Maria Martinez of New York and Charles McFrederick
The story goes that Charles and Maria married in NY and were en route to Chicago, where uncle Jack Steward (Charles' mother's half-brother)was offering employment, when their baby arrived and mother Maria died.Charles then placed the baby with his uncle Harry Steward and wife, Blanche Doudna in Cleveland and continues to Chicago. He is said soon felled by scarlet fever.I find no death for Maria Martinez McFrederick, or Maria Martinez in Beaver or Cuyahoga Cos in 1929 or 1930. I find no death for Charles McFrederick in IL in 1929 or 1930 and I find neither on a 1930 census in IL, PA, OH or NY. The Stewards did not adopt Charles Bernard until 10 years later.Questions that come to mind are: why did they wait ten years if the parents both died when Charles B was an infant? Why did they arrange a 'dummy' birth certificate? Did Charles-the-father or Maria-the-mother have siblings? Why would not one of them step in and take the infant if their brotheror sister had died? How about the young parents' parents? Why did not they want to raise their orphaned grandchild? It is odd that the closer family members of the alleged-to-be-dead brother/son and sister/daughter, Charles and Maria, not only did not wish to raise the orphan, but never made any contact with him, allowing him to be raised instead by strangers.
The facts:
he was not born in Cuyahoga County as Roger Harry Steward.
he has in his possession a certified birth certificate from Beaver Co PA, showing the birth of Charles Bernard McFrederick on Sep 5 1929.Parents: Charles McFrederick and Maria Martinez.
he has in his possession the adoption papers by Harry L Steward and Blanche Doudna Steward of Charles Bernard McFrederick ten years later, Sept 1939.
He does appear on the 1930 Cuyahoga Co census as living with Blanche and Harry Steward, named Charles Bernard McFrederick.
Who knows: he was told his father's mother was half-sister to Harry Steward, both children of Dr Samuel L Steward.
he was told that both his parents died soon after his birth. I find no death info for either of them in NY, PA, OH or IL.I don't find either listed on a 1930 census;I find no marriage for them in NY.
Partly fact,partly fiction:
He was adopted by the Stewards in 1939 in Cuyahoga Co OH
It appears he was born in 1929 in Beaver Falls, Beaver Co Co PA.
Roger/Charles is now 74 years old and only recently learned of his adoption. We have been able to pin-point with virtual certainty the father, Charles, who did not die young, but ended up in Arizona where he died just a few years ago.We have nothing to go on in an attempt to locate Maria Martinez.All we know of her is that it is said that she had only recently arrived in NY from Spain and that in 1929 she spoke very little English.