My Genealogy Hound

JOHN A. STEWART. The traveler passing through Harmony Township, Clark County, and noting its quiet country homes, where as a rule plenty abounds, casts a second glance at the Stewart homestead which is evidently under the supervision of a thorough and progressive farmer. It lies one and one-half miles southeast of Plattsburg, and comprises two hundred and fifty-one well-tilled acres which yield bountifully the rich crops of the Buckeye State, and are also admirably adapted to stock-raising, which forms a leading feature of its operations.

A native of Clark County, this State, our subject was born April 11, 1855, and is the son of Charles and Isabel (Nicholson) Stewart, who were natives of Greene and Harmony Townships. He is the only living child of his father’s first marriage, and the one hundred and fifty-acre farm which he now owns and occupies, was a legacy left him by his mother. The latter died in 1859, when John A. was four years old. Our subject remained with his father, who was married a second time, pursued his first studies in the common school, and subsequently attended Lebanon Normal School. When twenty-two years old he removed to his present farm. To this he has since given his undivided attention, and has been amply rewarded for his perseverance and industry.

When approaching his twenty-eighth year, Mr. Stewart was married February 21, 1883, at the bride’s home near Homer, Champaign County, Ill., to Miss Angeline Spencer. Mrs. Stewart was born March 14, 1861, near Vienna, Clark County, Ohio, and a daughter of Hamilton H. and Mary (Vickery) Spencer, the former a native of Vienna, Clark County, and the latter born near the city of Springfield. They removed to Homer Township, Champaign County, Ill., in the year 1865. The father died there on the 10th of February, 1872, when approaching the sixtieth year of his age, having been born June 8, 1812 or 1813. He was a prominent man in the community, having served as the Trustee of Harmony Township for the long period of twenty years, and was also land Assessor in 1860. As a farmer he was highly successful, being a man of great industry, good judgment, and an excellent financier.

The mother of Mrs. Stewart is still living, and a resident of Champaign County, Ill. The five children of the parental family were named respectively: Matthew J.; Norah a teacher; Freeman V., George H., and Angeline. Mr. Spencer was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of whose principles he was a warm admirer. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Stewart were Matthew and Abigail (Rice) Spencer, who were of English birth and ancestry, and among the earliest pioneers of Vienna.

To our subject and his good wife there have been born three children — Bruce S., Charles Chester, and Fannie Maude. Politically, Mr. Stewart gives his allegiance to the Republican party. He has served two years as Township Trustee, and for six years was a member of the Republican Central Committee. Without making any great stir in the world, he has pursued the even tenor of his way as an honest man and a good citizen, looking well to the comfort of his family, and proving a hospitable neighbor.