Falkner Cornwall Stewart, one of the leading merchants of Orangeville, and warden of the county of Dufferin, is a native of the county of Monaghan, Ireland, his birth bearing date August 21, 1833. His parents, Robert Cornwall and Ann (McVittie) Stewart, left the old country when he was six months old, and settled at Hawkestone, on lake Simcoe, in the county of Simcoe.
Our subject was educated in the grammar school at Barrie, where he clerked a while in a general store, afterwards holding a like situation in a store in Toronto.
In 1853, Mr. Stewart commenced the mercantile business for himself at Cookstown, in the county of Simcoe, removing from that place, and settling in Orangeville, in 1859. Here he has a general store, and in that line usually does from $20,000 to $25,000 of trade a year. He also deals in grain and produce, his business in the aggregate being quite extensive.
Mr. Stewart started in life with no capital but a sound constitution, a willingness to work, and a desire to accumulate by honest means; he has been prudent in managing his affairs, economical in his habits, and hence successful in his ventures generally. He is the largest dealer, in his line of business, of any man now here and no one has a better financial standing.
Mr. Stewart was in the township council one year; was the first reeve of the village of Orangeville, serving at different periods for five or six years, and was warden in 1879, holding the latter office at the time of the preparation of this sketch. He is Vice-President of a local Building society. In politics he is a pronounced Conservative, and is Vice-President of the Conservative Association for the county of Dufferin.
Mr. Stewart was reared in the English church, is a communicant in the same, and has held the office of warden of St. Marks, Orangeville. His success in life is the natural result of his own persevering energy, indomitable courage, and genuine worth.
His wife was Esther Olive Rutledge, daughter of Henry Rutledge, an early settler in Streetsville, county of Peel, They were joined in wedlock in 1860, and have six children living, and have lost one daughter.