FirstName: Theophilus

BirthDate: April 17, 1843

Date Of Death: 1924

Personal: Lemme tell ya, back in the day, Theophilus Gould Steward, was the MAN!!!! That dude did it All!!! He wrote many books, was one of the FIRST African-American Chaplains in the U.S. Army Calvary, and was a prestigious member of the Buffalo Soldiers!! His life and work is well chronicled throughout all sorts of Literature. He was a man of Brilliance and Intelligent and very VERY Religious and Kind...! He was the Father of my Grandfather, Gustavus Steward. Theophilus was married twice, first to a wonderful woman named Elizabeth Gadsden. Between both of them, they produced 7 children with Gustavus being one of them. A few years later after Elizabeth unfortunately died, he had met and married yet another brilliant Black lady by the name of Susan McKinney! She was just as flamboyant, Intelligent, and Extraordinary as Theophilus was. She had many MANY pertinent African American achievments herself that were also well chronciled in various Literatures throughout the United States!! Following, is a brief 'snipet' of Bio Information I was able to pull off the Internet. It seems that there exists quite a bit of Online Data out there in "Cyberspace" on various African Americans who have contributed mightily heavily to the United States development and someone especially like Theophilus, as bright and articulate as he was, his work is there for a lot of us to check out and read. So, without further adeu, here's some literature I found on Theophilus.................................ENJOY!!

Theophilus Gould Steward was a prominent pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. He was licensed to preach at 20 years of age, and at 21 entered the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal church, and was stationed in Camden, New Jersey. Steward's career with the A.M.E. Church took him throughout the eastern United States and Haiti. While in the South, he was active in "Reconstruction" politics. During 1865, he preached and taught in South Carolina and Georgia. He wrote the platform upon which the Republican party of Georgia was first organized, and returning to the north in 1871, by appointment of his church, reopened the missions in the island of Haiti. On his return he took a full course in theology at the Protestant Episcopal divinity-school in Philadelphia, and also studied in the School of elocution there. He also worked as an educator at Wilberforce University and in the Philippines, where he served as chaplain to the Twenty-fifth U. S. Colored Infantry Regiment. Steward wrote numerous books on subjects ranging from military history to theology. Some of his books included: "Essay on Death, Hades, and the Resurrection "; "The End of the World"; and " Genesis Re-read" (Philadelphia, 1885). His autobiography, Fifty Years in the Gospel Ministry (1921), was his last book. His lifetime accomplishments were that he spent 27 Years in the Pastorate; 16 Years Active Service as Chaplain in the U. S. Army; Seven Years Professor in Wilberforce University; then finally, 2 Trips to Europe.

As you can see here, my man Theophilus Steward was quite an extraordinary man......!!

Mother: Rebecca Gould

Father: James Steward