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From: "Dennis and Vickie Stewart" <>
Subject: Alva T. Stewart, son of Joseph, son of John
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 20:45:08 -0600


I have lost your address, but this was from the antique store in Marshalltown, Iowa this summer. I hope this helps you. There are still relatives of Alva T, living in the Marshall county area, near or on the some of the same farm land.
From the Past and Present of Marshall County, Iowa , 1912 B.F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana
Alva T. Stewart
Few men of a past generation were better known or more highly esteemed in the locality of which this history deals than the late Alva T. Stewart, for forty-five years one of the leading agriculturists here, during which period, which constituted the epoch of transforming this section from the wild prairies to one of the foremeost vicinities in the middle West, he played well his part, ever sharing the work of upbuilding and furthering in any way possible the interests of his adopted county in which, with characteristic keeness of discernment, he had implicit faith from the first, believing that the future was big with possibilities, and he was permittted to live to see that he had not been mistaken in his foresight. When a mere boy he determined to become a good man and a useful citizen, and that he successfully carried out his original intentions was attested by a long life fraught with so many beneficial results to humanity, and when he was summoned suddenly and quite unexpectedly to his reward, from his pleasant residence in Marshalltown, on July 6, 1911, the city and county felt that one of the best and most useful citizens had gone.
Mr. Stewart was born in Truxton, Cortland County, New York, May 7, 1843, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Soules) Stewart, the father born in Warren, Herkimer County, New York, in 1800, and the mother's birth occurred in Schoharie County, that state in 1818. Joseph Stewart's father, John Stewart, and five brothers were among the first settlers in the vicintiy of Ft. Warren, New York, there being very few settlers in that region when they went there. John Stewart and his five brothers were all in the war of 1812. in which two of them lost their lives. The Stewart family is of Scotch extraction, and the first of them to come to the Unitied States was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, in 1745. He was in the Indian massacre at Fort William Henry. The mother of the subject died at Truxton, New York, in 1848, and soon afterwards the father married Jane Rose and they came to Illinois in 1856, locating in Lee County where his second wife died. He was living with his daughter in Henry County, that state, when his death occurred in 1882. Five children were born of the first union, of whom Alva T., of this sketch, was one; all are now deceased. Four sons of this marriage were in the Union army during the Civil War, two of them dying during the service, the third son sying after the war. By the second unio, on daughter, Mrs. H. H. Cully, was born, and she now lives at Kewanee, Illinois. Early in life the father, Joseph Stewart, was a Democrat, but he voted for Lincoln and was later, a Republican. He became well-to-do, but lost all he had in the panic of 1857.
Alva T. Stewart grew to maturity on the farm and was educated in the common schools at Mr. Carroll, Illinois, he having been twelve years of age when he moved with his parents to near Dixon that state. In 1866 he came to Marion township, Marshall County, Iowa and bought one hundred and tweny acres. This proved to be a fortunate investment. He went to work earnestly, improved the place and as the years advanced they found him prospering by reason of close application and good mangement, and in due course of timehe had one of the best improved and productive farms of this part of the county. A year after he located in Marion township he moved to Taylor township, eight miles north of Marshalltown, on the Taylor-Vienna line. He purchased additional lands until he became the owner of seven hundred and forty-five acres in Vienna, Taylor and Liscomb township, consisting of some of the choicest and most desirable land in the county, worth two hundred dollars per acre. He kept his land well improved and under a fine state of cultivation, and as a general famer and stock raiser he ranked with the leaders of the county for many years. From humble beginnings he rose to one of the substantial and influential men of his community, all through his individual efforts, for he was one fo those strong, self-reliant men who asked favors of no one, preferring to do his own thinking, lay his own plans

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