The family moves to Voluntown and in either 1728/29, Alexander purchases land in Voluntown. If you look at the first Alexander (1675-1742) in Ancestry, you'll see the articles that have been attached. I've located the information from a publication called Stewart Clan Magazine. The magazine was published for ten years starting in 1922. The magazine had the misfortune of being published during the Great Depression. The last issue was June 1933. Amazon bound the ten years and I purchased the book from them. If any of us had been alive or into genealogy we could have submitted Amanda Smith Stewart's letter.
A brief history of Voluntown as follows:
Voluntown is located in the extreme northeastern corner of New London County and is bounded on the North by Windham County, on the East by The State of Rhode Island, on the South by North Stonington and on the west by Griswold. Voluntown consists of 39.8 square miles of land with a population of 2,528 people in 2000.
Most of the land which makes up the present town of Voluntown was granted to the Volunteers of the Narragansett War in 1700, thus the name "Voluntown."
In 1705 the town was surveyed and boundaries were established. The plot was drawn up into lots, with each eligible volunteer receiving a lot. The land was rough terrain, although fertile soil, and was in a remote location.
The first settler of Voluntown was Samuel Fish, soon followed by John Gallup, John and Francis Smith, Robert Parke, Thomas Reynolds, Thomas Coles, John Campbell, John Safford, Obadiah Rhodes and Samuel Whaley. The first Congregational Church of Voluntown was established in 1720 upon the employment of a Reverend Wilson.
And before we go any further, let's take a look at the Amanda Stewart letter from our personal collection. For anyone who doesn't know the history of the letter, Amanda Stewart wrote a letter to Hiram Stewart,( son of John W Stewart - Eagle Point,Ogle County), her grandson in March 1868 after Hiram inquires about our family history. Amanda Smith Stewart is our 3x grandmother. Amanda shares both the Smith and Stewart side. Amanda is the daughter of Hubbard Smith and her husband is Ira Stewart. Amanda starts the Stewart history with Ira's father Daniel. How we acquired the letter is part of the mystery we hope to solve someday. My Mom transcribed the original handwritten letter in the 1970's. With the resources of the Internet, we're able to gather information a few generations prior to Daniel. Amanda mentions Charles Stewart who came from Scotland. This might be clue to the correct Stewart from Scotland. At the time she wrote the letter, her husband
Ira Stewart had been dead for over thirty
years so her knowledge of the Stewart family would be based on information Ira would have passed to her.
Alexander Stewart the first(1675-1742), had eight children (Alexander, John, Margaret, William, Thomas, James, Samuel & Nathaniel). We'll need to take each child separately due to the shear number and the complexity of the marriages. The Stewart family marries into other branches of our family and other interesting families in our country's early history.
We start with Alexander the second, our fifth great grandfather. Alexander lives a very short life (1700-1732). He dies at age 32, the father of at least three know surviving children. One of these children is our fourth great grandfather Daniel Stewart.
Amanda mentions Daniel's brother Alexander. Alexander is the first born son of Alexander and Margaret Robinson (1727-1805). You'll have to read the story I've added from the Stewart Clan Magazine in Ancestry to see what Alexander the son has in his attic!
The sister of Alexander (1727-1805) and Daniel (1731-1800 or 4x grandfather is Margaret or Margarey Stewart. Magarey you'll note from Amanda's letter Margaret marries Deacon Caleb Gibbs. The Gibbs Family take us back to Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Plantations and as Amanda puts it "old Puritan Stock". The Gibbs along with a few other branches will move with us through different parts of the country.
I've attached the History of Delaware County NY from it's founding into the 1800's. You'll see numerous names of family members from Amanda's letter and of interesting is the part about the Harpersfield Massacre. Three of our extended family, the Hendry family, were killed by the Tories and Indians. Be sure and look at the Family Service Men/Women document for the "current listing of military relatives". The is a dynamic document and will be updated as we go through the family branches.
Fort Trumbull -New London
First Church -New London
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