William Steuart (1754 – February 12, 1839) was a wealthy planter in colonial

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He inherited the estate of

Dodon Dodon may refer to * Dodon (farm), a farm and former tobacco plantation in Maryland, U.S. * Dodon, Kyrgyzstan, a village in Kyrgyzstan * L'Isle-en-Dodon, a commune in France * Lac Dodon, an iron meteorite discovered in Canada * Igor Dodon (born ...

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

, Maryland, from his father, planter and politician George H. Steuart.Nelker, 32

Early life

Steuart was born in 1754 Nelker, p.65 in

, Maryland, the fourth son of the planter and politician George H. Steuart (1700–1784). He was raised at

, the family plantation on the South River, near Annapolis, Maryland.

Career

As a young man Steuart served as clerk to the two Judges of the Land Office, his father George H. Steuart and

Benedict Swingate Calvert Benedict Swingate Calvert (January 27, 1722 – January 9, 1788) was a planter, politician and a Loyalist in Maryland during the American Revolution. He was the son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, the third Proprietor Governor of Mar ...

, who was the illegitimate son of

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751) was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland. He inherited the title to Maryland aged just fifteen, on the death of his father and gra ...

, the third Proprietor Governor of Maryland.Yentsch, Anne E, p.387, ''A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves: a Study in Historical Archaeology'', Cambridge University Press (1994)
Retrieved August 2010 The Steuart family's interests were closely linked to those of the ruling Calvert family, and in 1770 there was a disagreement between the upper and lower houses in the Maryland Assembly over the size of fees to be collected by the Land Office. After collecting fees that were larger than those designated by the lower house, Steuart was jailed.Brugger, Robert J., p.109, ''Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980''
Retrieved August 2010 In response to this Governor

Robert Eden Robert Eden may refer to: *Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of West Auckland (c. 1644–1721), MP for County Durham * Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, of West Auckland (died 1794) * Sir Robert Johnson-Eden, 5th Baronet, of West Auckland (1774–1844) * S ...

prorogued the assembly, freed Steuart, and removed him from the assembly's jurisdiction. The question of proprietarial fees was to cause considerable discontent among Marylanders during the years immediately preceding the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

Revolutionary War

Steuart's family was divided by the Revolution. His father George H. Steuart was a Loyalist politician who, as an ally of the ruling

Calvert family Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore, County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 and ended in 1771, upon the death of its sixth-generation male heir, aged 40. Holders of the title were usually known as Lord Baltimor ...

, had benefited from substantial political patronage. In addition Steuart held estates in both

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and, at the outbreak of war, forced to make a choice between loyalty to the Crown and backing the Revolution, he sailed to

, saying that he "could not turn rebel in his old age", and pragmatically dividing his property between his sons. William Steuart accompanied his father to Scotland in 1775 and returned to Maryland after the war was over. Despite this, according to the memoirs of his nephew

Richard Sprigg Steuart Richard Sprigg Steuart (1797–1876) was a Maryland physician and an early pioneer of the treatment of mental illness. In 1838 he inherited four contiguous farms, totalling approximately 1900 acres as well as 150 slaves.MSA C153-10, Liber TTS #1, ...

, William Steuart was sympathetic to Revolutionary cause. "Uncle William was mild and conciliatory, rather Republican, but with too much respect for his father to say much". After the end of the war, Steuart inherited the family estate of

, on the South River, near Annapolis,

. He was a founder member of the

Maryland Jockey Club The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organizat ...

, re-established after the war's end on Saturday, March 1, 1783, at Mr Mann's tavern in Annapolis. Club rules were set down including that the plate given by the club should be run on the first Tuesday of November, at Annapolis, that the prize money should be "sixty

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

", and that the annual subscription should be "three guineas".

Will and legacy

William Steuart died unmarried, leaving a substantial estate in land and slaves which was apportioned among his surviving family members. His will left detailed instructions on which family members would inherit the substantial Steuart estates in Maryland. According to the memoirs of his nephew

"The fifth of my grandfather's children was William, also a bachelor, holeft a very large landed property and numerous slaves. He was our good old "Uncle Billy". He is buried at the family estate of

on the South River, near Annapolis.Papenfeuse, p773

Notes

References

*Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday Doran & Co, New York City (1929).
Brugger, Robert J., p.109, ''Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980''
Retrieved August 2010
Griffith, Thomas Waters, ''Annals of Baltimore'', 1815
Retrieved August 2010
Kilty, John, p.270, ''The land-Holder's Assistant, and Land-Office Guide''
Retrieved August 2010 * Nelker, Gladys P., ''The Clan Steuart'', Genealogical Publishing (1970). * Papenfeuse Edward C., and others, ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. * Richardson. Hester Dorey, ''Side-Lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families'', Williams and Wilkins (1913). ASIN: B000VAWR4Q * Steuart, Richard Sprigg, ''Dr. George Steuart of Annapolis and Doden, Anne Arundel County and his descendants'', S.N. 1955, ASIN: B0007GTCFG
Yentsch, Anne E, p.387, ''A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves: a Study in Historical Archaeology'', Cambridge University Press (1994)
Retrieved August 2010

External links

Steuart in ''Niles Weekly Register'' Volume 52, 1837
Retrieved August 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Steuart, William People from colonial Maryland People of Maryland in the American Revolution

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

American planters People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland 1754 births 1838 deaths American people of Scottish descent

American slave owners