Eulogy on A.D. Stewart - 1899

“In Wesley church last evening, a very large congregation was present to hear Rev. Mr. Wilson’s remarks concerning the late A.D. Stewart.”

Hamilton Times.           September 25, 1899.

There had been rumors that former Hamilton Police Chief and two-term mayor had died on the Klondike trail, but only vague references to that matter had been learned. On September 15, 1899, Mrs. Stewart received a definite notification regarding the fate of her husband when another Klondike gold seeker reached civilization and was able to send a telegram to her. It was said that he had died of scurvy the previous spring and his body had been buried on the trail.

Six days later, Mrs. Stewart received a letter from a Mr. Cresswell who knew A.D. Stewart well, and who could describe some of the events of his final days. It was then that it became known that A.D. Stewart had become a Christian in his last days.

A.D. Stewart had had a remarkable life, first coming to Hamilton as the city’s Chief of Police. While in that position, Stewart also got involved with many aspects of life in the city during the 1880s. Stewart was athletically inclined and entered many events in which his strong, and very large frame, proved his prowess. He was also a singer, writer, actor and generally led a very public life.

Headstrong, and very stubborn, Stewart got into a bitter dispute with Hamilton Mayor leading, to his exiting from the police force. Whether he was fired or whether he resigned, Stewart left Hamilton completely for many years, particularly finding employment with the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

Returning to Hamilton years later, Stewart exploited his notoriety and successfully ran for alderman, later for mayor.  As mayor, he was a very controversial figure to the point that, once as mayor, he was hauled in Police Court charged with assault after an incident at the Hamilton Jockey Club.

Stewart was regularly in financial difficulties, having to approach his mother for assistance to keep his head above water. When the news that gold had been found in the Yukon, Stewart was eager to get there and make a fortune, joining a contingent of Hamiltonians who went to the Klondike for the same reason.

When Mrs. Stewart was apprised of the circumstances of her husband’s death, she learned that he got very ill and he death came slowly. She also learned that her husband had turned his life and spirit over to Christ, something unexpected by her and by the many who knew him.

On Sunday, September 24, 1899, Reverend Wilson of the Wesley Church used A.D. Stewart as the focus for his sermon. It was widely known that he would preach regarding Stewart so the large church was filled to capacity to hear him.

This is what Rev. Wilson said, as covered by aTimes reporter who was in attendance:

“The reverend gentleman took as his text Romans vii. 21-24. The great battlefields of the world, he said, were not Waterloo or Gettysburg, but the human heart, as illustrated in the words of the text, in which it was shown the complex nature of man. The law prevailed everywhere that man’s animal nature must go down and man’s spiritual nature be lifted up. No power could kill this force, for the spirit of emancipation was abroad and grew by reason of persecution. No man was complete without God, or truly great. He might be wealthy, successful. Clever but somewhere, sometime his heart would go out and plead with his Father to quiet his troubled soul.

“ ‘This,’ said the speaker, ‘is true in a pre-eminent degree, if the reports we have read in the newspapers are correct, of the man whose form we shall see no more in our streets. Whatever may have been his faults, and he had many, I believe at times that good impulses swayed the purposes of A.D. Stewart. He certainly had some endearing qualities that made an impression on the public mind, and it is quite appropriate to say a few words from this desk, so that all may emulate anything worthy in his life, and shun all that distracted from its lustre.’ In a brief sketch, the reverend gentlemen reviewed the principal incidents of the unfortunate man’s life. A.D., he said, was a man of very fine ability and of great affability; a great conversationalist, the center of all life, and a welcome guest wherever he went. A man also of great availability; able to turn his hand to anything. From the stores of knowledge he had hanging in his memory, he was always able to appear with great to himself, and generally with benefit to others. But he had a weakness  that had tarnished greater natures than his. He lacked stability, continuity of purpose. He was a man for the hour, prone to extremes, and impulsive beyond comprehension. He might have been guided if the right man had placed a hand on his shoulder at the right time. He had his off days, where he ceased to pursue the line which might have made himself and others happy.

“There were periods in his life, had he been kindly helped, when his animal nature might have been mastered, and when he might have become what he was when he died.

“Those that should have helped and counselled him; those that should have commended, condemned, until at last in the agony of spirit, he had been known to exclaim. “It is no use trying to be a better man for they hound me when I try.’

“Some people, continued the reverend gentleman, will say they have no faith in this last minute kind of repentance . If the worst man in this world wants to come home to Jesus, God will help that man, and when A.D. Stewart took his Bible and read, under those far northern stars became penitent, I believe that God heard his prayer. As he looked upon the dying thief on the cross, so He looked upon the penitent gold seeker and said, ‘I forgive.’

“In conclusion, Mr. Wilson said : ‘Wrapt in the fag in the flag of his country that he truly loved, beyond the pale of civilization, lies his emaciated form, awaiting in quiet the glorious hope of an eternal resurrection.’