| Notes |
- "There's one point where Severance is wrong, and that is the paternity of Capt. John Stewart. His mother was Alice Atchison, who according to Stewart family tradition married first James Stewart (father of John) and then after James' untimely death she married James' younger brother Samuel, who raised John. Severance shows Samuel as the father of John, yet John's date of birth shows he was born before James' death. This is the ancestral family of the Stewarts of Middlebury, Vt., who served as state governors and senators, were hunting partner with President Teddy Roosevelt, and whose descendant Philip Battell Stewart II discovered the 18th century "Merrill Bible" with the Gartnafuaran names written in it." (Jared Olar)
Severence shows John as a son of Samuel Stewart. See below for details.
From FindAGrave:
The following was provided to me by his descendant Edward Dunscombe:
John Stewart was born at Londonderry, N.H. in 1745. In 1759, at the age of 13, he enlisted in the French and Indian War, and took part in a fight with the Indians at Oriskany during the same year. He joined Gen. Amherst's forces at Crown Point in the fall of 1759 and was present at the taking of Montreal in 1760. After the war he moved to Bennington, and joined the "Green Mountain Boys" who defended the Vermont people from New York claimants, and at the time of his death was the last of that small band. He later served in the Revolutionary War under Col. Joseph McCracken.
John's father James died about 1753 and his mother remarried. He joined the British army at age 14 in 1759. Severance's Londonderry Stewarts claims that John's father was named Samuel. However Philip Stewart, Stuart, Florida stated to me in a phone conversation that this was an error and that his name was James. Philip indicated that James' wife Alice married James' brother Samuel after James died, so this may be the source of the confusion. Severance does mention this possibility (pg. 76) and notes that some feel John came to Colrain, Mass. at the age of five to live with his uncle. Claim that John was a member of the "Green Mountain Boys" is substantiated by a muster-roll reprinted in the book "New York in the Revolution as colony and state." Vol. 1. Albany, N.Y. : J.B. Lyon, 1904 which lists a John Stewart as a member (pg. 62). Another John Stewart is listed as a member of the Second Regiment. The mention of a Captain McCracken in the statement of John's son Ira (below) indicates that John was a member of the Fourth Regiment. McCracken and Stewart are mentioned as members ("New York in the Revolution, ibid., pg. 47 & 53). Apparently he was a member of the Green Mountain Boys before the Revolution, when Vermonters were involved in border struggles with New Yorkers.
The following excerpt from the journal of Sergeant Samuel Merriman, kept from October 7, 1759 to September 8, 1760 (taken from Sheldon's History of Deerfield) gives a feel for daily rigors the young Stewart must have experienced"
"Campt crown point, Oct. 26, 1759.
"friday this day we set out to clean a rode to No. 4, we crost the Lake about Sun set & then campt.
"Satterday the 27 we camp east side of ye Lak upon Mager Hawks Rode; this day we set out to clear ye Rode and cleared as far as two mile Brook and we campt. Nothing extraordinary haped this Day.
"Sabath October ye 28, 1759, this day we marched 2 miles further and then came to a stream and made a brigue over and then marched 2 miles further and then came to a nother large stream and there we campt. &c.
"Tuesday, October ye 30th, 1759. We maid ye great brigue and march 3 miles & then campt.
"October ye 31, 1759, then march 2 miles & then we eat dinner"
(Severance, B. Frank. Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, pg. 77-78)
After the close of the (French & Indian) war he moved from Colrain, Mass. to Bennington, Vt. where he joined the Green Mountain Corps., which defended the Vermont people from the New Yorkers, who claimed that region under grants, and at the time of his death, he was the last but one of that little band. The following extract from the life of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes of '76 by Henry W. DePuy evidently refers to him:
"In October, 1769 a number of inhabitants of Bennington were assembled upon the farm of James Breckenridge, in the western part of the town, for the purpose of assisting him in harvesting his corn. While they were thus employed, a number of surveyors came upon the farm, and appeared to be running a line across it. Mr. Breckenridge (James Breckenridge was a former resident of Colrain, Mass., and lived next lot to the Stewarts) and Mr. Samuel Robinson left their work, and entered into conversation with them. The surveyors declared they were acting under the authority of the State of New York. Mr. Breckenridge and Mr. Robinson forbade their proceeding further, stating, at the same time, that it was not their intention to use violence, but merely to protest against the proceeding, for the purpose of preserving their legal rights. Upon this they petitioned the governor and council of New York stating that the commissioners and surveyors had been "violently opposed by sundry persons, and prevented by their threats from executing the trusts reposed upon them." Upon this a proclamation was issued by the governor "for apprehending and securing the principals and ringleaders;" and at the following January term of court at Albany, several persons who had been present were indicted as rioters, and among them was John Stewart. None of them, however, were arrested or brought to trial."
(Severance, B. Frank. Genealogy and biography of the descendants of Walter Stewart of Scotland and of John Stewart who came to America in 1718 and settled in Londonderry, N.H. Greenfield, Mass. : T. Morey & Son, 1905, pg. 78-79).
"John Stewart was born at Londonderry, N.H., Sept. 12, 1745. He told his grandson Homer H. Stuart that having lost his father when he was about five years old he went to Colrain, Mass. to live with his uncle, Samuel Stewart. In 1759, when fourteen, he enlisted in the French and Indian War and marched into the Province of New York, where he took part in a fight with the Indians at Oriskany. His company served under General Jeffrey Amherst and he was with it at the taking of Montreal in 1760. After the close of this war we find him a member of the Congregational Church at Bennington, Vt. and also enrolled in "The Green Mountain Corps," which defended the Vermont people from the New Yorkers who laid claim to Western Vermont under Grants. He took part in the events of the stirring year of 1775, serving under General Montgomery at the second capture of Montreal, November 13, 1775, and serving in the Revolutionary War under Colonel Joseph McCracken. After the war he was addressed as "Captain" Stewart." Whether this title came to him by regular commission or was accorded by courtesy of the day, is uncertain, but judging from his character it is scarcely probable he would, unless really entitled, have allowed its use. Moreover he had a sword - usually the badge of a commissioned officer.
When the Revolutionary War ended, he settled at Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, where for ten years he kept an inn, called "Mount Independence House." This inn was destroyed by fire in 1794 and he moved to a farm at Burlington, not far from Cooperstown, N.Y.
Between 1806 and 1811 he resided at New Haven, Vt., and from the latter year until his death, July 31, 1829, at Middlebury, Vt.
While Captain Stewart was rather reticent, as a rule, he was less reserved with his grandson, Homer H. Stuart. Occasionally winter evenings, by the large open fireplace, he would relate events of his own childhood and adventures that had befallen him and his brothers in youth and manhood. Often in later years did Homer wish that he had taken the precaution to write down these reminiscences of his grandfather and great uncles in the French and Indian War - with Rogers' Rangers - in the forays of the Green Mountain Corps -- in the Revolution, as well as further West where William Stewart, the companion of Daniel Boone lost his life at the Battle of Blue Licks. But the young, listening to such hearthside narrations, are prone to forget how much personal and family history will pass away irrecoverably with the narrator, and thus it was with him.
Captain Stewart had a distinct remembrance of his aged great-grandmother. He used to relate to Homer her stories of the family's persecutions by "Bonnie Dundee," in Scotland. Tradition in the family states that she (a Forsyth) (editor's note: this would be Jeannette Forsythe) was the widow of Robert Stuart who was born in Scotland in 1655, and died in 1714. She accompanied her son John Stuart, (the proprietor) born in Edinburgh about 1682, to Londonderry, N.H., and survived him. As Captain Stewart was born in 1745, she must have been living as late as 1750 or 1752.
Homer H. Stuart once remarked that the character "Henry Morton of Milnwood," in Sir Walter Scott's Romance "Old Mortality," reminded him of Robert Stuart as portrayed in these tales of Captain Stewart's great-grandfather. For Robert, according to these stories, fought against Monmouth and in consequence was exiled and deprived of his estate. With the tradition of this "lost Stuart estate" Homer was familiar, but merely laughed when urged to seek its recovery. His own good sense told him it was better to serve his day and generation in useful work than to dream of recovering these enchanted lands.
Captain Stewart's sense of honor was keen. A pension was tendered him for his military services, but he replied, "I want no pay for having served my country." The evening before he passed away he sent for his grandson to come to his bedside. For some minutes he silently regarded the young man. Finally he said "Home, I am going to bid you good-by now." Then giving him some good advice as to the course of his life, he tenderly and affectionately pressed his hand in farewell.
Captain Stewart's character commanded the respect of all. Rigidly upright and of unswerving conviction, he was a worthy descendant of his Covenantor ancestor Robert, "a man who would die for a principle of a prejudice" and utterly devoid of fear. After the close of the Revolutionary War the country was for some time in a distracted condition and traveling dangerous. Late one night, passing a dismantled house, he heard groans. He reined in his horse to listen. The sound came from the house. Dismounting he tied his horse and groped into the ruins. Guided by the sound he felt his way down a rickety stairway to the cellar. There two glowing eyes met his own. He stood quietly until the groaning was renewed, and then slowly advanced until his outstretched hand encountered a sheep! The creature had tumbled into the cellar and had been disabled. Into such environment not many men would have dared to enter unarmed.
He attended the lecture of Lyman Beecher when the latter went through Vermont on his temperance crusade, and became convinced that it was morally wrong to use liquor. He was then eighty, and for some years had taken a small glass of Medford rum. He ordered the cask brought out and emptied in the barnyard. Through some oversight its inspiring contents flowed into the pig-sty and soon there was great revelry in the piggery!
Captain Stewart was very hospitable and lived well, having everything of the best. His horses were noted as carefully selected animals. He was an exemplary Christian and a pillar of the Middlebury Church. In person he was somewhat over six feet tall, well built, but not corpulent, abundant white hair, fair complexion and a strong-featured face. His carriage was erect and dignified (Severance, pg. 165-170).
Severance gives further details of his service. "He enlisted April 28, 1759 - at the age of 13 - served until September 24th as one of the garrison at Charlemont; re-enlisted for service in Canada (pg. 77)
In person he was over six feet tall and well built, with abundant white hair and strong featured face. His carriage was erect and dignified, and it was later said that he had resembled the Duke of Wellington during his later years. Capt. Stewart died at Middlebury in 1829. When the Revolution ended, the family moved to Ticonderoga, on the shores of Lake Champlain, where for ten years they kept an Inn, called "The Mount Independence House." The Inn was destroyed by fire in 1794 and the family moved to a farm at Burlington, near Cooperstown, N.Y. Between 1806 and 1811 they kept a general store at New Haven, Vermont, and from the latter year until the present the family has lived in Middlebury. (Private letters of The Stewart family of Middlebury, Vermont. Selected and edited by John E. Stewart, 1968. Sheldon Museum, Middlebury, Vt.)
The following is the text of John Stewart's pension record for service in the Revolutionary War as obtained from the National Archives. It is difficult to decipher the photocopy. Missing words are denoted with a "(?)." It also seems to begin in the middle of the document, indicating missing material:
"...strongly solicited to accompanying the army in that expedition with the officer of a commission as Captain; but that the (unprotected?) situation of his family (forbade?) his remaining, and he returned home. And (then?) the said Huldah Stewart well recollects that her said husband returned to her at Cambridge near Christmas, and that he had in his possession when he returned a curiously wrought leather bag, filled with papers which he (related?) to his services as commissary as aforesaid, and that he said the bag was given him for that use.
That early in July A.D. 1777, the said John Stewart resided with his family in Pawlet, Vermont, then called the New Hampshire Grants, and the the neighborhood in which they lived was alarmed by an (express?) communicating the intelligence of the Captain of Ticonderoga, and the disastrous result of the battle of (Hubbardtown?), and that the Indians attached to Burgoyne's army were overrunning the whole country. All the (whigs?) who resided in that part of the country, were compelled to abandon their settlements at the (North?), and remove South to some place of greater security. That the said John Stewart (?) a (?) put forward his family, consisting of the applicant and their young children, and remained behind himself a few hours to endeavor to (?) some of his furniture, provisions, and other valuables, which were all however found, and stolen or destroyed by the (tories?), and with the exception of one iron kettle, never recovered by the said Stewarts. Among the not, the leather bag before mentioned, containing the commissary and other papers relating to the military services of the said Stewart, was (?), and all the papers destroyed fragments of them having been found strewed upon the ground for a considerable distance from the house.
After suffering great hardships, the applicant, with her children was placed in the family of her father in Bennington where she remained until Nov. after the surrender of Burgoyne.
On the alarm occasioned by the approach of the enemy under Col. Baum, the said John Stewart joined the American forces under Gen. Stark, as a volunteer, and was in both engagements of the 16th of August A.D. 1777. In this action he personally disarmed and made prisoner a Hessian soldier, and the gun, sword, and accouterments taken from the Hessian were for many years preserved in the family of said Stewart, and a knife made from the sword is now in the possession of the applicant. The said John Stewart on this occasion was in the service of the United States as the applicant verily believes during all this time that the prisoners then taken were at Bennington. She further declares that she was legally married to the said John Stewart at the house of her father Elnathan Hubbell in Bennington aforesaid on the 12th day of March A.D. 1772, by the Rev. Jedadiah Dewey the first settled minister of said town. That she resided in said town until 1774, when they returned to Cambridge, New York. That in 1776 or 7 they removed to Pawlet, Vermont. That in 1780, they removed to Ticonderoga, New York, in 1793 to Orwell, Vermont, in 1795 to Burlington, New York, in 1804, to New Haven, Vermont, in 1812, to Middlebury, Vermont, where she has ever since resided: -- That her eldest child Cynthia was born in Bennington, Aaron in 1775, in Cambridge, Noble in 1777, and Ira in 1779 in Pawlet.
That her husband the aforesaid John Stewart died at Middlebury aforesaid on the 30th day of July A.D. 1829 and that she has remained a widow ever since that period, as will more fully appear by reference to the proof (hints?) annexed. That she has no documentary proof, and knows of no person living by whom she can prove the revolutionary services of her husband.
Sworn and subscribed on he day and year first before written.
Huldah Stewart - her mark Before Mr. (G.?) (H.?) (Jenison?), Judge
I certify that the above named Huldah Stewart is personally known to me and that she is a reliable witness. (G.?) (H.?) (Jenison?), Judge"
The following is a deposition by Ira Stewart, son of John Stewart:
I Ira Stewart of Middlebury on the County of Addison and State of Vermont, aged sixty six years being duly sworn depose and say, that I am the third son of John Stewart, late of said Middlebury deceased, and Huldah Stewart his wife, and I further say that the said John Stewart my father deceased on the thirtieth day of July, 1829, AD 1829, and that my Mother, the said Huldah, is yet living and has ever remained the Widow of the said John Stewart, and is now Ninety four years of age and in the full possession of all her faculties. I have frequently heard my father in his lifetime speak of his first campaign in the American Army, during the year 1775 under the command of General Montgomery in the invasion of Canada. The said John, my father, stated that he entered the American Service on or about the first of June A D 1775 for the term of six months at Cambridge in the County of Washington and State of New York as orderly Sergeant in Captain McCracken's Company and Colonel (Van Schaide's?) Regiment of the New York line: that he was recruiting officer for the Company, to which he belonged; and that he recruited in Cambridge aforesaid, and in Salem in the said County of Washington previous to General Montgomery's march to Canada, he joined his company with his recruits and was present in the American Army at the taking of the Isle Aux noix, St. Johns and Montreal; and that when the Army reached Canada, he was appointed (Issuing?) Commissary and continued to occupy the office and fulfill its duties until the execution of his term of enlistment, at which time he returned to his family, then residing in Cambridge aforesaid. And he further stated, that when the fort at Ticonderoga was taken by the British under the command of General Burgoyne in 1777, he resided on the Town of Pawlet in Vermont, And information having been received that a large force of British Indians were ravaging the County and advancing on that Town, he together with the other inhabitants (?) left their habitations and retreated to the Town of Bennington leaving behind them all their effects, and that at that time he lost his discharge and other vouchure (sic) of the service he performed in the American Army, together with all the rest of his papers. That while at Bennington he joined General Stark's Command, as a Volunteer, and was present and fought in the Battles of Bennington when Cols. Baum and Breyman (editor's note: this should read "Breymann") commanding the British forces were defeated, and that in that Conflict, he personally took a Hessian soldier prisoner. The accouterments gun and sword belonging to that Prisoner have been, until a few years since, in the possession of the said John Stewart's family: and a knife made from the blade of the same sword is now in the possession of the deponent.
And this deponent says and verily believes, that the said Captain McCracken to whose Company his father belonged, was present and took part in the battle of Monmouth and lost an arm in the said battle. My father was an intimate personal friend of the said Captain McCracken and on or about the year 1801 in the month of January or February I accompanied my said father on a visit to the Capt. then Colonel McCracken and heard them among other things recount their adventures in the American service during the Campaign of 1775 but from the long lapse of time and from not particularly storing his memory with it, this deponent is unable to relate their conversation.
And this deponent further states that sometime since, at the request of his mother, the said Huldah Stewart, he examined the Records in the office of the Secretary of State for the State of New York in Albany for the purpose of finding the proofs of his father's the said John Stewart's service in the American Army; and in the book of Records this deponent found the Role of the Commissioned officers of the said Capt. McCracken's Company (Van Schack's?) Regiment, but no Role of the non commissioned officers and privates of the said Capt. McCracken's Company; and further this deponent saith not.
Ira Stewart
State of Vermont
District of Addison (?)
(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35254048/john-stewart)
--------
Severence:
John,5 (see Memoir of Capt. John Stewart, p. 165) (Samuel,4 John,3 Robert,2 Walter,1) b. at Londonderry, N. H, Sept. 12, 1745, m. March 12, 1772, Huldah, dau. of Elnathan Hubbell of Bennington. It is thought by some that he was a son of James, whose widow is said to have married Samuel the brother of James, and that at the age of five years he came to Colrain, Mass., to live with his uncle Samuel. He enlisted April 28, 1759 - at the age of 13 - served until September 24th as one of the garrison at Charlemont ; re-enlisted for service in Canada, joining General Amherst's forces at Crown Point in the fall of 1759, and he was present at the taking of Montreal in 1760. No better account of his service can be found than Sergeant Samuel Merriman's journal kept by himself, for a part of the time, from October 7, 1759, to September 8, 1760, which we get from Sheldon's History of Deerfield :
" Campt crown point, Oct. 26, 1759.
" friday this day we set out to clean a rode to No. 4, we crost the Lake about Sun set & then campt.
" Satterday the 27 we camp east side of ye Lak upon Mager Hawks Rode ; this day we set out to clear ye Rode and cleared as far as two mile Brook and we campt. Nothing extraordinary haped this Day.
" Sabath October ye 28, 1759 this day we cleared 4 miles and then campt.
"Monday, October 29, 1759, this day we marched 2 miles further and then came to a stream and made a brigue over and then marched 2 miles further and then came to a nother large stream and there we campt &c.
" Tuesday, October ye 30, 1 759. We maid ye great brigue and march 3 miles & then campt.
October ye 31, 1759, then march 2 miles & then we eat dinner."
After the close of the war he removed from Colrain to Bennington, Vt., and became a member of the Green Mountain Corps, which defended the Vermont people from the New Yorkers, who claimed that region under grants, and at the time of his death, he was the last but one of that little band.
The following extract from the life of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes of '76, by Henry W. DePuy, evidently refers to him.
" In October, 1769 a number of the inhabitants of Bennington were assembled upon the farm of James Breckenridge, in the western part of the town, for the purpose of assisting him in harvesting his corn. While they were thus employed, a number of surveyors came upon the farm, and appeared to be running a line across it. Mr. Breckenridge (James Breckenridge was a former resident of Colrain, Mass., and lived next lot to the Stewarts) and Mr. Samuel Robinson left their work, and entered into conversation with them. The surveyors declared they were acting under the authority of the State of New York. Mr. Breckenridge and Mr. Robinson forbade their proceeding further, stating, at the same time, that it was not their intention to use violence, but merely to protest against the proceeding, for the purpose of preserving their legal rights. Upon this they petitioned the governor and council of New York stating that the commissioners and surveyors had been c violently opposed by sundry persons, and prevented by their threats from executing the trusts reposed in them.' Upon this a proclamation was issued by the governor c for apprehending and securing the principals and ringleaders ; ' and at the following January term of court at Albany, several persons who had been present were indicted as rioters, and among them was John Stewart. None of them, however, were arrested or brought to trial."
|
1745 - 1829 (83 years)
