This is a fun way to start our Stewart stories. I don't have a lot of documentation on John Stewart, but this is from other researchers.
Taken from notes of Mary Stearnes Henley excerpted from
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi_bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=h onan&id=I263
"Beyond
a reasonable doubt the first Col. John Stewart who came to Virginia
from Scotland, Mourning Floyd's husband's great-grandfather - was a
younger son of the Duke of Berwick, born in Berwick Castle, and cousin
of Henry Stewart, Earl of Lennox, whose son, Henry Stewart, married his
cousin, Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots. They were all reared in
Berwickshire and were all descendants of Walter (Fitzalan) Stewart, the
sixth "Grand Steward of Scotland>" pp 74 Bio9-Genealogies of the
VA-KY Floyd Families.
Additional Information
STEWART LINE
The
Stewart line has been traced back to Solomon and David. During the
second Jubilee of Queen Victoria, clergy traved the royal line back to
Judah. Through Kenneth MacAlpin, the line is traced to Fergus MacEurea
Ferquahadd is traced through Angus the Prolitic to Tea Tephi. She is the
daughter of Zedekiah, who married Hermon, which is the ancestor of the
Irish and Scottish Kings. Zedekiah ius traced to Juday, Judah is traced
to King Solomon, son of David. King Fegus I MacEarca reighned from 330
B.C., He was a contemporary of Alexander the Great and the King of
Persia.
However, the most romantic sotry of the
origin of the Stewarts is the claim of the female line. In 1301, it is
related by Bisset to the Paper Court that an Egyptian Princess, by the
name of Scota, is the progenitress of the Scota Pictish Kings. Scota was
the daughter of the Pharaoh who was drowned in the red Sea and is said
to have married Gathelus, son of Cecrops,King of Athens. Scota is said
to have fled with other to Spain to escape the plaques in Eqypt. From
Spain, they sailed to Ireland, later they sailed to Scotland, bringing
with them the "Coronation Stone of Scone". It whould be noted the King
Fergus is traced down thirty-five generations of kings to Ethus, who was
the brother of Constantine, 875 A.D.
THE TOWN ON THE SCOTTISH BORDER
On
the mainland five miles north of Holy Island, is the mouth of the River
Tweed and the most historic town of Berwick Upon Tweed. The most
northerly town in England, perhaps no other town in North East England
has had a more eventful history than Berwick. There is no doubt that
Berwick upon Tweed can claim the distinction of being the Border Town,
as it has changed hands between England and Scotland thirteen times. Its
history is inextricably tied up with the struggle for the Anglo
Scottish frontier. An old legend is said to explain the fascinating
history of Berwick;
"During
the temptation while the Evil one was showing to the Holy one all the
kingdoms of the earth he kept Berwick hidden beneath his thumb, wishing
to reserve it as his own little nook"
Berwick
with an English name meaning `Corn Farm' began as a small settlement in
the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, in which it remained until the
Battle of Carham of 1018 when it was taken by the Scots. From then on
Berwick became a hotly disputed territory. In 1174 Berwick was retaken
by England in a ransom following the failure of a raid into
Northumberland by the Scottish king, William the Lion.
The
town returned to the northern side of the border in the reign of
Richard I (1189-1199), who sold it to obtain money for the Crusades. At
the beginning of the following century Berwick returned once more to
England, after Richard's brother, King John sacked the town, but Berwick
continued to change hands until 1482 when the town finally became part
of England within which it still (technically) remains.
When the castle finally fell, surprisingly Edward let the Scots
garrison flee with their lives. While Douglas was incarcerated in the
"Hog's Tower". Edward's army moved on to defeat the Scots army at the
battle of Dunbar (where its claimed a rogue called William Wallace stole
from the bodies of the dead both Scots and English alike).The alleged
stone of Destiny used to crown Scottish Kings was also stolen from Scone
by the English and taken to London. Douglas under duress swore
allegiance to King Edward to escape imprisonment, but later in 1297 he
joined William Wallace in rebellion against the English invaders. In
retaliation, his own castle of Douglas in Lanarkshire was stormed by
Edward's lacky Robert Bruce (later King Robert I 1306-1329) with
Douglas's wife and children, including a young man called James (later
Bruce's "Good Sir James" Douglas) taken hostage and handed over to
Edward's wrath. Douglas for the sake of his family surrendered and was
taken to York castle in chains where he died of ill-treatment in 1302.
Three years later Wallace was also captured then hung , drawn,
castrated, disembowelled and beheaded for his campaign of rebellion,
with his head placed on a stake above London bridge while the remaining
parts of his body were sent North to Scotland for public display.
Eventually one of his legs was nailed above the gatehouse of Berwick's
town walls as a reminder of Edward's justice and a warning to any
would-be Scots rebels living nearby.
Likely Douglas's own
harrowing account of the Berwick massacre, his inability to protect the
civilians and his own death at the hands of the English at York moulded
young James Douglas's character into a violent, vindictive killer, whose
guerilla campaign against the English earned him the title “The Black
Douglas”, a token reference to his dark skin and black hair but more
fully a reference to his black nature in warfare. For example he
beheaded the entire English garrison in his own castle of Douglas
leaving their bodies in the vaults beside spilt grain and wine before
setting the castle on fire and for good measure he chopped up their
horses dumping the animal parts into the castle's well along with salt
to spoil the water supply. The whole event became known as the "Douglas
larder".
In 1306 the Countess of Buchan was imprisoned in a cage
above Berwick's town walls for the crime of crowning King Robert the
Bruce. At the same time Bruce's sister Mary was held in a cage above
Roxburgh castle, another Scottish monument occupied by hostile English.
In 1307 Edward I died en route to invade the west of Scotland. His son
Edward II lacking the military prowess of his father turned back to
England, giving the Bruce and his "Good Sir James" Douglas time to
gather support for their rebellion. In 1314 Douglas made an abortive
assault on Berwick castle, but was successful in taking Roxburgh using
the same tactics, attacking at night with specialised rope ladders. Also
in that same year the Bruce defeated Edward II's army at the battle of
Bannockburn, near Stirling. Edward pursued by Douglas fled to the
coastal fortress of Dunbar where he and some of his men escaped by boat
to the security of Berwick then still in English hands.
In 1318
Douglas captured Berwick Town and starved its castle garrison into
surrender in some small way obtaining revenge for his father's death and
the massacre of 1296, though the English did make several unsuccessful
attempts to recapture the castle and town in 1319. In 1329 King Robert
the Bruce on his deathbed insisted that after his death Douglas should
cut out his heart and carry it on a pilgrimage to the holy lands.
Douglas did as he was commanded, unfortunately in 1330 he only got as
far as southern Spain, where he died at the battle of Teba. Legend
claims Douglas realising he was going to die, tore the casket containing
Bruce's heart from round his neck and threw it at the Moors crying
"forward" following his friend into battle for one last time.
Douglas's
body was recovered and boiled so his skeleton could be returned to
Scotland along with Bruce's heart. Douglas was interred at St Brides
church while Bruce's heart was taken to Melrose Abbey where it remains
to this day. After 1330 the Douglas heraldry was amended with a red
heart on their surcoats, shields and banners representing the King's
heart and turning Douglas's death at Teba into a legend.
(In the
recounting of this story, some people tell that Douglas's words in the
fateful moment at Teba were, "Pass first in fight, brave heart ", from
which would seem to have come the title of the mid-1990s Hollywood
historical confection wherein the heart seems to have been transfered
from Bruce to Wallace..... Alasdair McKay, ed.)
John Stewart * (1690 - 1782)
is our 5th great grandfather
Son of John Stewart
Son of John Stewart
Son of James Stewart
Son of James Stewart
Daughter of Noah Stewart
Son of Mary Lou Ella Stewart And Charles William Lute
