Allen Winfield Stewart

(1834 - 1873)

Allen Winfield Stewart was the first of seven children born to William H. and Sarah Stewart. He was born before June 12, 1834 in Scott county Virginia. When he was 21 he married Mariah Katharine Neff, the daughter of Carter Neff and Polly Eady Neff. Their marriage license gives the date as the 3rd of February 1854 ( Friday), and that there were both single, he being 21 and she 18. It also gives his birthplace as Scott county, Virginia and Mariah's as Botetourt county. Allen is listed as a farmer and the bond is signed by the Minister of the Baptist Church, Issac [?].

By the 1860 census for Scott county, Winfield is enumerated, at age 26, with his wife Mariah (23), a son James B. (5), a daughter Sarah L. (3) and a one year old Mary E. Winfield's occupation is listed as Teacher and Mariah as Spinster. They reside near the Stanleys and the Brickeys.

1862 and 1863 Personal Property Tax lists from Scott county show Allen W. still in residence. Other relatives include William H., James W., and Elisha enumerated nearby. For 1862 Allen had one cow ($15), 13 sheep ($13), and 6 hogs ($15). Personal property of $25 gave Allen a grand total of $68, taxed at a rate of 40 cents per hundred.

Noting that Allen and Mariah's next child, William Floyd, is born in Floyd County, KY. we must assume that the entire family packs up and heads for Kentucky during the Civil War in the spring or summer of 1864. We must remember that the Civil War is in full blaze, without Allen Winfield, even though his father and brother, William H. senior and junior, are serving in the Confederate Army, 51st Infantry, Virginia.

According to the 1867 Tax list, on the 30th of May 1867, Allen W. Stewart is living in Floyd county, Kentucky with his wife, three children, two horses and 200 bushels of corn. The following year he gains a horse, 15 hogs and has 450 bushels of corn. His younger brother William H. has also moved to Floyd county by this time.

In 1868 we find that Allen offers bond for his younger brother in Floyd County Marriage Book 4, page 124: "Stewart, William H., age 23 Occupation, Farmer. He and both parents born in Scott County Va. Nancy Turner, age 23. She and both parents born in Floyd Co.Ky. To be married at the house of Adam Turner on Sept., 24 1868. Bond date Sept., 23 1868. Surety: Allen W. Stewart." Another Stewart researcher has a web page page dedicated to William H. Stewart, Jr. offsite.

The 1869 Tax List for Floyd county stills lists Allen W. and William H.

The tax lists count children between the ages of 6 and 20 and white males over 21 so by the 1870 census Winfield and Mariah actually have added three more children - Virginia, age 7, William (5) and Henry E (2) although William and Henry are not counted on the 1870 Tax list. The census was taken on July 12, 1870. The Stewarts live in Precinct No. 5 near the Laynesville Post Office.

Before the 14th of July 1873 Allen Winfield Stewart passed away. In the Floyd County, KY Order Book 12, pg. 11 we find:

"July Term 1873 1st Day 14th July

On motion of Mariah Catherine Stewart It is ordered that administration of the goods and chattels and rights and credits of AW Stewart, Dec'd. be the same is hereby granted to her therefor she took this oath presented by law and together with William Green, her surety ___ and acknowledged the Bond conditioned as the law directs which is approved by the Court, thereinfor the Court grants Letters of Administration"

The 1874 Tax List, taken on the 28th of May, lists Katharine Stewart (no property or animals, but 4 children between 6 and 20). No specific record of Allen's death is yet available.

Mariah moves back to Scott county, Virginia and on Wednesday, March 19, 1879, at the age of 43, she marries the 62 year old David Baldwin. A year later, June 23, 1880, the De Kalb District, Scott county census enumerates David and Mariah with David's 18 year old daughter Martha and three step-sons; William, a farm laborer who attended school that year and could read and write, and Henry and John. The place of birth for Henry and John is Kentucky. No census exists for 1890 and no record of the death of David Baldwin has yet been located.

A widowed Maria "Bulden", the 74[?] year old mother of John Stewart, is enumerated with her son and his family on the 30th of April, 1910. They are living in the Wise county Coal Camp of Dorchester, just south of Norton, Virginia on Rt. 23. With Maria and her son are his wife Sarah, a daughter Alice, and sons; Henry, Winfield and Garland.

In late June of 1920, the 86 year old Mariah Stewart is enumerated with another son, William Floyd, at the Norton Coal Co. in East Norton, Wise County, Virginia. The following year, on Thursday, the 29th of September, 1921 Mariah K. Stewart-Baldwin dies at 5 am at the home of her son, John, in the town of Esserville, VA. Dr. R.P. Carr filled out her death certificate and Fred H. King, Undertaker, arranged for her funeral in Esserville.