Stewart Family fonds

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Title proper

Stewart Family fonds

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  • Textual record

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Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

2016.002

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

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Date(s)

  • ca.1867 - 1934 (Creation)
    Creator
    Stewart Family

Physical description area

Physical description

30 cm of textual materials

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Name of creator

(1836-1950)

Biographical history

The Stewart family owned and operated Eleven Mile House (or 11 Mile House), an historic inn and coach stop near the forks of the St. Mary's River at Melrose, Guysborough County located eleven miles from Sherbrooke on the Antigonish to Sherbrooke road. Eleven Mile House was an important social and economic center for Melrose and surrounding areas, offering lodgings, meals, coaching services, and mail delivery. James Stewart (born around 1836, died 1887 and buried in Riverside Cemetery, Sherbrooke) married Margaret Bollong, the widow of Isaac Cumminger, in 1863 and together they had four children. Their third son, Harry Edwin Stewart (born November 11, 1869) went on to operate Eleven Mile House. He also farmed and lumbered, operated a store from the house, and was involved in provincial elections as a reviser of voting lists. He married Sarah Tate on October 18, 1892 and together they had three children. He died September 10, 1950 in Berwick, Nova Scotia, where his son, William C. Stewart, resided. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Aspen, Guysborough Co.

Custodial history

The fonds was created by the Stewart Family, predominantly Harry E. Stewart, and donated to the St. Mary's Genealogy Research Centre at Sherbrooke Village in 2016 by Gordon Steedman for Edith MacInnis. Edith MacInnis was the owner of Eleven Mile House (or 11 Mile House) between 1965 and 2017, and the records were found by her at Eleven Mile House.

Scope and content

Fonds is arranged in the following series: 1) Accounts Ledgers, 2) Voters and Voting, 3) Miscellaneous. Fonds consist of records relating to the business and farming activities of the Stewart family, predominantly Harry E. Stewart, owners and operators of Eleven Mile House located near the forks of the St. Mary's River in Melrose, Guysborough County. Eleven Mile House was an historic inn and coach stop from which the Stewart family also ran a store and offered postal services. The family also farmed. The house was called Eleven Mile House because it was located eleven miles from Sherbrooke on the Antigonish to Sherbrooke road. Fonds consist of the Stewart Family's business account ledgers that list the names of numerous Melrose and area residents and companies and goods and services purchased, payments made by either cash or in-kind labour, lodging and meals (ca. 1867-1934). Ledgers also describe work done by local community members for Harry E. Stewart at the house or on the farm or in the woods, as well as the family's seasonal farming activities. Fonds include voters lists and voting information for the provincial polling districts of Glenelg (no. 10) and Caledonia (no. 13) relating to Harry E. Stewart's role as reviser of voting lists, as well as Nova Scotia Franchise Act booklets and the Handbook for Liberal-Conservative Committeemen on Naturalization Assessment and Revision of the Voters' Lists (1907-1916). Fonds also include miscellaneous records relating to the Stewart family and Eleven Mile House including a telephone directory (1922), book of mails sent from Melrose post office (October 1872 to June 1876), and a school drawing belonging to Katie Stewart, daughter of Harry E. Stewart.

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      General note

      Digital object: Page from a ledger kept by Harry E. Stewart, Eleven Mile House, Melrose, Guysborough Co., N.S., May 1925. Acc. # 2016.002. Stewart family fonds, Ser.1, # 17.

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