Adair County Pioneers Progress

Pioneer Sketches for those with ancestors in Adair County.

John Stewart and Elizabeth J. Slater, married in Adair Co., March 21, 1821
Contributed by Amey Stewart Hempel

John & Elizabeth Stewart family

John Stewart and Elizabeth J. Slater were both born in Madison County, Virginia, John in 1796 and Elizabeth in 1804, and were married in Adair County in March 21, 1821. John was a cabinetmaker in Columbia. On the CD_ROM, you can see a house he built on page 60.  He died in Columbia 8-15-1852, per Deaths in Adair County.  The family first appears in Adair Co. Census in 1830.

Their children were:

Joseph Born Jan. 29, 1822
Elizabeth, born 1825
Alice, Born 1828
William, Born 1830
Mary, born 1834-1835
Josephine, Born 1839.
Sallie Born 1842

Son Joseph went to West Point in 1838, and served an honorable lifetime military career, living throughout the U.S. and attaining the rank of Colonel.  He married Octavia Cripps Fayssoux, of Charleston, S.C., in 1845, and had several children with her and with his second wife.  He was Commander of Alcatraz at the start of the Civil War, and fought on the Union side.  He eventually retired to Berkeley, CA, and when he died in 1904 was the oldest living veteran of the Mexican War.  He is buried at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Son William was an attorney by the age of 19. He fought for the Union, 13th KY Infantry (Hobson's Rgmt) as Sgt. Major S Company (Staff), joining in 1861 and mustered out on a surgeon's certificate in 1862.  He and Joseph had a falling out; In July, 1875, William wrote that Joseph was a scoundrel and "has not soul enough to be decently damned."

Daughters Mary and Sallie were schoolteachers.  They attended Columbia Male and Female High School.

Daughter Alice was a belle who took part in military festivities honoring her father, and she is buried by him at The Presidio in San Francisco.

I believe none of the children except Joseph ever married, though little is known of Josephine..  The others lived together in the same house at 808 Dillion St, Columbia, pictured on. P. 59 of the CD-ROM.

Daughter Sallie lived her whole life in Adair County.  She attended school there.  She never married.  She died there December 30, 1824.

Adair County's John Stewart had a son Joseph Stewart, who had a son William Fayssoux Stewart, who had a son Willam Stewart, who had a son Douglas Stewart, who was my father.

Source: Most information comes from the Adair County KY Pictorial History CD-ROM.