Sarah Ann Stuart (1832 - 1894)

Born 22 Jan 1832 in Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Died 16 Jan 1894 at age 61 in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania

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Biography

This profile is part of the Stewart Name Study.

Sarah was a daughter of Samuel B. Stuart and his wife Catherine. She was born in Pennsylvania, January 22, 1832.^[1]

At the 1850 U.S. Census, Sarah was living with her parents in Caernarvon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of the seven children in the household and was recorded as 15 years old. ^[2]

The 1870 U.S. Census recorded Sarah in the household of Margaret Totheroh, age 69, in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. Residents in the household, in addition to Margaret Totheroh, were Sarah Stewart, 36, born in Pennsylvania; Nancy V. Stewart, 90, born in Ireland, cannot read or write; Nancy Burns, 96, born in Ireland, cannot read or write, blind. All four women were indicated to have had father and mother of foreign birth. ^[3]

At the 1880 U.S. Census in June 1880, Sarah was living with her widowed aunt, Margaret (Stuart) Tothero(h), in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The census record lists her as Sarah A. Stewart, niece and housekeeper, and states that she was 23 years old.^[4]

Her aunt Margaret Totheroh died in August 1880. In her will, she appointed Sarah as her executor and named Sarah as her sole heir, with the children of her deceased siblings Samuel B. Stuart and Mary Ann Given to inherit the estate if Sarah should die without heirs.^[5]

Sarah Ann Stuart died 16 January 1894, unmarried and without issue.^[5] She is buried in Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, Pennsylvania. The inscription on her gravestone reads:^[6]

SISTER

Sarah Ann Stuart

Born

Jan. 22 1832

Died

Jan. -- 1894

AGED

61 Years, 11 Mos, 24 Days

Asleep in Jesus ???????????

A court paper filed by Amelia Himes and Annie Stubblebine on 6 February 1894 identifies them as sisters of the recently deceased Sarah Ann Stuart. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Find-A-Grave
2. ↑ United States Census, 1850. Enumeration sheet for Caernarvon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania (NARA microfilm publication M432, image 21 of 25), accessed at FamilySearch.org. Note: The 1850 census entry for this family contains several errors that, taken together, suggest that the information was not provided by the family, but someone else in the community who was acquainted with the family, but wasn't very closely acquainted with them. Father Samuel is misidentified as James (the name of his father and his brother) and is said to be 44 years old, when his gravestone indicates he was 48; his 45-year-old wife Catharine is said to be 35 years old; 18-year-old daughter Sarah is said to be 15 years old; 10-year-old daughter Amelia is said to be 11 years old; daughter Elmira, who was just shy of her 8th birthday, is said to be 10 years old; and one-month-old daughter Annie Victoria is listed as one-year-old Nancy.
3. ↑ United States Census, 1870. Enumeration sheet for city of Reading, ward 5, Berks County, Pennsylvania, recorded 21 July 1870. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZL2-8WW : accessed 20 February 2016), Margaret Totheroh, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 70, family 564, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,806.
4. ↑ This is a large age discrepancy. However, Margaret's will and Sarah's gravestone link the Sarah Stewart who lived with Margaret Totheroh to the Sarah Ann Stuart who was born in 1832.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Probate papers for Margaret Totheroh. Berks County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Berks, Pennsylvania. Probate Estate Files, Dotterer, Elizabeth - Drenkel, George, 1850-1915. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
6. ↑ Find-A-Grave
7. ↑ Probate papers for Sarah Ann Stuart

• Find-A-Grave, Sarah Ann Stuart, Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.