| Notes |
- From FindAGrave:
The following was provided to me by family descendant Edward Dunscombe:
The Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, Vermont contains a collection of material from the Stewart family. Included is a notebook written by Cynthia containing notes to herself from 1829-1845.
Cynthia seems to have been a girl of rare accomplishments for her day. Her letters, which show glimpses of an unusually affectionate family life, reveal her as being the mainstay to three generations of her family (Private letters of The Stewart family of Middlebury, Vermont. Selected and edited by John E. Stewart, 1968. Sheldon Museum, Middlebury, Vt.)
From her letters to her parents and brothers as well as theirs to her and each other, we get glimpses of an affectionate family life, and many references occur enabling us to place the relatives of the father and mother. It is a matter of regret that so few of these Stewart letters have been preserved. Cynthia had a school friend, Fannie Hine, who was a lifelong correspondent, and it is a curious feeling one has in reading this complete correspondence of a lifetime. Bright, facetious letters for the greater part were these epistles of Fannie Hine, whose home seems to have been at Fishkill Village, N.Y. The following is an extract written by her from Salem, N.Y., to her parents while they were living at Burlington, N.Y.:
"Salem, N.Y., 22d June, 1800
"Hound Parents... I went this day week to Uncle Robt's as Noble had a special business to Jos. Stewarts. I staid but half an hour there and returned to Archibalds to see my Grand Mother, who enjoys remarkable good health and whose tender affection for me & all the family merits a return of the warmest gratitude. She indeed is a most affectionate Old Woman and appears to live quite happily at Merrimans... Merriman is going to move to Ohio next fall... Uncle Samuel Stewart was there last Wednesday, and he really looks like hard times and like an old man. He came all the way from Bristol to purchase corn & had not found a bushel...
"Your Dutiful & Affectionate Daughter,
"Cynthia Stewart."
Cynthia never married. Her fiancee, a gentleman named Swift, was drowned before a date was set for their marriage ((Severance, B. Frank. Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, pg. 79-80).
(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35254312/cynthia-stewart)
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From Severence:
Cynthia 6, b. at Bennington, Vt., Dec. 25,
1772.
From her letters to her parents and brothers as well as theirs to her and each other, we get glimpses of an affectionate family life, and many references occur enabling us to place the relatives of the father and mother. It is a matter of regret that so few of these Stewart letters have been preserved. Cynthia had a school friend, Fannie Hine, who was a lifelong correspondent, and it is a curious feeling one has in reading this complete correspondence of a lifetime. Bright, facetious letters for the greater part were these epistles of Fannie Hine, whose home seems to have been at Fishkill Village, N. Y. Cynthia seems to have been a lady of rare accomplishments for those days. The following is an extract from a letter written by her from Salem, N. Y., to her parents while they were living at Burlington, N. Y. :
" Salem, N. Y., 226. June, 1800. " Hound Parents. ... I went this day week to Uncle Rob*'8 as Noble had a special business to Jos. Stewarts. I staid but half an hour there and returned to Archibalds to see my Grand Mother, who enjoys remarkable good health and whose tender affection for me & all the family merits a return of the warmest gratitude. She
indeed is a most affectionate Old Woman and appears to live quite happy at Merimans. . . . Meriman is going to move to the Ohio next fall. . . . Uncle Samuel Stewart was here last Wednesday, and he really looks like hard times and like an old man. He came all the way from Bristol to purchase corn & had not found a bushel. . . . " Your Dutiful & Affectionate Daughter,
" Cynthia Stewart."
Cynthia never married. She was engaged to a gentleman named Swift, who was drowned before the day set for the marriage. She d. at Middlebury, Vt., March 17, 1857.
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1772 - 1857 (84 years)
