William David Stewart (1869 - 1956)

Born 5 Jul 1869 in Arcadia, Bienville, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Fannie Matilda Simmons — married 24 Nov 1898 (to 21 Aug 1911) in Denison, Grayson, Texas, USA

Descendants

Died 16 Nov 1956 at age 87 in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States

Biography

William David Stewart1 was born July 5, 18692 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana,3 the fifth child and third son4 of James L. and Lovie Wise Stewart.5 The 1870 Census lists him as “Willie Stuard,” and the 1880 Census lists him as “Willie D. Senast.” An 1890 history of Bienville Parish states that “Willie D. . . . resides with his parents, and is an agriculturalist by occupation.”6

Willie must not have been well-suited to the occupation of agriculturalist, because the next record found of him is his enlistment at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. In April 1898, as a resident of Grayson County, Texas, his name (now “Will D. Stewart”) appears on the muster rolls of Troop L of the First Texas Volunteer Cavalry.7 Interestingly, the name appearing in the enlistment rolls directly above his is that of Wellington Simmons, and the name appearing directly below his is that of William Simmons.8 Wellington was a brother of Fannie Matilda Simmons, later Mrs. William D. Stewart, and William Simmons was their cousin.9

Neither Will, as he was then known, nor the Simmons cousins left Texas during the pendency of the war.10 Will was mustered out in November 1898 with the rank of Corporal,11 and he married Fannie on November 24, 1898.12 Their first child, Ernest Guy Stewart, was born January 16, 1900 in Denison, Grayson County, Texas.13 The young family is enumerated in the 1900 Census in Denison, and Will’s occupation is listed as “carpenter R.R.”

On September 8, 1900, a category 4 hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, leading to the largest loss of life of any storm in U.S. history and the second highest cost in damage.14 Will’s daughter, Mabel, had in her possession a photograph which shows Will Stewart in a carpenter’s apron, with a hammer tucked in his belt, standing with several people, and the caption on the back states: “Mr. Stewart, Mrs. A. Hassett, C.F. Greer, Miss A. Born, Miss M. Hassett, Burt Jay, By Suther Thompson, Galveston, Tex. Feb 25th 1901.” The background of the photo shows demolished buildings and rubble. It would certainly appear that Will used his carpenter skills to help rebuild Galveston.

Fannie gave birth to James Lewis Stewart in July 1901 in Denison, and he passed away on May 8, 1902.15 Will’s and Fannie’s third son was born and died in Denison, nameless, on December 2, 1902.16 Their last child, and only daughter, Mabel Claire Stewart, was born on November 29, 1903 in Roswell, New Mexico Territory.17 Mabel wrote about what transpired just prior to and after her birth:

“I, Mabel C. Stewart Walker, was born in Roswell, New Mexico, November 29, 1903, in an adobe house, of Fannie Matilda Simmons Stewart and William David Stewart. My father, a carpenter and painter, had seen fit to abandon my mother and brother, Ernest (nearly four years my senior), just before I was born. I have never known why. My mother wouldn’t discuss it or him with Ernest or me. All I’ve ever heard was, ‘He drank.’ Two children, both boys, were born and died in the years between Ernest and me. One, James, lived to be eight months old; the other died at birth.

“Maybe my father abandoned us because he was a first class cad and didn’t want the responsibility of a family, or just didn’t give a damn, or if one should want to be charitable, maybe ‘ol’ demon rum’ had such a hold on him, he knew Fannie and the children would be better off without him—because the Simmons family, being a loving family, was bound to come to Fannie’s rescue. However, any way one considers it, he picked a ‘most opportune’ time to get the hell out. When I was three weeks old, Grandpa Simmons sent sons John and Wellington after us, and they brought us home to Denison, Texas.

“I’ve been told my father was good to Mother when he did live with her (I hope so). But leaving her was the ultimate insult, and I know how heartbreaking and humiliating it must have been to come back home under those conditions. Mother was never bitter. She was always loving and kind. From the time I can remember, Mother worked hard on the farm, helping with all the chores and in the fields. Two of her brothers, Wellington and Ike (I called him ‘Ikey’), were still at home. All the others were married and living away.

“When Mother sued for divorce, she didn’t ask for child support, because she did not want our father to visit us. I suspect some fond brothers had a hand in that decision—she said she didn’t want Ernest influenced by him, since ‘he drank.’ So, I never saw him, and Ernest didn’t see him again.

“In 1910, Ike and Wellington both married. That took care of their support. I knew nothing of this, of course. I was seven years old. Ikey moved to Dallas, and I didn’t want to lose him. Uncle Wellington stayed in Denison. Fannie did get a divorce on August 21, 1911,18 before she married John Wilson Smith. I have a copy of the papers.

“The only people that talked to me about my father were Aunt Annie Simmons Fine—she could only say that she spent some time in my parents’ home, and he was very good to Fannie—and Aunt Minnie Simmons Roulain. Aunt Minnie talked to me at ‘The Reunion’ in 1924. She told me that my father visited them in San Antonio, now and then. She seemed to like him, and she said he hadn’t remarried and he talked a lot about Ernest and me. He said he would like to send me away to college or help me in some way. Talk is cheap, and I figured that was what he was doing.

“Even a little money now and then would have been a lot of help in those times. I had worked for my board part of the time I was going to college. I had already started teaching school. I listened to Aunt Min with an ‘Oh, he would, would he’ attitude. I liked Aunt Min, she was lots of fun. I had learned early in my life to be practical. Of course, now I wish I had asked about my father, or at least let her tell me about him, and I’m sorry now I didn’t get a chance to meet him face to face after I grew up.”19

Much of Will’s life after 1903 remains a mystery. His death certificate states his last residence as Wylie, Collin County, Texas, and his marital status as “widowed.”20 His last will and testament, executed and probated in Collin County, Texas, states his name as W.D. Bill Stewart.21 In his will, he left $1.00 to Ernest Stewart and $1.00 to Mabel Stewart and the residue of his estate to Mrs. Naomi Dance to be divided among his surviving nieces.22 The application to probate the will lists the beneficiaries under the will as Ernest and Mable, as son and daughter, and nieces Mrs. Lizzie Hunter, Mrs. Mattie Candler, Mrs. Eunice Dalton, Mrs. Jessie Crosby, and Mrs. Naomi Dance.23 These are all daughters of several of Willie D. Stewart’s siblings.24

The application states that “the said W.D. Bill Stewart was probably at one time divorced, and, if so, the applicant is unable to say when and from whom[.]”25 It goes on to state, in the next paragraph, that Bill Stewart “had been lawfully married[.]”26 It is not clear if this is a reference to the marriage that ended in divorce or to a subsequent marriage.

One of the witnesses to Bill Stewart’s will, which was executed in Collin County, Texas, testified that “he was well and personally acquainted with W.D. Bill Stewart, Deceased, during his life time; that he knew the above decedent for about Thirty Five (35) years[.]”27 This suggests that Bill Stewart may have lived in Collin County since at least 1921.

Research has not uncovered any census records for William D. Stewart after 1900 and before 1940. However, the 1940 Census lists a Bill Stewart in Wylie, Collin County, Texas, of the age of 70 (he was counted on April 4, 1940) with a place of birth in Louisiana. This Bill is the husband of Anna Stewart, who is listed as the head of the household. An intriguing aspect is presented by the fact that the Addington family next door has living with them their youngest daughter, a widow by the name of Lometa Stewart, and her son, Jackie, age 5.

Charles Jack Stewart was born in Collin County, Texas on March 3, 1935 to Loreta M. Addington and Charles V. Stewart. Research has not revealed whether these Stewarts are related to Will, and the fact that his will did not list any other descendants suggests that there is no relationship.

William D. Stewart died November 16, 1956 in the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Dallas, Texas.28 He was buried in Wylie Cemetery, in Wylie, Texas,29 where his headstone reads: “William D. Stewart Cpl. Troop L, 1st Texas Cavalry Spanish American War July 5, 1869 Nov 16, 1956.”30

Do you have information about William D. Stewart? Please contribute to his biography. Everything on WikiTree is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources

Sources are found in the footnotes.

Footnotes

1 Every official document concerning William D. Stewart only contains the middle initial. The middle name “David” only appears in the writings of his daughter, Mabel Stewart Walker. One assumes that she obtained the information about his middle name from her mother.

2 Death Certificate of William D. Stewart.

3 Ibid.; Sutton, Donna, Bienville Families: Stewart Family History, http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/bienville/history/stewartfamhist.txt (Oct. 2006; last visited December 31, 2012).

4 Sutton, Stewart Family History.

5 Death Certificate of William D. Stewart; Sutton, Stewart Family History.

6 Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, (1890, Southern Publishing Co., Nashville & Chicago).

7 Muster Rolls, Troop L, First Texas Cavalry, originals found in the Texas State Archives.

8 Ibid.

9 Genealogical records of Mabel Stewart Walker.

10 Muster Rolls.

11 Ibid.; Headstone for William D. Stewart, Wylie Cemetery, Wylie, Texas.

12 Marriage Record, Grayson County Texas Marriage Records Book "O" (Oct 1897 - Jan 1899) page 479.

13 Genealogical records of Mabel Stewart Walker.

14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane.

15 Genealogical records of Mabel Stewart Walker.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.; Fannin, Patsy S., Birth Records Chavez County, New Mexico 1903-1907, http://www.nmchaves.net/nmchaves/chvbirth.txt (June 10, 1997, last visited December 31, 2012).

18 Divorce Decree, Fannie Stewart v. W.D. Stewart, Grayson County, Texas, District Court, Cause No. 19903.

19 Genealogical records of Mabel Stewart Walker.

20 Death Certificate of William D. Stewart.

21 Last Will and Testament of W.D. Bill Stewart, July 24, 1955, filed in Estate of William D. (Bill) Stewart, Probate No. 6327, Collin County, Texas.

22 Ibid.

23 Application of C. Truett Smith in Estate of William D. (Bill) Stewart, Probate No. 6327, Collin County, Texas.

24 Sutton, Stewart Family History.

25 Application of C. Truett Smith.

26 Ibid.

27 Subscribed Testimony of Charles L. Hillis in Estate of William D. (Bill) Stewart, Probate No. 6327, Collin County, Texas.

28 Death Certificate of William D. Stewart.

29 Ibid.

30 Headstone for William D. Stewart, Wylie Cemetery, Wylie, Texas.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Alfred Walker for starting this profile.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Alfred and others.