Did Patrick Stewart, 5th of Ledcreich, and latterly of Cape Fear, Bladen County, North Carolina, USA, have a son named John?

Did Patrick Stewart, 5th of Ledcreich, and latterly of Cape Fear, Bladen County, North Carolina, USA, have a son named John? No, he did not.

In 1929, J. Montgomery Seaver wrote a book called Stewart Family Records, published by The American Historical-Genealogical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in which the author presents the following family:

PATRICK STEWART: m. Elizabeth Menzies; came from Perthshire, England (sic), to North Carolina, in 1739., with his wife and brother, William Stewart, and a party of Scotchmen.
JOHN STEWART: of North Carolina; m. Jerusha–; d. 1765.
JOHN WILLIAM STEWART: of North Carolina; m. Martha Davis.
JOHN FRANKLIN STEWART: of North Carolina; m. a Martha Davis, also; moved to 9eorgia and later to Alabama.
ISAAC NEWTON STEWART: m. Elizabeth Thomas.
NEWTON CRAWFORD STEWART: of Alabama; m. Joseph Anna Adamson, also of Alabama:

(I) CAREY OLEN STEWART: a minister.
(2) REUBEN CLEVELAND STEWART.
(3) MAMIE IRENE STEWART.
(4) JOSEPH CRAWFORD STEWART.
(5) CORA PAXTON STEWART: Literary Editor of the Southern Literary Magazine (1924-25), published in Atlanta, Ga., and later of the Southern Magazine, published in Nashville, Tenn.
(6) LILLIAN BERNICE STEWART.

Seaver, J. Montgomery, Stewart Family Records, (The American Historical-Genealogical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 1929.)

The first entry of this genealogy is Patrick Stewart, formerly 5th of Ledcreich, and latterly of Cape Fear, Bladen County, North Carolina, USA. He married Elizabeth Menzies and, together with a large party, immigrated from Scotland to North Carolina, USA in 1739. Further information on Patrick Stewart’s family can be found on our Stewarts of Ledcreich page, here:

In 1763, Patrick Stewart dictated his family tree to his son Charles. The tree was later updated in 1789 by Patrick’s grandson, Dr. James Carraway. It can be found here:

There is no mention in Patrick’s tree of him having a son named John. One would think that Patrick would know if he had a son named John who had children. One would think that Patrick’s son, Charles, who wrote out the tree, would know if he had a brother named John who had children. One would think that Dr. James Carraway, who added to the tree in 1789, would know if he had a first-cousin named John William Stewart, father of John Franklin Stewart, whose family was still residing in North Carolina at the time.

We have found no verifiable source to show that Patrick Stewart had a son named John. We have found no verifiable source to show that the above family from Seaver’s book descends from Patrick Stewart of Ledcreich. We must conclude that Seaver was in error in his presentation of this family. Unfortunately, the fact that Seaver’s book was published by a reputable source, namely the American Historical-Genealogical Society, gives it the appearance of credibility which has prompted many subsequent genealogists to take the above genealogy as accurate. Thus, Seaver’s error has been reproduced repeatedly by modern genealogists.

The Balquhidder Parish Register has the following entry:

“1707 Ap 27 ______ Steuart in Sronslany had a child bapt begotten in Adultery Ap 27 1707 called John.”

Old Parish Register, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland

This entry does not give a name for the father. He is identified only as “Steuart in Sronslany” (or Stewart in Stronslany). As Stronslany was part of the Ledcreich estate, it is possible that he could be an illegitimate son of Alexander Stewart, 4th of Ledcreich, and thus an illegitimate brother to Patrick Stewart, 5th of Ledcreich. But we have no evidence to confirm that this is so. And, the father is identified as “in Stronslany” rather than “of Ledcreich” which suggests he was more likely a tenant. There were other tenants of the surname Stewart who were residing in Ledcreich and Stronslany at the time whose family connections are unknown. So this illegitimate son, John, at this point, is of unknown parentage.

It is possible that this illegitimate son, John, could be the patriarch of the family presented by Seaver above. Having been born in 1707, he would be the right age to have died in 1765. However, again, we have no evidence to suggest that John Stewart, illegitimately born in 1707 in Stronslany, is the same John Stewart who later ended up in North Carolina and married Jerusha and fathered the line above.

We can say with confidence that John was not a son of Patrick Stewart.