Edward F. STEWART

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

It is hard to imagine a lovely fall day in 1843, when Edward F. STEWART died. The Connecticut death index record states that he died on 27 Sept but his gravestone reads 27 Oct. The index may be right, as the legal document below is dated 25 Oct. I think this may be a case of the gravestone being wrong.

With his mother so recently deceased the previous year, it must have been hard on the farming family to lose another man. I don't even know what his middle name was. 

In my STEWART family Bible, there was a very thick parchment paper, which I carefully scanned. It is a legal document for Edward F. STEWART's estate. At first, I was so mesmerized by the signatures, I didn't even think about this as an important document. 

Dudley W. Stewart in charge of Edward's estate

We the undersigned being Heirs at Law to the estate of Edward F. Stewart of North Stonington , deceasd do hereby relinquish to Dudley W. Stewart of said North Stonington  for said debts on him assigned for us all right, title or claim which we have at this in law or equity to said State to the said death of Dudley W. Stewart in consideration of good will and of his paying all the just debts and funeral charges of the said Edward F. Stewart
North Stonington Oct 25th 1843
[Signed]
Denison N. Stewart
William R. Wheeler
Emeline Wheeler
Frederick Swan
Betsey R. Swan
Nathaniel M. Crary
Rebecca Crary

Cyrus and his sister Nancy STEWART

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

Brother and Sister

Nancy and Cyrus STEWART, born in 1813 and 1815 respectively, were my 2nd great grand aunt and uncle. Little Cyrus died at age 3 and his sister died at age 30. I don't know much about them as little Cyrus was really just a baby. It is so heartbreaking to see a little baby's grave. It was so close to the house they lived in. It must have been hard on his mother and father.

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

 Nancy, died unmarried at age 30. With her older and younger sisters married and out of the house, she must have been taking care of the men still working the farm. Her mother died the year before her and her brother died in September before her there certainly was a lot of death in this family in a short space of time.

William Stewart

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

   Ancient Pillar 

William STEWART, (my 4th great-grand uncle)was born 16 Mar 1752 in Stonington, New London, son of William STEWART [Jr.]and his wife Elizabeth STEPHENS married (1) Anna COATES 25 Sept 1744 and (2) Amanda DARROW. He died 23 Jan 1843 and is buried in the Stewart Hill Cemetery in North Stonington, New London, CT.


"He was a master mechanic, built saw mills and grist mills."

Gravestone reads:

Wm. Stewart
Soldier in the Revolution
DIED
Jan. 23, 1843
in the 92 yr
of his age.
An ancient pillar of our land has fallen by the Almighty hand


Source: Wheeler's History of Stonington, page 606-607
Birth: Barbour Index Stonington Vital Records Vol. 3 p. 151
William, s. W[illia]m & Elizabeth, b. 16 Mar 1752


An earlier blog post:
This is the gravestone of William3 Stewart (William2, Lieut. William1).

William STEWART, born 16 Mar 1752 in Stonington, New London, son of William STEWART [Jr.]and his wife Elizabeth STEPHENS married (1) Anna COATES 25 Sept 1744 and (2) Amanda DARROW. He died 23 Jan 1843 and is buried in the Stewart Hill Cemetery in North Stonington, New London, CT.

"He was a master mechanic, built saw mills and grist mills."

"Wm. Stewart/Soldier in the Revolution/DIED/Jan. 23, 1843/in the 92 yr/of his age./An ancient pillar of our land has fallen by the Almighty hand"

Source: Wheeler's History of Stonington, page 606-607 Birth: Barbour Index Stonington Vital Records Vol. 3 p. 151 William, s. W[illia]m & Elizabeth, b. 16 Mar 1752

Note: William was my 4th great-grand uncle. In the background is Rebecca NOYES, wife of Edward STEWART whose gravestone was the one I went in search of. Little did I know that this graveyard would be one of the most important ones I visited and recorded. It was May 25, 2004. My camera was my first digital camera. Photos were on floppy disks. Seems forever ago.

For Stewart Researchers

Stewart Hill Cemetery, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Stewart Family of North Stonington, CT

Stewart Hill Family Cemetery [list of persons buried there]

[Wheeler: History of Stonington]

Richard Anson Wheeler's book is titled, "History of the Town of Stonington, county of New London, Connecticut, from its First Settlement in 1649 to 1900 with a genealogical Register of Stonington Families." It is currently published by the Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. Baltimore, MD. 1977 and was originally published in New London, CT in 1900. This book is not in the public domain and is still copyrighted.

[North Stonington Historical Society]
[A. Morgan and Dorothy Stewart, compilers]

North Stonington Historical Society is located at 1 Wyssaup Road, North Stonington, CT. This houses the work of A. Morgan Stewart and his wife Dorothy Kellogg Stewart who compiled a genealogy of family group sheets on this family taken from vital records, land records and family lore. We are lucky to have this resource. [A. Morgan Stewart and his wife Dorothy Stewart are deceased but their work lives on.]

[Stewart Clan Magazine]

The Stewart Clan Magazine was a publication [editor; Thomas, Edson [of Filley, Nebraska] in the 1900s for all Stewart families.

[Barbour Index]

This is an index of the vital records of Connecticut. As the Stonington/Mystic/Groton area is near Pawcatuck, CT and Westerly, RI there are marriages listed there for Stewarts. (This is available in print format but I access it with my subscription to Ancestry.com)


[Stevens-Stephens Genealogy]

Stephens-Stevens Genealogy Lineage from Henry Stephens or Stevens of Stonington, Connecticut by Plowden Stevens, New York, 1909, Frank Allababen Genealogical Co. [Repository: Ancestry.com]

Tombstone Tuesday: Hon. Benjamin F. Billings

Photo by Jeff Zinsli, used with permission

 

 

When Denison N. Stewart passed away and his sons moved to Kansas, Abby married as his second wife, Honorable Benjamin F. BILLINGS. A descendant of Edward Denison, Abby's son, told me that they lived in Griswold, CT for a time and then, she wanted to move to Kansas to be with her one remaining child.

When Judge Billings died, she buried him with his first wife, Ann P. PALMER in Great Plain Cemetery in North Stonington, New London, CT.

She, so I was told, is buried in Kansas but I have not been able to confirm that she is buried in the cemetery there.  

When Abby married Benjamin Franklin Billings in 1868, she had no reason to be living in the house on Stewart Hill near the cemetery. The 1870 census states they live in Griswold, CT.

What all of this tells me is that my ancestor, Dudley W. Stewart married in 1856, he did not return to the house on Stewart Hill that was once owned by his parents. He lived elsewhere in North Stonington and ran the General Store there.

There are no actual addresses on the federal census records, which is too bad for us researchers. The 1870 census lists Dudley as having 4500 value of real estate and 6500 value of personal estate. I found a tax record that indicates that he owns a carriage and a watch.

Making Memories Monday: Little Twigs

Tiny Grandsons on my Tree

taken this morning 27 Aug 2012

 ages 3 year, 3 months and 2 months

Only Daughter

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

Little Ella W. Stewart was the only daughter of Denison N. STEWART and his wife Abby Jane STARKWEATHER. Born after her parents had two sons, little Ella died at only 9 years of age. She is buried in the Stewart Hill Cemetery in North Stonington, CT a bit of a distance from her father.

Both sons of Denison and Abby (Starkweather) Stewart, moved to Kansas after their father died. William died not too long after they arrived, just like it says in Wheeler's History of Stonington. Edward D. Stewart, (middle name probably Denison) stayed in Kansas.

Edward married twice and was a school teacher. He had no children wit the first wife and two sons with the second. He's not buried with the second wife ( a kind Find-a-Grave volunteer looked for me (in Kansas) so I still have more to research.

But, what happened to Abby (Denison Stewart's wife? Well, she married again....

Under the Tree

Denison N. Stewart's gravestone by Brian Zoldak, 21012, used with permission

Under the Tree, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Early Years

As you learned yesterday, Denison was the oldest son in his family and because his father, Edward was a farmer, he probably worked by his father's side day to day doing farm tasks from dawn to dark.

When Edward died in 1837, as it happens in many New England families,  Dension was automatically left as head of household. In the 1840 census, he is living with his younger brothers, Dudley Wheeler Stewart and Edward F. Stewart. His baby brother Cyrus previously died as a toddler, and his oldest two sisters married in 1828 and 1830 along with a younger sister in 1830.

His sister, Nancy, was 28 in 1840 and she and his mother Rebecca must have managed the house and helped the men on the farm. Nancy and Edward F. Stewart died in 1843 not long after Rebecca his mother died in 1842 at sixty years of age.

It took me quite a while to find Denison in the 1840 census, as he is listed as Denison Stuart. 

Guided by a recent article (May/June 2012 p.26-30) from Family Tree Magazine, by Maureen Taylor, called A Full Accounting, I have been going back over the census years prior to 1850 to look at his farming family as a learning example. I am also using a older book called Your Guide to the Federal Census, by Kathleen W. Hinckley to help me with this task. (Incidentally, these two authors are close friends.)

On 18 April 1844, Denison marries Abby J. Starkweather of Preston, CT. To the best of my knowledge,  she moves into the Stewart household and my ancestor, Dudley Wheeler Stewart moves to Norwich, CT before the 1850 census to be a clerk and then find a job.

 

Denison N. Stewart

Denison N. Stewart 5 (Edward4, Nathan3, William Jr.2, Lieut William1) was born the first son and third child of Edward Stewart and his wife Rebecca Noyes. He lies buried in the Stewart Hill Cemetery #39 in North Stonington, CT. His gravestone was broken at the "date line" when I took the top photo and the crack had been solidified when Brian Zoldak took the lower photo recently.

Because of the death notice in my family Bible, I asked that the online transcription made by NancyAnn Norman and Gladys Chase be changed to aged 59. As you can see, it could not be easily read as it is right on the crack and the lower part is not easily seen.

North Stonington was taken from Stonington in 1807. However, the same town clerk, Stephen Avery was town clerk at that time. It is his clear and steady hand that adorns the record books of North Stonington.

However, not all births, deaths and marriages are recorded because it was not required by law.  Denison's brother, Dudley Wheeler Stewart's birth was not recorded and where it is written in books is incorrect as far as I can tell.

Memory Monday

Denison N. STEWART Death Notice, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Stewart. - In North Stonington, January 19th,
Denison N. Stewart, aged 59 years. 
 

Glued to the pages of my Stewart family Bible, is this tiny death notice. Once covered in yellowing aged cellophane tape, it was very hard to read.

The Bible belonged to Dudley Wheeler Stewart, my 2nd great grandfather. and after years of research, I can say that Denison was Dudley's favorite sibling.

He was big brother. Tomorrow, on Tombstone Tuesday, we will look at Denison's gravestone.

Tools of the Trade

Tools, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

At first glance, these two objects may not make sense together. But, they are two of the most wonderful things I own because they remind me of ideas that I should not forget.

The pencil was given to me by my late friend George Mitchell, a long time school teacher and advocate of children using computers. George called his room filled with students "monsters" because of his unique teaching style. 

He gave the kids a pencil to remind them that they belonged in a kind of club. That feeling of belonging is an important life lesson.

He told me some kids had never seen a personalized pencil. He gave it to me and immediately took it back. He knew I would archive it and never use it.  He walked over to the pencil sharpener, and to my horror, sharpened it down this small. He told me to use it up, "because life is short, and so are you!"

George lived every day as a cancer survivor to the fullest. He knew he was going to die and that nothing is forever. Make mistakes. Erase them and try again. Wake up each morning and strive to do your best.

Obviously, the magnifying glass, is a symbol of what we are all searching for. This once belonged to my maternal grandfather. I liked using it as a child to "make things big". Now, I use it everyday because things need examining more closely.

Go out and get a pencil and a magnifying glass. You need them. 

Ancestry's Map Collection

Geography is not one of my strong suits. Some time ago, I stumbled across this database of maps of Connecticut on Ancestry.com It was one of those days where I was rushed for time. Today, in my tree at Ancestry.com, I remembered that I needed to explore this resource.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Original data: Various publishers of County Land Ownership Atlases. Microfilmed by the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Collection Number: G&M_6; Roll Number: 6.

 On this map is the section of North Stonington that contains the area near the Stewart Hill Cemetery that I have been researching. It shows the home of Denison Noyes Stewart whose gravestone and life I will be working with this week. It is marked with a year of 1868 and by examining it at very close magnification, I see many names of Stewart ancestors that were alive around that time. I can see that this will help me quite a lot. (Do you see it right above the words Stewart Hill?)

The killer fact? Denison Noyes Stewart died in 1867, so this was published after his death. I almost dismissed this because of that FACT until I rethought the publication date.

Learning to Dictate

As You Come In, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Sometime ago, I bought a new headset for use with Webinars. They are wireless and quite comfortable.

I bought Dragon Naturally Speaking v. 11 and have used it sporadically over the months.

Yesterday, I upgraded to version 12 and I am making a real effort to learn to use it. I think that this means I must do the tutorials AND read the manual. I have already downloaded the manual, quick start guide and user-end workbook.


I am testing it with many well know software products and with some well used Web sites. Stand by while I try to get this accomplished.



Wait! It even works with my phone. OMG.

Thanks for listening. Oh, wait! That's funny.

Beware of the Symbols

Because I have made a recent cousin connection with a branch of my family in North Stonington, Connecticut and we are sharing resources, I am reminded that some resources are really hard to figure out without a key to the symbols within the publication. None has been more difficult than a publication on the surname STEWART which is now out of copyright and available from Google Books. [Stewart Clan Magazine]

It must have been sold as a subscription "family historian" magazine in the 1920s for $1 a year (I wish everything was so cheap now, don't you?) and published whenever the editor and associate editor could manage it. Wouldn't they be surprised to see each issue all "bound" in Adobe Acrobat format?

Put on your flapper clothes and examine this heading of page 189 of May, 1926 and see that they had not only a volume number but an issue number and a date.

At the bottom of this page is a key to the symbols and references of the publication.

Not all the pages have this key. Many of the symbols are barely readable. Doesn't this remind you of the symbols on gravestones?

 I decided today that I might be missing something such as the subtle distinction of married and marriage intention. 

Guess I'd better make my own key. So, beware of the symbols!

Beveridge Gravestone

William BEVERIDGE, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Beveridge Gravestone 

Gravestone of William Beveridge and his wife Ann Naughty

St. Machar Cathedral Graveyard, Aberdeen Scotland

Photo by Colin A. Milne

NE Scotland Genealogy Web site [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nescotland/index.html] August, 2012

Fortunately for me, they really packed on the information! But, if they did this in the US, I would have not that many stones to photograph! 

1877

Erected In

Memory of

Ann naughty wife of

william beveridge

shoe maker woodside

Who died march 15th 1862

aged 38 years

also john ritchie son of

james ritchie woodside

who died 18th february 1876

Aged 10 months

also of the said

james ritchie

who died may 19th 1881 aged 34 years

also son of the above

james beveridge

who died 2th august 1882 ageD 34 years

also the above william beveridge

who died 21st dec 1916 aged 93 years

also Margaret BEVERIDGE

who died 24th jan 1942 aged 90 yrs

widow of the above james ritchie

William Beveridge and Ann Naughty Marry

William Beveridge and Ann Naughty Marry, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Marriage Record of William Beveridge and Ann Naughty

Marriages in Old Machar
Octr 4th
Beveridge
William Beveridge, Shoemaker, Hadden Street, Woodside, and Ann Naughty, Woodside Works, residing there, both in this Parish, Signified their purpose of marriage by Mr. John Wight, Elder, and being thrice proclaimed, they were married on the 24th day of October 1846, by the Rev. James R. Sutherland, Min of Woodside Chapel.

William Beveridge and his wife Ann Naughty were my second great grandparents. Their daughter, Annie Beveridge (1860-1928) married David Aiken and came to America. Their daughter, Ann Aiken (1884-1934) married Thomas Broadfoot (1884-1937). They were my father's parents. I never knew these grandparents, which is too bad.

William and Ann (Naughty) Beveridge had seven children before she died. She was only 38 years old. He lived to be 93 years old.

Virtual Sunday in Aberdeen, Scotland

 St. Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen, Scotland [Mike Christie grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.] from Wikipedia page on Aberdeen. Thanks, Mike.

Sunday Wanderings at St. Machar Cathedral

I've been virtually exploring the area in which my Highland Scot ancestors lived for quite some weeks now. I especially was amazed to find that Aberdeen is also called the Granite City. [I guess I wasn't wrong when I said that I have Granite-In-My-Blood].

For many, many years, I only knew about my Lowland Scots who lived in Dalbeattie but with some research and a lot of help from others, I have set that work aside to work on my grandmother, Annie Aiken's ancestors.

Organizing my records to explore Scotland's People has been challenging. Fortunately, I never throw out any lead until I have either proved or dismissed it. I had information from an old RootsWeb page by Roy Flett, that said that there was a gravestone in this cemetery pictured here that was of William Beveridge. I kept looking at that printout until last month when I thought I'd better learn more about the churchyard before I tried to find out if this gravestone ever really existed.

With help from others, I learned that the place called Woodside is a village or a burgh in the county of Aberdeen. Sometimes, this is written as Aberdeenshire. It is in the North East corner of Scotland. There is a family history society there called the Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society. Check out the map of the burial grounds they have.

It is here that I began to see if I could prove that William and Ann's gravestone had information on it to help me.

Old Genealogy Book Cover

cool cover, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Judging a (genealogy) book by its cover? 

When I download a genealogy or history book from Archive.org or Google Books in PDF, I open it up quickly to see how I should file that book on my portable hard drive so that I can find it again. Have you noticed how LONG the titles of the books are?

Recently, I noticed that they have scanned the book covers too. I liked this one. It must have been expensive to bind books like this one.

I read recently that ebook covers are not necessarily like their paper counterparts. Just how important is the book cover anymore? I tend to buy stretchy book covers at office supplies store at this time of year to cover my hardcover books that I must use for research but I admit, that most of my books in print are paperback or spiral.

Many of you don't know that I am the author or co-author of 9 books in print and one ebook. I did not have any input on the cover or much control over the formatting inside.

I think I will go read a book. See you on Monday...

Update! Stewart Family Reunion Photo

Stewart Family Reunion, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Stewart Family of North Stonington
Update!

Previous Post (2011):

This is a scanned copy (one of two) of an undated photo of the Stewart/Steward family homestead. It was obtained from Gladys Chase of the North Stonington Historical Society from the archives stored at the Society.

Maureen Taylor, world known "photo detective" examined it for me and sets the date, from the clothing, at about 1900.

There are many mysteries about this photo. What was the reason for the reunion? Who is the couple standing posed having their photo taken and are the people attending family, neighbors or friends. Note that some are Orthodox Jews.

Update Post (2012)

After reading the obituaries shared with me by The North Stonington Historical Society, I think that I have a clue to the people in this photo. Miss Elizabeth Stewart's obituary of 1904, states that George Palmer Stewart lived in the family homestead near Lake Wyassup at the time of his sister's passing  His own obituary in July of 1905 confirms that he lived in the house as of that date. George P. Stewart (age 56 at death) and his wife Almira had a son George Floyd Stewart who did not marry.

Are the people in this photo, George Palmer Stewart, his wife Myra (Almira) and his sister Elizabeth, taken just before 1904?

It is probably the best I can do to find out who these people are. I am hoping that some Stewart family descendants can help!

Pledge Midge

Pledge Midge, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

College Memories 

In my junior year, I pledged a small sorority. Our college was small so there wasn't any houses dedicated to the Greek life, like hubs experienced.

For a week, we had to wear this outfit. I wish I had taken more photos of my college days. I did find a few more in a special album that I kept so posting this today will remind me to scan those too.

Important Items

Important Items, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Before we moved, I gathered some items from my desk and put them in a box so I could find them after I moved. I love some of these so much that I bought a little display shelf for them over my desk which is in our bedroom. 

The two little iron paperweights were my mother's favorite as they belonged to her side of the family. I suspect she painted the design on the one on the right. The duck clip was holding important papers on my grandfather's desk and my grandmother gave it to me after Grandpa died. 

The leather item is a bookmark. It says I fell asleep here.

The last two items were mine as a child. I got the pencil sharpener in my stocking for Christmas and the child scissors were given to me when I was about 4.

 

Bonnet Beach House

Bonnet Beach House, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The House at Bonnet Shores 

 

I don't have many photos of my parents with myself and my maternal grandmother. I have no idea who is taking this photo but it might be my grandmother's sister who came to visit.

I am sure that we are going out to eat and that it is probably Sunday. I can tell you that it isn't a "fancy" place because my father is not wearing a "sport jacket". But, I am wearing a dress with a cardigan sweater. My mother always made me wear a sweater because she was convinced that I would catch a cold. I was pretty prone to that as I am now. But, it does make it hard to tell which season the photos are taken in.

I think this is the summer before a Presidential election because it made rainy days even more boring. All the channels showed the same stuff over and over. 

I see my mother's white milk glass chicken that I did not find when I cleaned out their house and maybe that was because it was packed with my grandmother's things and they gave it away. It is also possible that they left it behind when they sold this house. I do know that they sold it with most of the furniture. I thought that was odd because they were always going shopping for things for the beach house. I know the lamp came from the store that had the great dolls with doll outfits.


Looking at photos are remembering the people and the items around them makes you a better genealogist. I have sat with people and made them look at their family photo collections to get them started.


I can tell you that the photos on the wall came from a trip my grandparent's took to Guatemala or Mexico. My mother was always jealous of their trips and it made her mad that she wasn't asked to go with them. Imagine WANTING to go with your parents on a vacation?
 

Wishing I could Remember

With Eleanor, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My friend Eleanor

Today, I am wishing that I could remember teenage Eleanor's last name, who babysat for me when I was small. She was only 17 but looked much older because she was so tall!

This photo is dated August 1949 so I am not yet two. I called her "Eye-Eye".

Taken at Bonnet Shores Beach.

The Love Bug

Evans Stewart, Jr with car, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My mother and her brother, Evans Stewart, Jr. were close. They were also close in age. When the family moved to their first owned home (the location of this photo), my grandfather bought this "snazzy" (her words) car that they shared.

The photo is dated 1941 and it was marked "our Love Bug".

Sentimental Week Ahead!

Vinyl Siding 1992, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Dear Readers of my Blog...

 

Dear Readers, I hope you don't mind but I have decided to blog about some family photos while I work on researching new batches of gravestones.

I pulled out my flip-pal scanner this week while I have been on a short stay-cation and scanned various photos from my parents collection and from my own photos while I work on the last remaining 1940 census records.

In 1992, my parents decided to have their house vinyl sided. I thought it was a good idea since we knew my dad had lung cancer. We were lucky that he lived until September of 1998.

I took several photos of the house that summer and I finally got them to sit on the front steps so I could take their photo.

My dad was already losing weight and my mother looked worried all the time. She was already having memory issues but she lived 10 more years after this photo was taken.

I was glad they did the siding as it made the house look newer and easier for me to sell after they were gone.