William M. Stewart

Permanent URI for this community

William Stewart moved from Pennsylvania to middle Tennessee near Clarksville in 1832 and became quite wealthy as a manufacturer of Pig Iron. He was one of eight men who underwrote the construction costs of the College’s first building, the Castle. Stewart is listed on the faculty roster in the opening session of 1851 when the college was known as Montgomery Masonic College. The College soon fell into financial trouble and through the efforts of Stewart, Presbyterian elder, the Nashville Synod of the Presbyterian Church took ownership of the College in 1855. To honor this alliance and Stewart’s personal donations which saved the fledgling school from closing, the College was renamed Stewart College.

Browse

Collections in this Community

All rights reserved. The accompanying digital object and associated documentation are provided for online research and access purposes. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and present this digital object and the accompanying documentation, without fee, and without written agreement, is hereby granted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. The Rhodes College Archives and Special Collections reserves the right to decide what constitutes educational and commercial use. In all instances of use, acknowledgement must be given to Rhodes College Archives Digital Repository, Memphis, TN. For information regarding permission to use this image, please email the Archives at archives@rhodes.edu.