S S Stewart

Samuel Swain Stewart (Philadelphia, 1855 – Philadelphia, 1898) was an American banjo maker and music publisher whose work helped popularise the banjo as a parlour instrument during the final decades of the nineteenth century. Born and died in Philadelphia, he first studied the violin and other instruments before taking up the banjo under the direction of George C. Dobson.

In 1878 he opened a banjo school and, shortly afterwards, began building his own instruments. By around 1880 he had a workshop and shop on Church Street, from where in 1882 he launched the Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal, a publication that continued under various titles until April 1901. Its pages carried news and photographs of banjoists and clubs, criticism of rival manufacturers, testimonials from customers and arrangements for the instrument. Together with more than fifteen other publications, it fostered a passion for plucked-string clubs and orchestras that lasted into the 1930s.

His banjos, lighter than the "Electric" model of his competitor A. C. Fairbanks, were made in a wide range of models, from the inexpensive "Student" and "Amateur" to the richly decorated "Thoroughbred" and "Presentation". His only significant patent, dating from 1887, covered a neck reinforcement and protected his own invention, the banjeaurine, a small banjo tuned a fourth above the usual instrument and used as a solo instrument in ensembles.

In 1898 he merged his business with George Bauer, a maker and importer of mandolins and guitars, under the name Stewart & Bauer. After his death, his sons Fred and Lemuel continued the company, which separated from Bauer in 1901. The Stewart brand was later used on instruments made by other manufacturers, and his banjos are today preserved in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and in the Vleeshuis in Antwerp.

Stewart is remembered above all for his role as a promoter. His attempt to "elevate" the image of the banjo by denying its African American origins, as documented by Linn, reveals the cultural tensions of his era, and his written output remains a valuable source for understanding the practice of the instrument in the nineteenth century.