My Genealogy Hound

HUGH SILAS STUART, Esq. On June 23, 1758, there was born in County Antrim, Ireland, a Hugh Stuart, who in 1784 came to America and settled in Cumberland county. He married Ruth Patterson and for many years lived at the head of the Letort Spring, on a farm known as the Patterson tract, in what is now South Middleton township. Ruth Patterson was born in Scotland in 1783. To Hugh and Ruth (Patterson) Stuart were born five sons, viz.: Hugh, William, John, James and Joseph. Hugh and William died early in life, and in 1821 the father and two other sons, James and Joseph, removed to Bucyrus, Ohio, and were some of the first settlers of that section. Hugh Stuart, Sr., died at Bucyrus in 1854, at the age of ninety-six years. The sons James and Joseph are also dead, the latter having died at a comparatively recent date and at a great age.

John Stuart, the third son of Hugh and Ruth (Patterson) Stuart, was born on Oct. 26, 1794, at the head of Letort Spring in Middleton (now South Middleton) township. On Jan. 4, 1816, he married Barbara Steen, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cairnes) Steen, who also were natives of county Antrim, Ireland. His brother James married Elizabeth Steen and his brother Joseph married Jane Steen. Elizabeth and Jane Steen were sisters to Barbara Steen, so three Stuart brothers married three Steen sisters. To John and Barbara (Steen) Stuart ten children were born, eight of whom lived to maturity. Of these eight, five were sons, viz.; Hugh, John, Joseph A., James T. and William Patterson; and three were daughters, viz.: Amelia, who married Thompson Weakley; Elizabeth, who married William Wherry, and Martha A., who married George P. Searight. After his marriage John Stuart, the father, lived in Carlisle, and engaged at milling until 1827, when he moved to his farm in South Middleton, where he resided during the rest of his lifetime. In politics he was a Democrat and took great interest in public affairs, local, State and national, and in 1835 was appointed associate judge, which office, by appointment and afterward by election, he held continuously until 1857. Afterward his oldest son, Hugh Stuart, was associate judge by election on the same Bench from 1861 to 1871. John Stuart was a progressive, active and enterprising citizen, well and favorably known throughout the county, and was frequently mentioned for office higher than that which he so long held.

Joseph A. Stuart, the third son of John and Barbara (Steen) Stuart, was born July 9, 1826, in Carlisle. He grew to manhood on his father’s farm in South Middleton township and received his education in the public schools of his vicinity and at Borns’ Academy in West Pennsboro township. He followed the avocation of farming in South Middleton, at which he is still engaged, notwithstanding his weight of years. Along with his farming he has done much at settling up estates and acting as trustee and guardian of estates and is deservedly rated high as a business man. On May 28, 1850, he was married to Mary Ann McCune, at the hands of Rev. James Harper, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Shippensburg. Mary Ann McCune was a daughter of Thomas and____ (Fulton) McCune, of near Shippensburg. Her Scotch-Irish grandparents settled in that part of Cumberland county at an early date and the farm they first owned is still in possession of their lineal descendants. Mrs. Stuart died on May 24, 1902, and her remains are buried in the old graveyard at Carlisle.

To Joseph A. and Mary Ann (McCune) Stuart two sons were born: John Thomas and Hugh Silas. There was also a daughter who died when four years old. Each of the sons was born on the farm in South Middleton, the former on May 23, 1851, and the latter on Dec. 25, 1855. Until seventeen years of age John T. Stuart attended the public schools of his native district and during vacations worked on the farm. He then left home and prepared for college, first for a short time at the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute under Prof. S. F. Colt, and later in the West Nottingham Academy, in Cecil county, Md., under Prof. S. A. Galey. In 1870 he entered Princeton College from which he graduated in 1874 with honors. On returning from college he registered as a student-at-law with John Hays, Esq., of Carlisle, and after two years’ study was admitted to the Bar of Cumberland county. He then began the practice of his profession in Carlisle and has continued in active practice ever since, having had numerous cases in the Supreme court. In politics he is a Democrat and in 1883 he was his party’s nominee for district attorney, was elected and for three years very ably and successfully performed the duties of that office. After the admission of his brother to the Bar the two were associated with each other in the practice of the law.

Hugh Silas Stuart, the younger son of Joseph A. and Mary Ann (McCune) Stuart, spent his childhood and youth upon his father’s farm, and in attending the district school near his home. Being naturally of a bright mind he from the very first stood well in all his classes. On completing the course of the common school he went to West Nottingham Academy, Eastern Shore, Md., where under Prof. Bechtel he prepared for college. He completed his academic course in one year and then entered Princeton College, from which he graduated in 1877 in the regular classical course, standing eighth in a class of one hundred students. Besides this honor of high rank in class he also took the Linde honor in debate, a prize of one hundred and twenty dollars. After graduating from college he visited Europe and there rounded out his education with a two years’ course in general literature and travel, spending much of that time in the study of Roman law and jurisprudence under Prof. Muirhead at the University of Edinburgh, and in the German university at Leipsic. He returned from Europe in 1879 and immediately began preparing for the Bar with his brother John T. Stuart as his preceptor. He was admitted to practice in the courts of Cumberland county in 1881, and in due time also to practice in the Supreme court of Pennsylvania. He rapidly rose to prominence in the ranks of his profession, his name and reputation grew and spread and he was soon in the enjoyment of a large practice. The thorough and systematic training he had received specially qualified him to teach the principles of his learned profession and on the establishment of the Dickinson Law School he was selected as one of its lecturers and proved himself an efficient and popular instructor.

On June 17, 1890, he was married to Miss Mary Leaming Baird, of Reading, and to them the following children were born: Joseph A., William Baird, Harriet Holmes and Christine Biddle.

Hugh Silas Stuart, Esq., took sick with pneumonia in June, 1899, and died on Saturday, the 17th of that month. The following Monday evening his remains were laid to rest in the family plot in Ashland cemetery at Carlisle. At a meeting of the Cumberland County Bar, held on Monday morning, June 19th, and presided over by Judge E. W. Biddle, many of his professional brethren spoke feelingly of his generous qualities and paid high tribute to his memory. Formal resolutions, expressive of the sense of the Bar, were passed, from which the following paragraphs are taken:

“His death was a shock to his brother lawyers, to the community and above all to his stricken family and friends. Learned and scholarly, with an acute analytical mind, he quickly grasped legal principles and applied them to acts. He was honest in his reasoning and firmly held to his conclusions. Working no evil, he was without guilt in dealing with those around him. His warm heart and quiet bearing endeared him to all who knew him and his truthfulness commanded their confidence. True to his clients, considerate to his opponents and respectful to the Court, his example in the conduct of professional work helped to maintain the high standing of the Bar. In the community he was a public spirited citizen. To his friends he was loyal, and to his family he was loving and lovable.”