Theophilus Gould Steward papers

1861-1924

Clergyman, author and educator. Steward became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1861 and served congregations in Macon, Georgia, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, Washington, D. C., and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also the chaplain for the 25th Infantry where he served in the Philippine Islands and Cuba. In 1907 he joined the faculty of Wilberforce University, with which he was associated until his death, serving as vice-president, chaplain and professor of history, French and logic. Correspondence, writings, deeds, documents related to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and journals. The journals constitute the largest section of the papers and cover his early years in the ministry in Georgia (1868-71), Haiti (1873), where he established a church in Port-au-Prince, and Philadelphia (1880s); his chaplaincy in Ft. Missoula and the Philippine Islands (1890s); and his years at Wilberforce University (1907-24). The journals contain a variety of items and are not arranged chronologically: drafts of sermons, essays, speeches; accounting notes; lecture notes and course notes. Two journals record marriages, baptisms and funerals performed by him in the Philippines. The correspondence includes letters to Steward from his children, Frank, Charles, Theophilus Bolden, Gustavus, his brother William and a letter from John W. Cromwell.