Mary Patterson was not listed in the DAR magazine
article quoted in the Introduction of this paper. Neither does Elllis, in
History of Fayette County, ever mention that the “four
Patterson brothers had a sister named Mary. Why, then, do we believe
that she was “our” Peter’s sister? Our reasoning goes something
like this:
•The only Pattersons living in Paxtang in the 1770’s,
to our knowledge, were “our” Peter and his brothers William, and
James.
•Ayres’ history of the Stewarts identifies Elijah
Stewart as living in Paxtang, and says he married Mary
Patterson.
•The marriage of Mary Patterson to Elijah Stewart was
recorded in the journal of Rev. Cuthbertson, who also married “our”
Peter as well as Peter’s brothers William, James and
Robert.
•Mary is of the right age to be “our” Peter’s
sister.
•Robert Patterson, Peter and Mary’s brother, married
Elijah Stewart’s sister, Mary. It was common practice for brothers
and sisters from one family to marry brothers and sisters from
another family, which leads us to believe that Robert and Mary
Patterson were brother and sister, just as Mary and Elijah Stewart
were brother and sister.
•Mary’s husband, Elijah Stewart, enlisted in Capt.
Cowden’s Co., as did “our” Peter and his brothers William and James,
which shows a close relationship between these Stewarts and
Pattersons.
•On the list of names of people signing the Oath of
Allegiance in Paxtang 1778-79, of the hundreds of signatures, Elijah
Stewart’s name is separated by only four signatures from that of
“our” Peter.
Bucher Ayres, a descendant of the Stewart family of Paxtang
Twp., Lancaster (Dauphin) Co., PA, wrote a detailed history of this
family, in 1876, The History of the Stewart Family. A copy of this history was
obtained by another Stewart descendant, Minnehaha Finney, and she
annotated it. This
history, with Minnehaha Stewart’s annotations, was transcribed and
is on-line at http://maley.net/transcription. Also, additional notes of
Minnehaha Finney regarding the Pattersons in her line were submitted
to Patterson & Pattison Assn., Vol 2 pp. 76-77.
We do not know in what year Mary Patterson was
born. We can estimate her birth year as being between
1738-1747.
(Her husband was b. 1738, per Ayres; in Patterson
& Pattison Vol. 2 p. 76. Minnehaha Finney’s
additional notes to Ayres’ history, submitted to Patterson &
Pattison Vol. 2 p. 76 say that Mary “died Feb. 7, 1826, aged 79
years and was born in 1747.”
This sounds like headstone information—but as there is no
source listed for Mary’s death date and age at death, we feel more
comfortable leaving her birth year as an estimate. We do not
at this time know the names of her
parents.
In the Ayres’ history we read that Mary Patterson m.
Elijah Stewart, 3rd son of Samuel and Mary (McClay)
Stewart. In Rev.
Cuthbertson’s journal we read that “Ma. Paterson” was
married to Elijah Stewart,
29 Mar 1768, in
the Middle Octoraro meeting-house.*
37
Elijah’s parents, according to Ayres, emigrated from
Co. Down, Ireland, abt. 1735 and settled at Chestnut Level,
Lancaster Co., PA.
Samuel and Mary (McClay) Stewart had thirteen children—twelve
sons and one daughter (Mary who married Robert Patterson). Ayres
states in his history of the Stewart family that Elijah
Stewart, was “born in Lancaster County, Penna. in 1738.”
Elijah was brother to Mary who married Peter’s brother
Robert. Elijah’s
parents were Samuel and Mary (McClay) Stewart.
Minnehaha Finney adds the note that both Elijah and
his sister Mary “settled in Hanover Twp., [Lancaster Co., PA] in
1780.” (Hanover is next
to Paxtang.) Minnehaha
Finney refers to Elijah as her “Rev. War ancestor.” Elijah
Stewart enlisted in 1776 in Capt. James Cowden’s Co. (as did Peter,
William and James Patterson; see above.)
Minnehaha Finney’s additional notes show the following
nine children of Elijah and Mary (Patterson)
Stewart (we have added the baptism dates from
Cuthbertson):
1. Sarah - bapt. 17 June 1770 by
Cuthbertson in Paxtang; m. James
Finney;
settled Clark
& Trumball Cos., OH after her father d. in 1807
(Ayres); had son Elijah Finney (per Tom
Humphrey info,
ancestry.com)
2. John - bapt. 31 Jan 1771 by
Cuthbertson in Muddy Run; m____
Wilson
3. Samuel - bapt.[ 9] Nov 1772 by
Cuthbertson in Junken Tent, Cumberland Co.; m.
__?
4. Susanna - bapt. 29 June 1783 by
Cuthbertson in Muddy Run; d.
young
5. James - bapt.
29 June 1783 by Cuthbertson in Muddy Run; m. Jane Elder;
(m. Jane Elder per Patterson & Pattison Vol. 2 p.
73)
**
6. Margaret - b.
?;; m. William Finney ***
[Patt & Patt
Vo. 2 p. 73 says m.
“Wm. Stewart”]
7. Mary - b. 1776;
d. 16 Oct1851***
*(DAR #115023);m. William Stewart, her cousin; she is buried in
Seceder’s Cemetery at Coitsville,
OH
(Per notes of Minnehaha Finney); William Stewart was b. 1765
& d. 1851 (DAR
#115023)
8. Nancy - b. ?; m. ____ Clark
9. Jane
- b. ?; m. ? [Patterson
& Pattison Vol. 2 p. 73 shows “bapt.
1783”?]
Note: Ayres says
Elijah and Mary Stewart had “3 sons and 5 daus.”; this is true,
considering that Susanna d. young.
*Here is a logical progression
of facts and conclusions. The Cuthbertson record proves the marriage
of Peter’s sister Mary
to Elijah Stewart.
Therefore “our” Peter’s sister Mary is NOT the Mary, dau. of
Peter of Drumore, who m. John Thompson. Therefore the father of
“our” Peter and his sister Mary was NOT Peter of Drumore. See
Lancaster Co. wills in Chapter VI , where the will of Peter
Patterson of Drumore lists daughter Mary who m. John
Thompson.
**Minnehaha Finney’s notes say that
these first five children “were not bapt. by Cuthbertson because he
had been replaced by Rev. Linn.” However, we found the baptism of
James, son of Elijah Stewart, in Cuthbertson’s journal, which was
not a baptism listed by M. Finney. I have seen the marriage records
of Rev. Linn on-line; perhaps somewhere, also, his baptism records
have been preserved.
***The specific date”16 Oct” 1851
& burial information & the fact that she m. Willaim Stewart
is from letter submitted to Patterson & Pattison Vol. 2
p. 91. Susanna is the
only child not listed in this letter referred to, perhaps because
Susanna, according to Minnehaha Finney, d.
young.
38
Mary’s husband, Elijah Stewart, enlisted in
Capt. Cowden’s Co. along with Peter, James and William
Patterson. (See Peter’s chapter for
documentation)
According to Minnehaha Finney,
Elijah d. in 1807, after which his widow, Mary (Patterson)
Stewart, moved to Ohio with her children. Elijah “was buried in the
Old County Cemetery near Harrisburg, Pa. Covenanters.”
(Patterson & Pattison Assn., Vol. 2 p. 76) According
to the Ayres history, “Mary (Patterson)
Stewart d. 7 Feb 1826 and is buried in Union Cemetery “on Route C.C.C., north of
Cincinnati, OH 19 & 1/2 mi.”
Elijah Stewart’s household is enumerated on
the 1790 Dauphin Co. census (no township indicated). His
household contained 1 male over 16 yrs (himself); 3 males under 16
yrs (John, Samuel, James—but John bapt. 1771?), and 5 females (wife
Mary Patterson & daus: Sarah, Mary, Margaret & either Nancy
or Jane). There is no
Elijah Stewart household anywhere in PA in 1800 (per ancestry.com’s
index) though, according to Ayres’ history, Elijah did not die until
1807.
