William W. & Florence E. Cooper Stewart NE > OK
Seeking info on William W. Stewart & Florence E. Cooper Stewart of Douglas & Cass Co., NE > Stillwater, OK.
Descendants of William W. Stewart
Generation No. 1
1. WILLIAM W.1 STEWART was born July 1867 in Iowa, and died February 18, 1915 in Stillwater, Payne Co., Oklahoma. He married FLORENCE E. COOPER, daughter of HENRY COOPER and LOUISA VERNARD. She was born 1870 in IL, and died February 18, 1915 in Stillwater, Payne Co., Oklahoma.
Notes for WILLIAM W. STEWART:
From the Stillwater Gazette, Stillwater, Payne county, Oklahoma, Friday, February 19, 1915, front page.
"AWFUL TRAGEDY
W.W. Stewart Fatally Shoots Wife and Sends Bullet Through Own Brain
MUST HAVE BEEN UNBALANCED
No Cause Is Known for the Terrible Deed--Mrs. Stewart Dies of Wounds.
A little girl's doll and building blocks in a corner of the dining room, spattered with her mother's blood. Across the room, prone on his back against the sideboard, the father lying dead. The odor of human blood in the house. These were the mute evidences of a tragedy which took place at 811 Main Street. om Sto;;water. at 9 o'clock Thursday morning.
W.W. Stewart, a well known carpenter and builder, apparently without cause or preliminary quarrrel, shot his wife four times, and turning the revolver upon himself fired one bullet through his own brain, and fell dead.
No one say the tragedy. Fannie, the 16-year-old daughter of the household, was ill, and had not yet risen. She heard the shots, and ran from her bedroom to the diningroom, where she found her mother lying wounded in the corner and her father dead. She screamed for Mrs. Fred Eads, who lives next door south; Mrs. Eads hastened over and when she got there Fannie was bathing her mother's face. They carried the wounded woman to a bed, and doctors were summoned. Mr. McQuown was the first to arrive, and a little later Dr. Cleverdon arrived. First aid was given the patient, who was conscious, but complained greatly of pains in the abdomen, and within half a hour after the shooting she was taken to the hospital, where Dr. Whittenberg almost immediately performed an operation in the hope of saving her life, but she died at 12:30 o'clock. There were four wounds, one in the chin, the bullet ranging upward under the skin to the temple; one in the neck, and one through the left wrist. The most serious wound was where a bullet entered the abdomen on the left side. This bullet passed through the stomach and the gall bladder. Although there were four wounds, it is not certain that Stewart shot his wife four times; two of the wounds might have been caused by the same bullet.
Scenes at he ruined home were almost indescribably solemn after the wounded woman had been taken to the hospital. O.M. Eyler was one of the first neighbors to be summoned. Neighbor women hastened in and the children were cared for in their homes. The house soon was filled with a shocked, excited, awe-stricken crowd. There was no marked disorder in the appearance of the house; no evidence of a quarrel or a struggle, just he blood in the dining room and the silent figure of the suicide lying where he fell. The body was covered with a clean sheet, which soon showed bright red spots at the edges. Officers were promptly summoned, and preparations were to once made to hold an inquest at the house. Justice of the Peace Hanner took charge of this, and empannelled Dale Lytton, O.M. Eyler, G.H. Deery, O. Emmons, E.H. Wilson, and W.H. Aulder as the jury.
No cause can be assigned for the tragedy other than the insanity of Stewart. He was known as an insanely jealous man, and had twice been before the commissioners of insanity. It was rumored that he had told Mrs. Bart Hughes, only a few minutes before the tragedy that he was going to kill himself. W.G. Clingenpeel says it could hardly have been more than ten minutes before the shooting that Stewart was in his shop. He inquired for Ed Ryno, looked around and went out. Mr. Clingenpeel did not notice anything unusual aobut his appearance. None of the family knew of any immediate reason for the father's desperate deed.
There are six children in the Stewart family: Georgia, aged 25, who is employed as saleswoman in a store at Cusing; Leslie E., aged 23, a student at the college; Louis, aged 21, who is married and lives in Pawnee; Fannie,a ge 16; Gladys, aged 10, and Lucille, aged 6."
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From the Stillwater Gazette, Stillwater, Payne county, Oklahoma, Friday, February 26, 1915, front page.
"WAS A SORROWFUL SIGHT.
Double Funeral of W.W. Stewart and Wife, Last Saturday.
The double funeral of W.W. Stewart and his wife, Florence E., was held at the family home, 1108 Main Street, Saturday morning. In spite of the extremely inclement weather the house and yard were filled with sorrowing friends and neighbors. The service was in charge of the Modern Woodmen of America and Royal Neighbors. Rev. Virtes Williams, pastor of the Christian Church delivered the sermon.
It was a sorrowful sight, indeed, to see the two hearses, the black one bearing the body of the father and the gray one the body of the mother, followed by the crushed and heart-braoken children and their relatives, wending their way through a pouring rain to Fair Lawn cemetery, where the bodies were laid to rest.
Mrs. Stewart's father and mother arrived from Winfield, Kansas, Friday at attend the funeral.
Deatils of the Tragedy
Stewart had emptied his revolver, firing three shots at his wife and two at himself. All these shots took effect. Mrs. Stewart had five wounds on her body, instead of four as stated last week, the wounds in her wrist and arm evidently having been made in trying to protect herself. The bullets which passed through the wrist and arm had later found logment in the face and neck. It was the wound in the abdomen which was fatal to her. The others were comparatively superficial.
After his wife had fallen, Stewart had turned the weapon on himself. From the first shot, the bullet entered the left breast about two inches above the nipple, but had not penetrated the walls of the chest; it evidently was deflected by a rib, and was found in the region of the left shoulder blade. It is believed Stewart fell after this shot, and that he then while in a reclining position on the floor, used his last bullet to shoot himself in the back of the head at the base of the brain. This bullet crushed the skull, passed diagonally through the head, and produced a protuherance in the region of the right temple. Death must have been instantaneous when this shot was fired. The hair was singed at the back of the head where the bullet entered.
Coroner's Inquest
The coroner's jury empannelled by Justice of the Peace Hanner, Thursday examined all the abailable witnesses, but elicited no facts other than those already stated. Members of the family said they knew of no domestic difficulty which should have led to the crime, and Fannie, the only member of the family who was in the house at the time of the tragedy, said she heard no sound of a quarrel. Mrs. Stewart had stated to Dr. McQuown that her husband had fired at her three times. The jury adjourned and held another inquest on the body of Mrs. Stewart Friday morning. Dr. McQuown, the coroner, who was out of the city on professional business when the inquest was held Thursday, did not think this was necessary but was urged by others because both Mr. and Mrs. Stewart carried fraternal insurance.
The verdict of the coroner's jury was that Mrs. W.W. Stewart, came to her death at the hands of her husband, and that he came to his death at his own hands."
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More About WILLIAM W. STEWART:
Burial: February 19, 1915, Fairlawn Cemetery, Payne Co., Oklahoma
Notes for FLORENCE E. COOPER:
1880 Nebraska Census:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Henry COOPER Self M Male W 40 IN Carpenter VA NC
Louisa COOPER Wife M Female W 38 IN Keeping House OH IN
Libbie COOPER Dau S Female W 17 IA Working Out IN IN
Florence COOPER Dau S Female W 11 KS At Home IN IN
Pheopolous (Theophilus?) COOPER Son S Male W 8 KS IN IN
Charles COOPER Son S Male W 5 NE IN IN
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Source Information:
Census Place Plattsmouth, Cass, Nebraska
Family History Library Film 1254744
NA Film Number T9-0744
Page Number 170C
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CENSUS
1870 McCormick Township Johnson county, Kansas P.O.
Ocheltree
NAME AGE OCCUPATION BIRTHPLACE OTHER
Henry Cooper 30 R.R. Laboror IN
Louisa 28 wife IN
Elizabeth 9 daughter IA
Florence 1 daughter KS
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1870 Oxford Twp., Johnson Co., KS
15 227 229 Cooper Ezekiel 32 M W Farmer 1,700 600 Indiania . . . . . . . . X . .
16 227 229 Cooper Elizabeth 35 F W Keeping House . . Illinois . . . . . . . . . . .
17 227 229 Cooper Jeanette 6 F W . . . Iowa . . . . . . . . . . .
18 227 229 Cooper John 4 M W . . . Kansas . . . . . . . . . . .
19 227 229 Cooper Charlotte 3 F W . . . Kansas . . . . . . . . . . .
20 227 229 Cooper Louiza 1/12 F W . . . Kansas . . May . . . . . . . .
21 228 230 Cooper Theopolis 60 M W Farmer 1,400 300 Virginia . . . . . . . . X . .
22 228 230 Cooper Elizabeth 35 F W Keeping House . . North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . .
23 228 230 Cooper Charlotte 15 F W . . . Iowa . . . . X . . . . . .
24 228 230 Cooper Lincoln 10 M W . . . Iowa . . . . X . . . . . .
25 228 230 Cooper Michael 19 M W . . . Iowa . . . . . . . . . . .
More About FLORENCE E. COOPER:
Burial: February 19, 1915, Fairlawn Cemetery, Payne Co., Oklahoma.
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Children of WILLIAM STEWART and FLORENCE COOPER are:
2.i.GLADYS JOAN STEWART, b. March 30, 1903, Stillwater, Payne Co., Oklahoma; d. December 03, 1973, Bakersfield, Kern Co., CA.
3.ii.LUCILLE STEWART, b. 1909.
iii.GEORGIA STEWART, b. 1890.
iv.LESLIE STEWART.
4.v.LEWIS STEWART, b. 1895, Nebraska; d. 1976.
vi.FANNIE STEWART, b. 1899; d. August 16, 1916, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
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1900 Stillwater, Payne Co., OK Census
Stewart, William
Stewart, Florence
Stewart, Georgia
Stewart, Leslie
Stewart, Lyman L (Lewis)
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I believe William W. Stewart's parents are William Stewart, b. OH, m. to Linda? (maybe 2nd wife).In 1880, lived in Omaha City, Douglas Co., NE, wife Florence E. Cooper lived in Plattsmouth, Cass Co., NE, then moved to Stillwater, OK by 1900. William W.'s siblings: Atta/Etta and George W.? When did they move from Douglas Co., Nebraska to Oklahoma? William W. supposidly worked on buildings for OSU, but haven't been able to prove that via the school's librarian. Where did all the kids go when their parents were killed?
Thank You,
Nancy Russell
[email protected]
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Re: William W. & Florence E. Cooper Stewart NE > OK
Nancy Russell 9/02/05