Recollections on the Familys History
By Charles Stewart

(This information is a compilation gathered from several conversations by his grandson, John S. Willis, over a period spanning the last two years of his life. Despite being in his nineties at the time, he was very lucid and enjoyed excellent recall.)

1. My father's family:

My grandfather was JOHN STEWART. He and his wife, Maryette Munn, rode on horseback to Indiana from Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. He left Pennsylvania because he was being raised by an Uncle who mistreated him. They married and settled in Vevay, Switzerland County, Indiana, My dad's three brothers Louis (John), William, and Theofield (know as Tip) were born in Vevay, along with his three sisters, one was Magdaline Stewart who married Marcus Ricketts. One was married to Lewis J. Adams.

Uncle Louis Stewart was a surgeon in New Albany, IN. He was the oldest and in addition to being a physician, owned a drug store in New Albany. My father Simeon Stewart worked in Louis's drugstore as a young man. My grandfather John Stewart was, prior to getting married a flat boat man . He worked from Pittsburgh, PA to New Orleans, LA. They would would ride the "flatboats" to New Orleans and return by steamboat.

Louis served as a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War. My father Simeon first married a Jewish lady by the last name of Abrams. They had three daughters Pearl, Jennie and Emma. Emma married Bill Maynard. They had two sons, Ken and Kermit and daughters Trixie, Bessie and Pearl. Ken and Kermit became movie actors, mostly Westerns (my grandson John remembers seeing several of their movies on TV in the 1950's.)

2. My Mothers Family:

Nicholas Baker, my Great Great Grandfather, was the engineer on the 1st steamboat to operate on the Ohio River. The boat was named the New Orleans and was owed by Nicholas Roosevelt, great grandfather of President Teddy Roosevelt. This steamboat started in Pittsburgh, PA and went down to the falls at Louisville, Ky. Indians on the riverbank were scared and ran back into the woods upon seeing the steamboat. The Bakers were related, or in someway connected with an Ash family who operated steam ferrys in Vevay, Indiana.

Baker's daughter Pheobe married my great grandfather, David Zener, after he came back from the Battle of New Orleans, in the War of 1812. He was raised in Cincinnati, OH area. He was a captain in the Army and may have served in an Ohio Unit. He walked back to Indiana, where he settled, but on the way he suffered frostbite and almost froze to death. He was saved by a tribe of Indians who took care of him. They made wooden rockers for him to walk with and saved his feet. He lived with the Indians for three years and taught them to garden and do many other things. The Indians wanted to adopt him into the tribe, but he told them he was a white man and needed to return home.

After returning to Indiana my great grandfather Zener built a wool carding machine and many other things. He was a miller and built machinery for milling. He also raised silk worms.

My mother, Geneva (Jennie) Ayers, was 1st married to Bernard Flood, a railroad builder, who was working on the old Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, which later became the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He and my grandmother moved into Kentucky where he built more railroads.

Mr. Flood was a Catholic and mother joined that church. They had a son who died at an early age and then a daughter, Josephine Flood. They then moved back east and lived in the Shenandoah Valley, where Mr. Flood built another railroad line. My mother spoke of how beautiful the scenery was there and how warm the climate was.

Mr. Flood had a drinking problem and mother was forced to leave him, returning to live with her parents. Her father Joseph Ayers, fought for the North in the Civil War. He was a commanding officer at Camp Morton, which was located on "E" Street, Indianapolis, IN and never left Indiana during the war. He trained soldiers while at Camp Morton.

3. Episodes in a Long Life:

I recall when I was five years old that my dad Simeon Stewart, was in charge of the fairgrounds in Madison, Jefferson County, IN. We had a black porter, Walter Smith, who had been a servant for General U.S. Grant during the Civil War. He took care of me as a young boy and I loved him very much. We lived in a hotel at the fairgrounds. I recall sharing sandwiches with our pet cat. My brothers Ben and Frank and I used to slide down the beer chute in the basement of the hotel. I recall one day Ben pulled Frank and I in a little red wagon, down a hill towards the Ohio River, there was a sharp axe in the wagon and my mother was scared.

We moved on a farm, west of Paris Crossing, Jennings County, IN. I recall going out to a stack of straw and was frightened when a wolf jumped out. Some of the men chased it with dogs, but never caught it. The wolf had been shot in the leg before I saw it. I was five or six years old at the time. We moved to Hill Town about a half mile west of Paris Crossing, In, where we lived for a brief period of time, then moved to Old Paris, IN where I started school

In 1900, we moved a half mile east of Commiskey, IN, on the George Corya Farm, where we lived for about three years. My two brothers and I walked to Paris Crossing, IN where we saw out first movie. It was a distance of about 5 miles each way. I don't recall the name of the movie. It was shown on the second floor of a hardware store. I was about nine years old at the time. My brother Frank Stewart and I were attacked by a wild boar while walking in the woods near where we lived. Frank picked up a club and hit the boar on the nose and it ran off, saving us from harm. Our family took in timber cutters where we lived. They cut down a large oak tree and found the scalp of a man with red hair inside. They estimated the tree had about fifty years of growth around the scalp.

In 1902, we moved over Charles F. Lurton's Grocery on first or Main street, in Commiskey, In. Dad brought in a quail with a broken wing. Mother set the wing and we had a nice pet until it was well enough to fly. Dad took it out in the woods and let it loose.

In 1904, we moved to Paris Crossing, IN where we lived until 1906. Edgar Watson was the agent for the B & O Railroad. The station where he worked was the hangout for the local kids. He hired me to take care of the the switch lights for ten cents per day. I filled the lights with lard oil. He also started an orchestra that played in all the local events. I played the first mandolin. He wanted me to become a telegraph operator for the railroad but I didn't. He was a good man who kept a lot of young boys from getting into trouble. One rainy March day a gang of us boys hopped a freight train at Paris Crossing, IN. and rode nearly to Louisville, KY. Someone hollered we were going into Louisville and we all jumped off. Bob Craig landed in a water filled ditch and we had to wring him out. We then hopped a ride bace to Paris Crossing. We were about eleven or twelve years old at the time. One day we got lucky. A freight train came by and stopped near us. A "brakey' got off and broke into a car load of watermellons and got a big one out. When he tried to jump back on the caboose the wartermelon slipped out of his hands. Seven of us boys had all the watermelon we could eat.

My brother Ben Stewart and I rode the train to Mitchell, IN to visit the Squire family. Their mother was a sister of fathers first wife. We called them cousins but they wern't. One day while riding the cement train to the quarries, we walked over to the White River. We borrowed a skiff and crossed the river where there was a big watermelon patch. We got seven watermelons. We saw two men in a tent watching the watermelon parth. They both had shotguns.

In 1906, dad bought a house in Paris, Jennings Co., IN. It had been used as a parsonage for the Methodist Church. He paid $300.00 for this house. This is the house I painted a picture of. It was a fine old house built of brick and had 21⁄2 inch solid poplar doors and window frames. We were the third owners. It was built in the 1800's. I think the historical society has made a shrine of this house. The house is on the west side of 2nd street, across from a school. This was the first school I attended. Mother and I planted two hard maples in the front yard, which made beautiful shade threes. This is the house I left to live with my half sister Jose, in Rushville, IN. One night while walking home from Paris Crossing IN at about 9:00pm, I saw a meteor go by so close over my head that I could feel the heat. It landed about a quarter of a mile south and burned a place on the ground. It smelled like sulpher.

In May 1907, my brother Frank Stewart joined the Navy. In June 1907, my brother Ben and I joined the Navy in Seymour, IN. We were sent to Indianapolis, IN where I was turned down because of the vision in my one eye. The recruiter said "you SOB you're bline: and sent me home. Frank was sent to the Atlantic fleet and served four years. He was on the "North Dakota" and the scout cruiser "Birmingham." He was a coal passer and later an engineer. Ben was sent to the Pacific Fleet and served on the "West Virginia" he jumped ship while in Colon, South America. He got a bad conduct discharge from the Navy in 1908. He was on a ship that called at the port of San Francisco, CA> shortly after the earthquake.

One day Bob Craig, one of my friends, and I were going out of the house. I was carrying a .22 rifle and it went off accidentally. I shot myself in the foot. I had to sit for six weeks with my foot higher than my head. Dr. Gaddy probed for two inches but couldn't find the bullet. I was fifteen at the time. I carried that bullet in foor until I was twenty Then Dr. Will Smith cut it out. We had apet rooster. It would perch on the arm of my chair. Whe it wanted in the house it would knock on the door with its beak. Because it sounded like a person knocking on the door, mother would have to let it in.

In September, 1909, I went to live with my half-sister, Jose Arbuckle, who lived at 405 N. Sexton Street, Rushville, Rush Co. IN> She was my favorite. Her husband got me a job as a "cub" painter with the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction Co. (I&CTC). I&CTC was an electric rail line. I served my apprenticeship as a coach painter. This line (the I&CTC) originally ran all the way to Cincinnati, OH, but stopped in Connersille, IN. Another spur of the I&CTC went to Greensburg, IN.

My brother Ben Stewart married Katherine Colvin in the fall of 1910. That same year I bought a fine violin from Ferdinand Schaeffer, conductor of the Indianapolis Philharmonic Orchestra. I paid $100.00 for it. I studied violin with Guy Rubush, who gave lessons to raise money while he was studying to be a doctor.

In 1911, I saw my first airplane it looked like a box kite. The pilot was out front in the open. It was flying from the direction of Wright Field, Dayton OH and headed in the direction of St. Louis, MO.

In 1912, I saw Jan Kubeelc, a concert violinist; play at the Murat Shrine in Indianapolis, IN. He was wonderful. Later the same year I saw another violinist, Eugene Ysaye play at the Murat Shrine. He was also good, but not as good as Kubeelc.

I left the I&CTC and visited my parents until March, 13th. My brother Frank Stewart and I started for Indianapolis and we got caught in the big flood of 1913. We got as far as Shelbyville, on the "Big Four" train and found that the bridge over the Blue River was washed out. We finally got across the river and got to Indianapolis, where we stayed with Aunt "Mag" and Uncle Wilbur Malcomb. They were living at 5940 University Avenue, Irvington Section, Indianapolis, IN. My brother Ben Stewart and his wife Katherine had a son Colvin Stewart during this same flood. Their house was surrounded with water at the time and they called him their "flood baby".

My brother Frank Stewart married Della Theobald. They lived at 721 S. Audubon Street, Indianapolis, IN. I boarded with them until fall. I then returned to Rushville, IN and went back to work for the I&CIC. Frank was working for Uncle Wilber Malcomb in Indianaplis, IN. doing carpentry work. It was still 1913.

My brother Frank and I then opened a general painting shop at 400 S. Audubon Street, Indianapolis, IN. There we did sign and house painting. We shared a phone with Perry Wysong, a barber who was a drunk. One day I looked in his shop and he was sitting with a towel around his head. He had put a sign on the door saying "home sick." The phone was on the wall between us. We painted our Uncle and Aunt Malcomb's house. While I working on the dog house I heard Frank, who was up on the roof, yell. He had been stung by a wasp on the nose, which swelled to twice its normal size and did it hurt.

One Sunday my brother Frank and I walked out to the Indianapolis Speedway, which was about 8 miles. We saw "Wild Bob" Burman break the world speed record of 79.4 MPH. The Speedway had only been open for three years at the time. Although I've been to see the time trials several times over th years, this was the only time I went to see the actual race.

Prior to my brother Frank getting married, he and I "batched" it for awhile. One week we lived on brick cheese and olive oil. One day we looked outside and saw an undertaker. Frank said "My God they're after us." Franks girl Della, had a sister in law, Shirley Corey, who worked for Mrs. Shipp, as a companion. Shirley and I started going together. One night we went to Riverside Park and did not get home until 2:00 AM. When I got home Frank and Della were locked out. They were on the back porch crying and were ready to shoot me. I worked with Frank until fall and then returned to work at the I&CTC