A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Volume 2 By Joel Thomas Livingston


Robert F. Stewart is a fine representative of the rising young attorneys of Jasper county, and through a systematic application of his abilities is fast winning for himself an honored name in the legal profession. A son of Joseph C. Stewart, he was born in Webb City, which has always been his home, May 23, 1886. His grandfather, Robert Stewart, was born in Pennsylvania, of thrifty Scotch-Irish ancestry, being the descendant of an early pioneer family of that state.

Born in Pennsylvania April 19, 1844, Joseph C. Stewart served for two years as a soldier during the Civil war, enlisting in a Pennsylvania regiment while yet in his teens. He was an active participant in numerous engagements at the expiration of his term of enlistment being mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio. Soon after attaining his majority he tried the hazard of new fortunes, going to the gold fields of Montana, where he was engaged in prospecting several years, meeting with moderate success in his ventures, although, owing to the various hardships through which he had passed, he had practically nothing left when, in 1876, he located in Webb City, Missouri. At that time the present city was a mere hamlet, containing a few scattered dwelling houses, with few promises of its present prosperous condition. With a large amount of energy and ambition as his only capital, he worked in the lead smelter until he had obtained sufficient sum of money to warrant him in starting in business on his own account, and from that time on his success was almost phenomenal.

Organizing the Center Creek Mining Company, Mr. Joseph C. Stewart bought the land which it now owns and on which there has ever since been a continuous output of valuable ore, the total amount being nearly nine million dollars. He also organized the Exchange Bank, of which he was president until 1906, when it was merged with the National Bank of Webb City. He was the organizer of the Webb City Iron Works, which was later merged with the Webb City & Carterville Foundry & Machine Works; the organizer of the Stewart Lumber Company, which was afterwards bought out by the Matthews Lumber Company ; of the Stewart Brothers Lumber Company, of Joplin; of the West Alba Mining Company; of the Lawton Mining Company; and of the Acme Lead and Zinc Company. Identified with many of the more important industrial and financial enterprises of this part of Jasper county, he was a dominant factor in advancing the highest interests of the community in which he so long resided, and his death, which occurred in Webb City December 28, 1906, was deeply deplored as a public loss. Philanthropic and charitable, he was ever ready to lend a helping hand to any good work, giving generously of his large wealth to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and needy.

Joseph C. Stewart married, in Webb City, March 19, 1878, Hortense D. Street, who was born in the eastern part of Iowa, October 12, 1850, a daughter of Franklin Street. She is still living at her pleasant home in Webb City, which is likewise the home of her three children, namely: Robert F., the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; Cora Latta, wife of Thomas McCroskey; and Joseph Edgar, a student in the University of Missouri, at Columbia.

Obtaining his elementary education in the Webb City graded and high schools, Robert F. Stewart subsequently studied for three years in the literary department of the University of Missouri. Leaving that institution, he worked with his father a year, and then entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1910. Immediately beginning the practice of his profession in Webb City, Mr. Stewart, in partnership with L. E. Bates, a brilliant young lawyer, established himself in the Wagner Building, where he has since maintained a suite of law offices, which are finely furnished and equipped with a large and valuable law library. During the short time in which he has been in practice he has built up a good reputation for skill and ability in his legal work, and has won a substantial patronage.

Mr. Stewart married, June 25, 1910, in Kansas City, Missouri, Dorothy Doane, a daughter of L. F. and Mary (Jones) Doane. Her father was a prominent business man of Kansas City, and until his death, in 1903, was one of its leading architects, having been identified with the erection of many of the prominent business blocks and residences of that city. Mrs. Doane is still living.

Mr. Stewart is a staunch Republican in politics, and religiously is a member of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons. He also belongs to the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, and is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and of the Webb City Commercial Club, of which he is a director. Mr. Stewart is officially connected with two important industrial enterprises, being a director of the Webb City and Carterville Foundry and Machine Company, and secretary and treasurer of the Center Creek Mining Company. One of the more active, wealthy and popular young men of his community, Mr. Stewart has a host of warm friends, and is one of the leaders in the social activities of the city.