Marty and Karla Grant
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Potential Siblings of John Stewart (1730/40-1830) of North Carolina (Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Buncombe, Haywood, Macon)
[Stewart Home] - [Table of Contents] - [John Stewart (1730/40-1830)] - Potential Siblings
John Stewart, a.k.a. John Stuart, was born ca 1730/40, birthplace unknown. He was in Mecklenburg (now Cabarrus) Co., NC during the 1770s and perhaps 1780s, then to Rutherford (now Buncombe) Co., NC briefly by 1790, then back to Cabarrus, then to Buncombe again by 1802. He lived there and in neighboring Haywood Co., NC until the 1820s when he made his final move to neighboring Macon Co., NC where he died in 1830.
There is also the possibility he lived in Guilford Co., NC in the 1770s.
Using the locations and time periods above we can research other Stewarts who were there at the same time and theorize about which of them might have been closely related to him. It seems unlikely his parents can be found this way in North Carolina, but we might be able to identify some potential siblings.
Keep in mind, the names listed below are by no means proven to be John’s siblings. Nor are any of them even proven to be related to him at all. However, proximity is certainly noteworthy. Of the few men listed below, William of Anson and Thomas of Mecklenburg/Cabarrus are the most promising for a variety of reasons.
Contents:
Anson Co., NC (Parent of Mecklenburg)
Mecklenburg Co., NC (Parent of Cabarrus)
Anson County was formed 1750 from Bladen.
William Stewart was born before 1755. He died about 1816 in Anson Co., NC. He left a Will naming wife Priscilla and children: Phebe, William, James, Isaiah, Joseph, Mary, John, Delilah and Frances.
It is generally thought that William was about the same age as our John. That isn’t reason enough to think they might be brothers though. However, consider that William’s son Isaiah Stewart is the father of the infamous Frances Stewart Silver who was hung for killing her husband in 1833 in Burke Co., NC. There has been persistent family rumors and lore that our Stewarts were related to those Stewarts. Furthermore, Frances’s small child Nancy Silver (1830-1901) was apparently spirited away to Macon Co., NC to some relatives there while Frances was in jail. It is thought those relatives were her Stewart kin, namely Jacob Stewart son of our John. None of this can be proven though, but if it were true, then how could our Stewarts be related to those Stewarts? The most obvious answer would be that our John and their William were brothers, thus Isaiah and our Jacob were 1st cousins. It would be a tidy explanation, but so far we can’t really prove it.
Buncombe County was formed in 1792 from parts of Burke and Rutherford, both of which had Stewarts in them before 1792.
Nathaniel Stewart was likely born in the 1730s or 1740s at the latest. He has often been thought of as a potential brother of our John Stewart. They, and their children did live in the same places at the same time, but only after 1810. Nathaniel originated in Virginia, then appeared in Surry Co., NC by 1786. He left there for Greenville Dist., SC by 1800, then was in Buncombe by 1810 where he remained until his death in 1824. Nathaniel and his wife Mary had several children, not all proven, but likely: Edward, Hampton, Charles, Nathaniel (Jr), Jacob, James and Joshua. These children were in Buncombe before moving elsewhere, including Macon Co., NC, Gilmer and Fannin Co., etc.
One big flaw with trying to place Nathaniel as a brother to our John is that he does indeed have a very likely brother named John Stewart, but it’s clearly not our John. His John was born ca 1733 and died 1807 in Surry Co., NC leaving a widow Rachel and children: Edward, Joseph, Susanna, Nathaniel, John and Nancy.
Guilford County was formed 1770/71 from Orange and Rowan.
There was a John Stewart Sr and John Stewart Jr in the deed books here in the late 1700s and early 1800s, neither of whom seems to be our John, though one did have a wife named Mary.
More research is needed in Guilford and parent county Orange.
Mecklenburg County was formed in 1762 from Anson. There were a few Stewarts found in Mecklenburg around the time our John might have been there. There are also records for more than one John Stewart in that county. Click on the link to see an outline of the all the records and who I think each one belongs to.
Alexander Stewart was probably born in the 1730s or even earlier. He left a Will in 1789 in Mecklenburg naming his wife Elizabeth, and sons David and John and daughters Frances Greer and Sarah Stewart. David and John were both born before 1755, though how much before I can’t say. I’m 100% certain that Alexander’s son John is not our John because his John remained in Mecklenburg long after ours was gone from there.
If Alexander was born in the 1730s, then he could certainly be a brother of our John Stewart. If we assume he was at least in his 60s or 70s when he died in 1789, then he would be at least a generation older than our John, so not likely his brother. Narrowing down his birth date more would be helpful.
Matthew Stewart (c1720-1808) made his Will in 1808. He has a proven son John Stewart, but this John is much younger than ours. He remained in Mecklenburg where he died in 1826.
Robert Stewart made his will in 1777 naming wife Isabel and children Agnes, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jane, James and William. I don’t know of anything that would link this Stewart family to ours other than being in Mecklenburg.
Thomas Stewart died 1778 Mecklenburg leaving a Will naming wife Catherine, and children: William, Thomas, Agnes, Olivia, Mary, Elizabeth, John and Ann.
This Thomas appears to be about the same age as our John. He apparently lived in the part of Mecklenburg that became Cabarrus, so that’s a point in favor of them potentially being related.
Rowan County was formed from Anson and Orange in 1753. We don’t know that our John ever lived in Rowan. However, there were several John Stewarts there in the early years, one of whom could be ours. Also, Guilford County was formed from Rowan and Orange in 1770, effective 1771. Our John may have been in Guilford around that time, perhaps in the part that was Rowan before 1771.
Samuel Stewart died ca 1768/70 in Rowan leaving a Will naming his wife Lydia and some children. Lydia died in 1771 also leaving a Will. Between the two wills we see their children were: David, Samuel, John, Isaiah, Joseph and Benjamin.
Those children are all in the same generation as our John Stewart. However, their son John is not ours. Theirs, born ca 1729 married Susannah Fulkerson, recent widow of Thomas Bledsoe. After Susannah’s death, this John Stewart went to Sullivan Co., TN where he died.
Rutherford County was formed in 1779 from Tryon County.
William Stewart was born 1740/50, which puts him close in age to our John. He married Lurany Lacefield in 1768 in Rowan Co., NC. John Stewart and Mark Armstrong were bondsmen. Could that be our John Stewart? Perhaps, but perhaps not.
William was in Rutherford Co., NC by 1790, which, coincidentally or not, is where our John Stewart seems to be at that time. They weren’t in the same district though. Whereas our John left there after 1790, William remained in Rutherford until his death in 1832. He left a Will naming wife Lurany, and children Margaret, William and Lurena, the last of whom went to Macon Co., NC. Furthermore, Lurena was on the 1850 census just two houses from Jacob Stewart (c1775) son of my John. Coincidence?
There are three items that potentially link this William to our John: 1. The marriage bond. 2. Being in Rutherford at the same time. 3. Daughter Lurena moving to Macon Co., NC and being a neighbor of Jacob Stewart. All of that could be coincidental though.
Revised: May 30, 2024
Copyright © 1996-2024 Marvin A. Grant, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
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