In 2020, the Civil War letters of Pvt. Silas Bailey, 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, were brought to the Archives to prepare them for donation by the owner to a military archive.  In addition to flattening and foldering the items for protection, we made a digital copy of the letters for the owner.  The letters include those received by Silas Bailey before his military service, those sent home by him during his service, and a few received by his mother after his death.

Silas Bailey was born November 3, 1844, in Johnson County, Iowa to Asa and Sophia (Kepler) Bailey.  He enlisted September 28, 1862 in Company D of the 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, USA.  His regiment was involved in skirmishes in Mississippi at Madison, Ft. Pemberton, Greenwood, Port Gibson, Bayou Pierre and Fourteen Mile Creek.  He was killed at the battle of Champion's Hill on May 18, 1863, age 18, and was interred in a mass burial mound there.

​The Archives holds personal documents and photographs from the estate of Orlean Brandon Walter (1886-1980) of Dover.  Included are several photographs of her stepfather, Gen. William M. Brandon (1866-1908), who was Adjutant General of the Tennessee National Guard during the 1899-1903 governorship of Benton McMillin.

Orlean Brandon Walter was the daughter of Morris Newton Brandon (1863-1896) of Dover and Corinne (King) Brandon of Meridian, MS. After the death of Morris Newton Brandon, Corinne married his cousin, William Milton Brandon (1866-1908) of Dover.

Orlean Brandon operated a bed-and-breakfast out of her home that she called the Fort Donelson Tourist Home.

A listing of the items in the collection is found on the Finding Aids page.

Dr. John Marastus Theodore Ralls was born December 16, 1847 in Stewart County.  He was the son of Jane Ralls (unmarried) and the grandson of James Ralls Jr. and Sarah (Whitehurst) Ralls.  John's biological father's last name was Cooley.  On the 1860 census, John is listed as "John Cooley," age 13, living with his mother and his Ralls grandparents.

Family lore states that when John grew up and married Sarah Frances Akin on October 30, 1863, he took his mother's maiden name of Ralls for his family name.

Shown here is a copy of the diploma that John M. T. Ralls received on graduation from Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine in 1881.  Also shown is the list of the graduating class for that year.

These copies were donated to the County Archives by the late Randy Wallace.
​
The original diploma is in the care of descendant Earl Ralls Lewis.

The Jarrett O. Lewis Family Collection contains dozens of photographs and a few family documents and ephemera of a Stewart County Lewis family.  Jarrett O. Lewis (1877-1954) was the son of George Rufus Lewis (1844/1920) and Martha Oneal (1844) of Stewart County.  

Jarrett Oneal Lewis and Ella Esterlee Walker married in Stewart County in 1904.  They had 6 children, 2 of whom survived to adulthood, Virginia (Lewis) Honeyman (1912-1958) and Jesse Lahiff Lewis (1920-1962).  Esterlee Walker had a brother who lived in Miami, Florida, and some of the photos are of that Walker family.
 
In 1957, Fannie (Hembree) Patterson, a widow with two young daughters, married Jesse Lahiff Lewis.  They had no children together.  After Jesse died, in 1966 Fannie married W. Cecil Richardson (1918-2000), son of Benjamin F. Richardson of Stewart Co.
 
In 2022, the collection was donated by Jane (Smith) Bagwell of Stewart County.  The collection was given to her by a ‘Lewis family member’ a number of years ago, consisting mostly of Lewis family photos – mostly unlabeled – and a few documents.  Some Patterson and Richardson photos appear in the collection as well.

The collection includes the family Bible of Jarrett and Esterlee Lewis, the funeral register of Jarrett O. Lewis, and the Naval training manual of their son Jesse L. Lewis.
 
Individuals identified in the photos include:
 
Crawford, Frank - unknown, but sent from the Presidio, San Francisco, CA
Hembree, Fannie (1927-2017) – wife of Jesse L. Lewis, James W. Patterson & W. Cecil Richardson
Honeyman, Russell F. (1919) – husband of Virginia Lewis
Honeyman, Russell O. (1950) – son of Russell & Virginia (Lewis) Honeyman
Ledford, Tommie
Lewis, Jarrett C. (1920-1921) – infant son of Jarrett & Esterlee Lewis
Lewis, Jarrett O. (1877-1954) – husband of Ella Esterlee Walker
Lewis, Jesse Lahiff (1920-1962) – son of Jarrett & Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
Lewis, Virginia (1912-1958) – dau. of Jarrett & Esterlee (Walker) Lewis; wife of Russell F. Honeyman
Patterson, James W. (1925-1950) – husband of Fannie Hembree
Patterson, John Wesley (1892-1980) – father of James W. Patterson
Patterson, Annie (Darnell) (1896-1962) – mother of James W. Patterson
Walker, Flora (Sharp) – wife of M. Clinton Walker
Walker, M. Clinton – brother of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
Walker, Ella Esterlee (1878-1968) – wife of Jarrett O. Lewis
Walker, Nancy - niece of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
​Walker, Ruth - niece of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis

​A list of the items in the collection can be found on the Finding Aids page.

Immigrants who wished to obtain American citizenship could file a declaration in any court of record, stating their intention to become naturalized citizens.  Their petitions typically included their year and place of birth, date of immigration, and residency since immigration.

A declaration of intention had to be filed first, and after 2 years' time a final petition could be filed.

Thirty-two such petitions filed in Stewart Circuit Court have survived.  The petitions are part of the loose records of the Circuit Court, and are viewable online on our Google Drive.

The petitioners, countries of origin and petition dates are:

Atkins, William (Great Britain) - 1837
Baltz, Philip (France) - 1854
Bloch, Leopold (Hohenzollen, Prussia) - 1855
Bloch, Simon (Hohenzollen, Prussia) - 1855
Bodener, John Jacob (Nußdorf, Germany) - 1843
Buhler, Ulrich, John & Frederick (Switzerland) - 1871
Catois, Belrus Louie (France) - 1845
Devers, Anthony (Ireland) - 1872
Fach, Charles Christian (Hofheim, Nassau, Germany) - 1848
Forman, M. J. (Russia) - 1891
Gansner, George (Seewaas, Switzerland) - 1856
Graham, Samuel (Scotland) - 1841
Green, Henry - 1858
Hartoch, Eugene (Prussia) - 1873
Hartoch, Oscar (Prussia) - 1873
Hogg, James (Scotland) - 1840
Holliday, Alexander (Scotland) - 1841
Howell, Evan (South Wales, England) - 1856
Jones, Thomas (Breconshire, Wales) - 1856
Kane, Edward Dunlap (Londonderry, Ireland) - 1849
Klein, Victor (France) - 1854
Lyddy, Timothy (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1867
Lory, J. H. (Cornwall, England) - 1891
Mantha, Henry (Switzerland) - 1853
Martin, Thomas (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1847
McGovern, Thomas (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1894
McIntire, James (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1841
Osbourne, Francis H. (England) - 1896
Patterson, John (Scotland) - 1846
Price, Joshua (England) - 1852
Röder (Roeder), Albert (Memmingen, Kingdom of Bavaria) - 1849
Rougemont, Albert (Neuchatel, Switzerland) - 1857
Sanders, Isaiah & Samuel (Great Britain) - 1837
Thomas, Ellis (Syria) - 1906
Walder (Walter), Bernard (Austria) - 1843
Wetton, J. D. - 1909
Williams, David (Glamorganshire, Wales) - 1856

The Mary Ann Scurlock Collection contains documents, photographs and ephemera belonging to late Dover resident Mary Ann Scurlock.  The collection is arranged in 1 box, with some loaned items available as digital scans only.  The collection was donated to the Archives in 2020.

Mary Ann (Bruton) Scurlock (1927-2020) was the daughter of Harvey and Lora Seay (Brandon) Bruton.  She founded Mary Ann’s Flower Shop in Dover and was a member of the Ft. Donelson Memorial United Methodist Church.  She was the widow of James T. Scurlock.
 
The collection includes several 1930s issues of the Stewart County Times newspaper, various family and Dover photographs, souvenir scarves, the 1963 Dover Grade School yearbook, and an interesting compilation of Civil War research material.  A 48-star U. S. Flag is also in the collection (proudly hanging on the wall at the Archives).

Digital-only items include Bruton family research and photos, letters from William Henry Oliver, and funeral cards of Nancy Bufford Webb (1897-1915).

A list of the contents of this collection can be found on the Finding Aids page.

The Ella Lee Keatts Hilliard Collection contains 6 store ledgers from the Cumberland Valley Drug Company, a pharmacy / drug store at Indian Mound, Tennessee, and covers the years 1926 through 1948.  Also included is a circa-1953 Army regulation manual and a savings book from the First Trust and Savings Bank, Clarksville, TN.  The items were found in a shed behind Mrs. Hilliard's former home by the current owner, who donated them to the Archives.

The Cumberland Valley Drug Company began operations about 1921.  Its President was Dr. Cyrus Nathan Keatts, MD, and the Secretary/Treasurer was his brother, Clarence Kincaid Keatts.
 
Dr. Cyrus Nathan Keatts was born in 1876, a native of Montgomery County who moved to Stewart County at age 14.  He died in 1963, having been a physician at Indian Mound for 61 years.
 
Clarence Kincaid Keatts, a native of Montgomery County, was born July 5, 1874 and died February 10, 1942.  His obituary stated that he had been in the drug business in Indian Mound for 21 years.
 
The 1913-14 edition of the Era Druggists Directory lists Keatts & Co., Smith and Stewart, and H. B. Smith as retail druggists in Indian Mound, Tenn.
 
Ella Lee (Legate) Keatts Hilliard was born January 2, 1909 in Stewart County, the daughter of Morris and Minerva (Byrd) Legate. She was married about 1925 to Clarence Kincaid Keatts, and in 1948 to Freeman J. Hilliard, who died in 1956.  Mrs. Hilliard died May 16, 1990 at Memorial Hospital, Clarksville, TN.

The store ledgers contain accounts due from customers of the drug company, and are indexed.

From 1976-1900, the Tennessee Historical Commission sponsored surveys of historic (pre-1930) buildings across the State.  In Stewart County, the work was carried out in 1981 via a grant to the Mid-Cumberland Youth Conservation Community Improvement Project.  Workers traveled around the county inventorying the surviving historic man-made structures, using state-provided forms.  Photographs of the structures were made where possible.  The collection includes not only residences, but also out buildings, and a few historic structures that were no longer standing.

The original documents and photographs produced by the project are housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Record Group 189 (County Architectural Surveys, 1976-1990).  The Stewart County Archives has a copy of the Stewart County part of that collection, and they are useful for researching the history of historic homes in the county.

A list of the 827 structures that were inventoried was also created, and each structure was assigned a number.  You can view that list in this file:​

Samples of the completed survey forms are shown here.  Each structure typically has 2 survey forms and 2 photographs.