Hannibal, Missouri was first settled in the early s along the western bank of the Mississippi River as an important offloading point for river steamboats that connected small local economies. By the early s other industries began to grow as well.
During this time of transition, two families of modest means called Hannibal home. Walter and Augusta Griffen and their five children moved to Hannibal from Kansas, and created the Yankee Produce Company, a vegetable and flower greenhouse located just blocks away from the Mississippi River. In , when Robert Stewart passed away, the Stewart family relied on its sons for support. The eldest, Chester, began work as a railroad office clerk while his brothers continued their education.
By the time the United States mobilized in preparation to enter the conflict in Europe, Rolla was studying medicine near Hannibal and Chester had moved to Minneapolis to teach at the University of Minnesota medical school. The youngest of the Stewarts, Ben, worked as a welder on the Hannibal railroads after his graduation from Hannibal High School in Within a year, the war disrupted the trajectory of both of these families.
In the Stewart family, Rolla was drafted into the U. Army in while Ben volunteered for service that same year after hearing that there was a need for welders. On December 14, , he was inducted and entered service at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, a large training and recruitment center for soldiers from across the midwest.
Before leaving Hannibal, he married Alta on October 6, When Stewart arrived along with more than 20, other men, he was classified under the administration of the st Depot Brigade while awaiting assignment to a specific unit. In February , he was assigned as a motor mechanic for a casual company associated with the Signal Corps.
