Gideon T. Stewart

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Gideon T. Stewart.png

| caption = Stewart in 1909

| office = 4th Chairman of the Prohibition Party

| term_start = 1880

| term_end = 1884

| predecessor = James Black

| successor = John B. Finch

| office1 = Huron County Auditor

| term_start1 = 1850

| term_end1 = 1856

| predecessor1 =

| successor1 =

| birth_name = Gideon Tabor Stewart

| birth_date = {{birth date|1824|8|7}}

| birth_place = Johnsontown, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1909|6|10|1824|8|7}}

| death_place = Pasadena, California, U.S.

| party = Prohibition

| otherparty = Whig
Republican

| spouse = Abby Newell Simmons

| children = 4

| education =

| signature = Gideon T. Stewart signature.png

}}

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.

Early life and education

Stewart was born on August 7, 1824, in Johnstown, New York, to Thomas and Elizabeth Ferguson Stewart.{{cite book |title=Bench and Bar of Ohio: a Compendium of History and Biography |editor1-first=George Irving |editor1-last=Reed |editor2-first=Emilius Oviatt |editor2-last=Randall |editor3-first=Charles Theodore |editor3-last=Greve |volume=1 |year=1897 |publisher=Century Publishing and Engraving Company |location=Chicago |pages=205–207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gQ9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA205}} 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. From 1850 to 1856 he served as auditor of Huron County, Ohio.{{Cite news |url=http://lawlit.net/lp-2001/stewart_gideon.html |title=Stewart, Gideon Tabor}}

Career

During the American Civil War he published Union newspapers in Iowa and then Toledo, Ohio, before returning to law practice in Norwalk in 1866. 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40775932/the_montgomery_times/ |title=Prohibition Party 41 Years Old Today |date=24 September 1909 |work=The Montgomery Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219003726/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40775932/the_montgomery_times/ |archive-date=19 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40776783/the_summit_county_beacon/ |title=Diversity of Choice |date=24 May 1876 |work=The Summit County Beacon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219005657/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40776783/the_summit_county_beacon/ |archive-date=19 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40777416/the_de_kalb_chronicle/ |title=Gen. Bidwell Gets It |date=9 July 1892 |work=The De Kalb Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219010953/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40777416/the_de_kalb_chronicle/ |archive-date=19 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Personal life

In 1857, he married Abby Newell Simmons and later had four children with her.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

He died at his home in Pasadena, California, from heart failure, on June 10, 1909, aged 85.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40775957/the_baltimore_sun/ |title=Gideon T. Stewart Dead |date=11 June 1909 |work=The Baltimore Sun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219003958/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40775957/the_baltimore_sun/ |archive-date=19 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Electoral history

{{hidden begin|toggle=left|title=Gideon T. Stewart electoral history}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1871 Ohio gubernatorial election{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=90262 |title=OH Governor 1871 |date=13 October 2012}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Edward Follansbee Noyes

|votes = 238,273

|percentage = 51.75%

|change = +1.01%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = George Wythe McCook

|votes = 218,105

|percentage = 47.37%

|change = +1.76%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Prohibition Party

|candidate = Gideon T. Stewart

|votes = 4,084

|percentage = 0.89%

|change = +0.75%

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 460,462

|percentage = 100.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1872 Ohio Tenth Congressional District election{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=439531 |title=OH District 10 1872 |date=17 April 2008}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Charles Foster

|votes = 14,997

|percentage = 51.03%

|change = +1.26%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Liberal Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Rush R. Sloane

|votes = 14,271

|percentage = 48.56%

|change = +48.56%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Gideon T. Stewart

|votes = 121

|percentage = 0.41%

|change = +0.41%

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 29,389

|percentage = 100.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1873 Ohio gubernatorial election{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=90261 |title=OH Governor 1873 |date=13 October 2012}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = William Allen

|votes = 214,654

|percentage = 47.82%

|change = +0.45%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Edward Follansbee Noyes

|votes = 213,837

|percentage = 47.64%

|change = -4.11%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Prohibition Party

|candidate = Gideon T. Stewart

|votes = 10,278

|percentage = 2.29%

|change = +1.40%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Liberal Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Isaac C. Collins

|votes = 10,109

|percentage = 2.25%

|change = +2.25%

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 448,878

|percentage = 100.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1879 Ohio gubernatorial election{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=90250 |title=OH Governor 1879 |date=28 January 2011}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Charles Foster

|votes = 336,261

|percentage = 50.25%

|change = +5.37%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Thomas Ewing Jr.

|votes = 319,132

|percentage = 47.69%