Joseph Stewart

JOSEPH STEWART

from "Something about the Stewarts"

It's an interesting thing to note; it was near 1780 before Daniel Boone had even moved into this area and had opened it up. So we do find that around 1784, Joseph and his family and Benjamin and other members, of the family had finally settled in Overton County, Tenn., on what is spoken of in the deed as "on Matthew�s Creek, on the banks of the Roaring River." I haven't been there, and I've always wanted to go, but I've talked to others that have been and there's a cemetery in this area called the "Roaring River Cemetery". We have a cousin that's been there and says that there are some stones that are still legible to the point that you can read 'Stewart' on it, but you can't find whether it was Joseph Stewart or his wife whose maiden name was Sarah Gilbert. They were married in North Carolina, or maybe prior to coming to North Carolina, in Virginia.


We've done a great deal of research trying to locate Sarah Gilbert's family, but as yet have not been able to. There were many Gilbert�s in North Carolina and some of them moved with the Stewart's when they went into Tennessee. As far as proving Sarah's parents, we've not been able to do that.

Sarah and Joseph had 12 children named: Lydia, born in 1763; Joseph Jr., born 1769; John; Benjamin (Died in 1841); Margaret; Nancy, born 1775; David, born 1778; Elizabeth, born 1771; Sarah, born 1780; Samuel born 1781; William, born abt. 1784; and Jesse the youngest in 1790. These dates are approximate. They had a very large family, and we find that they finally settled in Overton County, Tenn., before the turn of the century, and lived there for a number of years.

The Stewart Clan Magazine shows that Joseph received the rights to settle this land, a grant in 1784. However, according to Dr. Valentine, there is no way they could have settled in Overton County that early. The 1784 property spoken of was property in Bent Creek, Greene Co., Tennessee. Between 1784 and 1800, they were well established in Overton County, Tenn. They lived on this property that was on the Roaring River. It was here that Joseph and Lydia died and were buried. I think that they're buried in the cemetery that's almost adjacent to their property, known as the Roaring River Cemetery. There are some names in the cemeteries that are legible, some Stewart's, but the first name is not.