William Stewart, 1854 to before 1910, Ireland, Illinois

I've spent another fruitless night searching for information on William Stewart and his family members. Here's what I know.

William Stewart (s/o unknown Stewart and Ann unknown)
b. Aug 1854 Ireland...came to U.S.A. at age 6
d. Before 1910 possibly in Illinois but who knows?
m. Where? When?
Ella Jane McKinley (d/o Robert W. McKinley and Sarah McKee)
b. 12 Apr 1863 Randolph County, IL
d. 10 Jan 1910 Iola, Allen County, KS

William and Ella had the following children:

Child 1:
Ruana Stewart
b. 8 Apr 1882 IL
d. 6 Mar 1915 Vega, Oladham County, TX
m. 5 Sep 1900 Prosperity UP Church, Sadowa, Randolph County, IL
Herbert Glenn Green (s/o Benjamin Parker Green and Sarah Gette or Getting)
b. 27 Feb 1876 Saint Clair County, IL
d. 23 Feb 1949 Vega, Oldham County, TX

Child 2:
William Melvin Stewart
b. 30 May 1884 Pickneyville, Perry County, IL
d. 17 Apr 1979 Hereford, Deaf Smith County, TX
m 22 Aug 1912 where?
Margaret Carrie Taylor
b. 1 Jan 1891 Gainesville, Cooke County, TX
d. 25 Sep 1977 Deaf Smith County, TX

Child 3:
Robert Blanchard Stewart
b. 14 Jul 1886 Swanwick, Perry County, IL
d. 18 Oct 1967 Freeburg, Saint Clair County, IL
m. 5 Jun 1912 Belleville, Saint Clair County, IL
Ella Winterbauer (d/o Charles A. Winterbauer and Rosa C. unknown)
b. Mar 1894 Illinois
d. 14 May 1979 Red Bud, Randolph County, Illinois

Child 4:
Wesley James Stewart
b. 18 Aug 1887 Swanwick, Perry County, Illinois
d. before Oct 1967 perhaps in Texas...Can you help?
m. Where? When?
Lela G. Eshelman (d/o William Eshelman and Olive E. Blanche French)
b. Feb 1891 Indiana
d. Where? When?

Child 5:
Ella Ethel Stewart
b. Jul 1893 Illinois
d. Where? When?
m. 5 Jan 1915 Wichita Falls, Wichita County, TX
George Hal Shirey (s/o George H. Shirey and Mary Gates)
b. 28 Oct 1888 Loogootee, Martin County, IN
d. Where? When?

The first time I can pick up William Stewart is on the 1880 census. He's living with his brother Samuel and his mother Ann in Grand Cote, Perry County, IL.

William marries in 1881 and the children are all born between 1882 and 1893...during the dead zone created by the burned 1890 census.

The next time I'm able to find something on William is the 1900 census. The family is living in Marissa, Saint Clair County, IL.

I'm speculating that William dies between 1900 and 1910 because Ella dies on 10 Jan 1910 in Iola, Allen County, KS. She appears to be living with her son Wesley and his wife Lela. Wesley and Lela appear on the 1910 census in Iola and no other family member lives in the area. According to an index Ella is buried in Tilden, IL.

To date, I haven't found an obituary for William or Ella Stewart...and it's not for lack of trying. Notice that many of the children are in Texas. William and Ella's son, William Melvin Stewart leads the move south to Texas, moving to Deaf Smith County, TX in 1908. His sister Ruana and her family are in Deaf Smith County by the 1910 census. Youngest sister Ella Ethel Stewart is also in Texas by 1910. Wesley is in Iola, KS; however, the 1920 census placed Wesley in Cement City, Dallas County, TX. Only Robert Blanchard Stewart stays in the Illinois area. Robert works in his Uncle Lemuel's business, L. R. McKinley and Sons Chevrolet Company.

The scattering of the children at such an early age speaks to William Stewart's early death. I can't tell if he dies in Illinois, Texas, or Kansas...my best guess is Saint Clair County, Illinois. I've looked in all three places with no luck. Unless someone reading this posting has more information, I'm assuming finding a death date and location for William will have to hold until I am able to get to the Randolph County Genealogical Society library in Steeleville, Illinois. Even then I'm not assured of success. When William's wife Ella Jane dies in 1910, it's her father Robert McKinley who pays her passage home and pays for her burial...somewhere in Tilden, IL. Alas, under the circumstance, William might be anywhere. If you have more information, I'd love to hear from 'ya.

Sorry to have disappeared...

I've been steeped in work for the Florida State Genealogical Society. Their annual conference is this weekend in Maitland. I've been working on the conference syllabus and banquet program. I'll be sure to tell you how the documents turned out.

Also, my presentation partner, Pattie, and I are doing two presentations and we've been working on them too. I'm sitting here tonight cutting 100 CDs with handouts, presentations, etc. for attendees. Hopefully, we'll have someone to give the CDs to! We're doing presentations on using Paint to create graphics from webpages (kinda backdoor PDFing) and conducting a family survey (sort of a cold mailing to people you don't know but think you're related to).

Another item of note...I received an email today with a PDF of an article of mine that's going to be in Internet Genealogy. Exciting stuff! The article is on how to use Joliprint to create PDFs from webpages.

Pattie and I have also decided to go to RootsTech...so I'll diappear in February for a week too. RootsTech should be lots of fun...probably somewhat of a mystery at times.

Anyway, things should be back to normal next week and I'll start posting regular research postings again.