Daughter, Sister, and Student

Cartes-de-visites of Helen's parents John Stewart and Leonice Josephine Moulton Stewart, 1862 (HAMP 18022, 18023)

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Helen West Stewart was born on July 27, 1854 to Leonice Josephine Moulton Stewart and Baltimore attorney John Stewart at Upton Park, the Stewart family’s country residence which still survives in West Baltimore. She was raised in Baltimore, but she also spent much of her time in Roslyn, New York with her maternal grandparents, Joseph W. and Leonice J. S. Moulton. Helen’s intelligence, grit, and independent spirit reflects the Moultons. Joseph was Daniel Webster’s law partner, while Leonice traveled to South America as a young single woman and remained a world traveler throughout her long life.

 

Carte-de-visite of Helen at about age eight, 1862 (HAMP 18024)

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Helen’s parents, whose principal residence was on fashionable Mount Vernon Place at the corner of St. Paul Street, were active in the social and business life of Baltimore. As a young woman, Helen continued to look to her mother (who went by her middle name Josephine) for guidance and example:

“That pleasure was followed up by the happiness of seeing my dear Mother and sister upon my return to Hampton. I missed Mama very much for she is the only one who understands me and corrects me where I am wrong and warns me of dangers in my path.”

Helen and her mother sometimes vacationed together, and after John Stewart’s death in 1901, Josephine made long visits to Hampton during the summers.

 

Newspaper Clipping, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, August 23 1856

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Even at a young age, Helen’s seriousness of mind is reflected in early photographs. Her earliest surviving literary efforts date from c. 1863 when she was in a student at “The Misses Hall’s Day School for young Ladies” on Fayette Street in Baltimore.

 

Pencil Drawing by Helen West Stewart, 1869

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At about age 15, Helen was sent to Europe to “finish” her education abroad. Her drawings from this time indicate that her school was most likely in Switzerland. This accomplished pencil sketch of Lausanne, completed when Helen was just 15, shows her remarkable talent.

 

Cartes-de Visite of Helen's brother David Steward (left) and sister Leonice, C.1863 (HAMP 10825, 10826)
Cabinet card photograph of Helen with her siblings, Leonice and David Stewart, c. 1886 (HAMP 15732)

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Helen Ridgely with her siblings David Stewart (1857-1938) and Leonice “Nona” Stewart Shaw (1858-1920). Helen remained close to her younger brother and sister and their families throughout her life. Nona married William Checkley Shaw and later moved to Macon, Georgia around 1900, but the sisters corresponded regularly.

 

Print photograph of Helen and her brother David at Hampton, c. 1920 (HAMP 15789)

NPS

Helen’s brother, David Stewart, was a successful lawyer, real estate investor, and early automobile enthusiast. Regarded as a “colorful character” who lived much of his life abroad, in times of difficulty Helen provided a safe refuge for her brother, and he lived at Hampton in the late 1910s and early 1920s.