3rd great-grandfather of Bethany Hoover

Private     Co. A     147th IN Infantry 
Dates of Service:  24 Jan 1865 - 4 Aug 1865

Jacob Reason Stewart, Sr. was born in Richland Township, Clinton County, Ohio, the son of Eli Stewart of Virginia and Sarah D. DeBois, also of Virginia, in 1830.  Eli’s father, James Stewart was born in Virginia about the time of the Revolutionary War and came with his wife and children to Greene County, Ohio as an early pioneer.  Eli and Sarah were married in Greene County, Ohio.  After the death of Jacob’s father between 1850-1855, Sarah moved with her children Jacob Reason, Percilla Ann, Clark, Martha J., Eugene, Cora and Sarah Melissa to Jackson Township, Blackford County, Indiana and developed a wild tract of land into a farm until her death in 1857 when she was 57 years old.  Jacob’s brothers Calvin and James died in childhood in Ohio.  Both of the elder Stewarts were of Scotch heritage and Presbyterian faith. 

In September 1857, Jacob married Catharine Hines in Ridgeville, Randolph County, Indiana and at some point purchased a farm in Franklin Township.  Catharine was born in Ohio, the daughter of Peter Hines.  Jacob and Catharine were the parents of the following children:  Sarah Jane, born 9-30-1857 (my great-great-grandmother); Rose Ann, born 6-1861; Silas, born 1863; Clark J., born 5-1865; Elisha B., born 7-1868; Cora, born 1872; and Jacob Reason, Jr., born 6-17-1874. 

On January 24, 1865, Jacob enlisted as a Private in Co. A, 147th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.  He was mustered out August 4, 1865.  He left for Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia on March 16 and was attached to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Provisional Division of the Army of Shenandoah and guard duty at Charleston, Stephen’s Station, Summit Point, Berryville, Harper’s Ferry and Maryland Heights until August, 1865.  For his service, he received an enlistment bounty of $100.  According to his pension file, he was sickened with diarrhea at Summit Point, Virginia.  He applied for a disability pension and was awarded on 1-30-1884 for “chronic diarrhea, piles (hemorrhoids), deafness and disease of the heart”.

Jacob’s brother, Clark Stewart, enlisted in Co. I, 34th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and lost his arm at Champion Hills, Mississippi in 1863.  He became a prominent citizen in Blackford County, Indiana and was a member of the Jacob Stahl Post No. 227, Grand Army of the Republic.  The information on Jacob’s early years was taken from a biography of his brother Clark. 

Jacob died on June 2, 1896 in Ridgeville, Randolph County, Indiana.  His wife Catharine received a widow’s pension until her death on April 18, 1908.  Both are buried in Riverside Cemetery, Ridgeville, Indiana.

GRAVESITE: Riverside Cemetery, Ridgeville, Randolph County, Indiana
Written by Bethany Hoover, December 2009