Charles Steward (abt. 1613 - aft. 1638)

Born about 1613 in Scotland or England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died after 1638 after about age 25 in Henrico County, Virginia

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Biography

Charles Steward is a member of Clan Stewart.

This profile is part of the Stewart Name Study.

This is one of the oldest Stewart families in old Virginia. The descendants of this Charles Steward were never prominent nor wealthy but rather they were sturdy and productive Virginia pioneers. By 1634 Charles Steward, Robert Elam and Leon Ballew arrived in Henrico County, Va. as headright's for Edward Osborne whose plantation "Coxendale" was situated on south side James River in what later became Chesterfield County, Va. Charles Steward would have first lived and worked on Osborn's Coxendale Plantation. This tract seemed to include Proctor's Creek, where Charles apparent descendant William Stewart later lived. In Feb. 1638 Osborn transferred Charles Steward and others to Christopher Branch who lived on a nearby plantation called "Kingsland." No one at this date (2018) knows whatever happened to immigrant Charles Steward. His last record appearance is 1638 at the Branch Plantation called "Kingsland" on Kingsland Creek in what is today Chesterfield County, Va. The Burton's owned adjoining land there in 1636. John Steward "The Glover" later married the widow Burton. Sadly the earliest records of Virginia were destroyed during Bacon's Rebellion in 1675. The area of Proctor's Creek and Kingsland's Creek today is heavily commercialized. English women began arriving in Virginia in large numbers in 1620. However the name of Charles Steward's wife is not known. He and his wife may have died young as they seem to have had only one child, John Steward who would continue the lineage in America. The immigrant Charles Steward lived near America's first hospital "Mount Malady" near the former town of Henricus. The primitive hospital was sometimes called "Mount My Lady." Henricus was destroyed by Indians in 1622 some twelve years before Charles Steward arrived however the hospital might have been continued. The town of Henricus has been re-created on or near its original 1611 site as Henricus Historical Park near Chester, Va. Descendants of Charles Steward are encouraged to visit the reconstructed fort, Indian village, and hospital to get a first-hand idea of the world as Charles Steward saw it. The parents of Charles Steward are not known. They were likely already dead when he came to Virginia by 1634. However genealogical research by Victor Longhorn of England (Dec. 2009), plus the older research of "Stewart Clan Magazine" and modern DNA testing indicates that Charles Steward seems to have descended from a cadet branch of the Stewart's of Northamptonshire, England. The connections however begin in Virginia. As stated Charles Steward arrived in Virginia about 1634. He would have first landed in James town, then later sailed by the ruins of Henricus before coming to his initial American home at Coxendale in what later became Chesterfield County, Va. Years later a John Steward and wife Dorothy settled on Ashen Swamp in Henrico County a little ways south of where Charles Steward lived. Ashen Swamp is today (2018) known as Ashton Creek in present Chesterfield County, Va., a tributary to Appomattox River. The Ashen Swamp Stewart's were related to Leonard Ballew (Ballowe) and other Ballews in 1700. The reader will recall that immigrant Charles Steward came to Virginia with a Leon Ballew in 1634. The John Steward, Sr. of Ashen Swamp (Creek), Va. was born 1634 in Pateshull (pronounced Pattishull), Northamptonshire, England. He died at Ashen Swamp, Henrico County, Va. in 1706. His wife Dorothy died there after 1714. The area is now Chesterfield County, Va. In 1701 John's son John Stewart, Jr. and Leonard Ballowe presented the inventory of Dorothy Ballew in Henrico County. Even though John Steward and wife Dorothy came to Va. many years after Charles Stewart (John was in Va. by 1672) we now have Y-DNA testing to prove they were related and consanguineous. Back around 2008 James A. Stewart, now of Cabot, Ark., believed to be a descendant of Charles Steward, and Curtis Stewart of Indianapolis, IN., believed to be a descendant of John Steward of Ashen Swamp, matched on the 37 marker Y-DNA test. This would seem to prove that 1634 Charles Steward was in some way descended from or certainly related to the Steward's of Pattishall, England, an old aristocratic family listed with an Arms and Crest in the 1618-1619 Visitation of Northamptonshire, England, pages 138 & 197. This line begins with a John Steward, c1534-1577, of Pateshull and his wife Jane Pigge. Her first husband was an Ambrose Clark or Clerk, possibly kin to the Clarks / Clerks who were associated with Charles Stewart, c1660-1722, of Henrico County, Va. much later. The 1591 will of Jane (Pigge) Steward of Patishali, names Clarks and a Elizabeth Loude or Lound, perhaps related to a later Henry Lound who is associated later with Charles Stewart in Henrico County, Va. records. The above written by Dennis Craig Stewart of Etowah, TN. 2018.

Sources

• Book, "Thirty Ye Olde Tyme Families", by D.C. Stewart, libraries in Chattanooga, Tn., McClung Library, Knoxville, Tn., library Ellijay, Ga. genealogical section.
• "Cavaliers and Pioneers", by Nugent.
• "Stewart Clan Magazine", pub. by Geo. Edson of Olathe, Kansas, Oct. 1939, Nov. 1939, Jul. 1943,Sept. 1943, Oct. 1943, Nov. 1943, Dec. 1943, Jan. 1944, Mar. 1954.
• "Early Virginia Immigrants 1623-1666", by Greer.
• "Early Virginia Families Along The James River", by Foley.
• "Genealogies of Virginia Families", vols I, II, IV.
• "Henrico County, Va. Deeds 1677-1750", by Weisiger (deposition of John Stewart the glover).
• "Colonial Wills of Henrico County, Virginia Part One,1654-1737", by Weisiger.