On June 17, 1915 John C. Stewart opened a Ford dealership in Cuttingsville. One hundred years later, a fourth generation of Stewarts is operating John C. Stewart & Son, Inc. and still selling Ford vehicles in the Shrewsbury village of Cuttingsville.Henry Ford is often paraphrased as saying his customers could get a Model T in any color, so long as it was black. And according to the June edition of the Times of Shrewsbury, black Model Ts made up the entire John C. Stewart & Son inventory in 1915. Today the dealership sells cars, trucks and SUVs in a full complement of colors.
An article submitted to the Times of Shrewsbury by the Shrewsbury Historical Society lists all the Stewarts who have run the dealership over the past 100 years:
The company was founded on June 17, 1915 by John C. Stewart and his son, Clayton Stewart. Clayton Sr. had three sons: Clayton John, Jr., (known as CJ), Bernard Joseph (known as BJ) and John. CJ joined in after serving in the Korean Conflict. BJ had also joined in after his return from service and was manager of the service dept. for some time. CJ’s son Tim had worked for the dealership but died in a tragic snowmobile accident in 1999. Later, CJ’s children, Lauren and Mike, joined in and now are the owners. Recently, Mike’s daughter, Ashley Stewart Seiple, representing the family’s fifth generation, is working in the dealership’s service department.
The Vermont House of Representatives is among those offering congratulations to John C. Stewart & Son, Inc. on its 100th anniversary. The House passed a concurrent resolution marking the occasion.
