Robert W. Stewart was born and raised in a castle. His Father was a surveyor and an attorney. They also had a family ranch just below Provo, Utah where they raised premium Arabian horses and had enough land to make it a true Ranch. He was the second to youngest of nine children and sickly, small, thin. . who had trouble eating. He was continually bribed by his favorite pie if he would down the hated mush. He swallowed the mush, waiting patiently for the promised pie. It NEVER materialized. This happened over and over. Sad to say this was a trait he caried over into his own adulthood. He would promise his own children this if they would do that. . and he did not deliver! But he was studious, ended up with two degrees. . would have been three but his medical degree was shortened when he fought with a professor and quit just before graduation. The discussion was over teeth. Dad said your teeth could kill you if not properly maintained. He was right! His other degrees were Aeronautical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. He had a very high I.Q. and was scary smart. Another accomplishment: Robert was the firts pilot to fly solo across the United States. He also won a medal in the Los Angeles Olympics (1932 or 1934?) for diving. He memorized long passages of Keats, Kipling, many other poets which helped keep him awake on long flights across the U.S. He started as a Mail Pilot. . the only land reckonings were railroads and memorable buildings in various cities/towns. He had many close calls in flying. One time he was caught in the mountains, found himself in a dead canyon. . a canyon with no exit. . he came close to the end, pointed his plane's nose upward, went as high as the plane would go until it flipped over and he could then fly out of the canyon towards the entrance! A very scary, but effective maneuver. He was meticulous about what he took into his body and exercising regularly.

Family Rembrances Cont.

My Mother was born and raised in a two room log cabin in Wyo. Ten children were part of this package. . actually thirteen, but three of them died. She vowed that she was never gong to be poor again in her life and from the time she was fifteen. . she was NOT poor! She gave music lessons, opened a music school, had well over a hundred students and with this money she helped put two sisters and one brother on Missions for the Mormon Church. She also paid her way to BYU where she continued to support herself by playing in a music dance band, "Potter, Poulsen and Pate."
She was called on a Mission to the eastern states and in the process took the Book Of Mormon, cut it into installments which were put in CBS radio and they ran for several years. Each installment ended in a cliff hanger which brought a lot of listeners to the program. She was asked to stay an extra year. She met a successful New York banker, became engaged and was speaking in Church when she met my Father who was a hot shot pilot with the military. The banker's engagement dissolved and she took after Robert W. Stewart until she caught him.

Family Remembrances

This seems to be a time for checking family genealogy, family stories. . we all have interesting family members and remember stories passed down. These are some of the stories we remember and will share with you.
My father's Mother was a proud, tall Jewish woman from New York who met her husband. . he was twenty years older. .whle he was on a business trip. He was a lawyer and a surveyer. She married him over the furious objections of her family. . he was NOT Jewish. . and her family promptly held a service for her and pronounced her dead to the rest of them. A few years later when she had two children, she wanted to go back to New York and introduce them to her family. They cabled back that they had no daughter and that was it. She carried that bitter memory to her death at ninety plus. So where did she live? In Utah. . Mormon territory! A Jewish woman in Utah! Whoah. She never had much to do with the Mormon faith and raised her children Jewish, which seemed to be all right with her husband.

One incident: She was looking out the window and saw her two year old sitting on the ground with his cereal bowl putting one scoop in his mouth and one scoop in the mouth of a creature also sitting across from him. She looked closer and saw that it was a curled up snake and seemed to be a very big snake. Horrified, she grabbed a gun from the shelf, raced out the door, aimed the gun at the snake. . and watched. Again, one scoop for the baby, one scoop for the snake and the snake was actually eating the much. She was a crack shot but. . . She continued to watch and crept closer. Finally the mush was all gone and bby waved the empty spoon. The snake uncurled and slithered away. In her gratitude for the snake's not harming her child, she did not kill it. But baby did not eat his breakfast out in the yard anymore.

Another incident about this incredible woman: All the women of the ranch were washing their hair outside. It was an all day process. The time period is in the late 1800's and water had to be heated and carried and all the women had hair either down to their waists or clear down to the ground when they stood. A small group of six or seven Indians rode up on horses whooping and hollaring scattering all the women back into the house EXCEPT for Mary Eliza. She held her ground and continued to wash her hair. The lead Indian jumped off his horse and demanded to know why she wasn't scared out of her wits. She looked at him and replied, "Scared of WHAT?" Whereupon he drops his loin cloth and says, "Of this!" . . Exhibiting his manhood. She lookied at it calmly and stated laughing. He did not know what to do. . kill her or. . then he started laughing and they were both nearly choking. He climbs back on his horse, she stands up shaking out her hair and he tells her that they have watched her riding bareback over the hills and fields. And, that they will always protect her from now on. And they did. She was an expert horsewoman, her husband had many horses. . in fact he introduced Arabians to the state of Utah where they continue to thrive.