Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)
Sorting out men named Charles Steward/Stewart who may be related to our ancestor Rose (Steward/Stewart) Roberts is challenging since we are back to the early 1800s and even late 1700s, and records are scarce and not very informative at times. Add in the fact that these folks migrated multiple times, living in at least 3 states, and we have some detailed work to do.
Because of the time period, we decided to see if Charles may have been a Revolutionary War soldier, as there might be some records from that service. Following are some summaries of a few of those records, and how they could relate to the Charles Stewart of interest to Roberts descendants.
Charles Stewart, Jefferson County, Indiana
Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. IV, 3 Indiana, Jefferson County
Private, Pennsylvania Continental Line; Age 73 but unknown what date they completed the roll.
Placed on Pension Roll 19 Nov 1832, with pension commencing 4 Mar 1831 (all others on page have same notation and were put on roll in 1832 or 1833; probably received back pay) $80 annual allowance, $240 received
Of the 20 men listed in Jefferson County, 2, including Charles, served in the Pennsylvania Continental Line, and 2 served in other PA units. Eleven of the men served in Virginia units, and 5 from N. or S. Carolina.
A Charles Stewart is found in the 1820 Jefferson County, Indiana US Federal Census.
Research Note: Search for Charles Stewart in Pennsylvania about 1776
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Charles Stewart, DAR Application
Served as a Private, 1st Regiment Virginia Line, also a Marine under Capt. Gabriel Jones, Col. George Gibson
b. 1759 Virginia, d. 4 Feb 1845 in Ripley Co., Indiana
Pension Number *S16261, Ancestor #A135172
Resided Spotsylvania Co., Virginia, spouse Ann X, child Charles Stewart and his wife Mary A. Beckley
The above is from the DAR application available on the website for free.
Research Note: 1) Purchase one of these DAR applications, possibly getting oldest as later applications may have cited it; not always good research in early documents, however, so we must use the information as clues, rather than fact, and verify them. 2) Research Beckley family as there is a Beckley-Christie-Roberts family connection- see “Sorting Saturday: Which Charles Stewart?” http://heritageramblings.net/2017/12/09/sorting-saturday-which-charles-stewart/
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Charles Stewart, Pension Office Letter, 1936
In 1936, a Mrs. Iva Hisle of Madison, Indiana, wrote to the Pension Office requesting information about Charles Stewart who was pensioned in 1832 while living in Indiana. A.D. Hiller, who worked for the office, replied to her concerning pension S. 16261. He stated,
“The date and place of birth of this soldier are not given, nor are the names of his parents stated.”
Mr. Hiller continued with more information:
“Charles Steward (as the name is found in the claim), while residing in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, enlisted in 1775 and marched down to Hobbs Hole under Lieutenant Stubblefield, and there went into the marine service and served eighteen months. He enlisted December 20, 1776, for three years, served in Captain Gabriel Jones’ company, Colonel George Gibson’s Virginia Regiment, was furloughed, May 17, 1779 on account of sickness.”
The pension was approved on 13 August 1833. Charles was 73 years old and living in Ripley County, Indiana, per the Pension Office.
In 1810, a Charles Stewart was listed in the US Federal Census in Bedford, VA. There was 1 male 45+ yrs old, 1 female 45+, and 15 slaves. A Nathaniel Stewart, Thomas Stewart, and a Louis(? hard to read) Stewart are listed on the same pages.
In 1830, Charles Stewart of Bedford, VA is listed in the US Federal Census, 1 male 40-49, 1 male 70-79, 1 female 70-79, and 20 male and female slaves of various ages- including 2 females 55-99. This is likely the same Charles as the 1810 listing. (There is also a Charles Stewart listed in Switzerland, Indiana, and Montgomery, Indiana, in 1830.)
Research Notes: 1) The 1810 and 1830 censuses for Bedford VA are probably not our guy since we know he was in Kentucky after the war when he signed the Stewart-Roberts marriage bond. He could have just been visiting, however… 2) Purchase the actual pension file. 3) Research Virginia for this Charles. 3) Review and compare 1830 censuses for each of these men named Charles, trying to find the date the census was completed.
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Charles Stewart, Indiana, Ledger of Pay for Pension
A Charles Stewart was listed on the Indian Ledger Rolls for Revolutionary War Pensions. He is noted as dying 6 Feb 1845, but unsure what remaining notation states. See both images in post, and there is a center section that indicates pay continuously between the above months.
Research Notes: 1) Identify remaining notation; 2) Determine what the numbers mean in the columns- is that the day of the month paid? Or actual pay amount? One document stated $80 annually which would be almost $7/month.
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Some of the family records state that the Roberts family was from Maryland, so Cousin Jon looked on Fold3 for a pension from a Charles Stewart from Maryland, on the off chance they may have known each other before the war and later migrated together. There is a Charles Stewart who enlisted in Georgetown, Maryland on 15 August 1776. His pension number is S.15656, and he was granted 100 acres of bounty land on Warrant No. 457, issued 12 April 1809. He later was allowed pension on 22 June 1818 when he was 65 years old and living in Scott County, Kentucky. His wife was Mary M. Stewart, age 50 in 1820. Charles died December 1834, actual date and place not included. He had no widow to receive his pension but he did have one child, Ann, who was married to Robert F. Nicholson in 1851. This information is from A. D. Hiller in response to Lucy P.S. Thompson of Brooklyn, NY. The letter was dated 17 Mar 1939.
Research Note: 1) Determine where the Kentucky land was from Bounty Land Grant. 20 This person is a reach as far as being “our” Charles since there does not seem to be an Indiana connection, although he could have stayed in KY when Edward and Rosy (Stewart) Roberts migrated north.
Notes, Sources, and References:
- Pension Roll of 1835- Ancestry.com, also Google Books but unable to load all pages from search as it is not an e-book (https://books.google.com/books?id=oB9yUkKZLAgC&pg=PA180-IA2&lpg=PA180-IA2&dq=pension+roll+of+1835+jefferson+co+in&source=bl&ots=5rFhYVn5zb&sig=3fAzBzs6b_8Ow5RjdVY-uhPav9M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihmanorP3XAhVHOSYKHUuQChkQ6AEIUjAH#v=onepage&q=pension%20roll%20of%201835%20jefferson%20co%20in&f=false)
- DAR Application listing Charles Stewart– http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A135172
- Revolutionary War Pension, Indiana– https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1116/T718_7-0384?pid=21564&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll
- Fold3, a pay site, for pension research and letters from the Pension Office.
- Special thanks to Cousin Jon Roberts who has done a lot of this research!
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