John T. Stuart

John Todd Stuart (November 10, 1807 – November 28, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois. He was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in 1826. Following his graduation, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828, subsequently beginning his legal practice in Springfield, Illinois.

In 1832, Stuart participated as a major in the Black Hawk War. During this conflict, he served alongside Abraham Lincoln, who was in the same battalion. Stuart served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1832 to 1836. He played a role in encouraging Abraham Lincoln to pursue a career in law. Their relationship led to a legal partnership between the two men, which lasted from 1837 to 1841.

Stuart was an unsuccessful candidate for the Twenty-fifth Congress in 1836. Nevertheless, he was elected as a member of the Whig Party to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses, serving from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1843. In the 1838 election, he defeated Stephen A. Douglas. Stuart did not seek renomination in 1842.

In 1843, Stuart established a law partnership with Benjamin S. Edwards, a collaboration that extended for approximately forty years. He served as a member of the Illinois Senate from 1848 to 1852. In the 1860 gubernatorial election, Stuart was the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party but was unsuccessful.

During the Civil War era, Stuart was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865, during which Abraham Lincoln was president. His vote on the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was recorded as a "Nay." Stuart was a cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln’s wife. While serving in Congress after his election in 1862 over Republican Leonard Swett, Stuart often visited the White House, despite his opposition to emancipation policies.

In the 1864 election, Stuart was defeated by Republican Shelby Moore Cullom, an ally of Abraham Lincoln. After his electoral defeat, Stuart resumed legal practice in Springfield, Illinois. He died there in 1885 and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

In 2007, Centre College, Stuart’s alma mater, dedicated Stuart Hall, a residence hall formerly used for college purposes, in recognition of his influence on Lincoln’s career and his contributions to the legal field. The law firm he founded in Springfield, originally known as "Stuart and Lincoln," continues to operate today under the name "Brown, Hay, & Stephens," and includes a descendant, his great-great-grandson, as a partner.