I wanted to scan this photo to preserve it from further deterioration, and while I was at it, try to learn more about the beautiful young woman featured in this carte de visite photograph. The inscriber thought highly of Catherine, which makes me even happier to try to learn her story. On the reverse of the photo reads, "Grandma Woods, Grandfather Woods' second wife. Her maiden name was Katie Stewart. A wonderful person (Catherine Stewart)." There isn't a photographers' imprint.
The inscription doesn’t provide much to go on, considering both surnames are rather common. Without a photographer’s imprint pointing to a location, we’re going to have to draw some conclusions through the photo’s provenance and clues in the image itself.
This photograph was found in the Deachman Photo Album, which I’ve written about in a previous post "How Are Your Detective Skills?"
Adding the surname Deachman in an Ancestry search for Catherine was extremely helpful. The first hit was a Find a Grave listing for Catherine Deachman Stewart, b. 1822. There, her children were listed. The very last child of the ten listed was “Catherine Woods.” Catherine also had a Find a Grave link, which provided a birthdate of 2 Jul 1841 and her father’s name, Robert Stewart. It also mentioned a child of Catherine Woods: Margaret Mabel Haley.
On 18 June 1878, Catherine Stewart married Charles Woods, son of Henry and Alice Woods, in Lanark Village, Ontario, Canada. He was 52 and Catherine was 35. Because of his older age, it is plausible that he would have had an earlier marriage. While I couldn’t find a marriage record, I did locate Charles gravesite entry on Find a Grave, which links Charles Woods to Mary Ann Ireton as his first wife, and Catherine Stewart as his second wife. Additionally, I found Charles and Mary A. Woods in the 1861 census in Lanark County with their children, Catherine, Henry, Eliza, and Thomas.
More research would have to be done to link these people together, but it’s a start. If you can provide marriage information regarding Charles Woods and Mary Ann Ireton, please post it in the comments below. If you have an image of Catherine Stewart Woods, it would be wonderful if you could send me a scan to compare to this one. I would date this image to the mid-1860s.
| Sources: |
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211537860/catherine-woods
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211484877/catherine-stewart
"Canada, Ontario, Marriages, 1869-1927", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMNK-8P1 : Fri Mar 08 12:30:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Charles Woods and Henry Woods, 18 Jun 1878.
"Canada, Ontario, Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKC2-YJ7 : Wed Jan 22 12:34:24 UTC 2025), Entry for Catherine Woods and Robert Stewart, 16 Jan 1929.
"Recensement du Canada de 1911", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9T-LSRH : Mon Mar 11 00:32:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Edward Woods and Nettie M Woods, 1911.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212851056/charles-woods: accessed October 13, 2025), memorial page for Charles Woods (1825–20 Mar 1892), Find a Grave Memorial ID 212851056, citing Saint Paul's Anglican Cemetery, Lanark, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada; Maintained by hlock6 (contributor 50771313).
1861 Canada Census, database and images; Lanark, Lanark, Canada West, entry for Charles Woods household, page 31, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca); accessed 13 Oct 2025.
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