Gideon T. Stewart

Summary

Gideon Tabor Stewart (August 7, 1824 – June 10, 1909) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the Prohibition Party's vice presidential nominee in 1876. He was elected three times as grand worthy chief templar of the Good Templars of Ohio.

Gideon T. Stewart
4th Chairman of the Prohibition Party
In office
1880–1884
Preceded byJames Black
Succeeded byJohn B. Finch
Huron County Auditor
In office
1850–1856
Personal details
Born
Gideon Tabor Stewart

(1824-08-07)August 7, 1824
Johnstown, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 10, 1909(1909-06-10) (aged 84)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Political partyProhibition
Other political
affiliations
Whig
Republican
SpouseAbby Newell Simmons
Children4
Parents
  • Thomas Ferguson Stewart (father)
  • Elizabeth Ferguson Stewart (mother)
Signature

Early life and education edit

Stewart was born on August 7, 1824, in Johnstown, New York to Thomas and Elizabeth Ferguson Stewart.[1] He studied at Oberlin College, but left before graduating to study law in Norwalk, Ohio. He later studied under Noah Haynes Swayne in Columbus, Ohio, for more than a year, and spent two years in Florida with his brother, before returning to Norwalk, where he was admitted to the bar in 1846.[1] From 1850 to 1856 he served as auditor of Huron County, Ohio.[2]

Career edit

During the American Civil War he published Union newspapers in Iowa and then Toledo, Ohio, before returning to law practice in Norwalk in 1866.[1] Throughout the 1850s he attempted to organize a permanent prohibition party and in 1869 a convention was held, with Stewart as one of the delegates, that established the national Prohibition Party and he was selected as the national secretary.[3] Afterward, he served as the party candidate three times for governor of Ohio, seven times for judge on that state's Supreme Court, once for circuit court judge, and once for congress.

During the 1876 presidential election, he received three delegate votes for the Prohibition presidential nomination and was later given the vice presidential nomination to serve alongside Green Clay Smith and received 9,737 votes.[4] In 1880, he was selected as the national chairman of the Prohibition party. During the 1892 presidential election he ran for the Prohibition presidential nomination, but was defeated by John Bidwell with 590 delegates to 179 delegates.[5]

Personal life edit

In 1857, he married Abby Newell Simmons and later had four children with her.[citation needed]

On June 10, 1909, died at his home in Pasadena, California due to heart failure at age 85.[6]

Electoral history edit

Gideon T. Stewart electoral history
1871 Ohio gubernatorial election[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Edward Follansbee Noyes 238,273 51.75% +1.01%
Democratic George Wythe McCook 218,105 47.37% +1.76%
Prohibition Gideon T. Stewart 4,084 0.89% +0.75%
Total votes '460,462' '100.00%'
1872 Ohio Tenth Congressional District election[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Charles Foster 14,997 51.03% +1.26%
Liberal Republican Rush R. Sloane 14,271 48.56% +48.56%
Democratic Gideon T. Stewart 121 0.41% +0.41%
Total votes '29,389' '100.00%'
1873 Ohio gubernatorial election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic William Allen 214,654 47.82% +0.45%
Republican Edward Follansbee Noyes 213,837 47.64% -4.11%
Prohibition Gideon T. Stewart 10,278 2.29% +1.40%
Liberal Republican Isaac C. Collins 10,109 2.25% +2.25%
Total votes '448,878' '100.00%'
1879 Ohio gubernatorial election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Charles Foster 336,261 50.25% +5.37%
Democratic Thomas Ewing Jr. 319,132 47.69% -1.25%
Greenback Abram S. Piatt 9,072 1.36% -0.89%
Prohibition Gideon T. Stewart 4,145 0.62% -0.25%
Independent John Hood 547 0.08% +0.08%
Total votes '669,157' '100.00%'
1892 Prohibition Party presidential ballot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition John Bidwell 590 64.76%
Prohibition Gideon T. Stewart 179 19.65%
Prohibition William Jennings Demorest 139 15.26%
Prohibition H. Clay Bascom 3 0.33%
Total votes '911' '100.00%'

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Reed, George Irving; Randall, Emilius Oviatt; Greve, Charles Theodore, eds. (1897). Bench and Bar of Ohio: a Compendium of History and Biography. Vol. 1. Chicago: Century Publishing and Engraving Company. pp. 205–207.
  2. ^ "Stewart, Gideon Tabor".
  3. ^ "Prohibition Party 41 Years Old Today". The Montgomery Times. 24 September 1909. p. 2. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Diversity of Choice". The Summit County Beacon. 24 May 1876. p. 2. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Gen. Bidwell Gets It". The De Kalb Chronicle. 9 July 1892. p. 6. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Gideon T. Stewart Dead". The Baltimore Sun. 11 June 1909. p. 10. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "OH Governor 1871". 13 October 2012.
  8. ^ "OH District 10 1872". 17 April 2008.
  9. ^ "OH Governor 1873". 13 October 2012.
  10. ^ "OH Governor 1879". 28 January 2011.