Charles Stewart, my 2X great grandfather, is the next of my missing ancestral biographical sketches.
Charles is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, his grandparents were all strongly aligned with the king during the American Revolution. His paternal grandfather, Walter Stewart, upped stakes in Dutchess County, New York and moved the family to New Brunswick in the Fall 1783 Fleet. His maternal grandfather, Robert Carlisle, has no known origins in the colonies, but served in the military defending Fort Cumberland in Nova Scotia from American attacks in 1776. Robert actually moved into Maine c1830 and he died in Charlotte in 1834.
Charles Augustus Stewart was born on 1 July 1822, the son of John Stewart and Catherine Carlisle, in Charlotte, Washington, Maine. He was the third child in the family, but the first born back on American soil.
By the early 1840s, his parents and several younger siblings moved north into Aroostook County, Maine, but there is no evidence that Charles moved with them.
I mentioned there were a couple of interesting things about Charles, but have, so far, only mentioned the first. The second is Charles’s marriage.
Charles Stewart, five days after his 28th birthday on 6 July 1850, filed intentions to marry 17 year old Elida Ann Hicks. Elida’s parents were Israel Hicks and Abigail Carlisle. Catherine Stewart and Abigail Hicks were sisters and Charles married his first cousin. That is unusual for New England in the mid-1800s.
Charles and Elida married soon after filing their intentions as the 1850 census, dated 14 September, enumerates them as presumed husband and wife. Furthermore, Charles had moved from Charlotte to the neighboring village of Meddybemps. However, checking a map created in the 1880s, he barely moved over the village border.
The orange arrow is in Charlotte and the vertical line is the town border. You can see “C. Stewart” just barely on the Meddybemps side living next to I.W. Bridges.
Charles and Elida settled down to married life, tending to their small farm. In May, the first of their eight children was born – Wallace Newmarch Stewart. Seven more followed, but three children died in childhood and their two surviving sons both died at relatively young ages. All life events were in Meddybemps unless stated otherwise.
Children: (Stewart)
- Wallace Newmarch, born May 1851; died 20 April 1882, Charlotte, Washington, Maine; married Annie M. Seymour, 4 May 1878, Lawrence, Essex, Massachusetts. They were the parents of one son, John Weston Stuart.
- Permelia M., born December 1852; died 22 June 1854
- Felicia, born September 1854; died 22 August 1861
- Harry Weston, born 15 June 1858; died 20 July 1911; married Nancy Gilman Aldrich, 6 August 1879, Pembroke, Washington, Maine. They were the parents of seven children.
- Melissa E., born 4 August 1859; died 11 May 1921, St. Stephen, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada; married Frederick Austin Findlay, 22 November 1882, Melrose, Middlesex, Massachusetts. They divorced and had no children.
- Carey M., born November 1866; died 18 February 1869
- William Charles, born 12 March 1868; died 21 December 1947, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; married Josephine May Sadler, 23 September 1896, Washington County, Maine. They were the parents of seven children.
- Annie Maude, born 24 June 1874; died 10 September 1940, Ridgewood, Bergen, New jersey; married Charles Edwin Adams, 21 September 1898, Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts. They were the parents of one son., my grandfather, Vernon Tarbox Adams.
Years ago, I posted a transcription of The Biography of Elida Stuart – Grandmother, written by her granddaughter, Bertha Stuart Eldridge. Bertha did a fabulous job telling the life story of her grandmother, with whom she lived in her early years and who was close to her until Elida died in 1914. I can’t do a better job than Bertha, so click on the link to learn all about the life of a farm wife in the 1800s in rural Maine.
Back to the life of Charles! Charles was active in village life, serving as the town treasurer and as a selectmen, which are records found only with the help of FamilySearch full-text search. From this, I found an image of Charles’ signature because he apparently wrote the receipt to himself and his neighbor, Mr. Bridges, also serving as selectman, co-signed the receipt.
Little mention is made of church activities and I don’t think either were active churchgoers. If they did attend services, it would have been at a small local church in Meddybemps, Baring or Charlotte, likely the Congregational Church.
Charles and Elida remained on their farm until Charles died on 24 November 1894. Bertha included a description of the day he died and how, which otherwise would be long forgotten.
On this particular rainy day, Grandpa [Charles] came in from the barn to lie down saying he didn’t feel good. Pretty soon, he made another try and went out again. In a short time, he was in again and while approaching the couch, fell dead on the kitchen floor. I was just little and didn’t realize the enormity of it but I can remember Grammie half-lifting, half-dragging him to the couch. She tried to revive him by pouring liquor down his throat, but all to no avail. He was dead.
Charles’ estate went into administration because he left no will. The family members only knew that he died in November, but not the exact day, which was found in a death notice published in the Eastport Sentinel newspaper.
Readers might have noticed that Charles was STEWART, but some of the children appear as STUART. I asked Bertha about that when I met her. She said Elida thought Stuart seemed more French in origin. After Charles died, the whole family went by Stuart. I imagine he might not have been happy about that since they waited until he died to change the spelling.
One last comment – I’ve always wondered why I have no photos of Charles or even Elida, who lived until 1914. No one in the extended Stuart family has a picture of either one. Given that their children and extended family members often appear in family photos, it seems very strange that there are no photos of them.
