Charles Alexander Stewart (1860-1950), who is best remembered in Falls Church for his estimable little book, A Virginia Village, which was published in 1904, was born at "Beechwood," the Stewart family farm at the intersection of the Dismal Swamp and Northwest Canals. He was the fourth in a family of five. His father, William Charles Stewart (1810-1865), died at "Beechwood."

In 1887 Charles A. Stewart married Mary Isabella Tabb (1866-1939), daughter of Dr. Robert Bruce Tabb (1833-1906) and Elizabeth Anne (Warden) Tabb (1837-1891). Elizabeth Tabb Stewart, born in 1890, was the eldest of ten children and lived in the family home in East Falls Church from 1894 until 1971.

Mr. Stewart had a distinguished career in the United States Treasury Department where he became chief clerk in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and was a bank examiner when he retired in 1930. He was active in many community affairs. He was a vestryman of The Falls Church, was chairman of the Falls Church School Board continuously from 1910 to 1927, was active in the creation of Madison School and, while he was still living, the Charles A. Stewart Elementary School, on Underwood Street, was named for him. He was a trustee of Oakwood Cemetery in 1918, and was assistant secretary of the Arlington/Fairfax Savings and Loan from 1933 to 1940.

(From Falls Church Historical News & Notes, October 1972.)