Pricky Fall: Whose Desk is it?

Probate Record of Charles Edward Stewart, 1937, Cranston, RI
(as gathered for me by Diane Boumenot, 2018)

Pricky Fall: Whose Desk is it?

My maternal uncle, Evans Stewart, Jr. (1917-1951) inherited from his grandfather, cash, shares of stock in the family business and an antique desk that belonged to Charles E. Stewart's grandfather. In an instant, I knew that this must be the desk in the small photo that I wrote about previously. 

It was the "belonged to my GRANDFATHER", that made me sit up and take notice. Charles's grandfather was Edward Stewart (1774-1837) of North Stonington, CT. So, this desk was older than I thought. It must have been in the house on Stewart Hill when Edward's son Dudley W. Stewart took it to his home after his mother Rebecca Noyes Stewart died in 1842. Dudley was her youngest child. More on this in the next blog post.

Notice, that my mother, Dorothy was given more money than her brother and NO shares in the family business. Clearly a patriarchal situation. But, my mother was charged with inheriting and distributing 1/2 the contents of the house. She was a college student at this time.

My uncle was not yet 21 when he was supposed to inherit the desk and the shares. The plot thickens.