I am looking for any information on John McDonald Stuart,(my great great grandfather) born in Scotland about 1825-1830. Usually one can find vital information about an ancestor, but not much about their personal life. In my case it is just the opposite with John McDonald Stuart. I know he traveled to both Australia and California looking for gold. He married Rebecca Phillips who was from England and had two children, James (born in England) and Marie,(my great grand mother) born in Scotland about 1860-1865. Both James and Marie had the middle initial F, which my grandmother told me referred to the name Frasier. John died penny less in St. Louis in 1898. One newspaper reported that he came from "a good family", "had once been a wealthy St. Louisan", and referred to him as Major Stuart. I have never been able to figure where he got the title of Major. His son James was a locomotive engineer and died in a train accident in Gunnison Colorado in 1883. John was divorced from Rebecca while living in St. Louis, and he also was possibly divorced from a first wife in California named Florence in 1856. He led a very interesting life. Any help with information on either Rebecca or John would be appreciated. Thank you. Gene Block