LOIS G. STUART.

GRAIN AND STOCK.--This distinguished lady is the wife of the late Captain Charles Stuart, an early pioneer of Audubon county and one of the heaviest land holders in the state. In memory of him let it be said that though he had numerous business interests outside of this section still he always took pride in the advancement of the city and contributed thousands of dollars for its up-building. At his death in 1889 his estate valued at $750,000 came under the management of W. G. Stuart, (deceased) his son, who was a careful business man, and like his father a firm friend to Audubon, who was interested in its welfare and progress. But just in the prime of life, he too, was summoned by that dread messenger death, and died in 1890. The people of Audubon will always revere and honor the memory of this father and sone, who from the early pioneer days were the staunchest friends the city has ever known, and whose debt of gratitude to them can never be repaid. Upon the death of W. G. Stuart, the subject of this sketch assumed the management of the estate and to-day conducts the largest, most diversified business of any woman in the whole state. Evanston is proud of Francist Willard; the English speaking world reverences her. New York grows enthusiastic over Harriet Hubbard Ayer; all woman-kind take courage from her example, two leading examples of what woman may accomplish for good, moving on totally different lines. Lois G. Stuart's life and life work may justly challenge either or both, for as queen of one of the largest farming industries in magnificient Iowa, as empress of the drawing room, and supremely successful in the mighty world of vast business, she combines in one person, the sterling worth of those to the manor born, the graces and virtues which only a mother may know, and the splendid enthusiasm which is educated by the battle for survival of the fittest in the empire of business success. Audubon is proud of her, and for her sublime faith in the town and county which she has in princely ways done so much to build up to enduring fame, we can safely and sincerely accord to her the first place on the roll of honor in the history of our town's many benefactors, who reside in Audubon to-day. Mrs. Stuart in 1891 erected the finest residence between Des Moines and Omaha, a structure that would be a credit to the largest city in the land, it is a stately mansion which cost upwards of $40,000. It is a grand house of which any queen might well be proud and long will it remain as a monument of enterprise to this noble lady.

Transcribed January, 2023 by Cheryl Siebrass from 1878 1892 History of Audubon. (Audubon County,) Iowa, From Its Foundation to the Present Together With a Complete Directory of Its Leading Business Men, State Historical Publishing Company, 1892, pp. 24-26.

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