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Caswell County Genealogy
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 1906 - 1985 (79 years)
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| Name |
Stewart, Charles Willis |
| Birth |
19 Feb 1906 |
Virginia  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Name |
Yank |
| Reference Number |
20195 |
| Death |
1 Oct 1985 |
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina |
| Person ID |
I19810 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
23 Sep 2023 |
| Father |
Stewart, Charles William, b. 30 Jul 1869, Montgomery County, Virginia d. 17 Apr 1925, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina (Age 55 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Beckleheimer, Susan, b. 1873, Montgomery County, Virginia d. 21 Sep 1951 (Age 78 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
4 Dec 1892 |
West Virginia [1] |
| Reference Number |
229110 |
| Notes |
- Ancestry.com One World Tree indicates marriage in 24 December 1892 in Montgomery County, Virginia.
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| Family ID |
F8917 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Hewett, Tiney Elizabeth, b. 31 Jul 1908, North Carolina d. 8 Aug 1965, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina (Age 57 years) |
| Reference Number |
626924 |
| Children |
| + | 1. Stewart, Doretha Tiney, b. 10 Feb 1926, New Hanover County, North Carolina d. 28 Jun 1986, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina (Age 60 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 2. Stewart, Audrey Dessaline, b. 22 Oct 1927, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina d. 18 Mar 2002, Brunswick County, North Carolina (Age 74 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 3. Living |
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| Family ID |
F8916 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
23 Sep 2023 |
| Family 3 |
Davis, Marceline, b. 1 Jan 1950, Delco, Columbus County, North Carolina d. 26 Jun 1988, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina (Age 38 years) |
| Family ID |
F48530 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
23 Sep 2023 |
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| Notes |
- Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart (1906-1985)
(for larger image, click on photograph)
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Second Photograph: Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart is on the right. The identity of the man on the left is unknown.
Fourth Photograph: UPI News Press Wire Photo (8 December 1959): Ivy Bluff Prison (Blanch, Caswell County, North Carolina): Prison guards, their shoes in one hand and weapons in the other, chase through the swamps and hills surrounding the Ivy Bluff prison camp and the town of Yanceyville (Caswell County, North Carolina, in an effort to round up the twenty hardened criminals who escaped from the maximum security prison early December 8, 1959. This is part of a collection of a former UPI employee.
He often was identified in the press as Charles Willis Stewart, Jr. However, Stewart family members advise that his is incorrect. His father, often shown as Charles Willis Stewart, actually was Charles William Stewart. And, while the name of the current entrant was indeed Charles Willis Stewart, he was not a junior. Based upon Stewart family input this database is being changed accordingly. Note, however, that census records show him as Charles W. Stewart, Jr. Thus it remain possible that his name actually was Charles William Stewart, Jr. Accordingly, researchers are advised to proceed cautiously in this area.
Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart was born February 19, 1906, in Virginia. He died October 1, 1985, in Wilmington, North Carolina, thus attaining 79 years. When a young man his nickname was "Willie." Exactly when and why he obtained the nickname "Yank" is not known. Note that the birth certificate of his daughter, Audrey Dessaline Stewart, states that her father was born in Menden, West Virginia (and was a stack painter in 1927).
The Stewart family is not from Caswell County, North Carolina. However, one member of the family, Charles Willis Stewart, spent some time in Ivy Bluff Prison near Blanch in Caswell County. Accordingly, the Stewart family is included in the Caswell County Family Tree.
Note that the 1910 US Census provides West Virginia as his birthplace.
Charles Willis Stewart apparently was married three times, including to sisters. His first wife was Tiny Hewett, the mother of all the children of Charles Willis Stewart (three daughters). Tiny Hewett Stewart divorced Charles Willis Stewart and married Clifford Robertson, who helped raise the Stewart children while Charles Willis Stewart was in prison. The Stewart family reported that Tiny Hewett Stewart Robertson died at a fairly young age of cancer (in her fifties). Charles Willis Stewart married secondly Blanche Hewett, a sister of Tiny Hewett. Blanche Hewett Stewart had been married before, to a Ramsey and had two children, Mickey Ramsey and Margie Ramsey. The third wife apparently was Marceline Davis (1950-1988), but not confirmed.
Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart purportedly owned and operated a service station (possibly at Monkey Junction in or south of Wilmington, North Carolina).
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Yank Stewart History
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Stewart Family Photographs
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The Professional Convict's Tale: The Survival of John O'Neill: In and Out of Prison, Elmer Hubert Johnson, Editor (2007).
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Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart purportedly was cremated, but the location of his remains is unknown (but probably in or near Wilmington, North Carolina).
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Terry Stewart left a comment on your post "Portrait of a Tough Guy: Yank Stewart"
Yank Stewart was my great uncle, being my father's uncle. Strangely, I was about 13 and living in Roanoke at the time of his capture and imprisonment there. I remember my mother showing my sister, brother, and me the local newspaper stories about him and explaining who he was.
Over the years, I've read a few articles about him but some of the info in this article I had not heard before. Thanks for making it available.
With regard to his brother [William Elmer Stewart] and father [Charles William Stewart] (my paternal grandfather and great grandfather) being executed by the state of NC, they too helped to change the prison system. Their executions in the NC electric chair were so brutal and terrifying that the method of execution was changed shortly thereafter.
Terry Stewart
April 2, 2018
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"This Is The Law" by Robert E. Lee (Sponsored by The Lawyers of North Carolina)
"Outlaws"
Is there in North Carolina a statutory procedure whereby a person may be declared an outlaw? Yes. Only two other American states have a statute on the subject.
Outlawry has been abolished in England. The last judgment of outlawry rendered by a court in England was in 1855.
The statute in effect at the time was enacted in 1868 and provided: "In all cases where any two justices of the peace, or any judge of the Supreme, superior or criminal courts shall, on written affidavit, filed and retained by such justice or judge, receive information that a felony has been committed by any person, and that such person flees from justice, conceals himself and evades an arrest and service of the usual processes of the law, the judge or the two justices, being justices of the county wherein such person is supposed to lurk or conceal himself, are hereby empowered and required to issue proclamation against him reciting his name, if known, and thereby requiring him forthwith to surrender himself; . . . which proclamation shall be published at the door of the courthouse of any county in which such fugitive is supposed to lurk or conceal himself . . . and if any person against whom the proclamation has been thus issued, continues to stay out, lurk and conceal himself, any citizen of the State may capture, arrest and bring him to justice, and in case of flight or resistance by him, after being called and warned to surrender, may slay him without accusation or impeachment of crime."
The North Carolina statute does not deprive the outlaw of a trial. Its apparent purpose is merely to extend a citizen's power of arrest. Furthermore, the citizen cannot slay the outlaw until he has been "called and warned to surrender."
Outlawry is a relic of the past and a legal curiosity. the North Carolina statute differs greatly from outlawry in ancient times. Under the early common law of England an outlaw was completely outside the protection of the law. Once a person was adjudged an outlaw he was, in effect, convicted of the crime and his goods and chattels were forfeited to the crown. "It was no offense in ancient times to kill an outlaw. The people of the community were expected to hunt him down like a wild beast and slay him."
Has the North Carolina statute on outlawry been used in recent years? Yes. It has been used in a number of instances where a notorious or heinous crime has been committed.
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"Yank" Stewart, the leader of the notorious mass escape from the Ivy Bluff Prison in recent years, was declared an outlaw." [Note, however, that Stewart's outlaw status was not in connection with the Ivy Bluff Prison escape.]
Source: The Robesonian (Lumberton, North Carolina), 16 November 1975, Sunday, Page 7.
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Note that even when a "guest" at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina, Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart was required to register for the World War II draft.
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Ivy Bluff Prison History:1959
When Yank Stewart escorted 20 prisoners from the less-than-secure Ivy Bluff Prison in Caswell County, inappropriately called "Little Alcatraz," the following descended upon Caswell County:
1. Sixteen NC Highway Patrolmen
2. Seven FBI agents
3. Four SBI agents
4. Two military helicopters from Fort Bragg
5. Packs of blood hounds from other jurisdictions
6. "Scores" of prison guards
7. The head of NC prisons
8. Dozens of newspaper reporters
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1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Charles W Stewart Jr.
Age in 1910: 4
Estimated birth year: abt 1906
Birthplace: West Virginia
Relation to Head of House: Son
Father's name: Charlie W
Father's Birth Place: Virginia
Mother's name: Susie
Mother's Birth Place: Virginia
Home in 1910: Tunstall, Pittsylvania, Virginia
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members: Name Age
Charlie W Stewart 40
Susie Stewart 37
Oscar W Stewart 16
Elcie G Stewart 15
Anthony D Stewart 12
Lousia F Stewart 10
William E Stewart 8
Charles W Stewart Jr. 4
Alcatraz, California, U.S. Penitentiary, Prisoner Index, 1934-1963
Name: Charles Willis Stewart
Ethnicity: White
Birth Date: 19 Feb 1906
Birth Place: Wilmington, NC (?)
Death Date: 31 Oct 1985
Date Received at Alcatraz: 1 Aug 1960
Incarceration Reason: Transporting Firearms Interstate
Place of Incarceration: Alcatraz, San Francisco, California
Transferred From: A
Old Box Number: S-23
New Box Number: 1218
Shelf Location: 3140G
Inmate Number: 1469
Case File Screened: No
Remarks: SSDBI
North Carolina Death Collection, 1908-2004
Name: Charles Willis Stewart
Gender: Male
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Social Security Number: 239461037
Father's Last Name: S
Age: 79
Date of Birth: 19 Feb 1906
Birth Location: Virginia
Birth State: Virginia
Residence County: New Hanover
Residence State: North Carolina
Date of Death: 1 Oct 1985
Death City: Wilmington
Death County: New Hanover
Death State: North Carolina
Autopsy: No
institution: General Hospital
Attendant: Physician
Burial Location: Cremation in state
Source Vendor: NC Department of Health. North Carolina Deaths, 1983-87
Social Security Death Index
Name: Charles Stewart
SSN: 239-46-1037
Last Residence: 28403 Wilmington, New Hanover, North Carolina
Born: 19 Feb 1906
Last Benefit: 28401 Wilmington, New Hanover, North Carolina
Died: Oct 1985
State (Year) SSN issued: North Carolina (Before 1951)
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| Sources |
- Details: Ancestry.Com OneWorldTree (not totally reliable).
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: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
