Alvan Stewart

This is our cousin Alvan Stewart. His great grandfather is James Stewart our 5th great grand uncle. Alvan was born in 1790 in Washington County,NY and died in 1849 in New York City.  A very short period of time for a Stewart. It is his time period and location that play an important role in history.  In the History of Chautauqua, Alvan is mentioned as a son of Uriel Stewart and was a descendant of an ancestor who was in the Siege of Londonderry, Ireland in 1689. 

Shortly after Alvan is born, his parents Uriel and Anna Holgate, move the family to Westford,VT. From the age of five he lived on a farm in Westford, Vermont, and attended district schools in the county. He entered the University of Vermont in 1809, leaving in 1812 to take a teaching position in Canada. He was arrested in Canada as a spy after the outbreak of war and was for a time held as a prisoner. Upon his release he returned to the United States, continuing to teach and beginning the study of law in Cherry Valley, New York. After a few years in Kentucky, Alvan returned to Cherry Valley where he acquired the reputation as a brilliant lawyer. About 1819, Alvan married Keziah Holt, daughter of Major Lester Holt and Catherine Clyde.  Alvan and Keziah are the parents of five children.  So far I've been able to locate Jeannie E.Stewart, Alvan Stewart Jr. and Mary Stewart. The children deserve their own post.

Our cousin is credited for devising and putting into operation the Underground Railroad.  He was associated with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charles Sumner, John Brown and other leaders who strongly believed in the Anti-Slavery movement.  These beliefs are a constant theme that keep appearing from one generation to another and from one branch of our Stewart family to another.It helps gives us some insight into the minds of our ancestors. 

In 1831, Alvan decides to travel through Europe and chronicle his journey through a journal. If any of you have a Nook, or Nook app on tablet, Barnes & Noble offers a free download of several of Alvan's writings, speeches and legal arguments  against slavery. Also, the University of Miami Libraries have The Alvan Stewart Papers.  Here is a link to their site so you can view Alvan's Diary.

http://scholar.library.miami.edu/stewart/diary1.html 

In 1832, after travels abroad which are detailed in these diary pages, Alvan moved with his family to Utica,NY, where he continued to practice law, but devoted a great deal of time to temperance and anti-slavery causes. In 1835 he formed and became president of the New York Anti-Slavery Society where he raised money, organized meetings, and held public debates. Several times his planned affairs were broken up by angry mobs. Alvan argued that slavery was in violation with the Constitution and should be abolished. After a brief attempt at a political career, receiving only a few hundred votes for New York governor, Stewart retired to a more private life, though remaining a member of the New York Anti-Slavery Society.