FIRST FAMILY HISTORY BOOK REVIEW

McHENRY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

McHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS GENEALOGY SOCIETY

FAMILY HISTORY BOOK REVIEW

by

Craig Pfannkuche

 

 

STEWART: HEATHER LOST

The Great Escape

The Story of a Family Displaced by War and Greed

A Transition from Feudalism to Land Ownership

by

Bruce Maddox Stewart

Private Publication, 2009;

Bruce M. Stewart

Winter: 17200 W. Bell Rd., #1232, Surprise, AZ 85374

Summer: 475 Juniper Ridge RV Resort, Show Low, Arizona 85901

$30 plus $5 Parcel Post or $13 priority mail

Digital copy, $12.00 Postage Paid, requires Adobe Reader

 

     Bruce Stewart has produced a very interesting family history which delineates the origins of his family as well as the movement his branch of that family from Scotland to Walworth County, Wisconsin and then Hebron Township, McHenry County, Illinois via Johnstown, Fulton County, New York.  The book is assembled in a well organized fashion and includes numerous informative relationship diagrams.  The many photographic reproductions in the book are superb in their clarity. (Moore Graphics Co., 13415 W. Westgate Drive, Surprise, Arizona 85374).

     What is of the greatest interest to McHenry County and Walworth County residents can be found after page 95.  Prior to that, Stewart amply discusses the journey as well as its causes, of this Scottish family from their homeland to Johnstown, New York.  His research is thorough and includes his personal impressions of the travails of his family based on personal visits to the sites he describes.

     Stewart’s description of his family’s coming to Hebron Township is clear and informative.  Especially informative is his description of land acquisitions and purchases in the township.  The maps and graphics describing that activity are very well done. The history of his family in Hebron Township, which includes himself, gives interesting insights into how people lived in the county in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The material is an interesting mixture of genealogy and family history.  As should be done, Mr. Stewart cleverly mixes both the genealogical and historical aspects of his family.  A discussion of why and how his family installed drain tiles across their land after the 1890’s is of particular interest to county historians.

     The “Appendices” found in the book contain copies of numerous land patents in Hebron Township from the 1840s as well as other land ownership related documents.  They provide useful insight into area settlement at that time.  Also found there are notes and citations which clearly show the vast amount of valid research which Mr. Stewart did in preparing to publish this work.

     All in all, this book is a very useful micro analysis addition to those written about the history of McHenry County.  It is certainly a valuable addition to any McHenry County family history collection.

This is a good review. I am happy with it. Craig is a participant in both Societies and is a specialist in the history of railroads of the midwest. He gave me the dates the railroads started operating in Richmond and Hebron in Northern Illinois.

Now that the book is done, I haven't figured out yet what the next project will be. I do know I have much work to catch up on in my photos and data base. I will keep every one posted with posts to this blog.

Thanks to everyone for their support in this, our family history.

WANT TO COMMENT PRIVATELY? SEND AN EMAIL: thebrucetyl@mac.com

STEWART: HEATHER LOST AFTERWARD

Our back yard in the White Mountains

WOW! WHAT A RECEPTION!

THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF EMAILS, ALL COMPLIMENTARY.

I HAVE SENT OUT THIRTY COPIES OF MY BOOK.

For those who wish to try the Pay Pal purchase method again, select the book and shipping method price, click on the Buy Now button. When you are sent to Pay Pal, send the amount you clicked on.

Stewart: Heather Lost with shipping

Media Mail $35.00 Priority Mail $43.00 Digital Book, CD $12.00

 My very first sale went to my friend, family member (we have adopted each other as well as sharing the name), and fellow genealogist, Mary Stewart Kiritsis. Her residence is the country of Greece. (Not the stuff in the frying pan, silly!)

I want to thank all of you for the nice things that have been said. Bragging a little bit, I will direct you to the third comment to the last post. Joan, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. An echo? You better believe it. Thank you, thank you . . . .

There were several multiple copy orders: "Send two copies, one for Dad too." and "Send three copies, one for each of my daughters and me." I don't know how much more my ego can stand. When I think of the REAL authors whose books sell in the thousands, millions . . . it's not to hard to remain humble. Though, just think, my nephew-in-law is about to publish his tenth (or is it his eleventh?) book . . . his hobby, he gets paid for it too! In case your wondering, it's Gene Fehler. His web site will have a link on this blog when I get through today check it out. Love his poems, although I do have a little trouble understanding the game he writes about. Uhhh-baseball, I think?

I didn't quite know what to do in the time since the book has been finished. There seemed to be so much time in the day. I tried playing Solitaire on my computer. That got boring really quick. Then I started a project of rescanning old photos on my new Canon Scanner. Wow, that is a huge project, maybe after my next book. What,---next book? I'll have to think on that for awhile, then again . . . hmmm. After all I do have two great grand mother's that had real life experiences that, well, lets say they were newsworthy.

You think I have "shot my wad," "done my once in a lifetime thing," OR "just have nothing left?" Think again, you aint seen nothin' yet. Just stay tuned to this blog or maybe I will start another blog, who knows right now.

We will be leaving Sunday for the mountains for the next four months. We will enjoy every moment. Come and visit, we do have room.

For those that cannot afford the price of the book, I have a Digital Book on a CD. You must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to read it.

See Buy Now button above.

For you computer geeks, I just had a weird happening. Never heard of anything like it before. My computer programs were freezing badly. Not just one program but almost everything I would run. Each time I went through my trouble shooting procedure for the Mac computer. (You PC guys wouldn't understand.) After having this repeated several times, phone calls to Mac Central were made. No one there seemed to be able to come up with a permanent solution.

Wednesday, I took my iMac to the Arrowhead Mall Apple Store Genius Bar. ","No problem they said, "I'll archive your hard drive, reinstall the Operating System and then all the problems will be taken care of." After three unsuccessful tries. "Hmmmm, guess I will have to erase your hard drive and re-install your back up. Bring your backup drive in tomorrow and I'll take care of it."

Thursday, took in 500 GB external hard drive backup. He said, "OK, just leave it, I'll do everything tonight and it will be ready tomorrow anytime."

Friday, anytime. he said, "I can't seem to determine exactly what the problem is. I'm going to have to consult with the other "Genius Bar" techs. We will find the problem though."

Saturday: "We got it. You have a defective RAM chip. We have gone around it, erased your drive, installed the OS and re-installed your backup." Me, "Did you remove the RAM chip." "No, if we do that this would constitute a repair and I would have to charge you. Besides, we do not sell RAM chips at Apple anymore. Just remove the defective chip yourself, send it back to where you purchased it. They should replace it." I did, they are replacing it.

So I will give  a cheer for the Apple Genius Bar folks. The "Geek Squad" would have charged $300.00 plus for that kind of service. I am so happy with my MAC. Defective RAM . . . . ?

Thanks again to all my family and friends . . . til next time.  Bye.

PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT

The Book

"Stewart: Heather Lost"

'The Great Escape'

By Bruce M. Stewart, is now Available

If you'd like a digital copy of the book my late father Bruce Maddox Stewart wrote, 

"STEWART: HEATHER LOST,” please contact me (Joan Stewart Smith) at jsmith@featureflash.com. The book is out of print, but I am still happy to share it digitally.  

It’s a painstakingly sourced in-depth family history about our Stewart line, Robert and Jane (née Wilson) Stewart from Foss, Perthshire, Scotland that first settled in Johnstown, New York in 1786.

Many descendants of their 12 children – Alexander, Catherine,  John Robert, James (my 3G grandfather), Charles, Christian, Jane, Robert Jr., Joseph, Daniel, William and David – have fanned out from upstate New York throughout the United States.  This book doesn't detail these subsequent lines, but it adds context to what came before.  No doubt you can add to the story.

Thanks to my father's book, I've been delighted to hear from a number of distant cousins and descendants of this group of siblings. 

– Joan Stewart Smith, eldest daughter of the late Bruce Maddox Stewart

...............THE END OF THE ROAD

(Double Click on Picture to enlarge)

Dull Parish Church, Perthshire, Scotland

Alexander Stewart married Christian Stewart here on

21 July 1743

I am nearing the end:

! ! ! IT'S TIME TO PUBLISH ! ! !

YES, FOLKS, the book files are (have gone) going to the printer this week. (Tuesday, April 21 @ 4:30PM) I do not have a date when the books will be available. They have said five days? I will give you all the details below of how to get your copy as soon as it is in from the printer.

Stewart: Heather Lost $30.00 per copy

Shipping - Parcel Post, Media Mail  $5.00 4 to 15 days

Shipping - Priority Mail $13.00 2 to 4 days

Includes insurance to $50.00 both ways of shipping.

If you want to order multiple copies, let me know before you place your order and I will calculate the shipping cost. 

Update Title: Stewart: Heather Lost

The latest cover design and title.

Click on graphic to enlarge to full screen.

The First Proof Copy of the "Book"

Click on graphic to enlarge to full screen.

I have been off line for the last month. I had cataract surgery on the 25th of February. All has not gone well since then. No whining . . . let it lay.

The first "proof" copy of the book was printed. It looked good, but needed editing. G. Stewart Mathison, (cousin) volunteered and has done the final edit. I have combined his copy with my last edited copy. I have finished and will take in the combined files to the printer for a final "proof" tomorrow, Monday, March 30.

Some stats: The "Book" will be 8 1/2" X 11" trimmed slightly in the binding process. The binding is called "Perfect Binding" and is commonly used in today's print shops. It weighs approximately 2 1/2 pounds. There are 343 pages with approximately 220 graphics, scans, etc. There are 29 pages of color graphics. The cover design has a yellow spine to make the book stand out on the shelf. My color is blue, therefore . . . .

Let me hear your thoughts, I like input. BTW, Mary Kay and I celebrated out 58th wedding anniversary on March 26, 2009.