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Mountsberg Stewarts

The Mountsberg Stewarts of Puslinch Township, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada
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Contents

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Contents of this page

  1. Introduction
  2. The Mountsberg Stewarts
    1. John S. Stewart of Mountsberg
    2. Alexander Stewart of Mountsberg
  3. Fellow Researchers
  4. Index & Personal Information Pages (GEDCOM)
  5. Legend
  6. Contact

Links to other related pages on this web site

  1. My Main Page
  2. My Index and Online Database
  3. About Our Family History

  4. Stewart Families in Puslinch, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada

    1. The "Comrie" Stewarts

    2. The "Crieff" Stewarts

    3. The "Mountsberg" Stewarts

    4. Stray Stewart Families

    5. Stewart Burials in Puslinch Cemeteries

Introduction

This page is a continuation of the study of pioneer families in Puslinch Township with the surname Stewart.  If you are just arriving here from somewhere else then you may wish to begin with the introduction page From Perthshire to Puslinch -- The Stewart Pioneer Families of Puslinch.

Please Note: This page is intended only as a narrative historical overview of this family.  There is additional detailed information available for almost ever person presented on this page.  To avoid the unnecessary work of double-entering some data, the additional information can be found in the accompanying GEDCOM database.  Please make sure you click on the INDEX button at the bottom of the page so you don't miss out on potentially valuable additional information.

Acknowledgments

The research presented on this page is not mine alone.  It contains information submitted by all the Fellow Researchers listed below.  I am indebted to them for their generous contributions.  This page is intended as a place for researchers to freely and cooperatively share our research with each other.  It would be too cumbersome a task to reference each piece of data as to which researcher it has come from.  The information shown on this page should be understood as a product of ALL of the Fellow Researchers.  I am merely the editor and not the sole author. - Ryk

The Mountsberg Stewarts

[The following section includes excerpts from, And They Came To East Flamborough, by Patricia and Maurice Green and Sylvia and Robert Wray, ©1997, Waterdown, East Flamborough Heritage Society.]

The Mountsberg Stewarts are so-called because they settled in the Mountsberg area of Flamborough Township in Wentworth County. You might rightly ask why then they would be listed in a website of Stewarts from Puslinch Township in Wellington County. The simple reason is that in the 19th century Mountsberg was part of Puslinch Township. Later 20th century county realignments changed its jurisdiction to Flamborough. Furthermore the early Stewarts were all Scots Presbyterians, and those in southern Puslinch all attended Duff's Presbyterian Church (and later also Crieff). The Mountsberg Stewarts were also members of Duff's Presbyterian Church and many members of this family were buried in Crown Cemetery in Puslinch.

This family is believed to have come from Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland, however their origin is not confirmed. The assertion of Fortingall comes from some judicious use of the parish birth and marriage records accessed through searches of the Mormon's International Genealogical Index. If the Mountsberg Stewarts did come from Fortingall, then it must be noted that the Crieff Stewarts also came from Fortingall. If both families share a common last name, a common parish of origin, a common time of emigration, and a common destination for immigration, the prospect of these families possibly sharing a common ancestor must be raised. Furthermore, the Mountsberg Stewarts lived with another unknown family in Badenoch, Puslinch for their first few years in Canada, before settling on their Mountsberg property. Were they living with relatives, or perhaps their future in-laws, the Kennedy family, or another Scottish immigrant family? Could they have been living with the Crieff Stewarts? Are the Mountsberg Stewarts cousins of the Crieff Stewarts? Present research has shown no such connection, and since these families are not actually related to me, I will leave the answering of these questions to future researchers from those two families.

This family was later related by marriage to my family, the Comrie Stewarts, through the marriage of Margaret Stewart, a daughter of Peter Stewart of the Comrie family, and her husband Harvey Alexander Stewart, a grandson of Alexander Stewart of the Mountsberg family.

"John Stewart, a widower from Perthshire, Scotland came to Upper Canada during the 1830s. He was accompanied by his grown children four boys and two girls and it appears that they may have spent a brief period in the small Scottish community of Badenoch in Puslinch Township before moving south to Mountsberg…." John Stewart and his sons settled on Lot 11, southeast, concession 13. "Alexander Stewart, born in 1806, was probably John's eldest son and helped his father choose the site of their first home [now located at 77 Campbellville Road, East Flamborough Township]. He married Catherine Kennedy of Badenoch, Puslinch Township in 1844 and inherited the property when his father died in 1856."

Alexander's sister, Ann (1802-1885) married an ancestor of the Organs of Concession 6, East Flamborough. Alexander had a niece, Agnes (1830-1915) who married Peter Davidson of Freelton.

In order to obtain legal title to land, settlers were required to build a home within the first year. Many settlers built rough shacks which were later replaced by more permanent stone homes. The initial home that the Stewarts built was such a solid log cabin that it still stands today, and after recent restorations the name of "Alex Stewart" is still visibly engraved over the original front door.

"Alexander and his wife had a large family, but only six children reached adulthood. The birth of triplet daughters on 9 November 1855 was announced in several area papers…. Sadly one child died at birth and another, named Agnes, died in April 1860, the victim of a virulent scarlet fever epidemic that broke out in Mountsberg during the spring of 1860. The epidemic also caused the death of a younger sister, Jane, a month earlier, as well as several other children in the community."

Around 1885, the family farm was divided between two of Alexander's sons, Robert and William. "Two older sons had already left the family farm. John moved to Beverly and Charles to West Flamborough, while the youngest son, Lachlan, became an architect in New York State."

"In 1906, Robert sold his land to William and left the property. With a young family that numbered six children, William moved into the frame house, but the log cabin was still retained to be used by the next generation of Stewarts as their first home. When the farm was sold in June 1966, five generations of the Stewart family had spent part of their life in this Mountsberg log cabin."

John S. Stewart of Mountsberg

John S. STEWART , Of Mountsberg is believed to have been born 1 AUG 1773 in Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland as the son of John and Ann Stewart, however this birth is just a guess based on IGI data.  All that can be confirmed is that he was born in Perthshire and died in 1856 at the age of 83.  John S. Stewart married in Perthshire, but his spouse is not certain.  Best guess from IGI data and extrapolating from Scots naming patterns is that his wife may have been Margaret Robertson.  John S. Stewart had the following children:

  1. Has Children Ann STEWART , Of Mountsberg, believed to have been born 22 DEC 1802 in Dull, Perthshire, Scotland, however this is based only on IGI data.  She married before 1830 to an unknown Stewart and had the following known child:
    1. Has Children Agnes STEWART b: 1830 in Flamborough Township, Wentworth County, Ontario who married Peter Davidson of Freelton, Flamborough Township, Wentworth County, Ontario.  They had the following known child:
      1. Has No Children Isabella DAVIDSON b: 20 OCT 1857 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ont
  2. Has No Children Daughter STEWART , Of Mountsberg b: ABT 1804 in Perthshire, Scotland of whom nothing is known.
  3. Has Children Alexander STEWART , Of Mountsberg, believed to have been born AUG 1806 in Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland, however this is based only on IGI data.  Some reports show him as the oldest son, which would be supported by the fact that he inherited the family farm in Mountsberg, however it cannot be said for certain that he was the oldest son,  He may have been only the oldest SURVIVING son.  Thus it cannot be extrapolated with confidence that his paternal grandfather was named Alexander Stewart (and this presentation suggests otherwise.)  He married on 23 OCT 1845 in Duff's Presbyterian Church, Morriston, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario to Catherine KENNEDY.  She was born 25 AUG 1816 in Badenoch, Inverness, Scotland as the daughter of William Kennedy and Elspeth Mclean.  Their descendants are recorded below.
  4. Has No Children Son STEWART , Of Mountsberg b: ABT 1808 in Perthshire, Scotland of whom nothing is known.
  5. Has No Children Son STEWART , Of Mountsberg b: ABT 1812 in Perthshire, Scotland of whom nothing is known.
  6. Has No Children Son STEWART , Of Mountsberg b: ABT 1814 in Perthshire, Scotland of whom nothing is known.

Alexander Stewart of Mountsberg

Reliable documentation begins with the marriage of Alexander Stewart to Catherine Kennedy on 23 OCT 1845 in Puslinch, Wellington County, Ontario.  They had the following children:

  1. Has Children John STEWART b: 24 MAY 1844 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. He married Penelope HANNING and they had the following children:
    1. Has Children Margaret Ann STEWART b: 17 OCT 1871 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario married William HENDERSON and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Thomas Robert HENDERSON b: 2 OCT 1912
      2. Has No Children George William HENDERSON b: 20 OCT 1914
    2. Has Children Catherine Elizabeth STEWART b: 31 MAR 1875 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who married Joseph NICKERSON and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Dorothy McLean NICKERSON b: 1 MAR 1908
      2. Has No Children Donald NICKERSON b: 29 JUN 1911
      3. Has No Children Lillian NICKERSON b: Private
    3. Has Children Harvey Alexander STEWART b: 31 MAY 1877 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who married Margaret Isabel STEWART.  She was born 7 AUG 1880 in Puslinch Twp. Wellington Co., Ontario as the daughter of Peter STEWART and Catharine McLean of Comrie Stewart Family.  Harvey and Margaret had the following children:
      1. Has Children Catherine Isabel STEWART b: 29 JUN 1903 who married Alexander MILNE and had the following children:
        1. Has No Children John Harvey MILNE b: Private
        2. Has No Children George Stewart MILNE b: Private
        3. Has No Children Kenneth James MILNE b: Private
        4. Has No Children Living MILNE
      2. Has Children John Harvey STEWART b: 16 JUL 1905 who married Helen Munro BROADFOOT.  Their descendant information is private.
      3. Has No Children Helen Hanning STEWART b: 20 JAN 1907 who married firstly to Anthony Thompson GOWAN and secondly to Joseph Lister OAKES.  It is not known if she had any children by either of her husbands.
      4. Has Children Jean Elizabeth STEWART b: 13 DEC 1908 who married Albert Edward ROBINSON.  Their descendant information is private.
      5. Has Children Kenneth McLean STEWART b: 14 MAY 1912 who married firstly to Margaret Minerva MILLER and secondly to Lois ADAMS.  Their descendant information is private.
      6. Has No Children Mary Florence STEWART b: Private
      7. Has Children George Alexander STEWART b: 1 JAN 1918 in Morriston, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who is featured in an article here: Flying Officer George Alexander Stewart.
    4. Has Children Agnes Jane STEWART b: 13 AUG 1879 who married Alexander Henderson CAMPBELL and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Alexander Stewart CAMPBELL b: 3 DEC 1909
      2. Has No Children Archie Henderson CAMPBELL b: Private
      3. Has No Children Charles John CAMPBELL b: 3 MAY 1914
      4. Has No Children Baby CAMPBELL b: 27 FEB 1916
    5. Has Children Clara Beatrice STEWART b: 25 AUG 1881 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who married Robert Parker JAMIESON and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Margaret Penelope JAMIESON b: 31 MAR 1914
      2. Has No Children Marion Louise JAMIESON b: Private
    6. Has Children Howitt James STEWART b: 2 SEP 1885 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who married Jean Henry CHISOLM and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Joanna Penelope STEWART b: 13 JAN 1918
      2. Has No Children Beatrice Kathleen STEWART b: Private
      3. Has No Children James Howitt Murray STEWART b: 25 JUN 1921
      4. Has No Children Agnes Jean STEWART b: Private
      5. Has No Children Donald Harvey STEWART b: Private
      6. Has No Children Paul McLean STEWART b: Private
      7. Has No Children Living STEWART
    7. Has Children Gordon Lachlan STEWART b: 22 SEP 1890 in Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario who married Frances May MCINTOSH and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Frances Amelia Hubert STEWART b: Private
      2. Has No Children Andrew Lachlan STEWART b: Private
  2. Has Children Charles A. STEWART b: 30 JUN 1851 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Janet MCBEATH and had the following known child:
    1. Has Children Isabella McBeath STEWART b: 22 APR 1883 in Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada.
  3. Has Children William E. STEWART b: 21 SEP 1852 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Mary Jane CURRIE and had the following children:
    1. Has Children David Currie STEWART b: 1 AUG 1888 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Jane Garfield PINKNEY and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Isabel Jean STEWART b: Private
      2. Has No Children William Allan STEWART b: 3 DEC 1923 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont.
      3. Has No Children Walter David STEWART b: Private
      4. Has No Children Eleanor Margaret STEWART b: Private
      5. Has No Children Robert Gordon STEWART b: Private
    2. Has Children George Alexander STEWART b: 23 APR 1890 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Annie Isabel CLARK and had the following children:
      1. Has Children William Robert STEWART b: 26 MAR 1929 in Puslinch Twp. Wellington Co., Ontario
      2. Has No Children Living STEWART
    3. Has Children Charles Kennedy STEWART b: 10 DEC 1891 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Olive Margaret WYSE and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Marion Olive STEWART b: 22 APR 1922
      2. Has No Children William Russel STEWART b: 12 JUN 1924
      3. Has No Children Edwin Benjamin STEWART b: Private
      4. Has No Children Donald Wardrope STEWART b: 23 AUG 1929 in Puslinch Township, Wellington County, Ontario
    4. Has No Children Joseph Moffat STEWART b: 6 JAN 1894 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Gertrude M. PLAYFAIR, but had no children.
    5. Has Children Margaret Moffat STEWART b: 9 MAY 1896 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married James Walter DAINARD.  Their descendant information is private.
    6. Has No Children Robert Russell STEWART b: 4 MAY 1898 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married his widowed sister-in-law Olive Margaret WYSE, but had no children together.
    7. Has Children Catherine Jean STEWART b: 28 SEP 1906 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Nile FINCH and had the following child:
      1. Mary E. FINCH b: 1943 in Puslinch Twp. Wellington Co., Ontario who died as a child.
  4. Has No Children Agnes STEWART b: 9 NOV 1855 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who was one of the triplets who died as a child.
  5. Has No Children Jane STEWART b: 9 NOV 1855 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who was one of the triplets who died as a child.
  6. Has Children Margaret STEWART b: 9 NOV 1855 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who was the only one of the triplets to survive.  Margaret married John PHILPOTT and had the following children:
    1. Has No Children Catherine PHILPOTT b: 2 OCT 1884 in Puslinch Twp. Wellington Co., Ontario
    2. Has Children Lachlan Alexander PHILPOTT b: 9 DEC 1885 who married Mary GAGE and had the following children:
      1. Has No Children Ilo PHILPOTT b: Private
      2. Has No Children Marie PHILPOTT b: Private
      3. Has No Children Russel PHILPOTT b: Private
    3. Has No Children Robert Harvey PHILPOTT b: 12 APR 1888
    4. Has No Children Agnes Hils Ilo PHILPOT b: 7 JUL 1896
  7. Has No Children Robert STEWART b: 20 MAR 1858 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Janet Hellen ROSS.  It is believed they had no children.
  8. Has No Children Lachlan STEWART b: 5 FEB 1862 in Mountsberg, East Flamborough Twp., Wentworth Co., Ont. who married Lillian KIDDER.  It is believed they had no children.

This concludes the known information on the Mountsberg Stewarts.

Research Leads

Other Stewart families found in East Flamborough

Widow Isabella Stewart, b 1827 in Scotland, res 1881 East Flamborough

  1. Isabella Stewart, 1846
  2. Peter Stewart, 1856, farmer
  3. John Stewart, 1858, d 27 AUG 1888 in East Flam, informant Peter Stewart in Waterdown
  4. William Stewart, 1869

James STEWART, b 1835 in Dundee, Scotland, tailor, res 1881 East Flamborough, d 21 FEB 1914 in Waterdown, East Flam (parent info blank), wife Julia Whitty, b 1840 Ireland

  1. Thomas STEWART, b 1865, Ontario
  2. James STEWART, b 1866, Ontario
  3. Marie STEWART, b 1869, Ontario
  4. Mary Mabel STEWART, b. 6 MAR 1877, Waterdown, East Flamborough, Ontario
  5. Olivia STEWART, b 1879, Ontario
  6. Aylmer Alex Kerr STEWART, b 5 JUL 1879, Waterdown, East Flam,

Calista Stewart, b 1871 in East Flam, d 10 MAR 1874 in Waterdown (no parent given)

The following people represent possible candidates for the unknown sons of John Stewart of Mountsberg:
bulletStuart, Charles, of East Flamborough, yeoman, married to Anne Culp of East Flamborough, dtr of Rev. David Culp and Margaret House, marriage bond issued 21 NOV 1832.  Charles is listed as a shoemaker in Carlisle in 1853.

Fellow Researchers

People researching this family include the following.  If you wish your name added to the fellow researchers' list, please contact me.

Email From Researching

Ryk Brown

 Hamilton, Ontario all branches of this family up to 1900

Index & Personal Information Pages (GEDCOM)

For more information on any individual person featured on this page, please:
1. click on the INDEX button below,
2. then select the first letter of the surname you are looking for.

INDEX (On-line)

The index button will take you to my searchable GEDCOM database hosted by RootsWeb's World Connect Project. This allows you to download my GEDCOM in 10-generation chunks.  Then you can import my data directly into your own genealogy program without having to retype it.

Legend

Has Children = This person has known descendants.

ABT = "about" and is used in three ways:

  1. Where it precedes a precise date of birth, such as "ABT 3 DEC 1855", then it means that the person was baptized on 3 DEC 1795, but his/her exact date of birth is unknown.

  2. Where it precedes a semi-precise date of birth with the month only given, such as "ABT DEC 1855", then that means that the birth is recorded in the civil birth registrations for the quarter ending with that month.  Thus the person's birth was registered sometime between the beginning of October 1855 and the end of December 1855, but no baptism record has been found nor any more precise birth record.

  3. Where it precedes a year only, such as "ABT 1855", then it means that there is no information on the person's birth date at all and an educated guess has been made that he/she was probably born sometime around 1855.

Contact

Please post your questions, comments, corrections, or additional information to:

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This page was last updated on September 16, 2008

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