Dear Mary Foster,
It sounds like you are seeking information on what appears to be my great-great-grandparents. I base this on the fact that I know for a fact that John Austin Stuart, my great-grandfather, was married to my great-grandmother, Frances Arminda Stuart, nee Ross, in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1881. I have a copy of their marriage certificate (in which the clerk apparently incorrectly spelled the surname "Stewart"). Also, I was reared by Naomi Floetta Humphreys, nee Stuart, daughter of John Austin Stuart, and I knew Papa (as we called him) until he died, when I was four years old in 1953. His father was Jasper Newton Stuart, born in Ducktown, Tennessee ca. 1836. HIs mother was Mary Mashburn, probably born around 1840. Sometimes her name appears as "Washburn" or "Moshburn" due to errors in transcription of the original records. In addition to the verbal, personal information I received about them from Papa and my grandmother, there was also information from his older sister, Josephine ("Aunt Josie") who outlived him and from her two daughters, Bessie and Deletta Price. Furthermore, Jasper Newton's widow received a pension from his service in the Union Army, which is in the military records listed on Ancestry.com. I have not been able to authenticate it, but there is strong evidence that Jasper Newton's parents were Donnalso and Lucia Stuart, who owned a small farm in Ripley County in the Missouri territory ca. 1850. Jasper Newton is listed in their household in the 1850 census as being 14 and having been born in Tennnessee. I intend to research this further but have not had the time lately. Incidentally, John Austin had at least 3 siblings, all of whom are listed in, I believe, the 1870 census, in the household of Mary Marshburn Stuart's father near Bentonville. I have verified their names and ages with other family records; moreover, Mary was receiving the army pension there at the time. Jasper Newton disappears from the army records in 1863, not long after he enlisted. He may been killed in action, or may have been a deserter, but that would call into question the pension, perhaps. This information corresponds to the timing Papa indicated of his father's death, when Papa was about two. The story I heard was different from that of the official record, which is itself somewhat vague. But the timing, names, ages, military history pretty much all indicate that this is the Jasper Newton Stuart who sired John Austin, and I believe the true circumstances of his death were somewhat sanitized for the sake of the children. There are other interesting discoveries that will leave until another time. Also, the Ross family history is equally interesting, including that Frances Arminda's father was previously married and there is a picture of her half-brother, Moses, in a book about the regiment in which he served in the Union Army.