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| T. McCants Stewart From Wikipedia |
Thomas McCants Stewart (b. December 28, 1852; d. January 7, 1923)
South Carolina. Born free. Mulatto.
Occupation: Attorney at law, professor, author.
Father's occupation: blacksmith.
T. McCants Stewart was born in 1852 in Charleston, South Carolina to George Gilchrist and Anna Morris Stewart. Both were free, literate African Americans, and the father worked as a blacksmith. Stewart was educated at the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston until 1869 when he moved to Washington DC to attend Howard University. He was a student at Howard from 1869 to 1874, entering into the college preparatory program and leaving as a junior college student.
Stewart registered as a scholarship student at the University of South Carolina on January 7, 1874. He received A.B. and LL.B. degrees from the university in 1875. McCants was one of seven Howard students to transfer to U of SC (the others were William M. Dart, John M. Morris, Joseph M. Morris, Paul J. Mishow, Cornelius C. Scott, Alonzo G. Townsend).
Stewart registered as a scholarship student at the University of South Carolina on January 7, 1874. He received A.B. and LL.B. degrees from the university in 1875. McCants was one of seven Howard students to transfer to U of SC (the others were William M. Dart, John M. Morris, Joseph M. Morris, Paul J. Mishow, Cornelius C. Scott, Alonzo G. Townsend).
While a student, Stewart likely wrote articles for the New National Era newspaper on South Carolina. The New National Era was a national newspaper for African Americans that was edited by Frederick Douglass and Richard T. Greener.
One of the articles gives a valuable account of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina during Reconstruction. The description of the university is quoted in Historian Eric Foner's Bancroft Prize-winning book Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution. The article reads
Time will not permit us to describe the University. It is sufficient to say that it occupies the most beautiful spot in the "Queen City of the South." Its grounds, three squares by two, are covered with verdant trees and lawns, reminding one of the groves in which the ancient philosophers are said to have studied and taught....
This institute is calculated to do much good for South Carolina and for the negro race. If the time ever comes when the descendants of the Rutledges and the Marions shall believe in the universal fatherhood of God and the unlimited brotherhood of man, the University of South Carolina will have a dwelling place in the breast of every Africo-American.(The articles were published under the pseudonym "MAC". In written correspondence, Stewart used this name as a shortened form of "McCants.")
After receiving his degree, Stewart spent 2 years in Orangeburg, teaching mathematics at South Carolina State Agricultural College (a precursor to South Carolina State University) and practicing law at the law firm of Elliot, Stewart, and Straker. Robert B. Elliot and D. Augustus Straker had both been prominent African American politicians during Reconstruction. Straker was a student at Howard at the same time as Stewart (1870-72), although he was older and a law student.
In 1878 (one year after African Americans were expelled from the university), Stewart left South Carolina to attend the Princeton Theological Seminary. He attended for 2 years but did not receive a degree. However, in 1880 he became a pastor at the Bethel AMS Church in New York City.
In 1883, Stewart migrated to Liberia to work at Liberia College. Almost immediately he began fighting with the College President Edward Blyden. In general, his experience was marked by frustration, and he left two years later to return to New York. Drawing on his experiences in Liberia, he published the book Liberia: The Americo-African Republic a year later (in 1886).
In New York, Stewart returned to working in law. He was admitted to practice law before the New York Supreme Court in 1886 and then opened a law office. One of his most significant clients was Timothy Thomas Fortune, the editor of the influential black newspaper the New York Freeman (later The New York Age). Fortune brought a lawsuit against Trainor's Hotel in New York. In 1890, the hotel had refused him service because he was African American. When Fortune refused to leave, a hotel manager physically forced him out of the hotel and then had him arrested.
After 4 years legal proceedings, the Fortune received a positive judgement and was awarded roughly $1,000 in financial damages (a financial amount comparable to $25,000 in 2020). This outcome was reported in the New York Times.
Stewart knew Fortune well as he contributed articles to his newspaper. Of particular note is a series of 1885 articles he contributed that reported on a trip he took to South Carolina. Since Stewart had left the state in 1878, South Carolina had been transformed by the political changes brought about by the end of Reconstruction. Surprisingly, while many political changes focused on undoing the advances made by African Americans, Stewart's articles were mostly positive. For example, reflecting at the end of his trip, he wrote:
In 1898, after two decades of living in New York City, Stewart made the surprising decision to move to Hawaii. There he started a new law practice and became active in Republican politics, but he became frustrated by living in the state and more generally by his experience living in America. In 1905, he wrote to his son, "I am victim of the white man's unholy color line. In 1878 I left South Carolina to escape it. In 1883 I left New York for Africa to escape it. And now, ah, whither shall I flee?"
Stewart chose to flee to London, but he only stayed there for a year. He returned to Liberia and, again, opened a law practice and involved himself in politics. He achieved some of his greatest professional success in the country. A crowning achievement was being appointed associate justice of the Liberian Supreme Court in 1911. However, his achievements were short-lived. He became embroiled in conflict with government officials and was removed from judicial office by a legislative resolution. The legislature's reasons for taking this action are unclear, but Stewart alleged that it was for challenging corruption by his political opponents.
Stewart's political fights brought his career in Liberia to an end, and he returned to London in 1914. In London, he worked on finding a new professional direction. Ultimately he tried to start a new career in the Virgin Islands.
Stewart moved to St Thomas in the Virgin Islands in 1921. As with many of his earlier moves, he opened a law practice and pursued his interests in politics. In an unofficial capacity, he joined a 1923 delegation that was sent to the United States to deliver grievances regarding the US administration of the island. (The United States had purchased St Thomas Island from Denmark in 1917.)
Sadly, his trip to the United States was his last. On the return trip, he fell ill to a sickness that took his life on January 7, 1923, shortly after he landed at St Thomas. Despite his complicated relation with the nation, Stewart was buried in the Liberian flag at his request.
In New York, Stewart returned to working in law. He was admitted to practice law before the New York Supreme Court in 1886 and then opened a law office. One of his most significant clients was Timothy Thomas Fortune, the editor of the influential black newspaper the New York Freeman (later The New York Age). Fortune brought a lawsuit against Trainor's Hotel in New York. In 1890, the hotel had refused him service because he was African American. When Fortune refused to leave, a hotel manager physically forced him out of the hotel and then had him arrested.
After 4 years legal proceedings, the Fortune received a positive judgement and was awarded roughly $1,000 in financial damages (a financial amount comparable to $25,000 in 2020). This outcome was reported in the New York Times.
Stewart knew Fortune well as he contributed articles to his newspaper. Of particular note is a series of 1885 articles he contributed that reported on a trip he took to South Carolina. Since Stewart had left the state in 1878, South Carolina had been transformed by the political changes brought about by the end of Reconstruction. Surprisingly, while many political changes focused on undoing the advances made by African Americans, Stewart's articles were mostly positive. For example, reflecting at the end of his trip, he wrote:
I do contend that if in thought we should put ourselves in the Southern white man's place we would be astounded at our reflections. Think it, when a boy, eight years of age, I had to dodge to go to school. Now, Charleston is full of public schools for colored children, and colored lawyers plead at the bar, physicians ride about the streets and the irrepressible Negro appears everywhere!During this time, Stewart was an active supporter of the Democratic Party, an unusual decision for an African American. Starting in 1886, he began corresponding with Democratic President Grover Cleveland. In 1888, he publicly broke with the Republican Party and endorsed Cleveland's campaign for reelection. Cleveland lost the 1888 election but was returned to office in the 1892 election. Two years into his second presidency (in 1894) Stewart had a falling out with Cleveland and the Democratic Party. Stewart was especially critical of Cleveland's decision to remove a number of African Americans from federal offices.
In 1898, after two decades of living in New York City, Stewart made the surprising decision to move to Hawaii. There he started a new law practice and became active in Republican politics, but he became frustrated by living in the state and more generally by his experience living in America. In 1905, he wrote to his son, "I am victim of the white man's unholy color line. In 1878 I left South Carolina to escape it. In 1883 I left New York for Africa to escape it. And now, ah, whither shall I flee?"
Stewart chose to flee to London, but he only stayed there for a year. He returned to Liberia and, again, opened a law practice and involved himself in politics. He achieved some of his greatest professional success in the country. A crowning achievement was being appointed associate justice of the Liberian Supreme Court in 1911. However, his achievements were short-lived. He became embroiled in conflict with government officials and was removed from judicial office by a legislative resolution. The legislature's reasons for taking this action are unclear, but Stewart alleged that it was for challenging corruption by his political opponents.
Stewart's political fights brought his career in Liberia to an end, and he returned to London in 1914. In London, he worked on finding a new professional direction. Ultimately he tried to start a new career in the Virgin Islands.
Stewart moved to St Thomas in the Virgin Islands in 1921. As with many of his earlier moves, he opened a law practice and pursued his interests in politics. In an unofficial capacity, he joined a 1923 delegation that was sent to the United States to deliver grievances regarding the US administration of the island. (The United States had purchased St Thomas Island from Denmark in 1917.)
Sadly, his trip to the United States was his last. On the return trip, he fell ill to a sickness that took his life on January 7, 1923, shortly after he landed at St Thomas. Despite his complicated relation with the nation, Stewart was buried in the Liberian flag at his request.
Sources Cited:
1). 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
2). Wynes, Charles E. "T. McCants Stewart: Peripatetic Black South Carolinian." The South Carolina Historical Magazine 80, no. 4 (1979): 311-17.
3). Broussard, Albert S. African American Odyssey: The Stewarts, 1853-1963. University Press of Kansas. 1998.
To do: Check Foner quotation
3). Broussard, Albert S. African American Odyssey: The Stewarts, 1853-1963. University Press of Kansas. 1998.
To do: Check Foner quotation
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