James Augustus STEWART, Congress, MD (1808-1879)

STEWART, James Augustus, a Representative from Maryland; born at “Tobacco Stick” (now Madison), Dorchester County, Md., November 24, 1808; attended the local schools; studied law in Baltimore, Md.; was admitted to the bar in 1829 and commenced practice in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Md.; also engaged in the building of ships and houses; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress; member of the State house of delegates 1843-1845; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1861); chairman, Committee on Patents (Thirty-fifth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1860; resumed the practice of his profession in Cambridge; member of the Court of Appeals of Maryland and chief justice of the circuit court from 1867 until his death in Cambridge, Md., April 3, 1879; interment in Christ Protestant Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present