The Final Years

      Annie’s death proved to be of the worst tragedies of Stewart’s life. He needed a cause to pull himself back together. Some of his family members provided him with a way. Stewart recovered, possibly when his grandchildren squabbled over Annie’s belongings.  When  Stewart became angry, he took action. Annie died intestate. Certain family members did not like the distribution of her resources, despite the fact everything belonged to her husband. Bill divided things evenly to his way of thinking. He did not appreciate the greediness of the family – especially after he supported them in their educations and travels for decades. Bill chose not to run for the Senate in 1904 because he lost financial backing from the banks and the railroads. He felt pushed out. Twenty-eight years would have to be enough.
      Much to the surprise of many, Stewart married again at age seventy-eight. The New York Times article about the wedding mistakenly listed his birth year as 1827. This was a common mistake, but he was born in 1825. His brother John was born in 1827. Stewart's bride, May Agnes Atchison Cone was forty-five, a widow for nine years. The two knew each other in Washington D.C. as May Agnes had been his secretary and hostess when Annie traveled.  The intimate wedding took place at the Piedmont Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on October 26, 1903. The newlyweds traveled back to Washington D. C. soon after the wedding.

            It is hard to imagine how Bill Stewart enticed his wife and young step-daughter to leave the elegant social life of the east and head west to a mining camp atmosphere, but he did. They went to Nevada in 1905. On April 14, 1906, Stewart took off on a mining expedition. He took J.C. Hagerman with him on the trip. A young lawyer named James Finch accompanied them on part of the trip until they reached Columbia. At that point Stewart traded his horses for mules. The pack animals carried their mining supplies and lots of water. They knew they would have a dry camp in the mountains of southern Nevada. They stopped in a place called the Bullfrog Mining District, the contemporary location of the Hoover Dam.

            Stewart and Hagerman lived in crude conditions for several months. They soon bought a mine called the Diamond Bullfrog. Meanwhile May Agnes and her daughter lived at a resort near Carson City in more comfortable conditions.

            Stewart built a house and office in nearby Rhyolite. These buildings did not resemble the usual Stewart domiciles, but had as many modern comforts as possible to accommodate his family. Once again Bill Stewart and his boundless energy kept him going. Despite having turned eighty in 1905, Stewart mined and practiced law, making money but not the fortune he desired. The law business thrived because of his reputation, and he opened a branch office in Goldfield. The Bullfrog mining did not succeed.

            Bill, May Agnes and Vera left Rhyolite and Nevada for good in1908. Opportunities for making fortunes evaporated in both mining and the law. At this point Bill suffered health issues, also. The family returned to Washington D.C. with thoughts of investigating business possibilities. On March 30, 1909 Stewart entered Georgetown Hospital. He had a prostate operation, seemed to be getting better, but took a turn for the worse. William Morris Stewart died on April 23, 1909 at 7:05AM. He was originally buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco. It was also the final resting place for Senators John P. Jones, William Sharon  and James Fair. However, the tombstones were eventually pushed into the San Francisco Bay. Developers wanted the valuable cemetery land for other purposes. The remains went elsewhere.

This  grave stone is all that marks the grave of Senator William Morris Stewart at at Holy Cross Catholic cemetery in Colma, California. The picture is from page 105 of the 1864-1964 Centennial of Statehood, Nevada Historical  Society Quarterly by Effie Mona Mack.