Charles Stewart (1680 - abt. 1753)

Born 1680 in Scotland

Descendants

Died about 1753 at about age 73 in Brunswick County, Colonial Virginia

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Biography

Born on 1680, there is a possibility that Charles is the son John Stewart (abt.1630-bef.1733)

Charles married Anne Pace and had a child. He passed away on 1753.

1680 Charles Stuart was born in Scotland. He married Anne Pace on 1703, daughter of Richard Pace and Rebecca.^[1][2]

STEWARTS IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, Virginia:
RICHARD(4) STEWART (Charles(3), born about 1720, married. His father, in his will dated 2 Dec 1752, and probated 25 Sept 1753, gave him 200 acres of land in Surry (after 28 Nov 1753), Sussex County After his mother Anne's death in 1754 he came into possession of his father's home plantation and the 200 acres adjoining it, in addition to other land in Brunswick County^[3]

WILL DEC 2, 1752
In Charles Steward's will dated 2 Dec 1752 and probated on 25 Sep 1753, Surry County Deed Book # 6, p. 446, 1749-1753: (Extracted from STEWART CLAN MAGAZINE, Tome E, Jan and Feb 1944, Vol. XXI: No. 8) -- Richard(4) Stewart son of Charles(3), born about 1720. His father, in his will dated Dec. 2, 1752, and probated Sep. 25, 1753, gave him and his brother, William, 200 acres of land in Surry, south of the Nottoway River. .

After he gives property and possessions to his other children and his wife, he states that he gives his son William the remainder of his land. This William is the son of Charles and Anne Pace Steward and the William who marries Mary Shands.

A different Charles Steward was sponsored to America in 1635 by Edward Osborne and mentioned in 1638 with Christopher Branch of Henrico, VA.

During this period of time our Stewart/Steward/Stuart/Stuard name was not spelled consistently, nor were other family spellings. On the 1790 Census of the United States some family names had as many twenty spelling variations. Many people are thrown off track when searching for their ancestors if they believe the family has spelled its name only one way. Most of these Southerners could neither read nor write; therefore, the person doing the recording or census taking spelled names as he heard them spoken in the various dialects.^[4]

Charles Stewart died 1753 in Brunswick, Virginia.

Charles' direct descendant, John Richard Stewart, took a y-dna test in August 2021. This line's haplogroup is R-BY11982, descended from King Robert II of Scotland, and specifically from his son, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Wolf of Badenoch.

Charles was born about 1685, either in Scotland or Virginia.

Although there is no marriage record available at this time, it is estimated that Charles married Anne Pace sometime in the early 1700s. Anne was the daughter of Richard Pace & Rebecca Poythress, and the Pace family had been in Virginia since the founding of Jamestown.

Anne is listed in her father’s will, filed in 1736 in Bertie County, North Carolina, as his daughter, Ann Steward, which is evidence of her marriage to Charles. Charles and Anne’s father, Richard Pace, are also named together as witnesses to some wills in their community.

Charles and Anne had four sons and three daughters: Richard, James, William, John, Sarah, Anne and Rebecca.

Between 1724 and 1747, Charles acquired many acres of land, through both land grants and purchases. The tracts of land were located near Otterdam Swamp in Surry County, Virginia, as well as in Brunswick and Southampton counties.

5 Nov 1724: granted 530 acres in Surry County, east side of Otterdam Swamp.

28 Sep 1728: granted 195 acres in Brunswick County, north side of Roanoke River.

22 Sep 1739: granted 185 acres in Isle of Wight County (now Southampton), north side of Three Creek.

2 Apr 1740: leased 250 acres from Thomas Avent, 5 shillings, along Lick Branch. The following day, Avent released Charles from the lease for an additional 15 pounds.

20 Aug 1740: granted 330 acres in Brunswick County, south side of Nottoway River.

3 Jan 1744-5: sold the 250 acres on Lick Branch to Charles Williams for 20 pounds. This was the land earlier sold to Charles Stewart by Thomas Avent by deeds of lease and release.

5 Jun 1746: granted 323 acres in Brunswick County, south side of Allen’s Creek.

1 Oct 1747: granted 300 acres in Surry County, south side of Nottoway River.

26 Jul 1749: sold 195 acres in Brunswick County from 1728 grant and 323 acres from 1746 grant to Lewis Parham for 100 pounds.

22 Aug 1753: sold 330 acres from 1740 grant to Benjamin Harrison for 35 pounds.

The land grants were possibly under the headright system, meant to encourage immigration into Virginia. This system granted 50 acres to any person who paid the expenses of an immigrant who who settled in Virginia.

Charles was listed in other records for his community as well.

In March of 1729, he was listed as a witness to the will of Nicholas Brewer in Surry County, Virginia. Other witnesses were Thomas Avent and Richard Pace, who was either his father-in-law or his brother-in-law. Then in September of 1729, he was a witness, along with Richard Pace and Daniel Hix, to the will of John Barlow, also in Surry County, Virginia.

Charles Stewart and John Davis were asked to value Isaac House’s land in 1731 in Surry County because John Allen wished to build a mill on his plantation on Three Creeks. To do this, he needed to acquire one acre of land from Isaac House on the other side of the creek.

On February 4, 1733, Charles was a witness to a land transfer, along with John Duke, Thomas Tapley and Lawrence House. Burrell Brown and his wife Mary, of Brunswick County, transferred 100 acres to John Taylor Duke.

Charles was appointed, along with John Irby, Henry Wyche and Samuel Chamberlain, to appraise the estate of Daniel Hicks at the May 1735 court session in Brunswick County.

He also appeared in processioning records for St. Andrew’s Parish in Brunswick County in 1735, 1739 and 1743.

The Virginia Assembly passed an act in 1662 requiring landowners to walk and renew their boundaries along with their neighbors, an act known as processioning. This was to happen every four years, upon orders of the county courts, and would be organized by vestries of the established church. At first, the act was widely ignored, however further stipulations were added in 1705, including that once a piece of land had been processioned three times, its property lines were settled.

When Charles processioned on December 6, 1735, it was with neighbors William Smith and Lawrence House, “from the county line to the road leading from Old Sweed’s to Colonel Allen’s Mill.” On January 3, 1739, it was with John Smith and Lawrence House “from the county line to road leading from Richard Stewart to Colonel Allen’s Mill.” And finally, Charles processioned October 1, 1743, with William Smith and Lawrence House “from the county line to the road cleared from Charles Stewart’s to Colonel Allen’s Mill.”

In 1737, Charles was appointed to lay a road along with Michael Wall, Lawrence Hows and George Hix. The road was to be constructed “from the old Three Creek bridge on Hix’s Road to Sweed’s Bridge.”

One year later, he was asked to assist in clearing the way for another road. John Wall was appointed overseer for this road, “from, Sweed’s Bridge, the most convenient way into the old Meherrin Road.” Other men who were to clear the way for that road were John Cate, Charles Dinkins, James Dinkins, Thomas Sandford and John Gardiner.

In 1748, Charles voted for Colonel John Wall and Colonel Edwards for House of Burgesses in Brunswick County, Virginia. Sterling Clack (our great-grand uncle) and Drury Stith (our distant cousin) won that election.

Charles made his will on December 2, 1752, in Brunswick County, Virginia.

He gave to his wife, Anne, the plantation where they lived, with 200 acres of land, and upon her death or marriage, that land and adjoining acres, located in St. Andrew’s Parish in Brunswick County, would go to his son Richard.

To his son William, he gave the remaining tract of land adjoining the land going to Richard.

Next, Charles left 300 acres of land to his son John. He described this land as being in Brunswick County at a place called Dinkens.

He left 200 acres in Surry County to his sons Richard and William, “to be divided between them in quantity and quality.” And to his son James, he left “the remaining of my land lying on the lower part of the Turkey Branch,” beginning at the mouth of the river.

The will was “signed, sealed and published in the presence of Thomas Eldridge and John Carter.”

Charles died in September 1753 in Surry County, Virginia, and Charles’ son James submitted his father’s will on the 25th of that month.

It should be noted here that Charles used the spelling Stuart throughout his will, in referring to himself and his sons. However, in the various land grants listed above, the surname was always spelled Stewart.

Also, other surnames in the chapter have different spellings: House, Hows, Dinkins, Dinkens, Hicks and Hix. These are spelled exactly as they were recorded in the various records.

He passed away before 1753.

Sources

1. ↑ http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/m/Johanna-A-Hamilton/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0059.html
2. ↑ https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/a/m/Johanna-A-Hamilton/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0059.html
3. ↑ Stewarts in Brunswick County, Virginia STEWART CLAN MAGAZINE, Editor--George Edson, Tome E, February, 1944, Vol XXI: No. 8
4. ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=grantpinnix&id=I066018

• STEWART CLAN MAGAZINE, Tome E, Jan and Feb 1944, Vol. XXI: No. 8