A noble position, a splendid servant of the public to his profession, a capable business man and esteemed wherever known for his professional and private character, David Finney Stuart was for forty years a resident of the city of Houston, with which community the best portion of his life was identified. He died at his home in that city on September 8, 1909, being seventy-six years of age. He had lived in Texas for more than half a century, and during the war was a surgeon in the Confederate army. Houston and Texas had no more loyal citizen than the late Dr. Stuart. He was in the best sense of the word a philanthropist, the everyday work of his life having been of a character which spread its benefits among hundreds of men and women, and like the best of the representatives of his profession, his charity was entirely unostentatious, and was performed as a matter of duty and very often without expectation of any reward.
     David Finney Stuart was born in Brook County, West Virginia, in 1833, and was descended from sturdy Scotch ancestors. The founder of the family in Pennsylvania, about 1800, was Galbraith Stuart, who married Miss Mary Cummings, daughter of a prominent Virginian. Dr. Stuart had one brother and four sisters, including Mrs. George C. Red, who founded Stuart Seminary, one of the successful educational institutions of the state.
     Dr. Stuart grew up in the Pan Handle of West Virginia, and finished his early education in Bethany College, an institution founded by Alexander Campbell of the Christian church. In 1850, when seventeen years of age he came to Texas, and located at Gay Hill in Washington County, where his brother-in-law, Dr. George C. Red had already settled. He first studied medicine under Dr. Red, and beginning with 1859 attended Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, for two courses, followed by further study in the medical college of Louisiana at New Orleans. Returning to Texas, he soon built up a splendid practice, and his services as a physician and surgeon were widely in demand in his part of the state. He was not permitted to remain long in the quiet rounds of his professional duties. With the outbreak of the war in 1861, he was appointed assistant surgeon in the Tenth Texas Regiment, and from that was promoted to regimental surgeon. His professional skill, executive ability, and valor in the performance of his duties attracted the attention of the officers of the Tennessee army, and he was next made senior surgeon of Granbarry's Texas brigade, with which he served with distinction until the close of the war. During his services Dr. Stuart was several times wounded, and once was captured and kept in prison at Camp Douglas in Chicago for six months. The high esteem in which he was held by the army officers often brought upon him greater responsibilities than his official position called for, but he was always equal to the demand. It is said that among fighting soldiers no more popular officer was to be found in the army than Dr. Stuart.
     With the close of the four years' struggle, he returned home to Washington county, and in 1867 located in Houston. He had an excellent practice in a short time, and was the first physician in the city to recognize the needs for a private hospital and act upon his recognition of that requirement. He established a private infirmary, in association with the late Dr. J. Larendon, under the firm name of Stuart & Larendon. The firm subsequently became Stuart, Larendon & Boyles, the third member being the late T. J. Boyles. With the retirement of Dr. Larendon, the firm continued as Stuart & Boyles, until 1901 when Dr. Boyles died, after which the title became Stuart, Red & Stuart, the latter being the son of Dr. Stuart.
     However, it was in fields other than as a private practitioner, or in connection with the infirmary that Dr. Stuart made his .most conspicuous mark in the medical history of this state. In 1872 he was appointed chief surgeon of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, a position which he held until the time of his death. He was also chief surgeon of the Houston, East & West Texas Railway when it was completed to Houston, and when that city became a point on the lines of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway and the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, he was likewise appointed their local medical representative. In 1871 Dr. Stuart was honored by election to the office of vice president of the State Medical Society, and in 1873 was made president of that body. In 1876 he served as a delegate to the meeting of the International Medical Association, held at Philadelphia, during the Centennial Celebration. From 1878 to 1895 he was president of the old Galveston Medical College, which in the latter year became the medical department of the State University.
     In Houston and South Texas, Dr. Stuart's work as a physician is best remembered for the important service he rendered to the cause of public health while chairman of the city board of health in Houston. In 1867, he fell a victim to a scourge of yellow fever, passed through it safely, and his experiences and studies subsequently made him one of the recognized authorities on this disease in all Texas. At every subsequent recurrence of yellow fever in Houston and other Texas communities, he was frequently consulted, and the confidence of the profession and the people in Dr. Stuart often enabled a community to withstand the plague and prevent a complete depopulation of the locality. In 1897 it was reported that a case of yellow fever had developed in Houston. An expert delegated by the United States government visited the city and pronounced the case yellow fever. Railroad towns along all lines entering Houston required a rigid quarantine, and it was enforced with such severity that it meant a terrific loss to the commerce and prestige of the community. Dr. Stuart through his superior skill and ability not only proved the case was not yellow fever, but in less than four days had convinced the health physicians of the surrounding town of the proof of his efficiency, so that all quarantines against Houston were raised. Dr. Stuart was perhaps best known for his accomplishments in the general field of medicine, but he was a rare surgeon and performed many of the most difficult surgical operations. For a number of years in Houston he represented as medical examiner a number of the life insurance companies. It is not usual for a successful professional man to win a reputation in practical business affairs, but Dr. Stuart had a keen business judgment and was often entrusted with the management of large affairs. In 1R86 he was appointed receiver of the Houston Savings Bank, and at the end of a receivership of two years, paid the creditors seventy cents on the dollar. He was for several years a director of the Commercial National Bank of Houston, and interested in various other business undertakings. Dr. Stuart was one of the leading men in the support of the Presbyterian Church of Houston, and was a member of the building committee that erected the magnificent stone church at Main street and McKinney avenue, his individual contributions having been among the largest in the construction of that edifice.
     Dr. Stuart was first married September 17, 1867, to Miss Ellen Dart. The children of that union were the late Dr. J. R, Stuart of Houston, and Daisy, wife of Dawes E. Sturgis. The mother of these two died in 1880, and in 1883 Dr. Stuart married Miss Bettie H. Bocock. Mrs. Stuart is still living and resides at the attractive family home, 517 McGowan Avenue. She is the mother of two children: Susan Walker and Mary Cummins, the latter the wife of Dr. F. R. Ross.
[A history of Texas and Texans, Volume 4 by Francis White Johnson,  1914 – Transcribed by AFOFG