My Genealogy Hound

STEWART, WILLIAM, COL., retired; was born in Sussex Co., N. J., June 4th, 1790. His father, Daniel Stewart, was born in Litchfield, Conn., November 18, 1762; when 15 years old, he enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and served till the close of the war; he then removed to Sussex Co., N. J., where he engaged, successfully, in business for several years, and accumulated some property; in 1801, he exchanged his property in New Jersey for two shares in the Ohio Company’s purchase, and closed out his business with a view to moving West. Col. William Stewart, his son, who accompanied his father to Ohio, says: “In October, 1802, father returned to the old farm to rig out a team for emigration to the Northwest Territory; the preparations having been completed, a day and hour was set for starting; at the appointed time, 8 o’clock A. M., about a hundred friends and neighbors from all quarters came flocking in to bid us farewell, and I shall never forget the scene that followed; they all thought we were going so far beyond the world’s boundary that we should never be heard of again; the hubbub lasted till 5 o’clock in the afternoon before father could say good bye with a strong voice, and then, we started; went three miles and camped for the night. The next morning, we moved on; the teams were heavily loaded and the roads tolerable till we approached the Alleghany Mountains, when they became terribly rough and dangerous; crossing the mountains the family were afraid to ride in the wagons, and, therefore, walked this part of the way; at the very steep descents, father would cut saplings, fasten them, top-foremost, to the tail of the wagon, and then go down, depending on the saplings as a brake. The journey was a long, wearisome and dangerous one, but we finally reached the Hockhocking in safety.” This was in the winter; Mr. Stewart settled on a fine tract of land on the river about a mile above the mouth of Federal Creek; possessing considerable means, great energy and uncommon business talent, he soon had the best farm in the county; as early as 1810, he had an orchard of three thousand bearing fruit trees—two thousand peach and one thousand apple trees—at that time, probably, the largest orchard in the State; he was one of the first two Justices of the Peace in the township (Elijah Hatch being the other), and acted as such altogether more than twenty years; he was County Commissioner for many years, and was appointed by the Legislature one of the early Appraisers of the College lands. Mr. Stewart was an active member of the Methodist Church for sixty years of his life; always contributed liberally to the support of its ministers and the erection of churches; he died Feb. 20, 1858. The subject of this sketch came to Ohio with his parents in 1802; when 17 years of age, he was elected a Lieutenant in the Militia, and was Captain of a company raised there in 1812, which expected to be but was not called into the service; some years later he was appointed a Colonel. The contract for erecting the Ohio University Building was awarded to him in 1817. He married Julia Hulbert, a native of Connecticut, in 1813; she died in 1823, leaving two children — William R. and Emeline; he afterward married Miss Julia C. Carpenter, a native of Connecticut; they emigrated to Iowa, located in Lee Co. in 1840, and engaged in the mercantile trade; in 1847, he was elected Superintendent of schools, and during that and the following year he organized one hundred and five school districts; he has held other offices. There are very few men now living who have seen the first President of the United States, yet Col. Stewart has seen George Washington, and was well acquainted with Aaron Burr. Col. Stewart has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1810 — nearly seventy years. Col. Stewart and his wife have six children — Charles, living in Chicago; Mary (now Mrs. Knapp); Alexander, living here; Edward, living here; D. Wallace, living in Ottumwa; Lucy (now Mrs. Hawley), living in Ottumwa.