Have a family reunion coming up in Cass County or one that was previously held?
Let us know and we will post it here.
Stewart Family - Cassopolis Vigilant Thursday, August 16, 2001 Vol. 136, Num 33 Staff Writer: Thomas Moor
Stewart Family - Meeting for 100 years in Cassopolis "If your father was a Stewart - you were there," said Patty Jordan of Springfield, Ill, attending the 100th Stewart family reunion Saturday. A procession of wagons, horses and old cars made its way from the location of the first family reunion on the corner of Mt. Zion and Calvin Center roads to the home of Robert and Joan Curtis on Cassopolis Road, Cassopolis. Dorothy Stewart of Van Wert, Ohio, remembering attending the reunions when she was a little girl of four. Wearing an old fashioned bonnet and dress, she had a place of honor with other senior members in a horse drawn wagon which mirrored the one in which the Grand Marshall rode in 1901.
The family has celebrated the reunion on the second Saturday of August every year. People from all over the country travel to the remote place in Cass County, which so many of the family has called home over the years.
The family met at the Calvin Township Hall in the morning. A parade, which featured old cars and 1900 outfits, started off the day's festivities. The half-mile-long convoy then traveled the three miles to the Curtis home. The only other time the family had a parade during its reunion was at its very first one.
David Steele was riding along on his 1935 Farmall F20, pulling a cart full of family members. It hadn't been used in over 10 years, and Steele admits to fixing it up just last week for the reunion. "The next 100 years will be the hardest for it," said Steele, a 70 year-old Dowagiac resident. Steele's sister, Ruth Steele, 65, was talking about how special it was to have the tractor in the parade.
"It was our father's tractor," she said. "It's special for the both of us.
" Barbara Mitchell, the family's historian, was helping to run the show, while informing everyone who passed by about some of the historical markers. Some of the roads and lakes in that area are named after people in the family. On Saturday she was all choked up. "I want to cry," said Mitchell, 54, of Cassopolis. "We always have a large crowd. It's such an historical event. To miss it would be awful." Barbara explained to all those in the parade of Stewarts Saturday passing the intersection of Calvin Center and Mount Zion roads; "There use to be a store with a hall above, on the South West corner where the first Stewart reunion was held in 1901."
Seldom does anyone in the family ever miss the event. "The reunion covers a lot of states," said Renee Grady, secretary and treasurer of the family and a Dowagiac resident. "The more people I talk to say they don't have reunions. It's important to know your background and who your family is. After God, I think it's second on that list."
Carolyn Taher; 64, of Dowagiac rarely misses the reunion. "I haven't missed more than two reunions in my whole life," She said. "It's a very important part of the family heritage. There is a desire to be part of the tradition, from the East Coast to the West Coast." And in between.
There was plenty of food to be eaten at the Curtis house. After that, the family got together and talked about their history and what they have been up to the previous year, while the kids went and played games. At the end of the day, there was a hay ride.
The Stewart family was originally from Virginia. They then moved to Ohio. Little Berry Stewart was the first in the Stewart family to move to Michigan, settling in Calvin Township in 1856. He went from Ohio to Michigan on horseback.
Once the Stewarts got established in Cass County, they began meeting for the annual reunions. With some luck, there will be a 100 more.
Article submitted to website by Esther Stewart