John Steadman (1725 - 1817)

Born 21 Sep 1725 in Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Husband of Parthenia Bethany (Gracey) Steadman — married 29 Jan 1746 (to about 1760) in South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island

Husband of Frances (Congdom) Steadman — married about 19 Jun 1760 in Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 1817 at about age 91 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Biography

Name

Capt. John Steadman

Birth

21 Sept 1725 Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island

Marriage

Gray Bethany, of Shrewsbury, N. J., and John Steadman, of South Kingstown, Jan. 29, 1746. [1:191]

In 1760, they moved to Cornwallis, Kings County, Nova Scotia as part of a group now known as the New England Planters. This lot of about 128 families came to Nova Scotia in 20 ships at that time to take over land that was vacant after the explusion of the French inhabitants, the Acadians, in 1755.

The ships came by way of the Bay of Fundy and docked at a natural bluff, previously used by the French, near the present Starr's Point on Minas Basin. The civic center that was established nearby was named Town Plot. It was headquarters for the Township of Cornwallis which was an area about 12miles by 12 miles, i.e., extending westward to present Berwick.

John Steadman was a surveyor and assisted in laying out the Township. He received a grant of 1000 acres, the usual size of a grant, which was in part woods, part so-called dyke land, and part farm land. A five acre plot in the Canard River Valley that remained in the family until 1941, probably was in the grant. The main tract could have been a wide strip running from near the center of Billtown toward North Mountain. Much of the property must have been sold off later. Billtown was founded in 1770. It is about four miles west from Starr's Point.

At present, the place name Cornwallis is only the name of a crossroad in a farming region between Canning and Centerville. But, at this place, there is the St. John's Episcopal Church that was established in 1760. According to Dr. Eaton, the Benjamin Steadman family were members there in 1811. The present building is not the original one nor it is exactly at the initial site.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L81N-PTP

• The Narragansett Historical Register (Narragansett Historical Pub. Co., Providence, 1883) Vol. 2, Page 278
• Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 (Providence, R.I., Narragansett Historical Pub. Co., 1891)
• AGBI: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=agbi&h=1732368&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
• Ancestry Family Trees: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=890183&pid=-1321195697