Biography of Thomas Holmes Stewart, pages 316/317/318.  Memorial Record of 
Northeastern Indiana, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1896.

	Thomas Holmes Stewart, who is now practically living a retired life 
in Garrett, Indiana, is one of the most honored and esteemed residents of 
the northeastern part of the State.  He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 
the 17th of July, 1822, and is a son of Nathan and Mary (Vincent ) Stewart. 
The grandfather, Thomas Stewart was probably born in New England, but it 
is thought that his father was a native of Scotland and the founder of the 
family in America.  The great-grandfather on the maternal side was a native 
of England, and the grandfather was born in New England.
	Nathan Stewart, the father of our subject, was born on Martha’s 
Vineyard (island), Massachusetts, and in 1815 removed to Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  He was a tanner by trade and engaged in the manufacture of harness, 
boots and shoes.  He died at the age of fifty-eight years, of yellow fever, 
which was brought up the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from the South in 
March, 1852. His wife died in Cincinnati, in March, 1844, of erysipelas, 
when fifty years of age. Their children were ten in number, five sons and 
five daughters, of whom eight grew to maturity.  After the death of the 
mother Mr. Stewart was again married, his second union being with Mrs. 
Roberts.
	Mr. Stewart, of this sketch, acquired his early education in the 
public schools and read a course of theology under the instruction of Rev. 
Silas Dudley, a Freewill Baptist.  In 1845 he was licensed to preach, and 
in 1847, in Cincinnati, he was elected to be a missionary. His duties 
called him to Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, where he did principally city 
work.  In 1848 he removed to Indiana and shortly afterward took charge of 
the Indiana Yearly Meeting. He located near Vevay, Switzerland county, 
Indiana, where he remained for ten years. He changed his church 
relationship to the regular Missionary Baptist in 1854. In the spring of 
1855 he was made pastor of the Vevay church, a congregation of that 
denomination, and in 1858 was called to the pastorate of the church in 
Madison, Indiana.  In 1859 he removed to Indianapolis, having charge of 
the missionary work in that city for five years, and during his services 
there established a mission that has since become what is known as the 
South Church, which is now one of the richest in the State.  
	In 1863 Mr. Stewart felt that his country needed his services and 
enlisted as Chaplain of the Ninth Indiana Cavalry.  He went as far as 
Louisville, Kentucky, but was there discharged on account of the hip 
disease from which he was suffering. This did not end his service, 
however, for he did all he could for the cause at his home, and had been 
very active in recruiting his regiment.  He had previously served as First 
Lieutenant  in the State Guards in Cincinnati, and always felt an interest 
in military affairs. He also aided in caring for the sick and wounded in 
the hospitals during the war, doing much to alleviate the sufferings of 
his fellow men in both mind and body.  After his return in Indiana, he was 
called to he pastorate of the Baptist Church in Crawfordsville, where he 
remained for a year and a half, and then took charge of the Delphi Baptist 
Church, where he continued for three years. He was also pastor of the 
church in Kendallville for a year and a half. Subsequently, Mr. Stewart 
took up the study of medicine, and in 1880 was graduated at the American 
Eclectic Medical College, of Cincinnati.  He then located in Indianapolis, 
where for three years he was a trustee and professor in the Eclectic 
Medical College, of Cincinnati, and in 1884 he came to Garrett, where he 
has since practically lived retired.
	Dr. Stewart was first married October 11, 1846, to Margaret Cotts 
Gentle, daughter of William and Mary Gentle.  She died September 22, 1847, 
at the of twenty years.  On the 11th of July 1848, the Doctor was married, 
in Switzerland county, Indiana, to Mrs. Effie Stone, widow of Abraham Stone 
and a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (O’Neil) McHenry.  The lady was born 
January 20, 1824, and is still living, with her husband in Garrett.  Her 
father was born January 20, 1780, and died in May, 1856. Her mother, whose 
birth occurred December 19, 1782, passed away October 4, 1874.  The Doctor 
and his wife became the parents of the following children: Isaiah Joseph, 
who was born April 13, 1849, married Jennie Lester, at Port Huron, Michigan, 
and is now a railroad conductor; Ezra Nathan, born October 17, 1850, died 
September 2, 1851; William Perry, born July 10, 1852, died on the 4th of 
August following; Addison James, born October 4, 1853, married to Blanche 
Reyher, at Goshen, Indiana, October 6, 1874; he is merchandising in Garrett; 
Elsie Amanda, born September 8, 1855, died May 17, 1857; Charles Spurgeon, 
born October 29, 1857, was graduated in the medical department of Ann 
Arbor University in the spring of 1891 and is now practicing in Garrett; 
he is a railroad surgeon for the Baltimore & Ohio road, a member of the 
American Medical Association and other medical societies; Edward Thomas, 
born December 1, 1859, died July 20, 1860; and Emma Elizabeth, born 
October 31, 1861, is the wife of Fred B. Griffice, a merchant of Garrett; 
she is a fine musician and was instructed in that art at Cincinnati 
College of Music.
	In his political views in early life, Dr. Stewart, whose name heads 
this sketch, was a Free-Soiler. In 1848 he was a member of the Free-Soil 
convention which, met at Indianapolis and ratified the nomination of 
Martin Van Buren. In 1852 he organized the first Prohibition convention of 
Ohio and Switzerland counties, Indiana, at East Enterprise, and it was the 
first convention of the kind in the West; but the prohibitory law of Maine 
had been passed the previous year.  A full county ticket was placed in the 
field and the candidates were nominated for the positions of State Senator 
and Representative, our subject being the latter. In 1853 he helped to 
organize the Sons of Temperance in Indiana. In 1854 the Prohibition party 
elected Dr. P. F. Sage, of Switzerland county, Indiana, to the Legislature. 
His seat was contested but he succeeded in maintaining it, and in the 
session of the General Assembly of 1854 a prohibitory law was passed, 
which went into effect in June, 1855, and was enforced for six months. Mr. 
Stewart was very active in helping to enforce this law in Switzerland 
county, but he law was finally declared unconstitutional by Judge Perkins 
of the Supreme Court of Indiana.  
	In 1864, Mr. Stewart became a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and ever since then has labored to the establishment of the 
principles of the order.  He has lectured at Odd Fellows’ celebrations in 
all of the Middle States, and on several occasions has been appointed by 
the Grand Lodge of Indiana a special deputy to visit and adjust differences 
between certain lodges and their members. On the twenty-fifth anniversary 
of his initiation into the I. O. O. F. the members of Garrett Lodge 
presented him with a “veteran jewel” of the order as a token of their 
appreciation of his service to the order.
	Prior to the war, Mr. Stewart was a stanch abolitionist and aided 
many negroes who were on their way to freedom.  During the days of the war 
he supported the Republican party and the Union cause, and since that time 
has been identified with the Prohibition party, and has on six different 
occasions been nominated for the Senatorship.  He is a benefactor and a 
friend of all that is calculated to uplift and benefit humanity.  His life 
has been well spent and upon his honorable career there falls no shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of evil.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com