Notes for Samuel Stewart: [Rosser-Boney-Smith-Nabers-Gates.FTW]
by Joseph T. Stewart - Gradson (written May 1947)
Samuel Stewart was born around 1711 in Sussex County Delaware. He was a son of David Stewart of that county. David was born around 1690 in Queens County, New York. David was a son of John Stewart and Elizabeth Albertus. John Stewart was born in 1660 in Scotland. His wife, Elizabeth Albertus was a daughter of John Albertus born in 1643 in Kings County, New York. He was a son of Pietro Cesar Alberto, a merchant from Italy. Elizabeth's mother as Elizabeth Scudder. John Stewart and Elizabeth Albertus were married about 1687. They lived in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. They finally settled in Sussex County Delaware. According to my records, John and Elizabeth had seven children: Samuel born in 1688; David born in 1690; John born in 1694; Elizabeth born in 1696; William born in 1698; Hannah born in 1700; and Mary born in 1702. John died in 1705. Elizabeth remarried Thomas Davock and she had at least two children by him.
Samuel Stewart descends from this old Stewart family in America. Samuel, born in 1711, married around 1723 Lydia Harrison of Augusta County, Virginia. To this union were born six sons: David, born in 1725, who married Abigail, last name unknown, died in 1807 in Stokes county NC; Samuel born in 1727, married Elizabeth, last name unknown; John, born in 1729, married Susanna Fulkerson Bledsoe; Isiah born in 1731 married Mary Coe September 1, 1764; Joseph born in 1733 married Sarah Gilbert; Benjamin born in 1736 married Elizabeth Winscott on August 16, 1769.
In 1762, Samuel and wife Lydia moved to Rowan County, now present day Yadkin or Forsyth County. Two of their sons came earlier, David and Samuel Jr. Samuel had a 508 acre land grant by Lord Earl Granville. This grant was dated May 9, 1757.
Samuel Stewart died in 1770. Lydia died about a year later. Joseph and Benjamin got the home-place. They evidently sold this land and moved. Joseph moved to Tennessee and Benjamin probably moved to a Southwest Virginia County or a Northwest County of North Carolina.
Samuel Stewart and wife Lydia were one of the first pioneer families to settle in the Yadkin Valley. According to my records, they lived on Linville Creek in present day Rockingham County, Virginia. They lived near Daniel Boone’s parents in this area. No doubt they knew each other there and they probably made the trip here together to North Carolina.
Samuel Stewart and Lydia have many descendants all over the state of North Carolina and many states of our union. A family of great strength and determination that helped toll the way for growth in Rowan County. Samuel and Lydia will always live on – in the hearts of the ones honored to carry their lineage.
Samuel (1710) lived with his family in three locations: Long Island, New Jersey, and Delaware. From there, he along with the Harrison's moved to Augusta County, Virginia.
His wife's name was Lydia, and those who have done much research on it, particularly the Stewart Clan Magazine by Edson, has assumed that Lydia was a member of the Harrison family. There has been much research done on the Harrison family to find if we could locate a Lydia Harrison. However, we've never been able to find out for sure that her name was Harrison. Dr. Valentine found all the Harrison's family names with the exception of Isaiah Harrison, and he couldn't find any of the children of Isaiah Harrison. More research is needed to prove that Lydia was a Harrison and if she came from that family.
Samuel (1710), with his wife and other Stewart's as well as other Harrison's moved to Augusta County, Virginia. The records show that on September 5, 1749, Samuel received a grant of land and lived on this property for some time. The genealogist, Dr. Valentine, because of his extensive knowledge of the migration of those people and the settling of the different areas, says that undoubtedly Samuel lived on this property for at least 10 years prior to receiving it as his own. And so, if that's the case, he moved into Augusta County, Virginia in the late 1730's or early 1740's and lived there for some time.
(On the 9th of May 1757, Samuel purchased 508 acres of land on the East side of the Yadkin River in Rowan County, North Carolina. On August 10, 1762, he purchased another 332 acres of land also located next to the Yadkin river. He’s listed in the 1759, 1761, and 1768 tax lists of Rowan County. On August 11, 1766 Samuel sold his land of 153 acres located in Augusta County, Virginia, to a Jacob Caplin for thirty pounds. This land was located on the South Fork of Linville’s Creek, which was patented to Samuel on September 5, 1749. According to that deed, at that time Samuel was living in North Carolina. Research by Joyce Lindstrom.)
In 1766 Samuel sold this property in Augusta Co., Virginia, to a David Copeland. Previous to this time, however, he had received a grant of land in North Carolina, in 1762. It was bounded on one side by property owned by his son David, who was a very young man and probably he had gone to N. C. ahead of other members of the family and had taken up a tract of land. On the other side of his property that Samuel had received was the Yadkin River. We don't know when Samuel went to North Carolina but we would assume that he was there when he received the property in 1762. So during that period of time he owned property in North Carolina as well as that in Augusta County, Virginia, which he sold in 1766.
In 1768 Samuel made a will (that was probated in 1770) which is as follows:
In the name of God, Amen, I Samuel Stewart, being weak in body but in perfect mind and memory, thanks be to God for it and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and appoint this my Last Will and Testament. First, I commit my soul to almighty God that gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent Christian manner at the discretion of my Executors.
Item 1: I give and bequest all my movable estate to my well beloved wife LIDDY STEWART, to use and dispose of at her own discretion.
Item 2: I give and bequest the tenement or tract of land I now live on to my son JOSEPH STEWART and to my son BENJAMIN STEWART, to be equally divided in quanity and quality and I do constitute and appoint my son DAVID STEWART and my son SAMUEL STEWART, my Executors in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of Aug 1768.
In the same year that Samuel made the will, he passed away. On 11 January 1771, just three years later, Lydia made a will and as the records show, she undoubtedly died almost immediately after making the will, because the death date and will date are shown on the record as the same day. This probably isn't the case, but certainly she didn't live long after she made the will. Samuel had willed the specific property to his four older sons and so in Lydia's will she willed specifically to the other children, however, she did mention all the different ones in the will which is as follows:
"In the name of God, Amen. I, Lydia Stewart of Rowan County in North Carolina, being weak of body, but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto God, do dispose of my worldly estate as follows: I will that out of my estate, a list to be obtained for a certain tract of land on the south side of the Yadkin River, adjoining Benjamin and James Herson's land, and if such title can be obtained, to be sold and the sales thereof to be equally divided unto my beloved sons, David, Samuel, John, Joseph, and Isaiah Stewart.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter, Lydia, the daughter of my son David, my bed and furniture there unto belonging.
Item: I give unto my son DAVID, my bed and furniture thereunto belonging.
Item: I give unto my son Benjamin an iron pot now in his possession.
Item: I give unto my son Joseph's daughter, Lydia, a heifer or a young cow.
Item: I bequeath unto my beloved sons, David, Samuel, Isaiah and John Stewart, all the rest of my estate to be equally divided amongst them, and their heirs. I do nominate and appoint my sons David Stewart and Samuel Stewart executors of this, my last will and testament, Ratifying, allowing, and confirming this to be my Last Will and Testament and do utterly disannul all former wills by me made in testimony whereof I set my hand and seal. January 11, 1771." (Please note that Lydia Stewart made out her will stating she lived in Rowan County, North Carolina. Actually Surry Co, North Carolina was created from Rowan Co. in 1770.)
Others undoubtedly leased the property that had been willed for a few years after, because in 1774, Samuel Stewart sold that part of the property that belonged to him and then in 1779 Benjamin and Joseph Stewart sold the property that they had received in their inheritance to Edward Brooks. Now we don't know how long after they sold their property before they started the migration into Tennessee, but possibly in a very short while. We've always thought that they went directly to Overton County, Tennessee from North Carolina, and when I suggested this to Dr. Valentine, he said, "No, this wouldn't have been possible because at this early date, Overton County, Tennessee had not as yet been settled." (Overton was made a county in 1806). He said the migration into Tennessee started just over through the Cumberland Gap into eastern Tennessee and then slowly moved on through the territory. We found out as we did further research that the Stewart's did own property in many places in the state, prior to getting in Overton County. They would get property and prove up on it and then move on. Of course, a lot of the areas at that time would be under one county and then a few years later, that county would be divided into many other counties. What I'm trying to say is that the property he had in Overton County, Tenn., may have been in several counties prior to it being cut off into what is now Overton County, Tenn. But they did own property in Green County and White County and other counties that they moved through as they moved from the east to the west.
More About Samuel Stewart and Lydia Harrison: Marriage: Abt. 1720799
Children of Samuel Stewart and Lydia Harrison are:
+Joseph Stewart, b. 1725, Yadkin, North Carolina799, d. Bef. 1810, Overton, Tenn799.
Samuel Stewart (b. 1700, d. 1770)
Notes for Samuel Stewart: