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John Stuart was baptized 24 September 1718 in Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland.[1] He was the son of "Bailie" John Stuart, a merchant of Inverness, and his wife Christiana MacLeod (1692–1721).[2]
He was sent to London by 1736 to train as a merchant, and by October 1737 he was working in that capacity in San Lucar de Barrameda, Spain, where he learned Spanish. Perhaps aided by his knowledge of Spanish, he joined the British warship "Centurion" as purser on Commodore George Anson's expedition against the Spanish in the Pacific, leaving England in September 1740. The ship circumnavigated the globe and returned on 15 June 1744.[2]
Commodore Anson had previously served on the Carolina station, which perhaps led Stuart to travel to South Carolina in the spring of 1748. In June of that year, he entered into a mercantile partnership with Patrick Reid in the firm of Stuart & Reid of Charles Town. They owned two ships and participated in the slave trade. The partnership continued until Reid's death in 1754. Stuart had returned to England in 1749 in an attempt to improve the firm's finances, remaining there until late 1750. His efforts were unsuccessful, however, and by 1756 his business was bankrupt.[2][3]
Having married into the wealthy Fenwick family, Stuart also acquired land, eventually owning over 10,000 acres in South Carolina and Georgia. He had an indigo plantation on Ladys Island, Granville County, as well as two plantations at Maple Canes in Colleton County, a tract at Four Holes in Berkeley County, and smaller tracts in other parts of the province. His plantations were worked by about 200 slaves. Stuart also owned a house in Charles Town.[3]
Stuart became a militia captain in 1756 and was sent with a detachment of men to oversee the building of a fort (named Fort Loudon) in Cherokee territory in what is now Tennessee. He returned to South Carolina after the completion of the fort in 1759. When the Cherokee War broke out in 1760, Stuart was ordered back to Fort Loudon and negotiated an agreement with the Cherokees for the surrender of the fort. The agreement was broken, however, and the Cherokees attacked the British soldiers, taking Captain Stuart prisoner. His Cherokee friend Attakullakulla helped him to escape and make his way to Virginia, where he joined British troops advancing on the fort. Stuart returned to Charles Town in December 1760.[4][3][5]
In 1762 he was appointed by the British government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District, with an annual salary of 1,000 pounds. He held the position until his death and was actively engaged in improving British relations with the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and other southern tribes. He was also appointed to the Council of East Florida (1764) and as an advisor to the Royal Council of South Carolina (1770).[3]
When the American Revolution began in 1775, Stuart's support of the British government made him "obnoxious" to the Revolutionary party. There was apparently fear that he would use his influence to encourage Indian tribes to attack the Americans, and in June 1775 the Provincial Congress ordered his arrest. He was able to flee first to St. Augustine, East Florida, then to Pensacola, West Florida, where he continued to encourage the southern Indian tribes to support the British. His property in South Carolina was confiscated by the Revolutionary government, and his wife and daughter were held in Charles Town for two years before they were able to escape and join him in Florida. Stuart raised a British regiment in Florida in 1776 and was commissioned as a colonel. [6][7][3][5]
John Stuart wrote his Will on 16 February 1776, mentioning his wife Sarah, son John Stuart, daughter Christiana Fenwick, and grandchildren John and Joseph Graham. Worn out from his efforts, John Stuart died in Pensacola on 24 March 1779.[7]
About 1749 he married Sarah Fenwick, daughter of John Fenwick and Elizabeth Gibbes of the Province of South Carolina. John Fenwick had returned to England in 1744, and his daughter Sarah was not yet married when he wrote his Will in February 1746.[8]They were married and in England when Bailie John Stuart wrote on 28 April 1750, suggesting that his son and wife visit Scotland. They were still in England on 23 June 1750 when Bailie John Stuart congratulated his son on the birth of a daughter.[2] In addition to his oldest daughter Sarah (m. James Graham, d. 1774)[9][10], they had another daughter Christiana (m. Edward Fenwick), and a son John Joseph (b. 1757).[11] Sarah survived her husband and moved to England after the end of the Revolutionary War.[7]
According to Cherokee lore reported by Emmet Starr, John Stuart had a son called Oo-nodutu or Bushyhead by a Cherokee woman named Susannah Emory. The nickname Bushyhead was supposedly also given to John Stuart because of his hair. Bushyhead's children took the surname Bushyhead.[12] Research Notes under the profile for John Bushyhead question whether the stories of his parentage are correct.
"Another Scot, John Stuart (1718-1779) was, according to his standard biographer, a descendant of the royal house of Scotland. Stuart was born in Inverness in 1718. Although he and his father did not participate in the 1745 Jabobite uprising, they were probably Jacobite sympathizers. This possibly explains why, in 1748, [18] Stuart came to America where he opened a store with Patrick Reid, another Scot. In 1757 he was appointed a captain in the South Carolina provincial army and was sent to Fort Loudoun to reinforce that newly established fort in Cherokee country. Tradition has it that shortly after his arrival in Cherokee territory he married Susannah Emory, the mixed blood granddaughter of Ludovic Grant. They had one son who inherited from his father a bushy shock of red hair [19] and whom the Cherokee called Oo-no dota or Bushyhead. Oo-no dota founded a family who remains prominent in Cherokee society today. One of Stuart's descendants, Jesse Bushyhead, was the first Cherokee to become a Christian minister. He also became chief justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court and he led one of the groups of Cherokee west during the Trail of Tears"[13]
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Categories: Migrants from Inverness-shire to Florida | Clan Stewart | Stewart Name Study
Listed in Charlestons Old Mansions and Famous Homes of Historical Interest Charleston South Carolina Newspaper January 13-1894 Few Probably recognize in the fine Old 3 Story Home Residence at Corner of Orange and Tradd Street. Property of JOHN STUART-The Indian Agent of His Majesty in the Southern Province Here was Born His Son General JOHN STUART,who afterward distinguished himself by defeating the French Troops in Calabria and was Knighted for His Gallantry
Here too-LIEUT COL ALEXANDER STUART--who commanded the British at the "Battle of Eutaw" first saw light. We are accustomed to regard "Eutaw" as an American Victory-- but the careful Student will come to the conclusion that through the work of STUART and His Irish Buffs--Eutaw was a drawn Battle--Inhere They did Fight and they did Win.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.sc0226.photos?st=gallery
Th said JOHN and CATHERINE DICK, GRANT were found in Char;eston before 1711, and JOHN was the Father of LUDOVIC GRANT born c. 1690-1696 (Christianed April 12-1702 in Irvine Scotland) who was transported by Court Order to Charles Town, Carolina on May 7-1716, after being Captured at The Famous BATTLE of PRESTON, whereby his Title was revoked, his lands confiscated, and he was Banished to The American Plantations during the Failed " JACOBITE REBELLIONS". LUDOVIC GRANT was the noted CHEROKEE TRADER found mentioned in South carolina Records {Research By LARRY PETRISKY} In 1719 CATHERINE GRANT, widow of JOHN married RICHARD TOOKERMAN, who became the Executor of the Estate of the late JOHN GRANT {SC ARCHIVE } It is alleged that CATHERINE DICK,GRANT was a full blooded Cherokee, and if so, she was probably the last wife of JOHN GRANT. A Widow GRANT was found in Savannah georgia before 1740 with Children, LUDOVIC, MARGARET, JAMES and DANIEL { Coulter & Says, Early Settlers of Georgia Page 76 } Son LUDOVIC GRANT married a full blood Cherokee Woman of the LONG HAIR CLAN, Euquioote(sic) and issued Two Daughters:
1: SUSANNAH CATHERINE GRANT ( 1/2 ) { Ca 1727, Tellico-October 22, 1769 St Phillips, Carolina } of the Longhair Clan who married C. 1743 to ROBERT EMORY { ca.1723-1790} a son of JOHN EMORY and SARAH WILSON. They issued one daughter below, and she was also perhaps married to WILLENEEWA resulting in the (Step)? relationships mentioned at the end.
1: SUSANNAH CATHERINE EMORY { 1/4 } {Ca. 1744, Tomatly, NC-Ca. 1765, Cherokee Nation ) cohabitated with JOHN STUART { Ca. 1718, Inverness Scotland-Ca. 1779, Florida } and was the Mother of:
a. BUSHYHEAD { 1/8 } Born 1758 and was raised by The Tribe Relatives.
She also cohabitated with ROBERT DEWS { ca. 1759 Charles Town Carolina-after 1800 Georgia.
b. TAHLONTEESKEE { 1/8 } Ca. 1759 was raised by the Tribe Relatives.
And she also cohabitated with JOHn JOLLY a Young Virginian Soldier who came to Carolina during the Cherokee War, and later assisted the GRANT Family.
c. JOHN JOLLY {1/8 }Born 1761/3 was raised in the Tribe by Relatives
Her (Step) half brothers were BLOODY FELLOW--DOUBLEHEAD--PUMPKIN BOY and OLD TASSEL. Her (Step) half sisters were WURTHE--and OO-UO-ST (married JOHN WATTS, SR. by a marriage of her Mother SASANNAH CATHERINE GRANT to "WILLENEEWA" The GREAT EAGLE. These relationships were mentioned in many Old Documents
MARY GRANT { Ca. 1728/9 Tellico-1765/6 in Eastern Tennessee or Goose Creek, Carolina } of The Longhair Clan, who married Ca 1746 to WILLIAM EMORY { ? } of Charles Town Carolina, a brother of ROBERT EMORY, above. WILLIAM EMORY joined LUDOVIC GRANT earlier in his Trade with the Cherokees, MARY GRANT, EMORY was the Mother of six children
From An Investigation into the Family of ROBERT DEWS Original CHARLES TOWN IMMIGRANT--ROBERT DEWS Of BARBADOS and Associated Families Records compiled By STEVEN W DUE, August 8-2006