Charles Alexander Stewart

Charles Alexander Stewart (1860–1950) is best known for A Virginia Village, first published in 1904. The book is a historical sketch of Falls Church and its old colonial church, and it remains his most widely remembered work.

According to the biographical note attached to later editions of the book, he was born at "Beechwood," the Stewart family farm near the Dismal Swamp and Northwest Canals, and grew up in a family of five children. That local connection helps explain the book's close, affectionate view of the town and its people.

Stewart's appeal today comes from the way he blends history, memory, and community portraiture. For listeners interested in Virginia history, small-town America, or firsthand regional writing from the turn of the twentieth century, his work offers a vivid snapshot of a place and time.