Thomas Stewart (born circa 1823 in Pennsylvania, flourished 1859-circa 1900) came to Kansas about 1859 with his wife Mary Jane Miller Stewart, purchased land, and began farming near Millwood in Leavenworth County. He worked for a time as a Douglas County official, probably as a tax assessor. His letters were addressed to "Thomas Stewart" and he went by that name.

Mary Jane Miller Stewart (born circa 1831, flourished 1859-circa 1900) was the daughter of John and Rachel Miller. According to census records, she was born in Ohio, but she grew up in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Her mother was born in 1806 and died May 11, 1885. Mary Jane moved to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1859 with her husband, and together they had five daughters: Amanda, Mary Jane, Olive Maude, Eliza May, and Nora Domer. Mary Jane received letters and went by the names "Mrs. Mary Jane Stewart," "Mrs. Thomas Stewart," "Ma," and "Mother." She died about 1900.

Amanda M. Stewart was probably the eldest daughter of Thomas Stewart, born in 1850 or 1852 in Iowa according to census records. She never married, serving as a school teacher for a time and residing in Millwood, Kansas during much of her adult life. She appears to have received letters as early as 1853 and as late as 1906, though she may have passed away in 1905. Much of her correspondence was to or from relatives in Ohio during the 1860s through 1880s.

Mary Jane (1854-1931) was the second eldest of the Stewart daughters. She never married but taught school in Kansas for some years. Mary Jane died May 11, 1931, and is buried in Sutton Cemetery. Mary Jane Stewart was always "Miss Mary Jane Stewart," while her mother was always "Mrs. Mary Jane Stewart."

Olive Maude (circa 1872-1949), like her elder sisters, never married and pursued an active career in teaching. Born about 1872, in Millwood, Kansas, she received her A.B. from Baker University, Baldwin City, in 1894 and her M.A. degree in German from the University of Kansas in 1923; she studied at Berlin University in Germany in 1912. Olive taught ancient and modern languages and mathematics at a variety of schools in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas and also served as principal in Elsmore, Kansas and Ortig, Colorado. When she retired, sometime before 1940, she went to live with her sister, Nora, and the rest of the Lockwood family in Baldwin. She died there in April of 1949. She received and wrote letters under several variations of her name: "Olive Maude Stewart," "O. Maude Stewart," "Olive M. Stewart," "O.M. Stewart," "Olive Stewart," "Maude Stewart," "O.M.S., "Aunt Maude," and "A.O.M.S."

Eliza May (born circa 1860 in Kansas, flourished 1900-?), another daughter of Thomas and Mary Jane Stewart, married Orville Torrey around 1910. As nearly as can be determined, Torrey was a widower with four children when he married Eliza May. His children were Effie R. (who married Emmet Brown in 1905), Calir D. (who married Grace Anderson in 1907), Albert E. (who died at Great Lakes Naval Hospital in 1918), and Wayne. Eliza May generally went by the name "E. May," or "May," and she received letters addressed to "Eliza Stewart," "Eliza May Stewart," "Nay Stewart," "E. May Stewart," "Mrs. O.A. Torrey," "Mrs. May Torrey," "Mrs. E. Torrey," or "Mrs. E. May Torrey."

Nora Domer Stewart (1864-1942), second youngest daughter of Thomas and Mary Jane, married Anson Ovid Lockwood on June 14, 1888, and was the mother of the seven Lockwood children who are prominent in this collection. She was born March 31, 1864, in Millwood, Kansas, and died in October 1942, in Baldwin City, Kansas. Nora signed her letters as "Nora," "Nora D.S. Lockwood," or "Mamma." She received letters addressed to "Nora Stewart," "Nora D. Stewart," "Mrs. Nora D.S. Lockwoods," "Mrs. N.D.S. Lockwood," "more Lockwood," or "Mrs. A.O. Lockwood."

Anson Ovid Lockwood (1855-1933) was born in Denmark, Town, October 5, 1855. He grew up in Amity (now College Springs), Iowa, and in February 1876, moved to Riley County, Kansas, where he filed on a quarter section of land. He entered Baker University in Baldwin in September 1882. Leaving Baker before he completed his degree, he taught school for three years. He married Nora Dormer Stewart on June 14, 1888, and then returned to Baker University. He finally earned his A.B. degree in 1891. Entering the Southern Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he preached for three years in Richmond, Kansas, before he went back to Baker to work on a Master's degree. He received the A.M. in 1894. Mount Union College conferred an A.M. degree on him in 1901 and a Ph.D. in 1902. He held pastorates throughout Kansas, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, most of his work centered in Kansas. He retired around 1917 and remained with his family in Baldwin until his death on March 13, 1933. He commonly went by his middle name, "Ovid," while his letters were addressed to him as "A.O. Lockwood."

Myra Amanda (1889-?) and Mary Eleanor (1889-circa 1960) Lockwood were twins, born in Baldwin on August 17, 1889, to Nora and Anson Lockwood. Both attended Baker University from 1906 to 1911, receiving their A.B. degrees in June of 1911.

Myra stayed on at Baker for another year to get an A.M. in English in 1912. She taught mathematics and German at the Blytheville High School in Arkansas from 1912 to 1916. From 1916 to 1917 she taught math at Forest City, Iowa and later married Emmet Brown of El Dorado, Kansas, on August 24, 1921. She signed her letters "Myra," and received letters addressed to "Myra A. Lockwood," "Mrs. Emmet Brown," and "Myra Lockwood Brown."

Mary taught English, Latin, and math in the Barnard High School in Kansas upon graduation from Baker in 1911. Tn 1912 she went to Morgantown, West Virginia, where she variously taught math, Latin, and French in the Morgantown High School until 1918. While she was there she took graduate courses in English and French at the University of West Virginia in 1914 and 1915-16. In 1918-19, she taught French in the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) High School. Mary worked as a French instructor at Oklahoma A & M College in Stillwater from 1919 to 1923. She received an M.A. degree there in 1923, with a major in Modern Languages and a minor in Education. From 1923 until 1933, Mary was head of the French Department at the College of Emporia in Kansas. After a year of graduate work at the University of Kansas in 1933-34, she went to Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa, where she headed the Department of French and German until 1941. In 1941 she began several years of welfare and employment service work, leaving in 1947 for a position--whether as a teacher or as an administrator has not been discerned--at Oakland City College in Oakland City, Indiana, for the 1947-48 academic year. She was dismissed at the end of the school year. The Register of Deeds of Douglas County, Kansas, records that she sold some properties belonging to her in Baldwin in 1958 and 1961; whether the last transaction was done at her death was not determined. Her letters are all addressed and signed "Mary Lockwood" or "Mary E. Lockwood."

Allen Thomas Stewart Lockwood (1892-?), the oldest son of Anson and Nora Lockwood, was also a school teacher beginning around 1916. On January 17, 1919, he married Carrie Schelde, and they moved to Billings, Montana. They had two children: Phyllis, born in 1920, and Dean, born about 1922. Stewart apparently worked as a professional entomologist for the Montana State Agriculture Department in the late 1920s. He held similar positions in South Dakota and lastly in California, where he settled permanently after about 1935. Allen Thomas Stewart Lockwood commonly went by the name "Stewart" and generally received mail addressed to him as "Stewart Lockwood."

Nora May (1897-?) was the fourth child of the Lockwood family, born on December 4, 1897. Little is known about her except that she suffered from ill health most of her life and lived in her parents' home in Baldwin until World War II. She never married. She was known commonly by the name "Norma."

Ruth Anne Lockwood (1899-?) was born on January 1, 1899. She graduated from Baldwin High School with her brother, Gerald, in 1917. She married Francis G. Yeoman on August 20, 1924, and they settled on a farm near Rosalia, Kansas. Ruth Anne became executor of the family estate after the Lockwood parents and Olive Maude Stewart died. She sold the contents of the family home in Baldwin, including this collection of letters, to Joseph Teeters. She always used her full name, "Ruth Anne," and signed her letters either "Ruth Anne," or "R.A.Y." She received mail under the names "Ruth Anne Lockwood," Ruth Anne Lockwood Yeoman," and "Mrs. Francis G. Yeoman."

Gerald Ovid Lockwood (1910-?) was born on February 24, 1910. He graduated from high school in 1917. Where he went to college is not clear from the collection, but he was a Methodist minister by 1922. On March 17, 1922, he married Hattie May Allen. They had three children: Gerald Warren, Joanne, and Richard. Gerald Ovid's wife, Hattie, died sometime about 1945 and he remarried to a woman named Lola in the summer of 1949. He was known by his first name and always was addressed "Gerald Lockwood."

Roy MacNeill Lockwood (1902-?) was the last of the seven Lockwood children. He was born August 17, 1902. He suffered from ill health for most of his adult years. In the early 1920s he contracted undulant fever (now called brucellosis), which was compounded by chronic hypoglycemia. He did not get this treated until 1950, after a diagnosis became available. For almost 30 years he suffered recurrent fever, dizziness, and lacked even a modicum of physical stamina. He never married. Roy MacNeil was known generally as "Neil;" he usually received mail addressed to him as "Neil Lockwood," but sometimes as "MacNeil Lockwood," or "R. MacNeil Lockwood."

Thomas Stewart's sister, Marie Anne (unknown-1909), married James C. Webb of Leavenworth, Kansas. They had no children and James died sometime prior to 1909. After her husband's death, Marie moved to Baldwin, Kan. She died December 25, 1909, leaving her property to her nieces Olive Maude Stewart, Eliza May Stewart Torrey, Mary Jane Stewart, and Nora Dormer Stewart Lockwood, and to her nephews James R. and William E. Laughmiller. She usually signed her letters "Maria A.," and "M.A. Webb," or "Maria A. Webb."

Thomas Stewart's third sister, whose name was not discovered in the correspondence, married John A. Laughmiller. They had several children, all but two of whom--James R. and William E.--died before 1875. In 1875, the Laughmillers moved to Oregon permanently.

Mary Jane had at least three sisters that could be determined. One, Helen Miller, married Oscar Hardgrove and lived in Bangs, Ohio. They had one known daughter, Emma. Helen was known to the family as "Nellie," or "Aunt Nellie," as well as "Helen Hardgrove."

Another of Mary Jane's sisters was Lydia S. Miller, who married Jake King. They had four children: C.S., William (who received letters as early as 1879), Harrison (who received letters as early as 1883), and [Audits]. They lived in Leon, Kansas, where Jake was in the "general merchandise" business. Lydia went by the name "Lydia S. King," "L. S.K.," or "Aunt Lydia" in her letters.

The third sister of Mary Jane married a man named Butts, who for a time was a business associate of Jake King's in Leon before moving his family back to Ohio. Her name has not been established. They had three children: Ida (she later married and became Ida Lybarger), J.H., and Mary Francis Helen.Thomas Stewart's sister, Marie Anne (unknown-1909), married James C. Webb of Leavenworth, Kansas. They had no children and James died sometime prior to 1909. After her husband's death, Marie moved to Baldwin, Kan. She died December 25, 1909, leaving her property to her nieces Olive Maude Stewart, Eliza May Stewart Torrey, Mary Jane Stewart, and Nora Dormer Stewart Lockwood, and to her nephews James R. and William E. Laughmiller. She usually signed her letters "Maria A.," and "M.A. Webb," or "Maria A. Webb."

Thomas Stewart's third sister, whose name was not discovered in the correspondence, married John A. Laughmiller. They had several children, all but two of whom--James R. and William E.--died before 1875. In 1875, the Laughmillers moved to Oregon permanently.

Mary Jane had at least three sisters that could be determined. One, Helen Miller, married Oscar Hardgrove and lived in Bangs, Ohio. They had one known daughter, Emma. Helen was known to the family as "Nellie," or "Aunt Nellie," as well as "Helen Hardgrove."

Another of Mary Jane's sisters was Lydia S. Miller, who married Jake King. They had four children: C.S., William (who received letters as early as 1879), Harrison (who received letters as early as 1883), and [Audits]. They lived in Leon, Kansas, where Jake was in the "general merchandise" business. Lydia went by the name "Lydia S. King," "L. S.K.," or "Aunt Lydia" in her letters.

The third sister of Mary Jane married a man named Butts, who for a time was a business associate of Jake King's in Leon before moving his family back to Ohio. Her name has not been established. They had three children: Ida (she later married and became Ida Lybarger), J.H., and Mary Francis Helen.