Pennsylvania. He was born in 1733 and died in Dauphin County, Pa., September 19, 1803. The great-grandfather who also bore the name of Samuel, was born in Scotland or Ireland and was the son of Robert Stewart, who removed from the vicinity of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, to Ireland, in 1661, to escape persecution on account of his religion, he being a stanch Presbyterian.

John T. Stewart emigrated to Ohio with his father’s brother, Samuel, in the fall of 1806. They settled in the wilderness on a tract of heavily timbered land, which they entered from the Government, put up a log house and began felling the trees around them. They kept bachelor’s hall and cured their own meat for use during the winter. The second fall their smokehouse was burned, together with its contents and they were thus left with a very small stock of provisions. They had, however, a good neighbor in the person of Benjamin Whiteman, who came over and told them that he had plenty of meat in his smokehouse and they were as welcome to it as his wife; that if they did not help themselves he would be offended.

The father of our subject after due time decided that it was not good for man to live alone and accordingly on the 2d of March, 1815, took to himself a wife and helpmate — Miss Ann, daughter of Robert and Ann (Ingram) Elder. Robert Elder came to Ohio in 1813, and like his estimable wife was of Seotch-Irish descent. He died October 3, 1825, and the mother passed away September 20, 1827. The latter was born May 19, 1798, in Dauphin County, Pa. After his marriage, John Stewart put up a log house on his own farm, brought the land to a state of cultivation and there spent the remainder of his days. He lived to be nearly seventy years old, and departed hence in April, 1850. The mother survived her husband more than thirty years, remaining a widow, and passed away September 25, 1880, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. She was laid by the side of her husband in the Presbyterian Cemetery at Clifton.

Ten children were born to John Stewart and his estimable wife, eight of whom are living, namely: Juliana, Mrs. Anderson; Perry, our subject; Elder R.; Samuel, deceased; Charles, James M., Thomas E.; Oscar N., and William C. Harriet, died aged about two years. Perry, the second child, was born June 6, 1818, and spent his early days after the manner of the sons of pioneer farmers, obtaining a limited education in the subscription school and assisting in the various pursuits of farm life. He grew up healthy in mind and body and at an early age could do a man’s work. He remained at home assisting his father until over twenty-six years old and then having resolved upon establishing a fireside of his own, was joined in wedlock October 15, 1844, with Miss Rhoda A. Wheeler.

Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stewart settled upon a tract of timber land which the Captain transformed into his present well-developed farm. He first put up a one story house of brick, to which, in 1860, he added another story and two more rooms on the ground floor. He felled the trees around him and brought the land to a good state of cultivation, adding the various improvements, one after another, which became essential to the comfort and success of the progressive agriculturist.

As time progressed Capt. Stewart invested his accumulated capital in additional land, and after selling off a part has still left three hundred and fifty-five acres, which yield him annually handsome returns. The home farm comprises two hundred and fifteen acres, and the Captain owns three lots in the city of Springfield. To him and his excellent wife there have been born ten children, of whom the record is as follows: Harriet Joanna Stewart became the wife of James Hatfield; they have three children and live two miles north of Clifton. Julia Ann is the wife of R. N. Elder, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; David Wilmot married Miss Amanda McClintock; they have five children and live at Enon Crossing. John T. married Miss Anna M. Keifer; they have three children and live in Greencastle, Ind. Mary E. is the wife of Samuel Kerr; they have two children and live near Troy, Ohio. Jane E. is the wife of George Nicholson; they are the parents of one child and live near New Moorefield, Clark County. Jessie Isabel died when four years old; Charles Fremont married Miss Clara Garlough; they have three children and live on the farm adjoining that of Captain; Perry Morton and E. Wheeler, remain at home with their parents. The Captain and Mrs. Stewart are prominently connected with the Christain Church at Springfield.

During the second year of the Civil War our subject in July, 1862, received permission from the Clark County Military Commission to raise a company of volunteers with whom he repaired to Piqua and they were mustered into the service by Capt. Drake, named Company A, and formed a part of the Ninety fourth Ohio Infantry. On the 24th of August the company was sworn into service and on the 28th, the company left Camp Piqua and arrived at Lexington, Ky., on the 30th and were just in time to take part in the skirmish at Tate’s Creek Ferry. On the 1st of September Capt. Stewart was captured by the troops of Gen. Kirby Smith but paroled the same day. He then returned home and waited until the following Christmas when he was exchanged and joined his regiment January 17, 1863, at Murfreesboro, Tenn. This was shortly after the battle of Stone River and he then took part in the Tullahoma campaign under Gen. Rosecrans, who was marching against Gen. Bragg and on to Chattanooga.

Capt. Stewart met the enemy in several battles and skirmishes, but finally on account of ill-health was obliged to resign his commission. He received an honorable discharge November 9, 1863, and then returning home gave much of his time thereafter to the recruiting of soldiers as long as they were needed by the Government. On the battlefield of Chickamauga he received a wound in the leg from a spent ball. The Captain has always taken an active interest in politics and during the early days was a member of the old Whig party; in 1842 he identified himself with the Liberty or Abolition party. Later he joined the Republicans. He has frequently been sent as a delegate to the County, State and Congressional Conventions and was in the National Convention at Philadelphia when Gen. Grant was nominated for his second term. He also assisted in the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes, at Cincinnati, although not then a delegate. He was one of the charter members of Mitchell Post, G. A. R., at Springfield. In 1866, he was elected a County Commissioner and the following year was made the nominee of the Republican party in Clark County for the State Legislature, serving in the Fifty-eighth General Assembly. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of entering the army. The cause of education finds in him a steadfast friend and he has served as a School Director in his district for several years. In his religious views Capt. Stewart conforms to the doctrines of the Christian Church, attending services at Springfield and officiating as a Trustee.

Mrs. Stewart was born December 30, 1824, in Clark County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Ebenezer and Joanna (Miller) Wheeler, who were natives of New Jersey. They removed to Ohio about 1800, prior to their marriage. The paternal grandfather upon coming to this State, settled on what is now the most populous part of Cincinnati, securing land at a mere trifle. Her maternal grandfather, Moses Miller, settled upon the present site of Brighton, a suburb of Cincinnati, and for many years was the owner of a large farm. After their marriage in September, 1803, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler settled near Cincinnati, and in 1806 removed to what subsequently became the homestead in Clark County. There was born to them a large family of children of whom there is living only Mrs. Stewart and her brother, Samuel M., who is a resident of Lyon County, Kan.