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         ALEXANDER M. STEWART

          CHAPLAIN OF THE PA 102ND REGIMENT & THE OLD 13TH

       

                Chaplain Alexander M. Stewart

 

The Reverend A. M. Stewart was the beloved and well respected Chaplain of both the Old 13th PVI and subsequently appointed Chaplain of the 102nd PVI. Chaplain Stewart was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, circa 1814 and died February 24, 1875 in Chico, California.

Early records of the Presbyterian Church of America show him on the rolls as a member of the Second Reformed Pittsburgh Presbytery and pastor of a church on the corner of Penn and Harrison Streets in the 5th ward. It would appear from earlier information that he had served previously at the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The cover of Chaplain Stewart's Bible is engraved as follows:

PRESENTED
BY THE BIBLE CLASS
OF THE REF. PRES. CHURCH
CHICAGO
TO THEIR LATE ESTEEMED TEACHER
REV. A. M. STEWART A.M.
OCTOBER 15, 1855

It would appear that while serving the Pittsburgh congregation the Civil War started and he was called by the men of the Old 13th to serve them as Chaplain, and later by the 102nd in the same capacity. The record of his service is presented most clearly in Chaplain Stewart's book Camp, March and Battlefield (or 3 Years and a Half with the Army of the Potomac), published in 1865. That the chaplain was a well respected member of the unit is attested to by the inscription on the cover of a book, Robinson's Palestine, Vol. III that reads as follows:

PRESENTED

TO

A. M. STEWART

CHAPLAIN OF THE OLD13Th PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS
BY THE

NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
AND MEN OF THE REGIMENT
EXPRESSIVE OF THEIR
APPRECIATION OF HIS
FAITHFULNESS

Chaplain Stewart makes reference to these books (apparently at least three volumes... perhaps more) being given to him in his book mentioned in the first paragraph above.

At wars end and feeling quite worn in service to the regiment, Chaplain Stewart notes that the surgeon ordered a period of rest and recuperation. With only two months remaining to his commission as Chaplain, he was assigned as Chaplain to Gilsboro Supply Depot in the D.C. area and was mustered out of service on September 7, 1864 as Supernumerary.

Records now become scanty. It would appear that he returned to the Church in Pittsburgh for a period of time. Records of the Pittsburgh Presbytery (PCA) show that A.M. Stewart requested a "certificate of standing" (usually used to certify credentials as a minister in good standing sometimes issued to a minister who may be making a change to another church organization.) He is later found on the rolls of the General Assembly of the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church, USA) in 1869 in New York City, as from the Nevada Presbytery, Alta, California Synod.

Prior to his entry into the Civil War, his 1st wife, Nancy died in Lawrenceville (Dec 9, 1860), leaving Pastor Stewart with two small Children, George H. Stewart, age 10 years and daughter Mary E. Stewart, age 6 years.

Pastor Stewart married again on February 25, 1864 to Josephine Malcolm of Chicago. Witnesses to the validity of Josephine Stewart's pension claims indicate that they had previously known Nancy E. Stewart and suggest Pastor Stewart had perhaps known the Malcolm family during his Chicago ministry.

Chaplain Stewart was interred at Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh next to his first wife, Nancy. Information gleaned from subsequent records show the son, George H. Stewart (age 28) and Mary E. Stewart (Age 24) as living in Chico, California. George is believed to have later become very prominent in the banking field in Los Angeles and had a son named Alexander Stewart and possibly two more children. Here, for the moment, the trail ends.

The inscription on the gravestone of: REV. A.M. STEWART DO

DIED IN CHICO CALIFORNIA FEB 24, 1875 AGED 61 YEARS

NATIVE OF PENNSYLVANIA AND CHAPLAIN OF THE 102 REGT

HIS LIFE WAS A BLESSING UNTO ALL WHO KNEW HIM.

                                                                                  The Inscription on the gravestone of: N. E. HADLEY WIFE OF        

                                                                                  REV. A. M. STEWART DIED DEC. 8, 1860  AGED 41 YEARS

      

 Their graves are located together in the Allegheny Cemetery

Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, Pa. sec. 23 lot 24

 

 

Note: Some very special thanks go to Webmaster, Lynn for much of the discovery regarding Chaplain Stewart's burial location                                                                                                 Dave Lambert

Note on Nancy E. Stewart's grave: there is an inscription on the lower half of the gravestone that is illegible.  written and submitted by Dave Lambert, Historian of the Pa. 102nd Regiment                                                           Grave photographs submitted by Lynn Lepley

Chaplain Stewart's photograph from John H. Niebaum's History of the Pittsburgh Washington Infantry pg 114.