Stewart, John

Published: 04 Jan 2015
Updated: 19 Mar 2020
Researchers: Dr. Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust
Editor: Teresa Rust

John Stewart, #28 on the “Scots at Lynn. Iron Works Inventory“

Name Variations: Steward, Stewart

IMPORTANT UPDATE! (July 2018)
According to Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018), on page 248, John is categorized as: Definite [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity] Steward/Stewart, John. Residences: Lynn, Springfield MA. Appears: 1653. D.1691. Attested in a petition dated 19th September 1688 as having fought at Dunbar. [Banks; DR; SPOWS] For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.

First Generation in the New World

1. JOHN STEWART, blacksmith, was born in Scotland and died at Springfield, Massachusetts on 21 Apr 1691, leaving no family, so far as is known.¹

Biographical Notes:
“About 17 Scots were subcontracted to the colliers (charcoal makers) and other plant workers. Accounting records show that a few of the Scots received wages from the Company for skilled work. For example, James Adams was paid for managing ox teams, James Gourdan for mining, Thomas Kelton for mining and coaling, and Robert Meany for carpentry work. John Steward was paid as Gifford’s house servant, until the investors learned of the arrangement, at which time Steward was put forth as a smith.'” ~Janet Regan and Curtis White, Hammersmith Through the Historical Texts.
Recommended reading for “John Stewart”:
The First Century of the History of Springfield: The Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an Historical Review and Biographical Mention of the Founders, Volume I by Henry Martyn Burt, 1898. books.google.com
1650 – John Stewart. Died here in 1690.²
This shop [for the Smith] was by Joynt consent given to John STewart Jan: 10th, 1658.²
“In a petition to Governor Andros, dated September 19, 1688, John Stewart makes the following statement: . . . your poor petitioner was in service in five battles under the noble Marquis of Montrose, in Scotland, for His Majesty, King Charles the First, and thereby suffered and received many dangerous wounds, having escaped with his life through mercy . . . Was afterwards taken by Lord Cromwell in the fight at Dunbar, and after sent into this land where I was sold for eight years service to purchase my future freedom. . . .” He worked for a while in the Lynn iron works and there he was purchased by John Pynchon, leader in the settlement of Springfield.¹,³

For more information about your ancestor it is HIGHLY recommended that you join the 580+ descendants of the Scottish Prisoners of War Society Facebook GROUP where you may be able to get some advice and possibly more information about your Scottish prisoner of war ancestor.

SOURCES and NOTES:

1. New World Immigrants: A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and Associated Data from Periodical Literature, Volume 1 by Michael Tepper. [↩] [↩]
2. The First Century of the History of Springfield: The Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an Historical Review and Biographical Mention of the Founders, Volume I by Henry Martyn Burt, 1898. books.google.com [↩] [↩]
3. Burt, First Century of Springfield, I, 64. [↩]