Joseph Burdette Stewart was born in present-day Trimble County, Kentucky on January 31, 1822. He was a law student at Transylvania College, and briefly practiced under Henry Clay. After he won a couple of prominent court cases, he grew in wealth and stature, and moved to Washington, D.C., where he practiced under the Supreme Court. Stewart identified with the Whig Party, but later became a Republican and a strong supporter of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and James A. Garfield.
On April 14, 1865, Joseph B. Stewart was at Ford's Theatre in the front row, when he saw John Wilkes Booth leap onto the stage after killing President Abraham Lincoln. Stewart chased Booth across the stage and through the narrow passageway, but by the time he reached the back exit of the theater, Booth was out of reach and galloped away on his horse. Stewart's testimony claiming to have seen a person standing calmly by the back door contributed to stagehand Edman "Ned" Spangler's imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.
Stewart became a top lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He drafted the language for the 1864 Pacific Railroad Act Section 10 that increased capital for the Union Pacific. During the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Stewart gained notoriety for refusing to tell Congress who he had provided $250,000 worth of bonds from the Union Pacific Eastern Division (later the Kansas Pacific). Stewart was held in contempt of Congress, and he was jailed in a room in the basement of the congressional building from February 1873 until Congress's term ended in March.
Starting from the mid-1860s, Stewart lived in New York for the remainder of his life. He was connected with several small railroad companies in Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Florida.
Joseph B. Stewart was married twice and did not have any surviving children.
On April 14, 1865, Joseph B. Stewart was at Ford's Theatre in the front row, when he saw John Wilkes Booth leap onto the stage after killing President Abraham Lincoln. Stewart chased Booth across the stage and through the narrow passageway, but by the time he reached the back exit of the theater, Booth was out of reach and galloped away on his horse. Stewart's testimony claiming to have seen a person standing calmly by the back door contributed to stagehand Edman "Ned" Spangler's imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.
Stewart became a top lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He drafted the language for the 1864 Pacific Railroad Act Section 10 that increased capital for the Union Pacific. During the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Stewart gained notoriety for refusing to tell Congress who he had provided $250,000 worth of bonds from the Union Pacific Eastern Division (later the Kansas Pacific). Stewart was held in contempt of Congress, and he was jailed in a room in the basement of the congressional building from February 1873 until Congress's term ended in March.
Starting from the mid-1860s, Stewart lived in New York for the remainder of his life. He was connected with several small railroad companies in Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Florida.
Joseph B. Stewart was married twice and did not have any surviving children.
Joseph Burdette Stewart was born in present-day Trimble County, Kentucky on January 31, 1822. He was a law student at Transylvania College, and briefly practiced under Henry Clay. After he won a couple of prominent court cases, he grew in wealth and stature, and moved to Washington, D.C., where he practiced under the Supreme Court. Stewart identified with the Whig Party, but later became a Republican and a strong supporter of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and James A. Garfield.
On April 14, 1865, Joseph B. Stewart was at Ford's Theatre in the front row, when he saw John Wilkes Booth leap onto the stage after killing President Abraham Lincoln. Stewart chased Booth across the stage and through the narrow passageway, but by the time he reached the back exit of the theater, Booth was out of reach and galloped away on his horse. Stewart's testimony claiming to have seen a person standing calmly by the back door contributed to stagehand Edman "Ned" Spangler's imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.
Stewart became a top lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He drafted the language for the 1864 Pacific Railroad Act Section 10 that increased capital for the Union Pacific. During the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Stewart gained notoriety for refusing to tell Congress who he had provided $250,000 worth of bonds from the Union Pacific Eastern Division (later the Kansas Pacific). Stewart was held in contempt of Congress, and he was jailed in a room in the basement of the congressional building from February 1873 until Congress's term ended in March.
Starting from the mid-1860s, Stewart lived in New York for the remainder of his life. He was connected with several small railroad companies in Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Florida.
Joseph B. Stewart was married twice and did not have any surviving children.
On April 14, 1865, Joseph B. Stewart was at Ford's Theatre in the front row, when he saw John Wilkes Booth leap onto the stage after killing President Abraham Lincoln. Stewart chased Booth across the stage and through the narrow passageway, but by the time he reached the back exit of the theater, Booth was out of reach and galloped away on his horse. Stewart's testimony claiming to have seen a person standing calmly by the back door contributed to stagehand Edman "Ned" Spangler's imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.
Stewart became a top lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He drafted the language for the 1864 Pacific Railroad Act Section 10 that increased capital for the Union Pacific. During the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Stewart gained notoriety for refusing to tell Congress who he had provided $250,000 worth of bonds from the Union Pacific Eastern Division (later the Kansas Pacific). Stewart was held in contempt of Congress, and he was jailed in a room in the basement of the congressional building from February 1873 until Congress's term ended in March.
Starting from the mid-1860s, Stewart lived in New York for the remainder of his life. He was connected with several small railroad companies in Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and Florida.
Joseph B. Stewart was married twice and did not have any surviving children.
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