James Reeve Stuart was born to one of the wealthiest families in the Antebellum South. This branch of the Stuart clan got their foothold in America when John Stuart, who was ship's clerk aboard Commodore Anson's flagship, Centurion, had to flee to America after the defeat at Culloden Moor. John would later become Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the Southern Colonies. John became a trader with the Cherokee, and blood brother to Attacullaculla, the great Cherokee Peace Chief. Attacullaculla arranged Stuart's safety at the Massacre at Ft. Loudoun in 1760. Stuart fought to defend and protect the Cherokee Nation from the settler's encroachment into Indian territory. Back to James, born Beaufort South Carolina in 1834. The Stuart family owned several of the wealthiest plantations in the sea island area of South Carolina. Stuart's parents owned the Ferry Plantationand it's Mansion "Roupelmonde" on Port Royal Island, adjacent to the Port Royal Ferry. Stuart's father, Colonel Middleton Stuart, died in 1840, and young Jimmie's education and upbringing was left to his many uncles. His Uncle Stephen, Bishop Stephen Elliott, and another Uncle, John Barnwell encouraged Jimmie to pursue his interest in art. He attended Harvard College, and while in Boston, with an introduction by way of Senator Barnwell, he studied under Joseph Ames while in Boston. After Harvard, Jimmie, as he was known, traveled to Europe to continue his studies in art. In 1859 James Reeve Stuart became just the 2nd American to be accepted to study art at the prestigious Royal Academy in Munich, Germany. His European studies were shortened by South Carolina's secession from the Union and the resulting 4 year Civil War. He returned to Beaufort and enlisted in the Confederacy with the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and later the South Carolina Engineers. He painted several portraits during the war years. Among them the Portraits of his uncle Bishop Stephen Elliott and General Leonidas Polk, the fighting Bishop of Louisiana, founders of The University of the South at Sewanee, TN. He also painted Bishop Elliott's son, Brig. General Stephen Elliott that hangs in the Museum of the Confederacy at Richmond. After the war, the Stuart family lost almost everything, two of his brothers were killed in the war, the Ferry Plantation and "Rouplemonde" was the battleground at the "Battle of Port Royal Ferry." It was totally destroyed. Stuart opened a studio in Savannah and much to his surprise, made $1500.00 in just six months. He decided art would be his career. In 1867 he traveled to St. Louis, MO. and opened another studio. He would remain in St. Louis for the next five years. During his St. Louis years, he would travel the mid-west, painting portraits on commission. One of his trips, in 1872, brought him to Madison, Wisconsin. His Autobiography states he was so attracted by the "quiet charm" of Wisconsin's capital city that he "abandoned the dust and cold of St. Louis" he knew he was home. Stuart spent the remainder of his life, the next forty-two years, in Madison, except for trips to South Carolina or study in Europe. Stuart became an Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin. He also taught art at Milwaukee College. He is listed as an early "Cream of Wheat" advertising art illustrators. More than thirty-five of his portraits are in the State Historical Society Museum and several more hang in the State Capitol Building in Madison. Stuart died Dec. 23, 1915 and is buried in Madison.

(Source: AskArt - Artist's Bluebook)