Walter Stewart, Sr.
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The
odyssey to America of Walter Stewart, Sr., the founder of the Walter Stewart
family, has been traced by 6561 Goldie West Stewart, Co-Historian of the House of
Clark, in her 1975 paper, Clark Berry Stewart (1813-1890): Preparation for a
Life 1813-1844, written as partial fulfillment of the requirements for a
master’s degree in history at the University of Georgia. Here we join her story early, as she
describes the origin of the surname “Stewart” in Scotland:
Traditionally the lineage is
traced to Walter, a Norman who came to England with William’ the
Conqueror. His son, Walter, made his
way to Scotland and entered the service of King David I by whom he was appointed
Lord High Steward. The office became
hereditary and Steward (Stewart) was adopted as a surname in 1246…
It cannot be proved with any
degree of certainty that the thousands of Stewarts since that time have direct
biological lineage; it does appear that they may claim some psychological and
philosophical kinship, for certain ideals and characteristics are woven like a
thread through their history. They are
strangely conscious of their name and of a bond with others of the same
name. They are not “clannish” in the
literal sense. To them, the word
“clan” merely means “kinship from a common ancestor” ....
The original patrimony of
the Stewarts was the Barony of Renfrew, but this prolific and adventuresome
clan could not be held in the confines of Scotland. Early in their history they eyed the fertile lands of nearby
Ireland and when their own rocky hills refused to produce, they crossed the
Irish Sea to vie with the natives for the best lands. Later, under the rule of their kinsman, James IV (James I of
England), many of them received land grants to settle on Ulster Plantation to
expand the Protestant population in Catholic Northern Ireland. Others came as tenants of the great lords.
Their vision broadened and
the next land to beckon was North America.
The first Stewart on record in the New World is James who came to
Plymouth in 1621. He was followed by
many of his kinsmen, most of whom were Ulster Presbyterians. As a rule they brought money to buy good
land but some did arrive as indentured servants. The period of greatest migration began in 1718 when the landlords
of Northeastern Ireland doubled or trebled rents. In addition, these stubborn Presbyterians were barred from
holding political office because they refused to submit to the Test Act. Many sailed to America where they found a
land of religious and political equality and ample opportunity to live the good
life. It was not long before such ideas
floated back to their cousins at home.
Before the American Revolution, members of the Clan could be found in
every colony and, almost without exception, they joined the movement for
independence.
One Scotch-Irish Stewart who
undoubtedly heard from his kinsmen in America was Walter of County Antrim in
Northern Ireland. Little is known of
his immediate ancestors or early life; his was a favorite name among the clan
and the numerous Walters in the late eighteenth century make it impossible to
unravel their histories. This
particular Walter was born around 1758.
Late in 1787 or early in 1788 he sailed from Belfast to Charleston,
South Carolina, together with his wife, Mary Ross and eight year old son,
Samuel. Another son, John, was born to
Mary Ross Stewart in February, 1788 while they were on board ship ....
The lure of new land and new opportunity rather than an intolerable situation at home probably led to the move. Conditions in Ireland had improved for both Protestants and Catholics. The Irish had exchanged their aid to England in the recent wars for certain concessions. They had forced commercial benefits, such as amendments to the Navigation Acts to include Irish-built vessels, bounties to Irish fisheries, free export of Irish Wool and manufactured glass, and freedom of trade with the colonies. London had, in a small way, eased political restrictions and it appeared to be the beginning of a new freedom. Yet, America represented the real Camelot.
The Walter Stewarts,
apparently, were far from poverty stricken.
Among the few artifacts that remain from this time in their lives are a
gentleman’s silver tipped walking cane, an exquisite knitted bed coverlet, and
two fine trunks brought from Ireland.
The lady’s trunk is particularly handsome with heavy brass straps and
hardware. Both trunks are in remarkably
good condition and even have the original linings. These articles were hardly the possessions of a pauper. *
*At the time the above was written, the cane
was in the possession of 658 Dr. Calvin B. Stewart, Atlanta, Georgia; the
trunks, 685 Janie Stewart, Greer, South Carolina; the coverlet, 6561 Connor E.
Stewart, Elberton, Georgia.
Perhaps it was no accident that they chose to settle in the upper part of South Carolina, for many of their kinsmen had preceded them: Samuel in Spartanburg County, John in Union County, and David on the Pacolet River, among others. The First United States Census, 1790, lists Walter Stewart as head of a household made up of four free white males, one free white female and no slaves. On November 6, 1795 he bought [from John Templeton] 185 acres of land on the Enoree River for twenty pounds sterling…
Laurens County was
developing rapidly in the late eighteenth century. Cherokee
Indian farmers originally inhabited the county; evidences of their
existence are occasionally found today in the broken implements and arrowheads
which are plowed up. Reportedly the
first white settler was John Duncan who came from Pennsylvania about 1755 and
settled on the creek that now bears his name.
As early as 1767 an act of the Provincial Government of South Carolina
authorized a road from Orangeburg to the Saluda River and from thence to Bush
and Rabun Creeks which ran through the district. On March 12, 1785 the General Assembly passed an act creating six
counties out of Ninety-Six District.
One of these was Laurens, named for Henry Laurens, President of the
Continental Congress and Ambassador to France.
Many fine homes were erected, some of which survive to attest to the
graciousness of the area’s early life.
Walter Stewart was active in
community life. He served as an elder
in the Duncans Creek Presbyterian Church (sometimes called Old Stone Church),
the oldest Presbyterian church in upper South Carolina. He and Mary Ross were the parents of five
sons that survived infancy ....
Mary Ross died some time
between 1800 and 1810. Her descendants
have assumed that she was buried in the family cemetery [Stewart-Gilliland
burying ground] across the road from Bethany Church, but the ravages of time
and weather have made it impossible to read the inscriptions on some of the
stones.
Walter Stewart assured
himself of political equality in 1808 when he, and in 1810 his two oldest sons
Samuel and John, petitioned for naturalization. They were accepted as legal citizens of their adopted country.
By 1810 new neighbors had
appeared; on January 4 Spencer Bobo bought a tract of land from the Stewart
farm and on January 10 he added an additional 125 acres adjoining this. A short time later Walter Stewart married
young Isabella Bobo and his son, James, married Lida Bobo, daughters of their
new neighbor.
Attending school for the
Stewart sons must have been spasmodic.
Their father never owned slaves but depended on his own lively crew to coax
a living from the soil to support the fast growing family. They, apparently, were no more advanced in
their methods of farming than most of their neighbors. Some years later Clark wrote of his father’s
“sorry” farm land.
In 1824
several families from Laurens County moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia to
settle on land recently acquired from the Creek Indians. Included in this group were Spencer Bobo
with his son Tilman, James and Lida Bobo Stewart, and Walter and Isabella Bobo
Stewart with sons Clark and David. The
four other sons remained on the farm in South Carolina….
New Gwinnett County had been
inhabited by Cherokee and Creek Indians for hundreds of years .... But in 1824
young Clark Stewart and his family were not greeted by a wilderness. White settlers, hungry for fertile land, had
preceded them by several years and the area was well on its way to the farm and
village stage of development. The
population in 1820 was 4,589; it increased to 13,289 by 1830. Already the Indian trails were growing into
usable roads, such as the Peachtree Trail.
Settling in his new home was much the same for Walter Stewart as it had
been thirty years earlier in Laurens County, South Carolina. He chose a site on the Chattahoochee River
on what is now known as Peachtree Road, and the family began the process of
becoming a part of community life.
Walter Stewart died in 1825 at about
age 63, a year after moving to Gwinnett County. He is said to be buried - at his own request - on his land there.
The exact location of Walter’s land in Gwinnett County is
not known; the early records of the country were destroyed in a courthouse
fire. His land appears to have been
near the present town of Duluth, about 10 miles northeast of Atlanta (which was
little more than an Indian village named Standing Peachtree when he moved
there). One of the most interesting
documents in the family records is a letter from John S. Bobo of Georgia to his
cousin, 6 Rev. Clark Berry Stewart of South Carolina (see also 111 John
Pinckney McKelvey and 4 James Stewart).
In the letter, dated November 30, 1876, J.S. Bobo relates news of old
Gwinnett County friends and makes a reference to “your father’s grave.”
Next I will inform you that old Evan Howell has been ded but a few year and that previous to his death and but a Short Time before he joined the old Side Baptist Church and was Baptised in the Chatahoochee River by being Immersed while Sitting in his arm chair two men Standing in the Flat Let him over the gunnels Into the water. All of boys are living and they are about all that is living that lived there in your day. there has been a great change in that country as well as with the people, now the [rail] cars pass daily not more than 150 yards from your fathers grave, the Rail Road Strikes the old peachtree Road just above where old Billy Green used to live and Keeps the old Road until it passes the crosing of the State and Peachtree Roads a mile and a half above the Chatman place Norcros is the first Station above Atlanta old Pinckneyville deluth is at the crosing of the above named Roads that place is owned by Clark Howells Sons a deed of gift from the old man Howell ....
The “Peachtree Road” mentioned in the letter is now
Highway 23 out of Atlanta through Norcross and Duluth; it is roughly parallel
to Interstate 85 to Greenville, South Carolina. Highway 23 closely parallels the railroad, which crosses Highway
23 at Duluth. Evan Howell had extensive
holdings in the area.
How Isabel Stewart and her two young sons Clark and David
managed to live after Walter Stewart’s death is not certain, but they were not
alone in Gwinnett County. Isabel’s
stepson, 4 James Stewart and his young family lived in the nearby Hog Mountain
community in Gwinnett County in later years; they may have lived in the widowed
Isabel’s household for a time. There is
some evidence that Isabel’s father, Spencer Bobo (one of the “three Spencer
Bobos” later mentioned by 6 Clark in his journal), may have lived nearby. A re-recorded deed in the Gwinnett County Courthouse,
originally dated 1837, places the property of a Spencer Bobo, deceased, near
Duluth on what is now Berkeley Lake; this land was sold by John Baker and
Martha C. Bobo, Executors, to Hiram Pittman; witnesses were James Stewart and
Pleasant H. Turner.
Isabel later married a Henry S. Turner probably between
1830 and 1833, according to Historian Goldie.
Family tradition says her two young sons did not care for their
stepfather - although 6 Clark later writes about him affectionately in his
journal. In any case both left home as
young men; Clark was back in the Bethany community by 1833. He was visited there in 1837 by his
18-year-old brother 7 David “from Cassville,” in northwest Georgia (Cass
County, later Bartow County). The two
brothers and their half-brother 4 James continued to gather at Isabel and Henry
Turner’s home in Gwinnett County for Christmas over the years, until Isabel’s
death about 1843. Her place of burial
is not certain; probably Gwinnett County.
Isabel Bobo was a member of an extended family of Bobos
who settled in the tri-county area of Spartanburg, Union and Laurens Counties
in South Carolina. The family is said
to be of French Huguenot extraction; the name originally was spelled
“Beaubeau.” Bobos came very early to
Maryland and Virginia, and thence to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and
other states. There is some confusion
as to the original relationships among the old Bobo families, but they were characterized
by a distinctive set of first names for male descendants - among them Spencer,
Sampson, Simpson, Tillman, Absolom, and Lewis - which have been passed back and
forth among their families and handed down for generations. Isabel’s son 6 Clark Berry Stewart noted in
his journal that “there were three Spencers” (see Introduction). Three Spencer Bobos are found on the 1790
Census for South Carolina: two in Spartanburg County and one in Laurens
County. The only other Bobo shown in
Laurens County at this time is Absolom.
The identity of “Nancy Bobo of Revolutionary fame” found
in 62 Wistar’s interview with his cousin 31 William (see Introduction) is not
certain. However, an old letter dated
1897 from the household of 31 William shows that his wife Rebecca had in fact
received an inquiry from one of her Bethany cousins Clarentine Robertson Cooley
- about a possible relationship between “Rev. Clark Stewart” and “Mary
Musgrove,” whom they all knew as the young Revolutionary heroine of Musgrove
Mill near Bethany, where the Redcoats were routed during a crucial Up Country
skirmish during the Revolution. Mary
Musgrove had distinguished herself by helping two of her captured countrymen
escape from an upstairs window in her home while their British captors ate
their evening meal downstairs.
Absolom Bobo of Laurens County was in fact married to one
of the Musgrove sisters - not Mary the heroine, but her sister Ann; their son,
Dr. Edward Musgrove Bobo, was a doctor in the Bethany community in the years
before the Civil War. Absolom Bobo’s
third and last wife, however, was named Nancy - hence Nancy Bobo. This was indeed the name of Isabel Bobo’s
mother - but she was not the same Nancy Bobo.
According to a Bobo family history, Bobo Cousins
by the Dozen, Isabel Bobo was the daughter of Nancy Berry
and Francis Spencer Bobo, Jr. (born 1739), probably of Culpepper County,
Virginia, who joined the migration to South Carolina. Particulars on the family are uncertain, but they are said to
have had children Absolom, Tillman, Sampson, John T., Isabel, Lida, and Mollie,
all born between 1764 and 1776. Of
several of the children there is no further record, but the wife of their son
Tillman is shown as Bulah or Beulah Yarbrough - which agrees with the record 6
Clark Stewart has left us on his “maternal uncle” (see Introduction).
Readers who are not fascinated with these matters are
invited to skip to the next section, but one other problem should be mentioned:
the relationship between Isabel Bobo and 4 James Stewart’s wife, “Lida” Bobo
(probably Scynthia Bobo, in the light of recent findings - see 4 James Stewart
for more information). In the past
these two Bobo women have been identified as sisters, but the evidence now
indicates that James’ Bobo wife was a niece of Isabel Bobo, and probably the
sister of John S. Bobo, 6 Clark’s cousin and correspondent. The names of John S. Bobo’s and Scynthia
Bobo’s parents are not known.
There has been little progress in recent years in
tracking down the identity of the family of Walter Stewart, Sr. - and of his first wife, Mary Ross - in
northern Ireland. If our Walter was
indeed from County Antrim - which appears likely - and if the old tradition
that he was a weaver is true, then it is possible that he was a later descendant
of a Col. Walter Stewart, whom the Stewart Clan Magazine
(Nov. and Dec. 1933) describes as a colonel of one of ten regiments of Scotch
soldiery sent to Ireland in 1643 to quell the native Irish. He later retired from military service and
settled near Procles in County Antrim, where his later descendants “made bleach
linen cloth along the Main water for about fifty years.” Later members of the family moved to an
estate called Cairndeasy in County Londonderry, from whence several emigrated
to America, most of the known ones to Pennsylvania. *
* Information located through the courtesy of Mrs. Aldine K. Burks,
Tucson, Arizona, member of the Arizona State Genealogical Society.
Walter Stewart, Sr.
|
Stewart Code |
Name |
BORN |
DIED |
|
Founder |
WALTER STEWART, SR. married (1st) Mary Ross |
about 1758 |
12/02/1825 about 1810 |
Children
Stewart Code |
Name |
BORN |
DIED |
|
1 |
SAMUEL STEWART married 1807 Anna
Gilliland (sister of Rachel) |
03/30/1780 05/24/1789 |
01/15/1866 10/21/1833 |
|
2 |
JOHN STEWART married 01/19/1815 Adeline
Pitts (Linny) |
06/02/1787 12/16/1795 |
10/07/1852 06/29/1857 |
|
3 |
ROBERT STEWART married 1823 Rachel
Gilliland (sister of Anna) |
08/08/1790 06/12/1804 |
03/24/1845 09/26/1867 |
|
4 |
JAMES R STEWART married Scynthia Bobo |
about 1795 about 1808 |
06/ /1853 1858 |
|
5 |
WALTER STEWART, JR. married 04/17/1823 Sarah
Templeton (Sallie) |
09/17/1799 12/29/1799 |
05/28/1842 02/04/1842 |
|
Stewart Code |
Name |
BORN |
DIED |
|
Founder |
WALTER STEWART, SR. married (2nd) Isabel Bobo |
about 1758 1772 |
12/02/1825 about 1843 |
Children
|
Stewart Code |
Name |
BORN |
DIED |
|
6 |
REV. CLARK BERRY STEWART married 10/05/1843
Katharine Carson Hitch |
01/27/1813 03/19/1823 |
04/30/1890 10/25/1898 |
|
7 |
DAVID BOBO STEWART married 11/08/1837 (1st)
Virginia Phillips married 11/04/1861 (2nd)
Mrs. Nancy Jones |
11/08/1818 09/11/1818 |
12/22/1896 06/18/1861 |
Contact Walter Stewart Clan Chief Historian at email address: mary at walterstewart dot org(disguised to foil spammers)