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Mary Stuard and her father John Stuart
photo by Dorothy Goldman for Find A Grave |
STUART / STEWART / STEWARD / STUARD
“Charter John” Stuart was born in Scotland about 1682, and
died on 6 April 1741 in Londonderry, New Hampshire. According to the History of Windham, by
Leonard Allison Morrison, page 15, his father was Robert Stuart of Scotland, a
veteran of the Battle at Bothwell Bridge, between the Covenanters and the royal
forces under the Duke of Monmouth. The
Covenanters fled to Northern Ireland.
Many of these families, when they came to Nutfield, eventually settled
in what is now the town of Windham, New Hampshire.
Also, according to the Stewart compiled genealogy (see
below) on pages 2 – 3, Robert Stuart was the son of Walter Stewart. He married Janet Forsythe. Robert Stuart fled to Londonderry, Northern
Ireland where he was joined by his family.
Also, this book states that Charter John was born in Edinburgh in
1682.
John Stuart is listed as one of the 16 men who settled the
Nutfield (later known as Londonderry, New Hampshire) with Rev. James MacGregor
in April of 1719. He married first to Elizabeth
Clark about 1704, and he married a
second woman named Elizabeth (maiden name unknown). “Charter John” was a carpenter. He is buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in
what is now East Derry, New Hampshire. His wife Elizabeth died in Colrain,
Massachusetts.
John was given land along with the other early settlers in
Londonderry, and his farm was known as the Precept Farm. He grew dissatisfied
with his grant and in 1728 he petitioned the General Assembly for a
change. He was given an additional 34
acres of land in what is now the town of Windham, New Hampshire. This land is
located between Cobbet’s Pond and Canobie Lake. John Stuart’s petition can be found in The
History of Windham. His new grant is in Willey’s Book of Nutfield, and
both documents can be seen in the book (see below) by Severance, pages 8 and
9. His son, John, Jr., inherited this land
and passed it to the grandson, John Stewart, who lived here until he removed to
Shelburne, Massachusetts in 1773.
John Stuart’s epitaph at Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry, New Hampshire:
Memento Mori
Num sito labitur hora
Here lyes the intered body of
Mary Stuard, the daughter of
John Stuard and Eliz his wife,
Who departed this life November
The 7, 1738, and in the 22
Year of her age.
Here lyeth also the body
Of John Stuart father of the
Aforesaid Mary who departed this
Mortal life about the 60 year of
His age and on the 6 day of
April Anno Domini 1741
John Stuart’s
will was transcribed in the compiled Stuart genealogy, pages 13 -14:
“In the Name of God, Amen I John Stuart of
Londonderry in the Province of New Hampshire Yeoman Being very Sick and weak of
Body But of a perfect mind and memory thanks be Given to God therefore Calling
to mind the Mortality of my Body and Knowing it is appointed for all Men once
to Dye do Make and Ordain this to be my last Will and Testament Principally and
first I give and Recommend my Soul into the hands of God who gave it me and as
for my Body I Recommend to the Dust to be Buried in a Christian Manner at the
discretion of my Executors Doubting nothing But at the Resurrection I shall Receive
the Same by the Almighty power of God and as for what it hath pleased God to
Bless me with in this world I Give and Bequeath unto my well Beloved wife
Elizabeth Stuart one hundred and fifty pounds Bills of Credits to be paid out
of my Personal Estate Besides the one third of my house and Dwelling Lands and
Improvement During her natural Life.
Impr. I Give and Bequeath
unto my well Beloved Son Charles Stuart ten Pounds to be paid to him out of my
Estate.
Impr. I give and
Bequath unto my Grand Daughter Mary Stuart ten Pounds to be paid out of my Estate.
Impr. I give and Bequeath
unto my Son Robert Stuart ten Pounds to be paid out of my Estate.
Impr. I give and Bequeath
unto my well Beloved Son James Stuart the sum of ten Pounds to be paid out of
my Estate.
Impr. I give and Bequeath
unto my well Beloved son John Stuart ten Pounds to be paid out of my Estate.
Impr. I give and Bequeath
unto my well Beloved son Samuel Stuart the one half of all the Remaining part
of my Estate excepting what is Before Bequeathed.
Impr. I give and
Bequeath unto my well Beloved Son Joseph Stuart and Margaret Stuart my well Beloved
Daughter the other half of my Remaining Estate equally to be Divided Between
them; and I appoint my Son Charles Stuart aforesaid and Samuel Stuart of
Andover to be my Executors of this my Will and Testament Rattifying and
Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament Revoling all
others Whatsoever.
Dated at Londonderry
this third day of April in the Year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred
and forty one.
Signed Sealed Published
Pronounced and Declared
To be my Last Will Testa- John Stuart [Seal]
Ment in Presents of
John Wiear
Johnathan Morison
Samuel Alison Junr.”
Children:
1.
Charles, born in Ireland about 1705 married first
to Mary, married second to Martha Ayers 15 November 1727 in Londonderry, and
married third to Jenett Lindsay 24 April 1759 in Pelham, Massachusetts. He died
6 May 1777 in Colrain, Massachusetts. Children: Elizabeth b. 11 January 1729
married John Clark of Colrain; Mary,
born 5 May 1730 married Abraham Peck of Colrain; Margaret, born 4 October 1731
married John Kately of Colrain; William born 12 February 1733 and married Elizabeth
Clark; John, born about 1735 and married Ann McClellan and removed to Truxton,
New York where he died 28 August 1818 ; Janet, who married Joseph Bell of
Halifax, Vermont.
2.
Robert, married Lydia Blair in Andover, New
Hampshire in 1735. He was a soldier in
the French and Indian War, at Fort No. 4
in 1747, and served under Colonel John Goffe in 1760.
3.
James, married Margaret, lived in Pennsylvania.
4.
John, was born in Ireland in 1711, and married
Rebecca Costa, widow of Robert Patten who died on the way to America and was
buried at sea. He lived on his father’s farm in Windham. He was also a soldier of the French and Indian
War at Fort No. 4, and also served under Colonel John Goffe in the invasion of
Canada to Crown Point. He died during
the expedition on 29 March 1761. His widow remarried a third time to David
Hopkins and removed to Shelburne, Massachusetts where she died 6 February 1802
at age 90. Children: John born 22 September 1743; Robert born 15 September
1748; Rebecca born 20 December 1750 and died 26 Feb 1757; Mary born 2 May 1753
and died 8 March 1757; Hannah born November 1755 and died 15 March 1757 (these
last three daughters all died within two weeks of each other); and Adam, born 1758
and died 24 April 1777.
5.
Mary died age 22 on 7 November 1738 in Londonderry, New Hampshire (shares a tombstone with her father at Forest Hill Cemetery in what is now East Derry, New Hampshire).
6.
Samuel Stuart, married Alice Atchinson, lived in
Colrain, Massachusetts. He might have
died near Salem, New York where Alice was living with a daughter. Children:
John born in Londonderry, New Hampshire on 12 September 1745; William
born before 1746 and married Mary Harris, served in the Revolutionary War (he
is believed to have explored Kentucky with Daniel Boon on 1 May 1769, and was
killed at the Battle of Blue Licks, 19 August 1782); Isabel, married a Moore
and lived in Pennsylvania; Samuel, born in Londonderry, New Hampshire on 23
February 1749; Mary, (twin) born in Colrain on 18 May 1753 and married Robert
Archibald and removed to Salem, New York; Alice (twin) born in Colrain on 18
May 1753 married William Smith and removed to Putnam, New York; Rebecca, born
at Colrain on 26 July 1756 and married a Merriman, removed to Salem, New York
in 1800 and then removed again to Ohio; James, born at Colrain on 5 January
1759, was a Minute Man who answered the Lexington alarm in 1775, and at
Bennington in August 1777 (he was in Kentucky around 1784 and was killed at
Harmers defeat by the Indians near Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1791, probably
unmarried); and Sarah who married Robert Gillis of Salem, New York as his
second wife.
7.
Joseph, born 17 January 1721, married first to
Margaret Thompson 1 June 1747 in Londonderry.
Married second to Hannah Hescock.
Died 22 February 1821 in White Creek, Washington County, New York. He removed to Colrain and had lot No. 43. He
sold his homestead on 15 March 1770 and later appeared in Halifax and
Bennington, Vermont. In 1800 he was in
Washington County, New York. Children: Susan, Mary born 13 July 1750, died on the 28th
of July 1750; Joseph, born at Colrain on 6 April 1752; John born 14 February
1755; Alexander born 10 April 1757; Mary born 27 June 1759; Ann born 24
September 1761; Jonathan (twin) born 3 May 1765; and Solomon (twin) born 3 May
1765.
8.
Margaret, married an Aiken.
For more information:
Genealogy and Biography of the Descendants of Walter Stewart of
Scotland and John Stewart who came to America and Settled in 1718 in
Londonderry, NH, by B. Frank Severance, 1905.
History of Windham in New Hampshire, by Leonard Alison
Morrison, 1883.
Willey’s Book of Nutfield, by George Franklyn Willey, 1895.
Note: There was another
John Stewart who lived in Londonderry early.
He might even have been a kinsman (nephew? Cousin?) to the Charter John
Stuart above. He was brought over by
Rev. MacGregor as a young servant. He is
called “Weaver John” Stewart in some records to distinguish himself from
“Charter John” Stuart. He married Jean
Barr and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry (formerly the town of
Londonderry). I have a blog post with a
brief genealogy and a photo of his tombstone:
----------------------------
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “STUART – Descendants of Nutfield
Grantee John Stuart”, Nutfield Genealogy,
posted March 9, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/03/stuart-descendants-of-nutfield-grantee.html: accessed [access date]).
