Stewart Steel was born on 4 August 1800 at Upper Creevagh, County Donegal, Ireland, near Londonderry. He was the son of David Steel (died February 1806 at Altaghaderry, Donegal) and Sarah Gailey. His father David Steel was reported to be a fourth-generation descendant of Captain John Steel of Logan Waterhead in the parish of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, a leader in the Covenanter uprising of 1679. After his father's death in 1806, Stewart was raised by his mother on the farm at Altaghaderry. Perhaps, like his younger brother David, he attended a grammar school in nearby Londonderry. In 1818, he removed to the United States, where two of his uncles had settled in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania before 1800. In Huntingdon Stewart evidently sought training in the law; he was admitted to the bar on 9 August 1824. By this time, however, he had moved to Cambria County, where he taught in the Ebensburg Academy in 1825 and served as county treasurer. Finally, in 1830, he moved to Blairsville, where he became a prominent attorney and businessman. In 1837 he was appointed a commissioner of the Pittsburgh and Susquehanna Railroad. He served as U.S. Consul in Dundee, Scotland from 1845 to 1849, and died in Blairsville on 4 May 1861.
Stewart Steel married twice: by Mary Murray, daughter of Judge John Murray of Cambria County, he had three sons (Mary died after 1832):
On 14 January 1836 he married the widow Myrtilla Bishop, née Sterrett (born 5 July 1806, daughter of John Sterrett of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Myrtilla Irwin); they had three sons and one daughter; Myrtilla died on 9 September 1876.
Stewart Steel, born Londonderry, Ireland, August 4, 1800. Came to the United States 1818 and to Blairsville in 1830. Was formerly County Treasurer of Cambria County. Admitted to the Bar 1825. Gave some time to the manufacture of iron and to merchandising. Served as U.S. Consul in Dundee, Scotland, during President Polk's administration.
Blairsville Record, May 8, 1861.[ Steel family | Warren Steel | UM Home ]