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The Blue Book of Iowa Women A History of Contemporary Women

Compiled by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914.

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Mrs. William E. Stewart

Martha Evaline Pike Stewart was born Sept. 22, 1863, in Kirksville, Ia.  She is the daughter of James Brown Pike and Prudence Jane Ross, who settled in Wapello county in 1858.  Her grandfather was James Brown Pike, who was a brother of Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who was born in camp during the Revolutionary War;  he was the first American to enter Iowa, 1805, the other white settlers having been Frenchmen.  He was 24 years of age, when on Aug. 9, 1805, he started from St. Louis with 20 men in a boat 75 feet long, to explore the Mississippi.  On August 20th they passed the mouth of the Des Moines River and stopped at the Sac village, now Keokuk, to explain the friendly object of the expedition.  On September 4th he landed near McGregor and there met the Winnebago Indians in council.  On September 9th they reached the mouth of the upper Iowa River near the northern limits of Iowa.  In 1806 he returned to St. Louis and was sent on that memorable trip west when he discovered the peak bearing his name.  At the age of 34 he was a general, serving in the war of 1812, and was killed in the battle of York, Canada.  His wife was Clarissa Harlow, the daughter of Capt. John Brown.  Their daughter married Cleve Symmes Harrison, the son of Pres. William Henry Harrison.

Mrs. Stewart's great grandfather was Col. Zebulon Pike, who fought in the Revolutionary War under the direct command of General Washington who signed his commissions as Capt. and Major, Thomas Jefferson signing his commission as Colonel.  Mr. Stewart is a D. A. R., and was married to Wm. Ellis Stewart of Jefferson, which city is still her home.

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