Contributed by: Esther Stewart
Florence Jane Stewart was born in Williamsville, Porter Township, Cass County Michigan, April 30, 1878. Her parents were Charles Creacy Stewart and Pearlee Cousins. It intrigues me to know what was going on when my Ancestors were born or during their childhood. Below are “some” of the things going on in America when Aunt Florence was a little girl.
President Rutherford B. Hayes was president when she was born; Thomas Edison invented the light bulb when she was a year old; Chief Sitting Bull surrendered to the US when she was three, and Jesse James was killed when she was four. The following states were NOT states when Aunt Florence was born: North & South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Nevada, Arizona, and of course Alaska and Hawaii.
Florence Stewart married Alfred White of Allegan, Michigan, November 21, 1893, at the ripe old age of sixteen. Florence and her family lived in Cass County until 1899. They then moved to Darien, Walworth County, Wisconsin. Florence and Alfred were the parents of seven children: Joseph Kelsy, Savonia, Harry, Zetta, Valencia, Edna, and Clester. The first two were born in Michigan.
As a child I thought Aunt Florence looked like a Native American. Her hair was snow white, and when she let it down, it almost reached the floor, just like her mothers. Her skin was as glowing copper, and her black eyes sparkled like diamonds, and penetrated the very depth of my soul.
I spent the Summer of 1955 at Aunt Florence’s house. It was the year I turned twelve, and my first time being away from my parents. I remember a cherry tree in the front yard. I ate more cherries that year than I have from that time to the present. The two story house was large, painted white and sat on a slope. Each bedroom had a beautiful wash basin with a pitcher sitting in it.
Aunt Florence taught me how to play the game of croquet and how to crochet. I learned the art of crocheting using thread, not yarn as is so commonly used today. She insisted that I learn to read a crochet pattern book too. By the end of my visit, every surface in Aunt Florence’s house was lovingly covered with ruffled doilies stiffened with sugar starch by her proud niece.
I have never forgotten that Summer and never will. Aunt Florence’s house still stands and has become a Children’s Day Care Center.
Florence Stewart died May 1, 1973, in a nursing home in Niles, Michigan, at the age of ninety-five. Her funeral and burial were in Darien, Wisconsin, and a memorial service was held for her in Cassopolis, Michigan. Her husband, Alfred, died in Wisconsin in 1953. Aunt Florence was a member of the Wayman Chapel in Delavan, Wisconsin, and Rebecca chapter, OES of Beloit. I can see in my mind the beautiful Eastern Star ring she wore so proudly.