Cal Stewart

American comedian (born ca. 1856 in Charlotte County, Virginia – died December 7, 1919 in Chicago, IL).

Performing comedy routines on the vaudeville circuit, Cal Stewart created the popular character of "Uncle Josh" Weathersby, a Yankee farmer from a New England farming town he called "Pumpkin Center" or "Punkin Center." Starting around 1897, Stewart recorded his Uncle Josh routines, first on Edison cylinders, then on records. His comedy records appeared on all the major labels, ([l=Edison], [l=Columbia], and [l=Victor]), and on many smaller ones. On some of them, Uncle Josh appears with his wife, Aunt Nancy (after 1907, she is played by [a=Ada Jones]; before, she may have been his real first wife, Florence).

In 1914, Stewart married his second wife, vaudeville violinist Rossini Waugh, known as "Gypsy Rossini" (1895-1943), and lived with her in Tipton, Indiana. He died of either of pneumonia or of a brain tumor in Chicago.