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).