"Maryland Square", later known as "Steuart Hall", was a mansion owned by the

Steuart family The Steuart family of Maryland was a prominent political family in the early history of Maryland. The Steuarts, of Scottish descent, have their origins in Perthshire, Scotland. The family grew wealthy in the early 18th century under the patronage o ...

from 1795 to 1861, located on the western outskirts of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, at the present-day junction of West Baltimore and Monroe streets. In the first year of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the property was confiscated by the

United States Federal Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

as its owner, George H. Steuart, a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer, had resigned his commission to fight in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

, in the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...

as a brigadier general. In 1862, the

U.S. War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

built various temporary wooden barracks-style buildings for the Jarvis Military Hospital on the grounds, to care for wounded Union soldiers. The "West Military Hospital" was located on the docks at East Pratt Street, near President Street, at "The Basin" harbor. The Steuart mansion served as the Hospital's headquarters/offices.Lossing, Benson John, p.605, ''Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America, Volume 3''
Retrieved Feb 6 2010 After the war, in 1866 General Steuart regained possession of his mansion, but did not live there again. He chose to live at "Mount Steuart", his large family

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

further to the southeast of the city of Annapolis on the South River in

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

. The next year Steuart leased Maryland Square for use as a school for upper-class boys; it was renamed Steuart Hall. In the 1870s, it was bought by the Roman Catholic order of the

Bon Secours Sisters The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is an international Roman Catholic women's religious congregation for nursing (''gardes malades''), whose declared mission is to care for those who are sick and dying. It was founded by Josephine Pot ...

and used as their

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. The mansion was demolished around 1884 for other development. The modern Grace Medical Center, was constructed on the site in 1919 by the religious order and is operating today.Rice, p. 290

History

Boston Greys Encampment Baltimore July1844

"Maryland Square" was the Baltimore residence of the Steuart family from around 1795, when purchased by physician James Steuart of Annapolis, son of the politician and planter George H. Steuart.Nelker, p.133 The

moved to Baltimore from Annapolis in 1795, as Baltimore began to eclipse Annapolis in size and importance. The mansion was located at the present-day junction of West Baltimore and Monroe streets and built on relatively high ground, at the time on the western outskirts of the city. A contemporary writer said it benefited from "a salubrious air". Among the members of the family who were raised there was the physician and philanthropist

Richard Sprigg Steuart Richard Sprigg Steuart (1797–1876) was a Maryland physician and an early pioneer of the treatment of mental illness. In 1838 he inherited four contiguous farms, totalling approximately 1900 acres as well as 150 slaves.MSA C153-10, Liber TTS #1, ...

, who described the "large and solitary" mansion in his memoirs as having "the reputation of being haunted ...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

departed spirits coming back to visit their old haunts". On May 8, 1829, James Steuart's daughter Elizabeth was married to the writer and essayist

George Henry Calvert George Henry Calvert (January 2, 1803 – May 24, 1889) was an American editor, essayist, dramatist, poet, and biographer. He was the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the newly established College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Baltimor ...

, at Maryland Square. Calvert's father had been opposed to the match on the grounds that Elizabeth had little or no property. The son prevailed in his choice. On July 19, 1844, the Boston City Greys of the Massachusetts state militia visited Baltimore, and marched in parade with various companies of the 53rd Regiment. George H. Steuart, then a militia general, hosted a party at Maryland Square for the visiting militia. The event was celebrated by extensive coverage in the ''

Baltimore American The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the larges ...

'' (newspaper - later the ''

Baltimore News-American The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the larges ...

,'' 1773–1986), and was commemorated in a lithograph. In 1846, Steuart inherited the house on the death of his father James Steuart. From 1841 to 1861, Steuart was Commander of the First Light Division, Maryland Volunteer Militia, a predecessor unit of state militia. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the

Maryland National Guard The Maryland Military Department (MMD) is a department of the State of Maryland directed by the adjutant general of Maryland. The Maryland Military Department consists of the: *State Operations section, which manages fiscal and administrative ...

was organized as a type of successor to such local militias. Until the Civil War, he would be the Commander-in-Chief of the Maryland Volunteers.Hartzler, Daniel D., p.13, ''A Band of Brothers: Photographic Epilogue to Marylanders in the Confederacy''
Retrieved March 1, 2010''Niles Weekly register'', Volume 62, p.177
Retrieved March 2, 2010 The First Light Division comprised two brigades: the 1st Light Brigade and the 2nd Brigade. The First Brigade consisted of the 1st Cavalry, 1st Artillery, and 5th Infantry regiments. The 2nd Brigade was composed of the 1st Rifle Regiment and the 53rd Infantry Regiment, and the "Battalion of Baltimore City Guards".Field, Ron, et al., p.33, ''The Confederate Army 1861-65: Missouri, Kentucky & Maryland''
Osprey Publishing (2008), Retrieved May 10, 2010

Civil War

Although Maryland was a

slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were prohibited. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave s ...

, it remained loyal to the Union during the civil war. Many slaveholding planters were sympathetic to the Confederacy, including the Steuart family, who held more than 150 slaves. On April 16, 1861 George H. Steuart (1828–1903), then a captain in the U.S. Army, resigned his commission and joined the

Confederacy A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

and the

. His father, George H. Steuart (1790–1867), also joined the

, though he was by then considered too old for active service.archive of the Maryland Historical Society
Retrieved Jan 13 2010 As a result, Maryland Square was seized by the U.S. government. On May 25, 1862, the property came under the control of the medical director of the U.S. Army. The former Steuart mansion served as the primary administration building for the Jarvis Hospital. The grounds were used for temporary, numerous wooden barracks-type buildings constructed for the care of wounded Union soldiers.Rice, p.256 In February 1862, a

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

soldier described the property (by then known as "Camp Andrew", after Massachusetts Governor John Andrew):

We are nicely quartered on a high hill situated on the west of Baltimore formerly owned by Gen. Stewart now of the Rebel Army and the property is now confiscated. There are about 36 acres in the field and a house and out buildings and it must have been a very nice place before the troops went in there.

After the war

Jarvis Hospital was closed in 1865 at the war's end. In 1866, on May 15 and June 6, the wooden buildings of the Jarvis Hospital were auctioned off, permitting successful bidders 10 days from the date of auction in which to remove their purchases from the grounds.Rice, p.256 General Steuart regained possession of Maryland Square in 1866, but he never lived there again. He lived at "Mount Steuart", the large family plantation on the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. When he visited Baltimore, Steuart would stay at the Carrollton Hotel. (This was built in the 1870s on the previous site of the famous colonial/Federal-era "Fountain Inn", at the northeast corner of Light/St. Paul Street and between German ater Redwoodand East Baltimore streets. The Carrollton was replaced by the Southern Hotel, built in 1917).Rice, p.290 In 1867, Steuart leased the mansion to the Reverend Newman Hank for use as a school for "young gentlemen". One student later recalled that, though the

long corridors, many closets and corners in unexpected places" made a fine place to explore and play, few dared enter after dark. The boys feared "the groaning of the dying, and when the stairs creaked, we knew why - they were bearing out the dead.Rice, p. 290

At around this time, the building was named Steuart Hall. In the early 1870s, the mansion was purchased by the

Sisters of Bon Secours The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is an international Roman Catholic women's religious congregation for nursing (''gardes malades''), whose declared mission is to care for those who are sick and dying. It was founded by Josephine Pot ...

for use as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

convent. In 1872 they sold the remaining property in lots as part of a residential development known as "Chesapeake Heights." In 1884 the mansion was demolished.Rice, p. 290

Legacy

General Steuart died in 1903. Little trace of the original mansion or of the Civil War-era Jarvis Hospital remain. In 1919, the Sisters of Bon Secours constructed and opened a hospital on the site, their first in the United States, at 2000 West Baltimore Street.History of Bon Secours Hospital, Baltimore
Retrieved Feb 7 2010 The Grace Medical Center continues today as a part of the modern neighborhood in old West Baltimore, which retains the name of "Steuart Hill".Rice, p.290

References

Callcott, Margaret Law, p.390, ''Mistress of Riversdale: The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert''
Retrieved August 2010 * Lossing, Benson John, p. 605, ''Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America, Volume 3'' * Mitchell, Charles, ''Maryland Voices of the Civil War'', Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (2007).
United States Sanitary Commission, p.179, ''Narrative of Privations and Sufferings of United States Officers''
Retrieved Feb 6 2010 * Nelker, Gladys, P., ''The Clan Steuart'', Genealogical publishing (1970) * Rice, Laura, ''Maryland History in Prints 1743-1900'', Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore (2002)

External links

Lossing, Benson John, p.605, ''Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America, Volume 3''
Retrieved Feb 6 2010
Bon Secours Hospital Baltimore website
Retrieved Feb 6 2010
Photograph of Bon Secours Hospital in the 1920s
Retrieved Feb 6 2010

Notes

{{reflist, 2 Buildings and structures in Baltimore Steuart family Former buildings and structures in Maryland