Old Steuart Hall
Encyclopedia
Maryland Square, later known as Steuart Hall, was a mansion built in the late 18th century on the outskirts of Baltimore
, Maryland
, and owned by the Steuart family
until 1861, when, at the beginning of the American Civil War
, it was confiscated by the United States Federal Government. Brigadier General George H. Steuart fought for the Confederate States of America
during the war and in 1862 Jarvis Hospital
was constructed on the grounds of his estate, built for the care of wounded Union soldiers, while the house itself was used as the hospital's headquarters. After the war, in 1866, the property was restored to General Steuart, but he never lived there again, choosing instead to live at Mount Steuart, his family estate on the Chesapeake in Anne Arundel County. In 1867 the building was re-named Steuart Hall, became a school for boys and, in the 1870s, a convent. Finally in 1884 the mansion was demolished, and today the modern Bon Secours Hospital stands on its former site.
In around 1795 the house was bought by the physician James Steuart of Annapolis, son of the politician and planter George H. Steuart. The Steuart family
moved to Baltimore from Annapolis in 1795, as Baltimore began to eclipse Annapolis in size and importance.
Among the members of the family who were raised there was the physician and philanthropist Richard Sprigg Steuart
, who described the "large and solitary" mansion in his memoirs as having "the reputation of being haunted...[with] departed spirits coming back to visit their old haunts".
On May 8, 1829 James Steuart's daughter Elizabeth was married at Maryland Square, to the writer and essayist George Henry Calvert
. Calvert's father, also called George Calvert
, had been opposed to the match on the grounds that Elizabeth had little or no property to her name. However a compromise between father and son was eventually reached and, after a suitable delay, the couple were married.
On July 19, 1844, the Boston City Greys visited Baltimore, and marched in parade with various companies of the 53rd Regiment. Militia General George H. Steuart hosted a party at Maryland Square for the visiting militia. The event was celebrated by extensive coverage in the Baltimore American and was commemorated in a lithograph. In 1846 Steuart inherited the house on the death of his father, the physician James Steuart.
From 1841 to 1861 Steuart was Commander of the First Light Division
, Maryland Volunteer Militia
. Until the Civil War he would be the Commander-in-Chief of the Maryland Volunteers. The First Light Division comprised two brigades: the 1st Light Brigade and the 2nd Brigade. The First Brigade consisted of the 1st Cavalry, 1st Artillery, and 5th Infantry regiments. The 2nd Brigade was composed of the 1st Rifle Regiment and the 53rd Infantry Regiment, and the Battalion of Baltimore City Guards.
, she remained loyal to the Union
during the civil war. However, many Marylanders were sympathetic to the Confederacy, including the Steuart family, who were planters and slave owners in the Chesapeake Bay
. On April 16, 1861 Brigadier General George H. Steuart (1828–1903), then a captain in the US Army, resigned his commission and joined the Confederacy
. His father, Major General George H. Steuart (1790–1867), did the same, though he was by then considered too old for active service.
As a consequence of these actions, Maryland Square was confiscated by the US government, and became the site of Jarvis Hospital
, built for the care of wounded Union soldiers. On May 25, 1862 the property was taken into the control of the medical director of the US Army, with the former Steuart mansion now serving as the main administration building for the hospital.
In February 1862 a Massachusetts
soldier described the property (by then known as "Camp Andrew", after Massachusetts Governor John Andrew
):
Maryland Square was restored to General Steuart after the war, but he never lived there again, choosing to live at Mount Steuart, his family estate on the Chesapeake in Anne Arundel County. When he visited Baltimore, Steuart would stay instead at the Carrollton hotel.
In 1867, the building was leased to the Reverend Newman Hank as a school for "young gentlemen", one of whom later recalled that, though the "long corridors, many closets and corners in unexpected places" made a fine place to explore and play, few dared enter after dark. The boys feared "the groaning of the dying, and when the stairs creaked, we knew why - they were bearing out the dead". At around this time the building appears to have acquired its new name, Steuart Hall.
In the early 1870s the house was acquired by the Sisters of Bon Secours
for use as a convent. In 1872 what was left of the land was sold off in lots as part of a development known as "Chesapeake Heights", and in 1884 the mansion was demolished.
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, and owned by the Steuart family
Steuart family
The Steuart family of Maryland was a prominent political family in the early History of Maryland. Of Scottish descent, the Steuarts have their origins in Perthshire, Scotland...
until 1861, when, at the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, it was confiscated by the United States Federal Government. Brigadier General George H. Steuart fought for the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
during the war and in 1862 Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis U.S. General Hospital was a military hospital founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, for the care of wounded Federal soldiers. The hospital was built on the grounds of Maryland Square, the former residence of the Steuart family, which had been...
was constructed on the grounds of his estate, built for the care of wounded Union soldiers, while the house itself was used as the hospital's headquarters. After the war, in 1866, the property was restored to General Steuart, but he never lived there again, choosing instead to live at Mount Steuart, his family estate on the Chesapeake in Anne Arundel County. In 1867 the building was re-named Steuart Hall, became a school for boys and, in the 1870s, a convent. Finally in 1884 the mansion was demolished, and today the modern Bon Secours Hospital stands on its former site.
History
Maryland Square, later known as Steuart Hall, was the Baltimore residence of the Steuart family from around 1795 onwards. It was located at the present day junction of Baltimore and Monroe streets and was built on relatively high ground, which at the time was on the edge of the city of Baltimore, and, according to one contemporary writer, benefited from "a salubrious air".In around 1795 the house was bought by the physician James Steuart of Annapolis, son of the politician and planter George H. Steuart. The Steuart family
Steuart family
The Steuart family of Maryland was a prominent political family in the early History of Maryland. Of Scottish descent, the Steuarts have their origins in Perthshire, Scotland...
moved to Baltimore from Annapolis in 1795, as Baltimore began to eclipse Annapolis in size and importance.
Among the members of the family who were raised there was the physician and philanthropist Richard Sprigg Steuart
Richard Sprigg Steuart
Dr. Richard Sprigg Steuart was a Maryland physician and an early pioneer of the treatment of mental illness. He was instrumental in the expansion and modernisation of The Maryland Hospital for the Insane, now known as the Spring Grove Hospital Center, which became his life's work...
, who described the "large and solitary" mansion in his memoirs as having "the reputation of being haunted...[with] departed spirits coming back to visit their old haunts".
On May 8, 1829 James Steuart's daughter Elizabeth was married at Maryland Square, to the writer and essayist George Henry Calvert
George Henry Calvert
George Henry Calvert was an American editor, essayist, dramatist, poet, and biographer. He was the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the newly established College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Baltimore, and in 1854 he served as Mayor of Newport, Rhode Island.-Biography:His mother, Rosalie...
. Calvert's father, also called George Calvert
George Calvert (planter)
George Calvert , was a plantation owner in late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth century Maryland. His plantation house, Riversdale plantation, also known as the Calvert Mansion, is a five-part, large-scale late Georgian mansion with superior Federal interior, built between 1801 and 1807, and was...
, had been opposed to the match on the grounds that Elizabeth had little or no property to her name. However a compromise between father and son was eventually reached and, after a suitable delay, the couple were married.
On July 19, 1844, the Boston City Greys visited Baltimore, and marched in parade with various companies of the 53rd Regiment. Militia General George H. Steuart hosted a party at Maryland Square for the visiting militia. The event was celebrated by extensive coverage in the Baltimore American and was commemorated in a lithograph. In 1846 Steuart inherited the house on the death of his father, the physician James Steuart.
From 1841 to 1861 Steuart was Commander of the First Light Division
First Light Division, Maryland Volunteers
The First Light Division of Maryland Volunteers was a militia unit based in Baltimore and formed in around 1841. Its commander was the militia general George H. Steuart. Elements of the division participated in the suppression of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, but its members found...
, Maryland Volunteer Militia
Maryland Army National Guard
The Maryland Army National Guard is the Army component of the organized militia of the State of Maryland. It is headquartered at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore and has units at armories and other facilities across the state....
. Until the Civil War he would be the Commander-in-Chief of the Maryland Volunteers. The First Light Division comprised two brigades: the 1st Light Brigade and the 2nd Brigade. The First Brigade consisted of the 1st Cavalry, 1st Artillery, and 5th Infantry regiments. The 2nd Brigade was composed of the 1st Rifle Regiment and the 53rd Infantry Regiment, and the Battalion of Baltimore City Guards.
Civil War
Although Maryland was a slave stateSlave state
In the United States of America prior to the American Civil War, a slave state was a U.S. state in which slavery was legal, whereas a free state was one in which slavery was either prohibited from its entry into the Union or eliminated over time...
, she remained loyal to the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
during the civil war. However, many Marylanders were sympathetic to the Confederacy, including the Steuart family, who were planters and slave owners in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. On April 16, 1861 Brigadier General George H. Steuart (1828–1903), then a captain in the US Army, resigned his commission and joined the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. His father, Major General George H. Steuart (1790–1867), did the same, though he was by then considered too old for active service.
As a consequence of these actions, Maryland Square was confiscated by the US government, and became the site of Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis Hospital
Jarvis U.S. General Hospital was a military hospital founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, for the care of wounded Federal soldiers. The hospital was built on the grounds of Maryland Square, the former residence of the Steuart family, which had been...
, built for the care of wounded Union soldiers. On May 25, 1862 the property was taken into the control of the medical director of the US Army, with the former Steuart mansion now serving as the main administration building for the hospital.
In February 1862 a Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
soldier described the property (by then known as "Camp Andrew", after Massachusetts Governor John Andrew
John Albion Andrew
John Albion Andrew was a U.S. political figure. He served as the 25th Governor of Massachusetts between 1861 and 1866 during the American Civil War. He was a guiding force behind the creation of some of the first U.S. Army units of black men—including the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry.-Early...
):
- "We are nicely quartered on a high hill situated on the west of Baltimore formerly owned by Gen. Stewart now of the Rebel Army and the property is now confiscated. There are about 36 acres in the field and a house and out buildings and it must have been a very nice place before the troops went in there."
After the war
Jarvis hospital was closed in 1865, at the war's end. In 1866, on May 15 and June 6, the buildings of Jarvis hospital were auctioned off, permitting successful bidders 10 days from the date of auction in which to remove their purchases from the grounds.Maryland Square was restored to General Steuart after the war, but he never lived there again, choosing to live at Mount Steuart, his family estate on the Chesapeake in Anne Arundel County. When he visited Baltimore, Steuart would stay instead at the Carrollton hotel.
In 1867, the building was leased to the Reverend Newman Hank as a school for "young gentlemen", one of whom later recalled that, though the "long corridors, many closets and corners in unexpected places" made a fine place to explore and play, few dared enter after dark. The boys feared "the groaning of the dying, and when the stairs creaked, we knew why - they were bearing out the dead". At around this time the building appears to have acquired its new name, Steuart Hall.
In the early 1870s the house was acquired by the Sisters of Bon Secours
Bon Secours Sisters
Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for nursing , whose object is to care for patients from all socio-economic groups...
for use as a convent. In 1872 what was left of the land was sold off in lots as part of a development known as "Chesapeake Heights", and in 1884 the mansion was demolished.
Legacy
General Steuart died in 1903, and little trace of his mansion, or Jarvis Hospital, remains today. However, in 1919 the Sisters of Bon Secours opened a hospital on the site, their first in the United States, at 2000 West Baltimore Street. The Bon Secours Hospital continues to flourish today, and forms an important part of the modern neighbourhood, which still retains the name of Steuart Hill.External links
- Lossing, Benson John, p.605, Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America, Volume 3 Retrieved Feb 6 2010
- Bon Secours Hospital Baltimore website Retrieved Feb 6 2010
- Photograph of Bon Secours Hospital in the 1920s Retrieved Feb 6 2010
