Robert Marcellus Stewart (March 12, 1815 – September 21, 1871) was the
14th Governor of
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
from 1857 to 1861, during the critical years just prior to the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
Early years
Stewart was born in
Truxton, New York
Truxton is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The population was 1,133 at the 2010 census. The town is named for Commodore Thomas Truxtun, a privateer in the American Revolution and one of the US Navy's first commanding officers. ...
, but moved to
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
with his parents when he was a boy. In 1838, Stewart moved to
Buchanan County, Missouri. He made a fortune as a land speculator in the
Platte Purchase
The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Miss ...
area of Missouri, then settled in
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
and opened a law practice.
Stewart was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1845, and served as a member of the state senate for ten years.
In 1856
Trusten Polk was elected as governor; and then U.S. Senator at the beginning of 1857. Polk opted for the Senate, and Stewart then ran for the governorship. He won the August election and was installed as governor in October 1857.
Governor
Governor Stewart championed the founding of the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in northern Missouri, which resulted in the creation of the
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pi ...
and the rise of
Kansas City, Missouri as a metropolitan region. He also had to deal with the
Bloody Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...
border skirmishes of that time.
When Stewart left office in January 1861, he urged Missouri to adopt an armed neutrality in the impending Civil War and not to provide men or arms to either side though his own preference was for preserving the Union. In his final message as governor, he said:
: As matters are at present Missouri will stand by her lot, and hold to the Union as long as it is worth an effort to preserve it... In the mean time Missouri will hold herself in readiness, at any moment, to defend her soil from pollution and her property from plunder by fanatics and marauders, come from what quarter they may... She is able to take care of herself, and will be neither forced nor flattered, driven nor coaxed, into a course of action that must end in her own destruction.
Later years
Stewart's successor as governor,
Claiborne Jackson
Claiborne Fox Jackson (April 4, 1806 – December 6, 1862) was an American politician of the Democratic Party in Missouri. He was elected as the 15th Governor of Missouri, serving from January 3, 1861, until July 31, 1861, when he was forc ...
, claimed to support the armed neutrality stance though he also stated that be believed Missouri's course was tied to the other slave states of the
Confederacy. When Missouri was forced to take sides after Governor Jackson was removed from office by the Missouri State Convention in July 1861, Stewart attempted to join the Union army. However, his failing health kept him from any active service.
On September 3, 1861, between 17 and 20 passengers died and 100 were injured when the
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first railroad to cross Missouri starting in Hannibal in the northeast and going to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the northwest. It is said to have carried the first letter to the Pony Express on April 3, ...
bridge over the
Platte River (Missouri River) was sabotaged in the
Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy. Those responsible allegedly were attempting to assassinate Stewart.
Stewart remained a bachelor all his life and was considered quite eccentric, including a famous instance of riding his horse into the governor's mansion. He died in
St. Joseph in 1871 and is interred in
Mount Mora Cemetery.
External links
USGennetMissouri Government archives*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Robert Marcellus
1815 births
1871 deaths
People from Truxton, New York
Democratic Party governors of Missouri
People of Missouri in the American Civil War
19th-century American politicians