Charlotte Isabell Renslow1

F, b. 25 August 1854, d. 14 April 1933
Charlotte Isabelle Renslow
maybe about 1875, may be her wedding photo
     Charlotte Isabell Renslow was born on 25 August 1854 at Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USAB,G.2,3,4,5 She was the daughter of Lucius N. Renslow and Mary Ann Boyle.6,5 Charlotte Isabell Renslow was a buggy whip manufacturer in 1860 at Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USAB,G.7,4 She was a witness The US-Dakota War of 1862 (formerly known as the Sioux Uprising)

In 1862 in the Minnesota River Valley, the Dakota Sioux Indians were starving. Their crops had failed the year before and were not doing well this year either. The US was balking at living up to its treaty obligations. The Civil War was raging, and many Minnesota regiments had gone to fight the Confederates.

The Dakota on their southwestern Minnesota reservation--from the Minnesota River to the South Dakota border--were hungry and desperate. The Homestead Act had passed that year, and migrants and immigrants were flooding in. Crops had failed in the fall of 1861, the 1861 fall hunt was fairly unsuccessful, and the winter of 1861-2 was terrible.

Then came a bureaucrat. By treaty, the Indians ceded land for food and money aid. Thomas Galbraith, Indian agent at Lower Sioux Agency in Renville County, Minnesota, was a good bureaucrat and always followed the rules, which said the food and money were distributed together. Trouble was, the money was late, and the Indians were starving. Tension rose.

At a meeting between the Indians and the US government, an Indian is reported to have said, "This is our reservation, and yet you go out and you cut our grass for your animals. You cut down our trees for your building and your fire. You shoot our game, which we have very little of anyway. It's ours, you leave it alone."

In retort, a trader named Andrew Myrick said, "Well then, if you want it then you eat your grass. And we won't trade with you", implying the Indians were no better than horses or cattle.

Thus began the US-Dakota War of 1862, on August 17. Some Indians favored emptying the Minnesota River valley of settlers. Settlers, particularly at New Ulm, responded in kind. Fighting extended as far west as Wood Lake in Yellow Medicine County and to northern Iowa. Five weeks later, at least 300 settlers were dead along with countless Dakota. Myrick, appropriately, was found dead with grass stuffed in his mouth.

The Dakota lost their land, forced first southward to Davenport, Iowa, then westward onto reservations in South Dakota. They lost their culture, their economy, their society. 38 Dakota were hanged at Mankato in revenge. All treaties were abrogated, and all Dakota, for or against war, were treated alike. Uninvolved Winnebagos were ejected too. Settlers suffered too; many orphans never regained the lands settled by their families. Farms were sold for taxes. And in our case, Lucius and Mary Ann Renslow took their family back to Massachusetts for eleven years.

The wound is open today. At least one historian claims that until 9/11/2001, it was the highest civilian wartime toll in U.S. history.

(Grateful thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, whose piece in September 2002 http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/23_steilm_1862-m/, was the basis of this summary) with Lucius N. Renslow and Mary Ann Boyle at Minnesota River Valley, Minnesota, USAB,G.8

     Charlotte Isabell Renslow married George Washington Stewart Jr., son of George Washington Stewart and Sophia A. Kling, on 25 December 1876 at Methodist Church, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, USAB,G, at age 22.9,1
     Charlotte Isabell Renslow died on 14 April 1933 at Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, USAB,G, at age 78 of carcinoma of the colon descending.10,11 She was buried on 17 April 1933 at Oakwood Cemetery, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, USAB,G.7

Locations

Migration-To1862Massachusetts, USAB,G, from Rochester, Minnesota12
Migration-To1873Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, USAB,G,13

Children of Charlotte Isabell Renslow and George Washington Stewart Jr.

Unique ID=RENSL-28440
Last Edited=5 Sep 2020

Citations

  1. [S703] Olmsted County Index to Marriage Records, Females, 1850-1984, Microfilmed images (Rochester, MN: Olmsted County District Court, 9 Mar 2000), FHL film #2195197, Renslow, Charlotte Isabell, bk. E, p. 363.
  2. [S391] Charlotte I. Renslow entry, photocopy of certified State of Minnesota record 432637 year 1854, Vol. 82, page 18, no. 140 (9 Nov 1978), Collection of Barbara Zanzig, Bothell, King, Washington, USA.
  3. [S499] Larry Renslow, "Email: Renslow, 2002 02 07, "Charlotte Isabelle Renslow Individual Detail Report"," e-mail message from e-mail address (Pleasanton, CA) to Barbara Zanzig, 7 Feb 2002, This source claims she was born 5 Aug 1854. Hereinafter cited as "Charlotte Isabelle Renslow Detail."
  4. [S565] 1870 US Census MA, Hampden, Hampden Co., Massachusetts, population schedule, Ancestry.com, (www.ancestry.com), Lucius Renslow (indexed as Duclies) household, Town of Westfield, page 91 (406A) (image 91/163, dwelling 544, family 764, accessed 13 Dec 2019; citing Roll M593_619.
  5. [S1839] "Massachusetts, State Census, 1865", Database and images, New England Historical Genealogical Society, Ancestry.com, URL https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9203/: 2014, Lucius Renslow household, Hampden > Westfield, n.p., image 23/72, dwelling 321, family 383, accessed 13 Dec 2019, citing 1855–1865 Massachusetts State Census [microform].
  6. [S499] Larry Renslow, "Email: Renslow, 2002 02 07, "Charlotte Isabelle Renslow Individual Detail Report"," e-mail message from e-mail address (Pleasanton, CA) to Barbara Zanzig, 7 Feb 2002. Hereinafter cited as "Charlotte Isabelle Renslow Detail."
  7. [S1] "Deduction" (Kirkland, WA), by Barbara Zanzig. Collection of Barbara Zanzig (Bothell, King, Washington, USA). Checked 20170106.
  8. [S740] Minnesota's Uncivil War, online http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/…. Hereinafter cited as Minnesota's Uncivil War; 26 Sep 2002.
  9. [S478] Marriage Record of George W. Stewart and Charlotte I. Renslow, original private handwritten certificate signed by minister and two witnesses; no church given, 25 Dec 1876, Collection of Barbara Zanzig, Bothell, King, Washington, USA.
  10. [S392] Mrs George W Stewart, Minnesota death certificate unknown number, Collection of Barbara Zanzig, Bothell, King, Washington, USA. Hereinafter cited as Charlotte I. Renslow Death Certificate.
  11. [S791] Olmsted County District Court, compiler, Olmsted County Death Records Index (1870-1984) (Salt Lake City, UT: Family History Library, FHL Film #2196327, 24 Apr 2000), Mrs. Geo. W. Stewart, vol I, p. 999, line 207.
  12. [S375] Donald Dale, "Family Group Sheet(s), Don Dale" (Fayetteville, Pennsylvania). Checked 20170106

    Photocopy courtesy of Donald A. Dale, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
  13. [S352] Larry Renslow, "Email: Renslow, 2002 02 07, "Lucius Renslow Individual Detail Report"," e-mail message from e-mail address (Pleasanton, CA) to Barbara Zanzig, 7 Feb 2002. Hereinafter cited as "Lucius Renslow Detail."
  14. [S501] Larry Renslow, "Email: Renslow, 2002 02 07, "Clarence Lee Stewart Individual Detail Report"," e-mail message from e-mail address (Pleasanton, CA) to Barbara Zanzig, 7 Feb 2002. Hereinafter cited as "CL Stewart Detail."
  15. [S595] 1900 US Federal Census (MN, Olmsted 779), Olmsted Co., Minnesota, population schedule, Ancestry.com, (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7602), George W. Stewart; citing NARA microfilm roll T623_779, FHL film no. 1240779.