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ducer, shipping milk to the company from
which he had just withdrawn. After two
years he sold this farm and bought the
milk business in which he had been a part-
ner. His next location was in Rosendale,
New York, where he engaged in similar
business. After disposing of this farm,
Mr. Stewart entered the insurance field
as assistant superintendent of the Kings-
ton agency of the Metropolitan Life In-
surance Company. From Kingston he
was transferred to Rosendale, thence to
Saugerties, and then back again to Kings-
ton. From the latter town he went to
Peekskill, and from there to Ossining.
Mr. Stewart's success in the insurance
business was assured, but a tempting
proposition from the White Plains Milk
and Creamery Company in 1908, forced
him to resign, and he became manager of
the latter company. After a year he
formed a partnership with H. C. Buckhout
and they purchased the business,
which they conducted under the firm
name of Buckhout & Stewart. Subsequently,
they formed the Purity Milk and
Cream Company and admitted a third
partner.
A little later Mr. Stewart sold his in-
terests and went with the Goucher Electric
Purifying Company, manufacturers
of an electrical device for pasteurizing
milk, a much superior method to the one
then and now generally in use. This ven-
ture, however, proved unsuccessful be-
cause it called for an immense amount of
money which was not available. Mr.
Stewart became associated with the Crys-
tal Lake Ice Company, and for seven
years was engaged in business on his own
account. Some seasons money was made
and other seasons the accumulated profits
were lost so that the net results were not
so great. During the last two years of
that period Mr. Stewart had engaged in
the dairy business and this had grown so
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38Q
that he decided to give it his undivided
attention. Few milk dealers have the
technical knowledge of the product they
handle that Mr. Stewart possesses. When
he was selling the pasteurizing device, he
traveled all over New England, selling
and installing outfits, and then establish-
ing a demand for the milk handled by the
new process. In the course of his work,
he called upon thousands of physicians,
and the questions they asked made it
necessary for him to be familiar with
every technical detail of the chemical
structure of milk, how it is effected by
various treatments, both with reference
to its physical and chemical properties,
and as to the effect of its food value.
Mr. Stewart was heavily in' debt when he
started in the milk business for the last
time, so much so that he was advised to
take advantage of the bankruptcy laws to
relieve himself of the burden. That he
refused to do, but went manfully to work
and has paid off every cent of indebted-
ness, working early and late, and he has
established a most enviable reputation for
sterling honesty. In the spring of 1920
he formed a partnership with Albertson
S. Beers, under the firm name of the Norwalk
Dairy Company, and October i,
1921, they bought the milk business of
Charles H. Hawxhurst, which was added
to their business. They installed a new
and modern plant for pasteurizing and
handling milk, and have four routes which
are served by two autos and two wagons,
and in addition they do quite a large
wholesale business.
During all these years Mr. Stewart has
dealt in real estate as opportunity and
limited capital offered. As the tide
turned in his favor, he was able to en-
large his operations until by the spring
of 1920 he was one of the leading real
estate operators in Norwalk. In 1920
he purchased a farm in the Cranbury dis-