1928-1938   

James Charlton was born in Weir, Mississippi on March 7, 1886, the son of Robert Scott and Eugenia Alexander Thompson Stewart. He began his education at French Camp Academy, where he graduated in 1907. He continued his education at Southwestern Presbyterian University in Memphis, TN (1907-1911) and at Southwestern Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1911-1913). He was licensed to preach at Salem, Mississippi, and was ordained by the Central Mississippi Presbytery on October 10, 1913. On July 17, 1914, he married a school teacher, Annie Wells White of Jackson. 

Early church pastorates from 1913 to 1920 included Raymond, Lebanon, Bethesda, and Learned in Hinds County, MS. Rev. Stewart served in Belzoni, MS, from 1920-27. In 1928 he accepted the French Camp Academy President’s position, made vacant by the tragic death of Rev. Samuel H. McBride, and the call to pastor French Camp Presbyterian Church. Rev. Stewart served for the next ten years before returning to Belzoni as pastor from 1937-1947. He retired in 1947 due to ill health and passed away at the age of 65 on January 16, 1952.