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Dr. William Stewart in Paraguay, 1857–1869

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Harris G. Warren
Harris G. Warren*
Affiliation:
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
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Extract

The Stewarts of Scotland came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and descended from Alan Falhald of Oswestry. Walter, First Lord High Steward of Scotland, was the son of Alan. Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll, who was killed at the battle of Falkirk in 1298, was the son of Lord Alexander Oswestry, Fourth Lord High Steward. Sir John’s brother, Lord James Oswestry, became the Fifth Lord High Steward, and from him descended the House of Stuart, rulers of Scotland and England. William Stewart of Paraguay descended from Sir John of Bonkyll, the twenty-second generation after Alan Falhald. In Scotland the Stewarts were landlords, merchants, bankers and farmers whose fortunes waxed and waned but always seemed to recover. That they were a resourceful clan is a conclusion easily reached if one takes the career of Dr. William Stewart of Paraguay as an example.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , January 1969 , pp. 247 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1969

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References

1 Data from Stewart Family Archives, Asunción. William’s father, William Stewart of Luntan and Cordon, died in 1873.

2 El Cívico (Asunción), Aug. 4, 1906; Buenos Aires Herald, July 1, 1916; El cuerpo mèdico del Paraguay al Doctor Guillermo Stewart en sus bodas de oro (Asunción, 1906), passim Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as Stewart bodas de oro.

3 Stewart sent orders to Montevideo to stop other contingents which were directed to the Cape of Good Hope “where they formed a line of frontier colonies. . . .” Buenos Aires Standard, Aug. 19, 1906; Stewart bodas de oro, p. 33.

4 Indispensable for understanding these activities is Pérez Acosta, Juan F., Carlos. Antonio López “ Obrero máximo ” labor administrativa y constructiva (Asunción, 1948)Google Scholar; hereafter cited as Pérez Acosta, López.

5 Stewart bodas de oro, p. 33; Buenos Aires Standard, Aug. 19, 1906.

6 George Buckley Mathew to Clarendon, Rio de Janeiro, No. 6, Feb. 21, 1869, Public Record Office, London, F. O. 13/461. It is not absolutely certain whether he arrived in February, March, or April. El Semanario (Asunción), No. 170, April 4, 1857, has a list of passengers who arrived in Asunción in March, but Stewart’s name is not among them. Stewart himself stated it was in March. Notes of Evidence In Causa William Stewart against Antoine or Antony Gelot and Mandatory . . . Edinburg, 19th May 1871 (Edinburgh, 1871), p. 5 Google Scholar; hereafter cited as Notes of Evidence, Stewart v. Gelot.

7 Photographs of Stewart are in the home of Roberto Stewart, son of Dr. William Stewart, at Teniente Ruiz 9, Asunción. I am indebted to Señora Lidia Y. Bonzi de Stewart, daughter-in-law of Don Roberto, for copies.

8 Stewart Memoirs, MS in private possession. The authors referred to are Rengger, Johann Rudolph and Longchamps, Marceline ., Essai historique sur la revolution du Paraguay (Paris, 1827)Google Scholar, published in English as The Reign of Doctor Joseph Gaspard Roderick de Francia, in Paraguay . . . (London, 1827)Google Scholar, and P., J. and Robertson, W.P., Letters on Paraguay ... (2 vols.; London, 1838)Google Scholar and their Francia’s Reign of Terror, Being a Sequel to Letters on Paraguay (2 vols.; Philadelphia, 1839)Google Scholar.

9 His second three-year contract, signed on October 31, 1860, called for 3,000 pesos annually and maintenance (Pérez Acosta, López, p. 118; Notes of Evidence, Stewart v. Gelot, p. 5).

10 Stewart’s Memoirs.

11 William Stewart to Robert Stewart, Paraguay, Sept. 20, 1860, No. 535 in Correspondence between William Stewart, M. D., and Others, in causa Gelot vs. Stewart . . . (London, 1871), p. 3 Google Scholar. A copy is in the Biblioteca Enrique Solano López, Archivo Nacional, Asunción. Hereafter cited as Stewart Correspondence.

12 Id. to id., Asunción, Oct. 20, 1860, and William Stewart to William Stewart [father], Asunción, Oct. 20, 1860, ibid.

13 William Stewart to Robert Stewart, Paraguay, Jan. 20, 1861, No. 538, ibid., p. 7.

14 William Stewart to William Stewart, Paraguay, March 5, 1861, No. 541, ibid., p. 7.

15 ld to id., Paraguay, May 5, 1861, and William Stewart to Robert Stewart, Asuncion, May 6, 1861, Nos. 543 and 545, ibid., pp. 8 and 9.

16 Robert Stewart to William Stewart, Galashiels, Dec. 23, 1861, No. 583, ibid., p. 12. The balance was for railway materials and tools.

17 Robert Stewart to William Stewart, Galashiels, March 8, 1862, No. 588, ibid., p. 14; William Stewart to Robert Stewart, Paraguay, June 7, 1863, No. 565, ibid., p. 16.

18 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Ayres, Aug. 26, 1864, No. 669, ibid., p. 20.

19 William Stewart to Robert Stewart, Paraguay, Nov. 29, 1864, No. 573, ibid., p. 23. In this letter he announced his marriage on October 29 to Venancia Triay.

20 Mulhall, W.F. and Freund, P.A., Letters from Paraguay Extracted from “The Standard” Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, 1888), p. 20 Google Scholar; hereafter cited as Mulhall, Letters. Notes of Evidence, Stewart v. Gelot, p. 10.

21 Francis C. Ford to Lord Clarendon, Buenos Aires, May 13, 1866, F. O. 6/289. There are numerous letters in Stewart Correspondence relating to this business. Robert spent £ 4906.6.11 for rifles, supplies and freight, leaving a balance due him of £750. (Robert Stewart to F. S. López, No. 861 in Stewart Correspondence, p. 65.) Eventually George disposed of the rifles in Buenos Aires.

22 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, March 29, 1865, No. 682, ibid., p. 31; id to id., Asunción, May 6, 1865, No. 684, ibid., p. 34. His commission apparently was 10%, since he made £500 on the deal.

23 ld. to id., Asunción, May 6, 1865, No. 684, ibid., p. 34.

24 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Oct. 27, 1865, No. 687, ibid., p. 40; id. to id., Buenos Aires, March 10, 1866, F. O. 6/289.

25 Gelot, Stewart v., Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman (Edinburgh), Dec. 22, 1869 Google Scholar.

26 Ibid.

27 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Oct. 27, 1865, No. 687, Stewart Correspondence, p. 40.

28 The Scotsman, May 9, 1871; Notes of Evidence, Stewart v. Gelot, p. 33.

29 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Feb. 26, 1866, No. 697, Stewart Correspondence, p. 43; “Memorandum by Mr. Robert Stewart, Banker, Galasbiels, N.B. in regard to the imprisonment of Mr. George D. Stewart, Merchant, Buenos Ayres in common Prison of Buenos Ayres, March 1865,” F. O. 6/289.

30 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Oct. 12, 1867, No. 395, Stewart Correspondence, p. 60. In Stewart v. Gelot (1869) the defendant’s attorney said that the Stewarts realized £48,000 from the yerba.

31 Stewart’s testimony, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869; George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Oct. 27, 1865, No. 687, Stewart Correspondence, p. 40.

32 Stewart’s testimony, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869.

33 Counselor’s summary, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, ibid.

34 Gelot was in Asunción in 1857 and Stewart got to know him well. Gelot executed many commissions in Europe for the López family and Madame Lynch (The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869)Google Scholar. Madame Lynch owed him more than 100,000 francs.

35 La Regeneración (Asunción), Feb. 16, 1870 Google Scholar.

36 William Stewart to George D. Stewart, Paraguay, Sept. 10, 1867, No. 745 Stewart Correspondence, p. 62.

37 Ibid.

38 Stewart’s testimony, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869.

39 George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Oct. 12, 1867, No. 395, Stewart Correspondence, p. 60.

40 Robert Stewart to George D. Stewart, Galashiels, N.B., Nov. 22, 1867, No. 657, ibid., pp. 66–67.

41 Stewart’s testimony, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869; La República (Buenos Aires), Feb. 18, 1870 Google ScholarPubMed.

42 Notes of Evidence, Stewart v. Gelot, p. 37.

43 Washburn to Hamilton Fish, April 22, 1872, encl. in Granville Stuart to Richard Olney, Montevideo, Feb. 7, 1897, Diplomatic Despatches from United States Ministers to Paraguay and Uruguay, File Microcopies of Records in the National Archives, No. 128, Roll 9. Hereafter cited as DDPU 128/Roll no. 9.

44 Washburn, Charles Ames, The History of Paraguay, with Notes of Personal Observations, and Reminiscences of Diplomacy under Difficulties (2 vols.; Boston, 1871), II, 422–29 Google Scholar.

45 Washburn to McMahon, Buenos Aires, Nov. 11, 1868, encl, in Stuart to Olney, Montevideo, Feb. 7, 1897, DDPU 128/9. Nevertheless, immediately after the war, Stewart tried to recover this sum and the other valuables from the United States. See Dahl, Victor C., “The Paraguayan ‘Jewel Box,’” The Americas, XXI (no. 3, Jan. 1965), 223–242 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 William Stewart to George D. Stewart, Villeta, Sept. 10, 1868, No. 289, Stewart Correspondence, pp. 75–76.

47 Stewart’s testimony, Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869.

48 Manfredi charged £44 for freight. His receipt is in Second Division May 31, 1871, Print of Documents For Antony Gelot in causa Gelot v. Stewart . . . (Edinburgh, 1871), p. 5 A 888Google Scholar; George D. Stewart to Robert Stewart, Buenos Aires, Nov. 24, 1868, No. 772, Stewart Correspondence, p. 78. The story about the counting, well verified by witnesses, did not come out until the second trial of Stewart v. Gelot in May, 1871.

49 Kolinski, Charles J., Independence or Death! The Story of the Paraguayan War (Gainesville, 1965), p. 168 Google Scholar.

50 The will is in Court of Probate, Will Book 1872, vol. 16, Somerset House, London. The other witnesses were Silvestre Aveiro and Juan Manuel Palacios.

51 McMahon to William H. Seward, Piribebuy, Jan. 31, 1869, DDPU 128/13; William Stewart to William Stewart, Sr., Buenos Aires, Jan. 20, 1869, F. O. 59/29/.

52 Testimony of Eliza Alicia Lynch in Stewart v. Gelot, May 12, 1871, The Scotsman, May 13, 1871.

58 George Buckley Mathew to Lord Stanley, Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 23, 1869, F. O. 13/461.

54 William Stewart to William Stewart, Sr., Buenos Aires, Jan. 20, 1869, F. O. 59/29; George Buckley Mathew to Lord Stanley, Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 7, 1869, F. O. 13/461.

55 Testimony of Martin T. McMahon, in Stewart v. Gelot, May 11, 1871, The Scotsman, May 12, 1871.

56 H. Fawkes to Geo. Ramsey, “Cracker,” Asuncion, Jan. 5, 1869, F.O. 59/29. The Marquis de Caxias returned the occupied town house to Stewart and placed a guard over it until Dr. C.T. Newkirk moved in with his family in February, 1869. C.T. Newkirk to Commander E.T. Parsons, Asunción, May 17, 1869, F. O. 6/283.

57 Ibid.

58 McMahon had brought with him £11,000 which he deposited in the Bank of England to Madame Lynch’s account, and another £1500 which he took to Emiliano López in New York (Affidavit of Martin Thomas McMahon, April 24, 1871, in Paraguay v. Lynch and McMahon, Public Record Office, С 31/2561/1339.) Emiliano was a son by another of Francisco Solano’s numerous mistresses.

59 Stewart’s testimony in Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 21, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869.

60 McMahon’s testimony in Stewart v. Gelot, Dec. 22, 1869, The Scotsman, Dec. 23, 1869.

61 The Scotsman, Dec. 22, 1869.

62 Second Division, Court of Session, February 15, 1870, Notes of Evidence, &c., in causa William Stewart against Antony Gelot . . .(Edinburgh, 1870)Google Scholar. Copy in Archivo Nacional, Asuncion.