Elder, Margaret (b. 1838, d. ?)

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Note: Mary Sherer Stewart died Oct. 21, 1807, one day after the birth of her second and third sons [twins], and she was the first adult buried in the Monroe Cemetery, then an open woods there in Ohio. Her grave was enclosed in a log pen.

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Young, Indiana, PA

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Young, Indiana, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Young, Indiana, Pennsylvania

Note: James Stewart was a United Presbyterian of the strictest Sect. The means of his death is thus described:-- Monday May 4, 1835, James Stewart with his wife and niece, Nancy Stewart [No. 79], oldest daughter of Charles Stewart [No. 13], was driving in a spring wagon on the public road a mile or two below Monroe; a large tree which stood by the roadside fell on them as they were passing, instantly killing the three persons; they were buried in the Monroe Cemetery.

James Stewart ,4 (Hugh ,3 Robert ,2 John ,1) b. in Paxtang township , February 28, 1774 ; m., November 17, 1803 , Mary Sherer , daughter of Samuel Sherer and Elizabeth Barnett , of Swatara township, Dauphin county, Penn'a . Moved to Ohio in company with his brother Joseph , in 1805 , and settled near Monroe, Butler county .

Note: Possibly one of the cousins that inherited the Rev John Elder Estate from the sons of his first wife.

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Upper Swatara, Dauphin, Pennsylvania

Note: she fell heir to the homestead on which her father settled in 1805 ; and resides thereon.

Note: The first on record was born near Glasgow, Scotland, A. D. 1665, when Charles II was King. Some time-worn manuscripts in the family indicate that he was the son of John Stewart; it is tradition that John Stewart, being a Covenanter, would not comply with the Royal Edict enforcing attendance at the Parish Church, and consequently incurred heavy penalties which impelled him to emigrate to Ireland. At that period the north of Ireland was a refuge for proscribed Presbyterians and condemned Covenanters of Scotland, and thither he directed his steps, a refugee for conscience sake, preferring to abandon his native hills rather than go back on the Solemn League and Covenant.

(John Stewart fled to Ireland, 1665, returned to Scotland 1685, died in 1720 in Scotland.)

Robert remained in Scotland till the death of his father in 1720, when he removed to Ireland, and where he died in 1730, aged 65 years, leaving three sons, Viz.;---

Robert Stewart’s family is said to have been large, but we have knowledge of only those three here named. The lives of father and son, John Stewart and son, Robert, therefore embrace the most interesting period in English History, commencing in the reign of Charles I through the Common-Wealth and Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, the restoration, and the reign of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, George I, and into George II, whose reign commenced in 1727. The Stewarts were Covenanters.

Stewart Migrations from Scotland to America

Source: " The History of The Stewart Family", by Bucher Ayres (1876)

Transcribed by Vincent Summers

John Stewart, born (1630/1640) of Glasgow, Scotland was a Presbyterian Covenanter who would not comply with the Royal order forcing attendance at the newly established Episcopacy Church in Scotland by Charles II in May 1661. As a result, he incurred heavy penalties which impelled him to flee to Ireland. The Stewarts flourished as agriculturist, framers, and freeholders in Scotland, Ireland , and America; so, it is probably safe to assume John was of the same category. John and family stayed in Ireland until 1685 when he returned to Scotland with his family where he died in 1720. John had one known son, Robert Stewart born 1665, Glasgow, Scotland.

Robert, son of John, must have been a newly born infant when his family fled to Ireland as he was born in the same year they fled. Robert returned to Scotland in 1685 with his father and remained there until his father's death in 1720. He then returned to Ireland, County Down, where he died in 1730 at age 65. It is believed that Robert had a large family, but we have record of only three children.

1) Samuel Stewart, born 1698, Glasgow, Scotland
2) Robert Stewart Jr., born
3) Hugh Stewart, born 11 June 1719, Glasgow, Scotland

Samuel, eldest son of Robert., migrated from Ireland to America in 1735 accompanied by his wife, two sons, and younger brother, Hugh. Why Samuel emigrated to America is unsure. It could have possibly been because the landlords were unwilling to renew leases on old terms. Or, maybe it was just a desire for religious liberty and material interest. The voyage across the ocean in 1735 was perilous and inconvenient. Vessels were small and over crowded, ill ventilated, slow, poorly equipped, and ill fitted for the voyage.

The emigrant Stewarts landed at Philadelphia and settled at Chestnut Level, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the spring of 1735. The family had one dollar and twenty five cents in their pockets. Samuel spent the money for a jack knife to cut threads necessary to the business of weaving. This occupation he previously learned in Ireland.

The journey from Philadelphia to Lancaster County was done by pack horse. The road to Lancaster County (King's Highway) was a winding road through forest, marshes, and unbridged streams. The progress was slow and difficult. They stopped and remained at Chestnut Level, Octoraro Region, Lancaster County which was the metropolis of a Scotch-Irish settlement and the seat of the Presbyterian Church.

Samuel Stewart was tall in person, large and well made. He had a large Roman nose, eyes of blueish-grey, and lively deep brown hair, with a Scotch complexion. Samuel married in Ireland to Mary McClay who was remarkable for her dark complexion and large size weighing 200 pounds. Samuel and Mary had twelve sons and one daughter. Two were born in Ireland and the rest in Lancaster County.

It is believed that Hugh Stewart husband of Susanna Wilson was the seventh child of Samuel and Mary McClay. The above mentioned source record shows Hugh son of Samuel & Mary "settled in Lexington, Kentucky at a very early day and his descendants settled in Indiana". (To review Hugh Stewart file go BACK to Stewart homepage.)

Robert Stewart, brother of Samuel, sailed from Belfast with his family, but was driven back by weather. After three different unsuccessful attempts, he abandoned his design to emigrate. We have no further account of Robert.

Hugh, younger brother of Samuel, later moved to Paxtang Township sometime before 1750. Hugh married twice. First, 1750/1751 to Hanna Dallas. They had four children. After the death of Hannah, Hugh remarried in 1764 Nancy Moore. They had five children. The descendants of Hugh settled in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Note: Samuel Stewart, the brother of Hugh Stewart, had married early in Ireland, so that his oldest sons were nearly of the same age as their Uncle Hugh. His entire family consisted of 12 sons and 1 daughter, the eldest of whom was Samuel Templeton Stewart, three of whose children married with three of Hugh Stewart’s children, as will hereafter appear.

Samuel Stewart ,3 (Robert ,2 John ,1) b. in 1698 , near Glasgow, Scotland ; d. 1770 , in Lancaster county, Pa. He emigrated to the north of Ireland with his father's family in 1720 . In 1735 , accompanied by his youngest brother, Hugh , he crossed the ocean, landing in Philadelphia , and settled in Drumore township, Lancaster county , Province of Pennsylvania , near Chestnut Level , a Scotch-Irish settlement, where had been established a Presbyterian meeting-house, ministered to by the Rev. John Thompson , of Donegal Presbytery. In person, Samuel Stewart was large and well proportioned, six feet in height, Roman nose, bluish-grey eyes, brown hair, and ruddy complexion. He m., in Ireland , Mary McClay , who was noted for her very dark complexion and large person.