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No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], D. Boston Stewart Papers, A&M 0470, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

David Boston Stewart was born on 4 November 1826. He was a farmer in Monongalia County, West Virginia, before enlisting in the Confederate army in May 1861. Stewart organized volunteer companies in western Virginia until that fall, when he was assigned to the 48th Virginia Infantry regiment in October 1861. Stewart was captured in Highland County, Virginia, on 7 August 1862 while raising a battalion of partisan rangers. He was kept as a prisoner of war in Beverly, West Virginia; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Camp Chase, Ohio; before being exchanged in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 11 September 1862. Stewart commanded a detachment during a battle at Beverly, West Virginia, in early July 1863 and also served on the staff of Brigadier General W.L. Jackson. From 1863 to 1864, Stewart was a member of the Virginia Legislature. He took the oath of allegiance in May 1865 and returned to his farm in Monongalia County, where he farmed until 1897. Stewart married Arah Evans in the early twentieth century. He died in Morgantown, West Virginia, on 21 March 1915.

Scope and Contents

David Boston Stewart (1826-1915), a farmer from Monongalia County, West Virginia, who served with the 48th Virginia Infantry and the 20th Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War and was a member of the Virginia Legislature from 1863 to 1864. Collection primarily consists of letters written to D. B. Stewart between 1862 and 1864 and between 1894 and 1906 that concern Stewart's time as a Confederate prisoner of war during the Civil War and his personal life in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Letters from his niece and brothers during the war comment on Stewart's case as a prisoner; affairs at home and on the farm in West Virginia; and politics and hope for the Confederacy. Letters from the 1890s are primarily written to Stewart from family members and Arah Evans, with whom Stewart was involved and eventually married. Topics include family news and activities and Stewart and Evans' relationship.

Letters from 1900 to 1908 largely relate to various efforts to document Civil War history, including the compilation of Virginia military records, Stewart's personal service, and the evacuation of Richmond in 1865. Scattered financial and legal materials include receipts, promissory notes, and a copy of the 1782 will of Major General Charles Lee. Also includes two letters from Sherard Clemens.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Camp Chase (Ohio)
• Civil War - Virginia 44th Regiment.
• Civil War -- Camps and camp life
• Monongalia County (W. Va.)
• Stewart, D. Boston.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons