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William D. Stewart (1813 - 1886)

William D. Stewart
Born in Johnstown, Montgomery, New York, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , , , , , and
Husband of — married 2 May 1839 in Fayetteville, Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United Statesmap
[children unknown]
Died at age 73 in Denver, Colorado, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joan Stewart Smith private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 25 Apr 2024
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Contents

Biography

William D. Stewart was born on 22 May 1813 in Johnstown, Montgomery (later Fulton) County, New York, United States. He was baptized there on 7 Nov 1813 at the Presbyterian Church of Johnstown, the 5th of the 11 children of Scottish immigrants Alexander Stewart and his wife Margaret Sinclair.[1]

His siblings were Jane, Margaret, Robert A., John, Catherine, Jeanette, Joseph Alexander, Archibald, Charles Nelson and James T. A 1910 bio of his brother Charles Nelson Stewart called him, "William D., of Rice county, Minnesota."[2]

In 1786, William's father, Alexander, aged 7, and William's grandparents, Robert Stewart and Jane Wilson, plus his older aunt and uncles, emigrated from Foss, the parish of Dull, Perthshire, Scotland.[3] The family settled in Johnstown, Montgomery County (name changed to Fulton County in 1838), New York.[4]

William's father spent the rest of his childhood and early adulthood in Johnstown,[5] [6] where the marriage record of William's parents and the baptism records of William and most of his siblings are in the records of the Presbyterian Church of Johnstown.[7] By 1826, they were living 90 miles west in Smithfield (part of which became Fenner), Madison County, New York,[8] the same village of William's late paternal Aunt Catherine Stewart and her husband Robert Stewart.[9]

By 1837, the family's home was in Manlius Four Corners (renamed Fayetteville in 1844), Onondaga County, New York,[10][11] where the family of William's Uncle James Stewart lived. William's parents became members of the Fayetteville Presbyterian Church in April 1836. They left the Fayetteville church in September 1840,[12] and the family traveled 800 miles west to live in Pewaukee, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

Three years before his parents moved to Wisconsin, William and his brother Robert went first to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory. [13]

Marriage

After William moved to Wisconsin in 1837, he returned to New York state to marry Charlotte Sprague on 2 May 1839 in Manlius (Fayetteville), Onondaga County.[14]

Charlotte was born about 1815 in Pompey, Onondaga County, New York, the daughter of Colonel John Sprague and his 1st wife, Aurilla Sweet.[15]

William then returned to Wisconsin with his new bride, where they were on the 1840 census in Pewaukee Township, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory. After that, he moved to Ophir, LaSalle County, Illinois (1850 census), and then to Rice County, Minnesota (1860, 1870, 1880 census), where his brothers, Charles and Joseph, lived. At some time after 1880, William & his wife Charlotte and son William Jr. & his wife Flora moved about 850 miles southwest of Bridgewater, Rice County, Minnesota to Denver, Colorado, where they spent their final days..

Children

William and Charlotte had the following children:

• Emily Charlotte Stewart (1840–1921), married Charles Bingham[16]
• Clarissa Jane Stewart (1842–1877), married Peter Warren Delancey[17]
• Byron Alonso Stewart (1845?-bef. 1850), died young[15]
• William Byron Stewart (1847–1920), married Flora M. Ingram[18]
• Zora L. Stewart (1849–1851), died young [19]

Census

1820 U.S. Federal – Household of Father Alexander Stewart
Johnstown, Montgomery, New York, United States.[6]
1830 U.S. Federal – Household of Father Alexander Stewart
Smithfield, Madison, New York, United States.[8]
1840 U.S. Federal – Household of Father Alexander Stewart.
Manlius (renamed Fayetteville in 1844), Onondaga County, New York, United States.[11]
No longer in household: Jane, Margaret Jr, Robert, John, William, Joseph
1840 U.S. Federal – Household of W.D. Stewart.
Pewaukee Township, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, United States.[20]
1850 U.S. Federal– Household of William D. Stewart
Ophir, LaSalle, Illinois, United States. [19]
1860 U.S. Federal – Household of W.D. Stewart
Bridgewater, Rice, Minnesota, United States. [21]
1870 U.S. Federal– Household of William Stewart
Northfield, Rice, Minnesota, United States. [22]
1880 U.S. Federal– Household of William D. Stewart
Bridgewater, Rice, Minnesota, United States. [23]

Death

William D. Stewart, aged 73, died on 9 Sep 1886 in Denver, Colorado and was buried there in Riverside Cemetery.[24] His wife Charlotte (Sprague) Stewart, aged 80, died 24 Jun 1895 and was buried at his side. [25]

Historical Article Excerpt

"William Stewart settled in the town of Pewaukee in 1837. His parents, Alexander and Margaret (Sinclair) Stewart arrived in 1840. His brother, Robert, had joined him in 1837, but had returned east for his family and came back in 1842. William and his father built the old academy building used as a Female seminary, on the present site of the First Reformed church in Waukesha, while he and his brother plastered the First Presbyterian church in Milwaukee.

"Robert [his brother] built himself a log house, later a brick one which still stands. He had married Ann Janet Hibbard in 1833 and they had three children: Isaac Newton, one time superintendent of Waukesha county schools and writer; Mary E., teacher and editorial writer for the Milwaukee Journal; Frances, who became the mother of the late Dr. Will Witte of Milwaukee."

- History of Scotch pioneers in Waukesha County dates back to wilderness days. Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 16 Sep 1943[26]

Research Notes

William did not stay in Pewaukee, Wisconsin

The confusion about William D. Stewart is most likely because there is a grave for a different William Stewart, died 22 Jul 1892, with wife Jane,[27] in Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where William D. Stewart's parents were buried.

However, other Stewart families lived in Waukesha County. Records clearly show that William did not stay in Wisconsin like his parents and some of his siblings including Robert, Catherine, and Jeanette. After William was recorded on the 1840 census in Pewaukee, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, William, his wife and children moved to Ophir, LaSalle County, Illinois (1850 census), and then went to Rice County, MInnesota (1850, 1870, 1880 census), where his brothers, Charles N. Stewart and Joseph A. Stewart, had settled. After 1880, William and his wife Charlotte, née Sprague, then moved to Denver, Colorado, where they died and are buried.

Unfortunately, some family trees name the parents of William D. Stewart, who married Charlotte Sprague, as the son of William Henry Stewart and Patience Denton of Adams, Darke County, Ohio. This misassumption (other than copying the wrong info from other trees) probably came from the 16 July 1830 will of William Henry Stewart who named a son William. Other than that, I can't find any other rationale except speculation.

It is very easy to prove that William D. Stewart who married Charlotte Sprague is the son of Alexander Stewart and Margaret Sinclair – parents who moved from Johnstown, Montgomery County, New York; to Smithfield, Madison County, New York; to Manlius (Fayetteville), Onondaga County, New York; and finally to Pewaukee, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

We have William's baptismal record at the Presbyterian Church of Johnstown, New York. There is a newspaper announcement that he married Charlotte Sprague in Manlius (Fayetteville), Onondaga County, New York, where census and church records show both their parents lived at the time. We know his brothers, Charles and Joseph, lived in Rice County, Minnesota, where he also lived. A 1910 bio of his brother Charles includes him in a list of all 10 siblings as “William D., of Rice county, Minnesota."

Son named Byron Alfonso Stewart?

William V. Sprague's 1913 book Sprague Families of America lists only one child for William D. Stewart and Charlotte Sprague of Northfield, Minnesota – Bryon Alonzo Stewart.[15] We know they had at least four children, Emily Charlotte, Clarissa Jane, William Byron and Zora L., but there are no other records or references to a son with the first name Byron.

If they had a son named Bryon Alfonso Stewart, he was probably named after Alfonso Byron Wood, who was the husband of Charlotte (Sprague) Stewart's sister Aurilla. We know William and Charlotte had a son named William Byron Stewart in 1847, so perhaps the book wrote his name incorrectly as Byron Alonso Stewart.

Or, Byron Alfonso Stewart was born and died young between census years. There is a gap of 5 years between CLarissa Jane (1842) and William Bryon (1847), so he may have been born about 1845 and died before the 1850 census.

The 1840 census of the household of W.D. Stewart in Pewaukee Township, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory records a total of 4, including 1 male 20-29 [William D. head], 1 female under 5 [baby Emily], 1 female 20-29 [wife Charlotte], and 1 male 15-19. [20] Since William and Charlotte married the previous year, there was no record of a young male on the 1840 census, nor is he listed by name on any subsequent census record with the family. (The male, aged 15-19, on the 1840 census may be one of Joseph's younger brothers who came to Wisconsin with William, as their parents moved there later that same year.)

Research notes by (Joan Stewart Smith), William D. Stewart's 4C1R cousin

Sources

  1. ↑ Vosburgh, Royden Woodward. Records of the Presbyterian Church of Johnstown in Fulton County, N.Y., 1785-1869, transcribed by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1916.
  2. ↑ Jewett, Stephen and Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota. 2 vols. Chicago, H. C. Cooper, Jr. 1910. Biography of Charles N. Stewart. "The parents of Charles N. Stewart were Alexander and Margaret (Sinclair) Stewart, both natives of Scotland, married in Johnstown, Montgomery county, New York. Alexander Stewart moved to Waukesha county, Wisconsin, in 1840 and there followed the occupation of farmer. He and his wife are both dead. They were the parents of eleven children as follows: Mrs. George Stewart, of Oneida, Madison county, New York; Mrs. Henry Gilbert, of Monmouth, Ill.; Robert A. of Pewauke, Waukesha county, Wisconsin; John, of Jackson, Mich.; William D., of Rice county, Minnesota; Mrs. A. B. Parsons, of Delaware, Wis.; Janett Stewart, of Delaware, Wis.; Joseph A., of Northfield, Minn.; Archibald S., of Nyack, New York; Charles N., of Northfield, and James T., of Waukesha, Wis."
  3. ↑ Edson, George Thomas. Stewart Clan Magazine. “Some Stewarts From Perthshire.” Clan Stewart Society in America, Inc. Tome F, Vol. 28, No. 12, June 1951, p. 149-51. Among the Stewarts that settled in Montgomery County, New York were 2 sons of Alexander Stewart of parish of Dull, Perthshire: John (m. Ann) of Johnstown, New York, and Robert (m. Jane Wilson) of Johnstown, New York, and Joseph.
  4. ↑ Dobson, David. Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825. Baltimore, Md. 1984-1993. V. 2, p. 192, citing Robert Stewart, wife Jane, children Alexander, Catherine and John Robert left Glen Lyon, Perthshire, Scotland to Johnstown, New York in 1786
  5. ↑ "United States Census, 1810", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2C-N81 : 28 Jan 2024), Johnstown, Montgomery County, New York, United States, Alexander Steward household, enumeration 6 Aug 1810, Total 6 includes: 2 males under 10 [SONS ROBERT, JOHN], 1 male 26-44 [HEAD ALEX], 2 females under 10 [DAUGHTERS JANE, MARGARET], 1 female 16-25 [WIFE MARGARET].
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGZ-Q3Z : accessed 22 September 2022), Johnstown, Montgomery, New York, United States, enumeration date 7 Aug 1820, household of Alexander Steward, Total 9 people include: 2 males under 10 [SONS JOHN, WILLIAM], 1 male 10-15 [SON ROBERT], 1 male 26-44 [HEAD ALEXANDER], 2 females under 10 [DAUGHTERS CATHERINE, JEANETTE], 2 females 10-15 [DAUGHTERS JANE, MARGARET], 2 females 26-44 [WIFE MARGARET AND _?]
  7. ↑ Vosburgh, Royden Woodward. Records of the Presbyterian Church of Johnstown in Fulton County, N.Y., 1785-1869, transcribed by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1916. Contains baptisms with birth dates, 1785-1859; marriages, 1790-1860; deaths, 1798, 1800, 1801, 1807-1859; members received, 1834-1859; communicants, 1792-1860; register of elders, 1791-1867; register of deacons, 1791-1867; pastors, 1785-1869. Includes gravestone inscriptions from Johnstown Cemetery, 1782-1870
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHP8-356 : 15 July 2022), Smithfield, Madison, New York, United States, household of Alexander Steward, Total 11 people includes: 2 males under 5 [CHARLES, JAMES], 2 males 5-9 [SONS JOSEPH, ARCHIBALD], 2 males 15-19 [SONS JOHN, WILLIAM], 1 male 20-29 [SON ROBERT], 1 male 50-59 [HEAD ALEXANDER], 2 females 10-14 [DAUGHTERS, CATHERINE, JEANETTE], 1 female 40-49 [WIFE MARGARET] [Note: Daughters Jane, Margaret no longer in household.]
  9. ↑ Stewart, Bruce Maddox. Stewart: Heather Lost, The Story of a Family Displaced. Arizona: Moore Graphics. Self-published. 2009 (http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/stoz/stewart_heather.htm)
  10. ↑ Stewart, Bruce. Fulton County NY GenWeb. Robert Stewart Probate Transcription of the 1837 probate records of Robert Stewart of Johnstown, New York. Surrogate Court, Montgomery County, Fonda, New York. Book #6, Pages 135-6. October 30, 1837. Includes petition by probate lawyer, John Hillebrant, from File #4, to the will of Robert Stewart, Surrogate Court Records, Montgomery County, stating his children included "Alexander Stewart residing in Manlius, Onondaga Co., N.Y."
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTW-VSQ : 8 December 2020), Manlius, Onondaga, New York, United States, Alexander Steward household, Total 7: 2 males 10-14 [CHARLES, JAMES], 1 male 15-19 [ARCHIBALD], 1 male 60-69 [HEAD ALEX], 2 females 20-29 [CATHERINE, JEANETTE], 1 female 50-59 [WIFE MARGARET] No longer in household: Jane, Margaret Jr, Robert, John, William, Joseph
  12. ↑ Town of Manlius Church Records, Fayetteville Presbyterian, Vol. 4, pp. 329-356, 1960, Church Records File
  13. ↑ Obituary of Robert A. Stewart, Waukesha Freeman, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, 7 Apr 1881, Page 1
  14. ↑ Fayetteville Luminary and Reformed Methodist Intelligencer, issue 2 May 1839. Town of Manlius. M.[arried] in  Episcopal Church, Fay.[etteville] by Rev. Mr. Fencer, William Stewart of Milwaukee, Wisconsin  Territory to Miss Charlotte, daughter of Col. John Sprague of Fayetteville.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000. Ancestry.com. Original source: Sprague, William Vincent. Sprague Families of America. Tuttle Family Company, Printers, 1913. p. 64. “VII. Charlotte [Sprague, daughter of Col. John Sprague and 1st wife Aurilla Sweet], m. William D. Stewart, lives in Northfield, Minn., Aug., 1875, and has Bryan Alonzo Stewart.”
  16. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #96376877 for Emily Charlotte “Emma” Stewart Bingham (Jan 1840–1921), Graceland Cemetery, Madison, Lake County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Khoward (contributor 47132889).
  17. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #88839341 for Jane C Stewart DeLancey (1843–3 Jan 1877), Northfield Cemetery, Northfield, Rice County, Minnesota, USA; Maintained by Mookie (contributor 47515129).
  18. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #173456994 for William Byron Stewart (1847–27 May 1920), Riverside Cemetery, Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA; Maintained by bob toelle (contributor 47047332).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "United States Census, 1850", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8R9-XD8 : Sun Mar 10 14:21:20 UTC 2024), household of William D. Stewart
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "United States Census, 1840" , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYG-RM9 : Sat Mar 09 08:21:53 UTC 2024), Pewaukee Township, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, United States, household of W.D. Stewart, Total 4 included 1 male 15-19 [a younger brother born 1821-1025? Not Robert], 1 male 20-29 [William D. head], 1 female under 5 [Emily], 1 female 20-29 [wife Charlotte]
  21. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4LP-FKC : Sat Mar 09 18:43:47 UTC 2024),Bridgewater, Rice, Minnesota, United States, household of W.D. Stewart
  22. ↑ United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDHC-1J1 : Tue Mar 05 06:45:24 UTC 2024), Northfield, Rice, Minnesota, United States, household of William Stewart
  23. ↑ "United States Census, 1880", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ9L-JWS : Fri Mar 08 05:59:05 UTC 2024), Dundas, Rice, Minnesota, United States, household of Wm. D. Stewart
  24. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173457022/william_d-stewart: accessed April 25, 2024), memorial page for William D. Stewart (1813–9 Sep 1886), Find a Grave Memorial ID 173457022, citing Riverside Cemetery, Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA; Maintained by bob toelle (contributor 47047332).
  25. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #173456959 for Charlotte Sprague Stewart (1815–24 Jun 1895), Riverside Cemetery, Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA; Maintained by bob toelle (contributor 47047332).
  26. ↑ “History of Scotch pioneers in Waukesha County dates back to wilderness days.” Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 16 Sep 1943. Wisconsin Historical Society (https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA12869 : accessed 26 Apr 2024)
  27. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #84495066 for William Stewart (unknown–22 Jul 1892), Prairie Home Cemetery, Waukesha, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, USA; Maintained by KJS (contributor 47179008).




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