Toco brothers seek long-lost siblings

Fifty years ago Elroy Stewart's father, John, brought two children home and and told him, "This your brother and sister."

Stewart never saw them again.

But now Stewart, 61, and his half-brother Eden Thomas, 58, are seeking the public's help in finding their long-lost siblings.

Stewart's urge to reunite with their half-siblings came after Toco villagers told him a man claiming to be his brother came looking for him last year. But the man left no name or contact information.

He was 11 when he was introduced to the children, who were between eight and ten. He said he wasn't told their their names.

The brothers told Newsday at its Port of Spain office on Monday morning that the only information they have is that their half-brother and sister are originally from Carenage. Stewart said he was told the children's mother was from there, and because they never lived with their father, he believes they grew up with her in that area.

He indistinctly remembers their dark skin.

Stewart and his three full brothers grew up with their parents in L'Anse Noire in Toco. They were then introduced to Thomas, who also lived in L’Anse Noire.

The brothers believe their father might have had more children.

“Our father was a hot man," Thomas said. "He wasn’t a good father, either. I always thought because he (Elroy) lived with our father he was getting better treatment, but that wasn’t so.”

Stewart said, “It’s true. Even though he lived with us, he didn’t take care of us. Our mother struggled with us.

"She even took him (Thomas) when she found out he was an outside child and she treated him like her own child, even though we lived apart.”

Thomas, an assistant waiter with a cruise line, has lived in Toco his whole life ,and Stewart, a tradesman, moved to Port of Spain with his mother when he was 18. Their father died of cancer in 1997.

“I know he was sick, but he was too ashamed to say what he was sick with. When I found out what it was, I tried to talk to him, but he was ignorant.”

Stewart said when he tried to ask their father about his other children, John Stewart never wanted to talk about them.

At his funeral, the programme said John Stewart was the father of four. Elroy Stewart, who gave the eulogy, told Newsday that felt unfair to the other two children no one else knew about.

“I want to believe they didn’t know he died, or else they would have come to the funeral and they would have introduced themselves.”

The brothers said their childhood experience encouraged them to become better fathers.

“We don’t want our kids to go through what we went through. We want them to stick together and know each other despite whatever. And we think it’s good to know who we are related to – because next thing we link up with a sister unknowingly.”

Anyone with information can call Stewart at 360-5214 or Thomas at 318-0332.