I'm looking for information and/or clues about my 3rd-great-grandfather James Stewart's first wife. So far, all I've got is a name and a lot of circumstantial evidence.
Here's what I know so far:
1. Her name was Elizabeth Vance.
2. She is the mother of at least two of his children: Annie (Stewart) Stone and Eliza J. (Stewart) Wilson.
3. She was born in either Scotland or Ireland - per her daughters' census records. Earlier ones indicate Scotland, later ones say Ireland.
4. She was living in Brooklyn, New York at least as early as 1844 (the elder daughter's birth year).
I've estimated that she was probably born before 1827, given the ages of her daughters.
Now for the mystery.... What happened to her?
By the 1860 Census, her husband James Stewart was remarried to my 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Brown. Their oldest daughter, Margaret, was born around 1851. That puts a possible death date for Elizabeth Vance between 1846 (the youngest daughter's birth) and 1850... assuming that the marriage didn't break down another way. I've found several matching "Elizabeth Stewart"s in the death records, but of course it's a fairly common name, so...
Can anyone out there shed any further light?
