The Earliest Known Beginnings

Stewart is a Scottish surname, derived from either the Old English stigweard (guardian of the house) or from the Gaelic stiùbhart meaning steward. It can be traced back to Walter fitz Alan, who became the High Steward of Scottland in 1155, and began the House of Stuart.

For this specific Stewart line, the earliest I can conclusively find dates to the early 1820s, when a John William Stewart was born around 1821 in the frontier state of Tennessee, possibly to a Thomas Stewart. He had at least one sibling, Anna, who he would remain close to.

Agriculture was the backbone of Tennessee's economy in 1850. The fertile soil and favorable climate allowed for the cultivation of cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and corn. As such, it's no surprise Joan made a living as a farmer in White County, Tennessee, when he met and married Sarah Stewart on 14 December 1845. They would have their one and only son, Rufus Thomas Stewart, in Sparta, Tennessee on 9 March 1848. Sadly, Sarah would pass two years later in March 1850 aftering fighting an unknown illness for 6 days.

John, his son, and his sister Anna (and her two children Mary Bersheba and Abraham) lived together for a time, though it wouldn't be long before John passed before 1860. Rufus would be taken in by his uncle John Byron and his family, and they relocated to Mine Creek in southwest Arkansas. Like Tennessee, Agriculture was the primary economic activity in Arkansas during this time. Cotton, corn, and tobacco were major cash crops, and plantations played a significant role in the state's economy, hence John farmed and Rufus grew up helping his uncle and cousins on the farm.

On 15 May 1881, Rufus married Saphronia Emma Arrendell in Mine Creek, quickly having several children: Martha Alice on 1 March, 1882; Marvin Ware on 1 November 1883; Lola Evelyn on 25 November 1887; Oscar Floyd on 6 February 1890; Rufus Leroy on 20 March 1892; and Joseph Earl on 7 August 1894.

As the Arkansas land filled in more and more, Rufus and his family moved southwest between 1894 and 1900, where they rented farmland in southern Red River County, Texas. Best I can find, based off census data and maps, they rented land in the southeast corner of the county, near the Sulphur River (marked here in red). Here the family began to spread and the children began to marry.

Martha Alice would marry Marion Franklin Jones on 2 December 1901 in Lydia, Texas, having 6 children; Lola Evelyn to James D. Butler on 13 October 1906, having 5 children. Oscar Floyd married Lena Pearl Taylor on 1 January 1911, having 6 children. Rufus Leroy married Winnie Lois Medford on 19 April 1913, having 1 child.

Crimes of Passion

Marvin Ware would wed in the middle of his siblings on 19 May 1907 just across the county line in Bowie County, Texas with Viola Ann Watson, the daughter of a farming family just to the north. The couple would settle into farming life around the rest of the family, though by all accounts the farming wasn't as good as it could be. Their first child, Loyce, was born 14 August 1909. Another daughter, Eileen Vivian, soon followed on 13 May 1911.

In early 1913, as the story goes:

Some travelers stopped by and asked to stay the night. During this time, such visitors were welcomed and treated to dinner with a place to sleep by the fire. After dinner, a game of poker started, with real money on the line. It's unknown on who did the cheating, but accusations broke out which then escalated as Marvin Ware drew his gun and shot, killing one of the travelers.

According to Loyce, Marvin Ware and one of his brothers came in, saying they needed the sheets she and Eileen were sleeping on, and to go back to sleep. Curious to see what was going on, the two sisters peeked out the window and watched as Marvin and his brother wrapped a man up in the sheets and set him in the wagon and began driving north towards the Red River. They thought nothing of it, assuming he was just sick. (It is important to note that this story has variations, as Eileen would later say this all happened in Holly Creek, Oklahoma, and that the killed traveler was dumped in a well, which was then buried over. If pressed, I'd say the crime being in Texas makes an amount of sense, and would explain why only Loyce and Eileen were involved in the story.)

Whether simply due to lackluster farming results or leaving the scene of the crime, Marvin packed up and the family moved north into the new state of Oklahoma. Most of the extended family followed; only Martha Alice would stay in Texas, remaining around Clarksvill, Texas for the rest of her life. As a group, the Stewarts settled in Holly Creek, Oklahoma, which had gotten it's first school only 3 years prior.

Here, Marvin Ware and Viola would have their final two children. Margaret Azilee was born on 13 July 1913, her grandmother Saphronia commenting that she looked "like another Choctaw," prompting her lifetime nickname "Choc." Jack Herman, their first son, was born on 7 April 1916.

Settling In

After relocating most of the Stewart family to McCurtain County, Oklahoma from Red River County, Texas, the family supplemented their farming with the creation of the Stewart & Sons Mercantile in Holly Creek, about 300 yards east of the junction of Holly Creek and what is now called the Old Broken Bow Highway. This store quickly became a core part of the growing community.

While predominately owned by Rufus, eldest son Marvin Ware would also take on the mantle of Post Master of the Holly Creek Post Office in late 1919. The prior Holly Creek Post Office, under Post Master William W. Morris, had been suspended by the Postal Agency for unknown reasons the previous year.

In 1922, Marvin Ware would expand his position, registering people to vote as a Precinct Registrar. In 1924, he would buy the Cash Grocery and Market in Broken Bow.

In March 1930, Marvin fell sick with pneumonia, growing sicker and sicker before dying a two weeks later on the morning of 2 April 1930 at 7:30. As said in The Broken Bow News, "his death has cast a gloom over the entire community." He was buried the following day in the Holly Creek Cemetery.

This left Jack as the metaphorical man of the house, and he took to work to help support the family, well-digging being one of the jobs he took on. Per Marvin:

Most people here in McCurtain County didn't have running water until the 50's. Most had well water. To build a well, you dip a circle, bigger than the well you want, about waist-high. Then you line the sides with rocks, then dig down more, making a sorta cone shape. 'Course in McCurtain County, you only have to dig down about 10 feet.

Now, Daddy was working with two other boys, 'cause that was how you did it. One guy dug, one guy pulled out the dirt, and the other guy rested so you didn't work yourselves to death.

One time, he was working on a well for this one guy and went out to relieve himself. Now the man had a blind donkey, I think his name was Ben. Now Ben had a bell around his neck, and when Daddy was coming back, he found one of the used bells and picked it up. Showing the other guy so he'd keep shushed, he jingled the bell as he walked over to well where the other guy was digging, jingling the bell. Got the other guy so scared that blind Ben was gonna fall into the well he was digging and he'd get in all that trouble.

Around 1937, Jack would meet his future wife Gladys Anne Wright (henceforth referred to Louise, as she preferred). According to her:

I had been in an orphanage in West Point and my cousin found out where I was at and she lived in [unclear, somewhere near Idabel, sounds like Jaktuli? Boktuli?]. And so she wrote and had him send me to her, and we lived up in this old house and these two guys come up, boys, and Jack was riding on his horse. Dowel(?) was the horse's name. Oh, he had on a big black hat. We was upstairs, me and my cousin's stepdaughter, looking out the window.

So he pulled his horse around and said "You girls wanna ride a horse?" and I said, "Yeah, I do."

He says, "I don't." [laughs]

I said, "I'll ride 'im" and he said, "I don't think you can."

And I said, "before you know it, I'm gonna get on her, one way or another."

He asked, "you girls bake?"

Well, none of us baked, and I said "no."

He said, "There's gonna be an event Saturday night over at some people's house. Why don't ya'll come?"

I said, "They'd [her cousin] whip us if we did."

"Well, wait 'til they go to sleep!"

And that's the way I met him. That's how it happened.

Later that year, Jack would dive from the Holly Creek bridge beside the cemetery as a bet with another boy, perhaps to impress Louise. The creek appears to be a few feet deep, but in reality is very shallow. As a result, he badly scrambled his nose and forehead and was cared by Louise. They would grow closer over the next couple of years before marrying before her 16th birthday on 5 July 1939 in Idabel, Oklahoma. Their first son, Marvin Earl Stewart Senior, would be born soon after on 29 February 1940.

draft 16 Oct 1940 second son in 1943

A Small Note

In late 1944, early 1945, he was drafted. He was sent to Fort Sill for training. During this time, a man from around Hayworth called "Red" due to his red hair, was selected as the leader for the group Papa Jack as in. This went to Red's head for a bit, and soon he was giving off order after order, and slapping on punishments (typically to peel potatoes). One particular time, Papa Jack did something (what it was isn't remembered), and Red told him to go dig the trench for the portable toilets used. Papa Jack refused, and this escalated until Red grabbed the shovel and slammed the flat of the blade into Papa Jack's head, rendering him unconscious. When Papa Jack came to, he was still sent to dig the trench. That night, when supper was called, Red came up to Papa Jack and said, "No hard feelings?" Papa Jack replied, "One day, when we're even, I'm getting even." After training was completed Papa Jack was sent to California. However, he never was deployed as WWII ended later that year. So, he stayed there for a time, gambling mostly. However, he was good at it, and won a lot of money from the other men. Enough so, he sent off for Nanny Lou and Papa and Charlie to come live in California for a time. So the three took a long bus ride from Idabel to California along Route 66. They stayed 3 months, living in a RV park, in a silver bullet-like trailer (one room trailer, all the amenities of the time, etc). However, this stay was ended with Papa (about age 9) and Charlie tore out the toilet in the communal bathroom, and they were kicked out. Thus, Nanny Lou, Papa and Charlie had to get another bus ticket to return ot Idabel. After the war, and Papa Jack returned home, he noticed a small post business in Garvin. After a while, he put Papa in charge of watching the vats at night, leaving him a little more free, particularly on Saturday nights, when was when he tended to go out drinking. Now, when he drank, he got mean, and fought often with his buddies (and others). This was compounded with him being a surprisingly light weight (most say it was due to his thick Choctaw heritage). So, Nanny Lou didn't tend to go with him on those nights, instead going dancing by herself (this usually ended badly when Papa Jack returned home). However, one night, Papa Jack said he wouldn't drink until they were getting home. so she agreed to go along. As promised, he didn't drink as they went dancing at the Wagon Wheel, a dance joint close to the Red River. It wasn't until they started home that he started drinking White Lightning, a heavy, pure alcohol. Halfway home, he said he wanted to stop at one of the bars and pick up a beer. Nanny Lou readily agreed to this, as a beer was certainly less alcoholic than White Lightning. So, they stopped and Papa Jack got his beer, but didn't appear to be leaving. When pressed by Nanny Lou, he said he wanted to drink it in the bar. One beer turned to two... Around this point, a man walked in, got a beer, and wandered over to the jukebox, put in a quarter and started playing some music. Papa Jack called over, "Turn off the music!" The man turned. "I don't think you remember me, Mr. Stewart, but I sell you those posts and get 'em debarked, but I like to come here, drink a beer and listen to music." Papa Jack marched over, saying he didn't care, and he wanted silence. When the man refused, Papa Jack started a fight. Unlike all the other times, Papa Jack lost, terribly. The man got him bloody and black and blue, and from that moment on, Papa Jack stopped fighting while drunk (at least with other people). Now, despite his own habits of drinking, he wasn't the most appreciative of his drivers drinking before their shifts. One particular time, a driver was late in picking up his posts, so Papa Jack and Nanny Lou went to go looking through the bars after they were given a tip. They found him easily enough on Skid Road (a series of bars in downtown Idabel, long since gone), and Papa Jack went over to drag him out, telling him "That's enough." The bartender, always ready to keep a costumer plied with alcohol, appeared with a frown, "Nobody tells my customers 'that's enough." Naturally, Papa Jack pushed this, and the finally the bartender reached under the bar and pulled out a pistol, aiming to shot Papa Jack. Seeing this, Nanny Lou quickly chopped down with her hand, just as the bartender pulled the trigger, her little finger catching the hammer. So, she managed to stop the gun from firing, breaking her finger in return. Jerking the gun away from the bartender, Papa Jack grabbed his driver, leaning in to the bar. "I'll be back." And he slammed his fist in the bartender's face, breaking his nose and slamming the man back into the bottles behind him, cutting up his scalp and neck. Once the driver was on his way, Papa Jack returned to the bar, only to find the batender had escaped from the county, never to be seen from again.