Stewart, Samuel Swaim (1855-1898) | University of Illinois Archives

Samuel Swaim Stewart (1855-1898) was born on January 8, 1855 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began performing on the violin at age 12, but was inspired to play the banjo after hearing Lew Simmons. Stewart eventually studied with George C. Dobson in Boston. In 1879, Stewart founded the S.S. Stewart Banjo company in Philadelphia, where he specialized in building high-end, concert banjos. Stewart's factory utilized steam-powered machines for the majority of the work, but Stewart insisted on hand-finishing techniques.

Although Stewart developed several key inventions for the banjo, his real benchant as a businessman was in marketing his instruments, which he did through his S.S. Stewart Banjo and Guitar Journal (1882-1902). Stewart also wrote several method books for the banjo, including Complete American Banjo School (1883). He relied on testamonials and photos of prominent banjo artists to help sell his product. By the end of the 1880s, Stewart began distributing his journal to national audiences, charging subscription fees to interested patrons. He began distributing additional publications including, the Banjo Herald and placing advertisements in nationally distributed newspapers and magazines like the New York Clipper. He also published several essays on the banjo including "The Banjo Philosophically" (1886) and "The Banjo! A Dissertation" (1888), and even a dime-fiction, a fictionalized biography of Horace Weston, called "The Black Hercules; or, The Adventures of a Banjo Player" (1884).

Stewart died on April 6, 1898.