The Legacy of a Generation

This was the eulogy presented at the funeral of Brownley Thornton Stewart on January 8, 2011.  He was the last of eight children of Homer Wilson Stewart and Mary Elisabeth Smith to pass away.

We have come to the end of a generation with the passing of the last living son of Homer and Molly Stewart.  They raised six sons and one daughter right here in this community, in this church, during the depression.

 

Those who knew them would agree that the Stewart brothers epitomized brotherhood, fatherhood, and neighborhood.  The work ethic and values instilled in them by their parents served them well.  They supported and cared for each other, their families, and their neighbors.  They served their country.  They shared everything they had.  They earned the trust and respect of all who knew them.  I believe the community benefited from them living and working here.

The advice and life lessons they gave to their children, and anyone else who would listen, has served us all well in our lives.  The variety of skills they taught us and the motivation to get the best education possible prepared us for life even in the worst of times.  The Stewart family is truly blessed to have such a heritage and role models.  We got to enjoy their collective wisdom and unique personalities; we really had six dads.  While we miss them, we have so many memories and are much the wiser for having them in our lives.

Now the torch has been passed to our generation.  We, as a family, are obligated to preserve the legacy and pass it on; we have big shoes to fill, but they gave us the tools to be successful citizens.  I only hope and pray we can do as good a job as our fathers and grandparents did.  I want to challenge us all to be the best we can be; let’s make them proud of us. 

The Stewart Brothers
(l-r:  Stanley, Wilson, Brownley, Kendall, Ernest, Pearl)

Molly and Homer Stewart

Sipper Stewart

Brownley's Love of Cars and Speed

Brownley Stewart moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia around the age of sixteen.  Living with his uncles he worked at the oldest hotel in the city.  He had several jobs from busing tables to providing room service. He was very conscientious; he did every job to the best of his abilities, he sent money home to his parents.  But he worked long hours and extra shifts, saving as much as he could.

As soon as he had saved up enough money he bought his first car for approximately $150. He found that he loved to drive, especially at excessive speeds.  He would race trains between the cities along Route 50.  In some cases the road crossed the tracks; so the goal was to beat the train to those crossings in order to win the race.

Brownley always took very good care of his automobiles.  He could perform most automotive repairs.  And he loved to regularly hand wash them. 

When he was called home in 1937 as his sister's illness became grave, it was her wish to go for a ride in his car.  He carried her to the car on pillows to make the ride as comfortable as possible.  Its not clear what he did with his car when he went off to war.  But he did have a car after his return.

After Brownley married and completed his post-WWII training to be a carpenter, he switched to a pickup truck so he could carry his tools for work.  As his family grew he used his carpenter skills to make the pickup child-friendly:  he installed a special child seat so his daughters could see through the windshield without sitting on his wife's lap; he also build bunk beds for long trips.

But as the family grew he switched to a Dodge station wagon.  And as he became more successful he added a pickup truck for work while retaining a station wagon for family travel; especially for those eight-hour trips to visit his relatives in Parkersburg, West Virginia and Belpre, Ohio on the way to his wife's relatives in southern Ohio.  It was also in the station wagon that he loved to take the children on secret high-speed joy rides.  It was hard to find a five to ten mile straight stretch of road in West Virginia where he could go over sixty miles per hour, but he knew where he could achieve much higher speeds.  (And we wonder where I got my love of driving fast ... )

The last station wagon was a Dodge built on a pickup truck frame making is very sturdy.  It was nicknamed the "war wagon".  It was the vehicle in which all of his children learned to drive.  It was the way we were transported to and from college with our trunks for the school year.  We til this day have not been able to part with the war wagon....just too many memories. 

Mary and Jane

Mary Elizabeth Smith Stewart ca.1945

Mary Elizabeth Smith Stewart was an excellent mother even though she never knew her own mother.  She gave birth to seven sons, losing one in childbirth, and one daughter who died at the age of sixteen.  She raised her sons to be responsible, respectable gentlemen with the help of her husband Homer.

The three oldest sons married local ladies from families very similar to their own.  They settled in the area and raised their own families.  Mary knew these daughters-in-law and supported them in raising their families.  She loved having her grandchildren around.

The three youngest sons went off to World War II and did not marry until they returned.  After recovering from a war injury, Brownley, the fifth son, worked at the veterans' hospital in Chillicothe, Ohio.  It was in Chillicothe that he met and married Emma Jane Dalton.  He brought her back to West Virginia where he established himself as a carpenter. Jane had never lived so far away from her family.  (Four hundred miles was a long distance to travel by car in the 1940s.)  But Mary took her new daughter-in-law under her wing. She taught her of life in rural West Virginia:  how they created comfortable homes for their families and how they gardened and farmed to provide for their families. 

Emma Jane Dalton and
Brownley Thornton Stewart
on their wedding day 10/27/1946

Most people thought Jane would not stay in West Virginia; even her own family took bets on how long it would be before she returned to Ohio to live.  Even though she came from a city in Ohio, she was familiar with farm life.  But it was Mary who helped Jane adjust to life in West Virginia.  She became an excellent cook (especially fried chicken, green beans, and potato salad) and baker (especially pies and mincemeat cookies); she learned how to preserve vegetables (canned green beans and tomatoes) and fruit (canned peaches, dried apples and berry jellies); she learned how to butcher and cure meat (make sausage, brine bacon and ham); she learned to make venison steak, fried squirrel and gravy, and fried fish and cornbread.  She loved making a new home for her husband and looked forward to starting a family in the house Brownley built for them.

It was Mary's guidance and support that made it possible for Jane to flourish in West Virginia and occasionally visit her family in Ohio.  Mary tried to make Jane comfortable in her new environment.  It could have been that since Jane was a just a few years younger than the daughter Mary lost nine years earlier that she filled a void for Mary. They became close and spent many days together; Jane would hitch a ride with the mailman to spend the day with Mary and wait for Brownley to pick her up at the end of the day.  Mary was a great comfort to Jane as she struggled to have children; Mary never got to see Jane and Brownley's children.
  
Jane did not have sisters; so she became fast friends with her sisters-in-law.  The other ladies of the church and extended community became her friends as well.  Jane lived in West Virginia from 1947 until she passed in 1986.  She always spoke lovingly of the mother-in-law she called Mom Mary even though she had only known her for a short three-and-a-half years.  

The Angel Food Cake Story

One day Mary was teaching Jane how to make an angel food cake.  This was a huge investment in patience and eggs (it toke a dozen).  After mixing the cake, transferring it to a baking pan, and putting in the oven, Jane was supposed to just let it bake and not peek in the oven.  But her curiosity got the best of her...she decided to look.  Just as she opened the oven door her father-in-law came in and dropped a load of wood in the woodbox.  The cake fell !!! Jane screamed and her father-in-law took the blame for causing the cake to fall.

Note:  Emma Jane Dalton and Brownley Thornton Stewart were my parents.  They taught me the "love of family and community".  And even though I did not get to know of my Grandma Mary, they taught me about her through their loving stories about her.  And the best compliment I ever received came from the son of a family my Grandma Mary worked for: "you remind me so much of your grandmother."

Marshall Store in Williamsport

On January 25, 2014 I was contacted by an old friend, Ron Wilson, who had just discovered my blog.  We had grown up in Williamsport, West Virginia.  Our families had been close; Ron's father and my father had been childhood friends and remained friends until Mr. Wilson's death.   

Ron enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading memories of my family in my blog.  He had a lingering memory of going with his grandfather D.C. Lyon to visit with my grandfather Homer Stewart.  His grandfather had a cane and my grandfather had walking stick, and they were poking at each other with them as they jokingly discussed past and current events.  Ron clearly remembered hearing my grandfather’s loud, unique laugh.  He was probably around five or six at the time.

Over the next six months we exchanged emails with details of our genealogical research. While from the same rural community, we had different perspectives of the people, places, and times that we had in common.  He shared with me some old pictures he had collected from before my time.  He had researched several of the old major farming families.  He pointed me to some research sites that he had contributed to and where I found other information to fill in my family's history.  

There was an old (red) schoolhouse at Williamsport on the Old Fields road. Ron had come across references to its being a schoolhouse as well as being used for church services, but he did not know when it was built or when it was used.  The schoolhouse/church north on Patterson Creek road was built in 1883 and was used as a school until 1935. So he assumed the old (red) schoolhouse was used prior to 1883.  We also discussed the church and school used by the black community (which will be covered in subsequent blog entries).

Lyon Mill in Williamsport

. 

We discussed the grain mill that was run by his grandfather and the two stores that serviced the community.

Marshall's Store in Williamsport

The Marshall Store was owned and ran by a staunch democrat who was known to strongly voice his opinions which sometimes determined which of the two stores folks would “hang out” at.  The store closed in the mid 1950s.  Ron sent me a picture of the interior of the store.  When I studied the picture of the patrons, to my surprise, I recognized my grandfather!  

Patrons at Marshall's Store in the 1920s

But there he was ...  
... a young Homer Stewart !!!

Ron had thought my grandfather was in the picture, but did not presume it was him until I got back to him with my discovery.  We continued to share stories and photographs for a several months.

Ron was planning to return to the Williamsport area in November.  He wanted to do some more research.  But I didn't hear from him between August and November.

When I visited Williamsport during the Christmas holidays, my sister told me of Ron's passing in September.  I was deeply saddened by the loss of an old friend, but moved that he had reached out to me earlier in the year to share such precious memories.  I had no idea how timely or valuable our renewed connection had been.





Note:  Mr. Robert Wilson was a life-long friend of my father.  The Wilsons and my parents remained friends, visiting regularly over the years.  It was the Wilsons who drove me to Poughkeepsie, NY on July 6, 1974.  They were going to spend their anniversary in the Poconos and offered to help me move my few belongings to my new apartment.  I started my first real job at IBM on July 8, 1974.

Homer Meets Mary

Homer Wilson Stewart 03/02/1871 - 12/18/1953 (82)

Father:  Fortune Stewart ~1808 - 08/01/1888 (80)

Mother:  Rebecca Payne 11/1838 - 07/04/1910 (85?)

Homer started as a farm laborer in rural Grant County West Vriginia.  He later became a tenant farmer, providing a home and loaned farm for his family.  He was known for his work ethic and his hardy laugh.

Mary Elizabeth Smith 10/13/1877 - 06/11/1950 (73)

Father:  unknown (possibly Solomon Peterson)

Mother:  Celia Smith 04/23/1853 - 06/06/1903 (50)

Mary was a housekeeper and an excellent cook.  It was while she was working in the home of Daniel and Margaret Belle Babb that she met Homer Stewart.

Homer W Stewart and Mary E Smith were married on 04/12/1909 by Rev. J. T. Reed in Hardy County West Virginia.  Homer and Mary had eight children:

Wilson Alfred Stewart (10/07/1909 - 12/14/1992) farmer (sheep breeder); avid reader

Charles Edward Stewart (12/03/1910 - 12/03/1910 perished in delivery)

Pearl Daniel Stewart (12/11/1911 - 11/10/1999) coal miner; quilting was his hobby

Homer Ernest Stewart (09/04/1913 - 12/1984) grocer; avid hunter

Kendall Smith Stewart (08/18/1915 - 12/31/1979) (US Army WWII) local store, farmer

Brownley Thornton Stewart (04/07/1917 - 01/06/2011) (US Army WWII) carpenter/general contractor

Stanley William Stewart (05/13/1919 - 12/23/2003) (TEC 5 US Army WWII) logger, construction, farmer (horses); hunter, motorcyclist

Mary Elizabeth Payne "Sipper" Stewart (08/23/1921 - 12/30/1937...only 16 years old) 

The family experienced the tragic loss of the youngest child Sipper in 1937.  As you can imagine being the youngest and only girl she was very loved and spoiled by the rest of the family.  At the tender age of sixteen she died of lung cancer.  No one seems to know how that could happen, but it was detected late and progressed quickly.

Then the family was called upon to address yet another challenge.  Three of the sons served in World War II.  Kendall served in Australia, Brownley went to England, and Stanley was sent to the Philippines. There was no other family in the county who made such a sacrifice; even the other families noted the significant contribution.  All three returned home not too much for wear:  Kendall had suffered from malaria, Brownley had broken his leg, and Stanley was an escaped prisoner of war.

Discovering Cousin Obe

In December 2014 I accidentally came across information about a cousin I had not heard about, one that was only a name in my family tree with no real information about him other than his existence.

This is my great-aunt Fannie.  Frances was born to Rebecca Payne Stewart in Hardy County Virginia in 1852.  She was married to Strother Hilliard on May 6, 1968 by Rev. William George at the home of Edward Williams in Grant County West Virginia.  According to the 1870 census, Strother was working for Edward and Mary Williams as a farm laborer. They had several children.  There are very few records documenting their family; I hit many dead-ends in researching them.

But one night while investigating a possible connection to another Stewart family in the Piedmont, West Virginia area I noticed that they had a border by the name of Obe Hilliard living with them. Recognizing the surname as prominent one in the Stewart family it took me off on another one of my investigative tangents. 

I noted Obe was a  coal miner, a typical job for the area.  And the only hint given by Ancestry.com about him was in a Pennsylvania death record database.  That's when I happened upon the death record for Obe Hilliard.  It tells a story that brought me to tears.

Not only did I discover that Obe Hilliard was a son of great-aunt Fannie, but I learned of his tragic death.  Obe's coal mining job afforded him the opportunity to travel on the coal trains between the mines around Piedmont, West Virginia and the steel mills in southwestern Pennsylvania.  Apparently on November 14, 1908, Obe suffered a broken neck when he was hit by a train near Bridge Street Crossing in Monongahela, in Washington County Pennsylvania.  While it was determined his mother was Fannie Hilliard of West Virginia it was disturbing that he was not sent home for burial, but rather buried nine days later in Monongahela.  This caused me to wonder and worry ... 

This is everything I know about Obe.  He seems to have left our family without the proper send-off and only a very few people knowing what happened to him.  He wasn't ever discussed within the family ... he just faded away.  But I found him and have done my best to honor him as a part of my Stewart family.

Finding James Edward Stewart

While the biggest challenge of my ancestry research has been the total lack of origins for my great-grandparents Fortune Stewart and Rebecca Payne, it has also been a challenge to put together the stories of their sixteen children.  One of the biggest mysteries has been what happened to their fifth and youngest son James Edward Stewart.

James Edward was born September 3, 1874 in Williamsport in Grant County West Virginia and in 1880 he was living with his parents there.  On March 8, 1899 he married Elizabeth Washington in Mineral County; she was the daughter of Garrett and Sylvia Washington, born April 2, 1880 in Petersburg.  In 1900 James Edward and Elizabeth were living in Piedmont at the home of his widowed sister-in-law Margaret Washington Cooper and her son Harry.  He was a laborer at the pulp mill in Luke, Maryland.  

While living in Piedmont in 1901 James Edward and Elizabeth had their first daughter Dorothy R (09/29/1901-11/24/1972) who would marry Jasper Harold McBride and Scott Charles Farley. After marriage she moved in New Castle, Pennsylvania.  It appears Dorothy had but lost a son. 

Before 1906 James Edward and Elizabeth moved to Allegheny County Maryland where James Edward Jr.  was born.  They then moved to Ogden Row in Clarksburg.  James Edward Jr. (11/06/1906-09/1978) would marry Juanita Y Barnett on October 12, 1930 in Clarksburg.  Juanita had been born in Alabama, but was raised in Clarksburg.  They had one daughter in 1932 and continued to live in Clarksburg. 

In 1914 James Edward and Elizabeth had twins in Clarksburg:  an unnamed son (11/30/1914-11/30/1914) and Juanita Edith (11/30/1914-09/29/2002).  Juanita Edith would marry Richard E Ogden on October 17, 1938. They lived in New Castle, Pennsylvania where they had a daughter and a son.

In 1920 Elizabeth was living on Clay Street in Clarksburg with three of her children:  Dorothy (19), Edward (14), and Juanita Edith (5).  She was a laundress working out of her home. (James Edward may have been living in Parkersburg in 1920.)  In 1930 Elizabeth was living in Clarksburg with her daughter Juanita Edith (18).  On February 17, 1934, Elizabeth died of diabetic mellitus in her home at 510 Water Street in Clarksburg.  She was buried in the Stonewall Burial Park in Clarksburg.

In the 1930s James Edward moved to Braddock in Allegheny County Pennsylvania.  In 1940 James Edward was living on Wilkins Avenue in Braddock with his second wife Jennie.

After recently finding a major database of Pennsylvania death records I got lucky in finding one for James Edward Stewart Sr.

James Edward died February 26, 1947 in Braddock in Allegheny County Pennsylvania of a cerebral hemorrhage.  He had been living at 1164 Paxico Street with his wife Jennie.  His daughter Dorothy Farley of 929 Rear Moravia Street in New Castle, Pennsylvania was the informant of his death.  He was buried in Braddock Cemetery.  His birth date appeared significantly different from census records and his first marriage certificate.  His daughter did not know who his parents were.  There is no evidence that he ever returned to Williamsport after his parents died.  He may have had some contact with his older brothers who lived in Parkersburg and Belpre, Ohio.  But it would appear he has lost contact with his family after 1930 and his children had no ties to their roots.

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). 

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.