Building upon my prior post, I will take a deeper dive into the John Stewart who posted a notice in the Virginia Gazette in July 1777 regarding his intent:
…to take my passage to the west indies in a few weeks.
This John Stewart posted his notice from Cabin Point and earnestly requested:
…the favour of those to whom I am indebted, either on account of the store kept by me at this place, or on my own private account, to make immediate application for payment.
I am going to move forward with two assumptions for the sake of this post:
- John Stewart who posted a notice in the Virginia Gazette in July 1777 is our John Stewart Jr. and
- John Stewart Jr. posted this notice because of his upcoming voyage on the Phoenix privateer ship.
The first concern in proving out these assumptions, is that the June 1775 transaction, where John Stewart Jr. purchased land from Carter Braxton in Amherst County, Virginia, refers to John Stewart Jr. being from Cumberland County, Virginia. However, Cabin Point, where John Stewart Jr’s store was located, was in Surry County, Virginia.
This issue can be resolved by continued research into Virginia Gazette news clippings. On November 29th, 1776, John Stewart posted a notice indicating that he wished to rent out the Cabin Point property until “the first of next September.”:
Transcription below:
The subscriber has a very convenient dwelling house for a family, with all convenient outhouses, garden, and pasture at Cabin Point, on James Rive, with a stone house and a lumber house at Low Point, which he would rent till the first of next September. The term may be known by applying to Mr. A. Dunlop, on the _______, both inhabitants of Cabin Point. John Stewart
The house is the property of Mr. Dunlop, who will rent it, after the above term is ______, to any who may now be inclined that way.
The notice then goes on to relay that “the house is the property of Mr. (Archibald) Dunlop”. I am going to conjecture that John Stewart held property in Cumberland County, and rented the Cabin Point property from Archibald Dunlop in Surry County. Then, in anticipation of his upcoming voyage on the Phoenix, Stewart decided to sublet the Cabin Point property until his lease ran out.
By August 22, 1777 the Cabin Point property had reverted back to Archibald Dunlap, as evidenced by yet another notice in the Virginia Gazette attempting to let the property:
Transcription below:
Cabin Point, August 19, 1777. The subscriber will rent a commodious dwelling with every necessary outhouse, pasture, and garden, belonging to the same, also a storehouse that will answer for both dwelling and store, with a lot thereto, likewise a separate store, and several large granaries at Low Point, on Chiapoax Creek. Archibald Dunlop.
John Stewart likely began to rent the Cabin Point property sometime after March 1770 when Archibald Dunlap acquired the land from Ephraim Baird:
12 Mar. 1770. Ephraim & Hannah Baird of the Parish of Martins Brandon in Pr. Geo. Co. to Archibald Dunlop of Southwark, Surry Co., Merchant . for 200 lbs. current money. 207 ac. in Southwark Parish in Surry Co. Begin near Cabin Point Mill bounding on James Nicholson’s line on the southern branch thence on that said line to the Western Branch so running of the said Branch & adjoining the lines of the lands now in the possession of W. James Belches & Samuel & Geo. Kerr it being the land and plantation where on the said Ephriam Baird lately lived, part of which (100 ac.) he purchased from his brother, John Baird, and 107 ac. from his father’s will. (Surry Co., VA, Deed Book 10, p. 67.)
John Stewart’s presence in Surry County in the early 1770’s would, perhaps, explain the lack of records for him in Cumberland over the course of that same time period.
A voyage on the Phoenix would also explain how Stewart arrived at the title of ‘Captain’. Again, comparing John Stewart Jr.’s experiences with those of John Floyd, Floyd gained the title of ‘Marine Captain’ as a result of his voyage aboard the Phoenix. It is very possible that John Stewart Jr. would have garnered an identical title.
Perhaps this is also how John Stewart Jr. arrived at the funds to purchase 3,750 acres in Kentucky, which he left to his son John Stewart III in his will. Finally, the fact that the Phoenix illegally seized a neutral ship during it’s summer 1777 voyage, and was instructed to “not speak with any vessel if it be possible to avoid it”, would explain why there is little documentary evidence of John Stewart Jr.’s involvement in the venture.
To summarize, below is a possible timeline for John Stewart Jr. in the 1770’s:
- March 1770: Archibald Dunlop purchases property, including a store, from Ephraim Baird in Cabin Creek, Surry County, Virginia
- 1770: John Stewart Jr., a Cumberland County property owner, rents the Cabin Creek property from Archibald Dunlop
- 1773: John Stewart Jr.’s daughter marries John Floyd’s brother, the Floyd family are property owners in Amherst County, Virginia
- April 1775: Carter Braxton posts a notice in the Virginia Gazette to sell land in Amherst County
- June 1775: John Stewart Jr. purchases land in Amherst County from Carter Braxton
- September 1776: John Stewart Jr. and John Floyd join the newly formed Phoenix privateering venture
- November 1776: John Stewart Jr. posts a notice in the Virginia Gazette to sublet his property at Cabin Creek in advance of his voyage on the Phoenix
- December 1776: John Floyd departs on board the Phoenix
- April 1776: The Phoenix returns to Virginia without John Floyd
- July 1777: John Stewart Jr. posts a notice in the Virginia Gazette to liquidate his Cabin Creek store in advance of a three month voyage abroad
- August 1777: The Phoenix illegally captures a Portuguese ship
- August 1777: Archibald Dunlop posts a notice in the Virginia Gazette to rent out the Cabin Creek property now that John Stewart Jr’s lease has expired
- October 1777: John Stewart Jr. returns from his voyage on the Phoenix and settles into his newly acquired Amherst County property
Leave a Reply