Sunday, December 1, 2013

Sons of Fortune

Fortune Stewart and Rebecca Payne had five sons.  Since Fortune and Rebecca were literate their children did attend some school. Then they worked on local farms as laborers like Fortune.  As the sons each came of age they left the rural farming community of Williamsport in Grant County West Virginia for other jobs in the larger cities of West Virginia.  The first three moved to Parkersburg in Wood County West Virginia and Belpre, Ohio on the other side of the Ohio river.  The youngest moved Piedmont in Mineral County West Virginia and eventually to Clarksburg, West Virginia.  It was only their fourth son that remained home and continued farming.

 Daniel Stewart (about 1857-09/11/1927)

Daniel married Mary E Clifford (about 1857-10/14/1890) on May 1, 1879.  He worked as a farm laborer.  They had two daughters:  Nancy Stewart (08/1880-?) and Hattie H Stewart (10/01/1884-1902).  When Mary died young Daniel moved west.  

In 1895 Daniel married Emma Sargent (1874-?) and they started a new family.  (Emma’s mother was Rebecca Danberry and her step-father was Samuel Hardin.)  In 1990 he worked as an engine fireman and was living in Belpre; his daughter Nancy was working as a house keeper for the McCann family.  Daniel and Emma had five children:
  • Kansas Rebecca “Kaye” Stewart (01/1900-?) married Robert H Logan in 1915.  They had three children.  She later married/divorced Percy Cornell (08/27/1892-07/1978).
  • Samuel “Bus” Stewart (1903-1951) changed his name to Eugene LaRue Chenault and married Alberta McDonald from Tennessee.  They had nine children and lived in Canton, Ohio.
  • Mary Virginia Stewart (07/15/1905-09/14/1982) married on 09/24/1920 Riley “Jack” Adams, a WWI veteran.  They had three daughters.
  • Henry “Tick Britches” Stewart (09/21/1907-?).  He was a boxer.  He married twice and had four children.
  • Myrtle K Stewart (09/21/1907-06/14/1996).  She had two children and was married to John Kanney.
Daniel later married Rebecca ??? (1882-?).

Henry S Stewart (about 1859-02/19/1943)
Henry married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Watkins.  He then married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Jackson on June 2, 1927.  He was a teamster (see Note below).  He rented and eventually owned a home on Clay Street in Parkersburg.  Even though Henry had no children, he provided a home for several of his nephews in the 1940s as they worked in Parkersburg.

George William Stewart (12/1869-08/20/1937) 

George married Mary Jane Susan Redman in 1885.  (Susan’s mother was “Old Black” Mary J Banks and her father was Hunter Redman.  Susan was previously married to a Native American.) George and Susan had thirteen children, not all surviving childhood.  He was a teamster in the transfer industry.
  1. Jennie Stewart (05/1886-?)
  2. Robert Stewart (1890-11/28/1894 diphtheria)
  3. Elma Stewart (05/1892-09/2010)
  4. Herbert Henry Stewart (07/04/1894-? ) married in 1916 Martha M. Henderson of Youngstown
  5. Cameron H Stewart (1918-?) married ?Halie Marie Johnson
  6. Tracy Stewart (10/02/1896-?)
  7. George H Stewart (03/25/1897-?)
  8. Faustina Stewart (1902/1908-?)
  9. Charles E Stewart (01/08/1905-01/09/1937) married Mildred M Lewis
  10. Ruth O Stewart (05/02/1910-09/1976) married in 05/07/1928 Harold F Young
George married 05/15/1928 Bessie Grant/Wilson.  George died of a sun stroke while working.

Homer Wilson Stewart (03/02/1872-12/18/1953)

Homer married Mary Elizabeth Smith (10/13/1877 or 11/22/1877-06/11/1950) on 04/12/1909.   (They will be featured in a separate post.)

James Edward Stewart (1875-before 1972) 
James married Elizabeth Washington on 03/08/1899. Elizabeth was born in Petersburg to Garret Washington and Sylvia.  James worked at the pulp mill in 1900.  Little is known about them because they did not keep in touch with the rest of the family after moving from Piedmont, West Virginia to Clarksburg, West Virginia before 1915.  They had at least four children:

  1. Dorothy R Stewart (09/29/1901-11/24/1972) who married SC Farley and then Jasper McBride.
  2. James Edward Stewart Jr (11/06/1906-after 1972) who married (10/12/1930) Juanita Y Barnett (10/07/1913-) and had one daughter.
  3. Juanita E Stewart (10/31/1914-after 1972) who married (10/17/1938) Richard E Ogden (05/22/1912-) and had two children.
  4. another son ( -before 1972).
James later lived, married Jennie ???,  and probably died in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  


Notes
A teamster was a person who drove a team of horses, especially in hauling freight.  Originally it meant teaming with oxen or mules to haul product like salt, coal, and other need resources from mines.

References
West Virginia Vital Records, Grant County, rural
12/18/1953:  Death of Homer Wilson Stewart
West Virginia Vital Records, Wood County, Parkersburg
02/19/1945:  Death of Henry O Stewart
1940 Sixteenth US Census Pennsylvania, Allegheny, Braddock
1240/206:  James Stewart (65) was retired and living with his wife Jennie (48) born in Pennsylvania
Burial Record, West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg, Spring Grove Cemetery 
George William Stewart, Birth: 11/28/1871, Death 08/20/1937, no marker
1930 Fifteenth US Census West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg 
912/580/709:  Henry Stewart (62) owned a home on East Ninth Street and lived with wife Elizabeth (46).  Henry was a driver for a transfer company; they had two boarders.
1930 Fifteenth US Census West Virginia, Grant County 
124/124:  Homer Stewart (59) owned a home valued at $500 and lived with wife Mary (52), son, Wilson (20), son Pearl (18), son Ernest (16), son Kendall (14), son Stanley (10), daughter Mary (8).  Homer was a farmer; Wilson was a farm laborer.
Ohio Vital Records, Washington County
09/11/1927:  Death of Daniel H Stewart
1920 Fourteenth US Census Ohio, Washington County, Belpre
56/56:  Daniel Stewart (64) was living on Walnut Street with his wife Rebecca (38), his son Samuel (17), daughter Mary (15), son Henry (13), and daughter Myrtle (13).  Daniel and Samuel were laborers at the saw mill.
1920 Fourteenth US Census West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg Ward 3
914/317/340:  Henry Stewart (58), a teamster for a transfer company, owned a home on Clay Street.  He was married, but lived alone.
424/338/364:  George W Stewart (49) was a black teamster in the transfer industry and rented a home on Elizabeth Street for his wife Susan (49), son Charles E (15), daughter Faustine (12), and daughter Ruth (9).  Susan and Faustine were hairdressers working at home.
1920 Fourteenth US Census West Virginia, Grant County
118/118:  Homer W Stewart (49) rented a home for wife Mary (52), son, Wilson A (10), son Pearl D (8), son H Ernest (1), son Kendall S (4 4/12), son Brownley T (2 8/12), and son Stanley W (7/12).  Homer was a farmer laborer.
1910 Thirteenth US Census Ohio, Washington County, Belpre
244/254:  Daniel Stewart (46) was a black fireman living on Walnut Street with his wife Emma (37), his daughter Kansas R (10), son Samuel (6), daughter Mary (4), son Henry (2), and daughter Myrtle (2).
243/253:  Samuel Hardin (67), was a day laborer living his wife and Rebecca Danberry (58) on Walnut Street next door to her daughter Emma.
1910 Thirteenth US Census West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg Ward 3
912/143/158:  Henry Stewart (40) owned a home on Clay Street valued at $2200 and lived with wife Elizabeth (29).  Henry was a messenger; Elizabeth was a hairdresser.
433/125/139:  George W Stewart (40) was a black teamster in the transfer industry and rented a home on Elizabeth Street for his wife Susan (41), son Herbert (16), daughter Tracy (14), daughter Foustain (8), son Charles (5), and step-daughter Janie Sherrow (22).  Susan and Janie were hairdressers working at home.  Herbert was a delivery boy for a shoe store.
1910 Thirteenth US Census West Virginia, Grant County
113/114:  Stanley A Bruce (29) lived with wife Sallie T Bruce (31), step-daughter Lillian E (13), son Stanley W (1 10/12), daughter Mary T (1/12), mother-in-law Rebecca Stewart (80), brother-in-law Homer W Stewart (39), sister-in-law Mary E Stewart (32), nephew Wilson A Stewart (6/12).  Stanley A Bruce was a farmer; Homer Stewart was a teamster/laborer.
1900 Twelfth US Census Ohio, Washington County, Belpre
144/151:  Daniel Stewart (36) was a black fireman living with his in-laws Samuel and Rebecca Danberry Hardin, his wife Emma (26), and his daughter Kansas R (6 mo).
1900 Twelfth US Census West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg Ward 3
912/292/319:  Henry Stewart (38) was a black teamster and rented a home on Clay Street with his wife Elizabeth (26).  They were married in 1899.
1900 Twelfth US Census West Virginia, Wood County, Parkersburg Ward 1
624/62/79:  George Stewart (30) was a black teamster and rented a home for his wife Susan (30), daughter Jennie (14), daughter Elma (8), son Herbert (5), daughter Tracey (4), and son George (2).
1900 Twelfth US Census West Virginia, Grant County
314/314:  Rebecca Stewart (61), a widower, rented a home with son Homer W Stewart (28), daughter Sallie (22), and granddaughter Lillian Stewart (3).  Homer was a farmer laborer.
1900 Twelfth US Census West Virginia, Mineral County, Piedmont
154/157:  Edward Stewart (28) and wife Elizabeth (24) were living with her sister Margaret (a washer woman) and nephew Harry Cooper.  Edward was a laborer at the pulp mill.
1880 US Census West Virginia, Grant County
289/290:  Daniel Stewart (23) was a black farm laborer and lived with his wife Mary E (23) and her aunt Patsy Kent (70).
331/332:  Fortune Stewart (60) was a black farm laborer who rented for $200 a home for his wife Rebecca (50), daughter Belle (18), daughter Renoix (13), son George (11), son Homer (8), son Edward (5), daughter Sarah (3).  Ann Stewart (15) was a domestic servant in the home of Edward and Annie Williams.
1870 US Census West Virginia, Grant County, Williamsport
132:  Fortune Stewart (55) was a black farm laborer who rented a home for his wife Rebecca (40), son Daniel (13), daughter Emma (11), son Henry (11), daughter Belle (8), daughter Annie (5), daughter Renoix (3), and son George (9/12). 

Friday, November 1, 2013

In Search of Rebecca and Fortune

I am trying to preserve a piece of history ... to keep the people and places of my ancestors from passing into history, without acknowledgement or notice, understanding or regard.  So here is the story of my paternal great-grandparents, the Stewarts of Williamsport, West Virginia.


Rebecca Payne


Until the age of fifty all I knew about my great-grandmother Rebecca Payne was that she was the wife of Fortune Stewart and the mother of my grandfather Homer and two daughters, great-aunts Fannie and Sallie.  She might have had Native American ancestry.

Since then I have learned:
·        She had probably been a slave in Hardy County Virginia.  It is believed she was a slave on the "Cunningham Place" located in the Trough area of Old Fields.
·        She was the mother of sixteen children who reached adulthood.   At least four of her first born, all daughters (Mary Catherine, Jane, Rachel, Frances), had probably been slaves too.  Fortune may not have been their biological father, but claimed to be their father as evidenced on their marriage records.  Five of her daughters married five Hilliard brothers.
·        She lived with her son Homer and daughter Sallie after Fortune’s death and until she died.
·        She was possibly born in November 1829 and she died July 4, 1910.

Fortune Stewart

Little is known about where Fortune Stewart came, but he was first acknowledged in Hardy County West Virginia just after the Civil War.  Fortune Stewart was a freedman, who was able to relocate his family to Grant County following their emancipation.  He worked as a farmer, but as his first three sons came of age they moved west to Parkersburg, West Virginia to pursue other career opportunities; the fifth son married and moved to Piedmont, West Virginia and then to Clarksburg, West Virginia.  Only Homer, the fourth son and my grandfather remained in the area working as a farmer and helping care for his parents.


Stories of Fortune circulated throughout the area, indicating he was possibly from the Caribbean.  It was told that he spoke French and/or Spanish.  One story told claimed he would sit in his woodpile counting foreign currency on the stumps and then return it to its hiding place.  When he died the locals actually searched for the “fortune of Fortune”.


Fortune was a member, probably a Trustee, of the local black Methodist Church.  Fortune could be chauvinistic:  It was said that he would ride is horse to church with his family walking behind him.  But once during a snow storm he allowed Rebecca to ride the horse to the bottom of the church hill where she got off the horse so he could ride up the hill to church.


Their Children
Mary Catherine “Kate” Ford/Stewart
Jane Stewart
Rachel A Ford/Stewart
Frances “Fannie” Stewart
Margaret “Meg” Stewart (Redman)
Luhr Stewart
Daniel Stewart
Henry O/S Stewart
Emma Stewart
Belle Stewart
Annie Stewart
Mary Renoix “Ren” Stewart
George William Stewart
Homer Wilson Stewart
James Edward Stewart
Sarah Thornton “Sallie” Stewart

References
1870 US Census West Virginia, Grant County, Williamsport
132:  Fortune Stewart (55) was a black farm laborer who rented a home for his wife Rebecca (40), son Daniel (13), daughter Emma (11), son Henry (11), daughter Belle (8), daughter Annie (5), daughter Renoix (3), and son George (9/12).
1880 US Census West Virginia, Grant County
331/332:  Fortune Stewart (60) was a black farm laborer who rented for $200 a home for his wife Rebecca (50), daughter Belle (18), daughter Renoix (13), son George (11), Homer (8), son Edward (5), Sarah (3).  Ann Stewart (15) was a domestic servant in the home of Edward and Annie Williams.
1900 Twelfth US Census West Virginia, Grant County
314/314:  Rebecca Stewart (61), a widower, rented a home with son Homer W Stewart (28), daughter Sallie (22), and granddaughter Lillian Stewart (3).  Homer was a farmer laborer.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Stewarts of Williamsport



Williamsport, WV
I am of the fourth generation of the Stewarts of Williamsport, West Virginia.  My great-grandparents, Fortune and Rebecca Payne Stewart, are our “beginning” since we know nothing of their ancestors.  They just appeared in Hardy County Virginia in the early 1800s and moved to the current Grant County West Virginia after the Civil War.

The first three generations have passed.  Before my generation goes I want to capture and preserve what we know of them.  

So here is our story …