James Stewart
James Stewart, my great-great-grandfather, was born in County Claire Ireland, about the year
1856. According to his entry on the 1920 census, he came to the United States about 1881.
English was not his native language, although he did speak it. The census gives his native
tongue as "Irish." According to the census and an interview with his grandson, James ran a
grocery store in Elizabeth, New Jersey. You can read his obituary
here.
James' first wife was a Jessie Anderson, whom he maried in Ireland. Jessie was the son of James
Anderson and Jane Jamison, both born in Scotland. According to a Stewart family Bible, they
married in Ireland on 4 May 1882; either the census is wrong about the year he immigrated to
America or someone recorded the wrong year in the bible. Jessie and James had 11 children,
all born in the United States. According to the family Bible, Jessie "entered the hospital on
May 19, 1900 and had her leg amputated 27 June 1902." The reason for this remains a mystery to
me. Jessie is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. (She died May 30, 1911)
The children of James Stewart and Jessie Anderson were as follows:
- Maude Clara Stewart. There has always been a great deal of dispute in the
family as to her correct birthdate, even while she was alive. The social security death
index lists it as being April 29, 1894, while the family bible is off by one day. She
was born in Brooklyn, New York City. She was married to Joseph
Budd. Maude died in June of 1985
in a nursing home in Longwood, Florida.
- George W. Stewart. He was born 4 June 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. As of 1920,
he was still living at home with his parents in Elizabeth, New Jersey and was employed
as a "lineman" for the phone company. At some point later on he moved to Delray
Beach, Florida. George died on 24 Oct 1978, and according to the family bible he is
buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
- John Anderson Stewart. He was born on Halloween day, 1884. Again, the family
bible contradicts the census as it states that John was born in Irleand, meaning that
his father did not come to America until sometime after that. He was married to a
woman named Lea, and they lived in Gloversville, New York.
- Ella Stewart. All I know about her is that she was married to a man named
Clifford Cook.
- Jessie Lewis Stewart She was born 2 March 1902 in Brooklyn, New York. As of
1920 she too was living with her parents in Elizabeth. She was married to a man
named Herbert Cannon, and in the 1970s they were living with her daughter and
son in law in Ocean Gate, New Jersey. Jessie died in 1984.
- William A. Stewart. He was also supposed to have been born in Ireland, in April
1883. He spent his adult life in Brooklyn, and I believe that is where he died.
- David Anderson Stewart. As of 1920 David still lived at his home with his parents
in Elizabeth. The census for that year gives his age as 17, meaning he was born about
1903; his sister, Jessie, was the same age in that year according to the census.
However, the family bible says David was born in 1902 and Jessie in 1905; David's
headstone in Rahway Presbyterian Cemetery says he was born in 1905. I believe the
census may have been wrong about his birthdate, but the question of whether or not
he and Jessie were twins is still not resolved completely. He died in Pine Beach, New
Jersey in 1970. He was married to a woman named Vivian.
- Samuel Stewart. He was born 4 Oct 1887 in Brooklyn. If the family bible is to be
believed, this means that his parents came to the United States sometime between
1884, when John was born in Ireland, and 1887, when Samuel was born. Samuel died before his first birthday, on 30 June 1888.
- Joseph Stewart was born 28 Dec 1889, in Brooklyn. He died on 7 June 1897.
- Ella Purdy Stewart. She was born on 1 Oct 1892 in Brooklyn. She died on 11 Sep
1956, at 11:20 pm according to the family Bible, and she is buried somewhere in
Woodbridge, New Jersey.
- Erwin Stewart, born 15 Dec 1898 in Brooklyn, and died 29 May, 1900 in Elizabeth,
New Jersey.
Although it seems the family was already in Elizabeth by 1900, I have not been able to locate them on any census prior to 1920.
Jessie Anderson presumably died sometime after her last child is thought to have been born,
ca. 1905. James remarried sometime before 1920, when he appears with his second wife,
Sarah Rusk, on the federal census in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
James died on 29 Jan 1929, and is buried in the Rahway Presbyterian Cemetery, Rahway,
New Jersey, along with his second wife, Sarah; his son, David, and his daughter in law, Vivian.
This page was last updated on July 19th, 2001