STEWART-Joseph Norris - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Joseph Norris STEWART -- The family of this name in Wayne township is of Kentucky origin. In 1824. John and Mary (Inlow) Stewart, born and reared and married in Kentucky, came to Indiana and located in Montgomery county. John, who was a son of Joseph Stewart, was in the war of 1812, serving as a private under Colonel Dudley, was taken prisoner at the River Raisin, in Canada, and had to run the gauntlet. Charity Smith, the subject's maternal grandmother, had two brothers who were hung by the Tories. John Stewart was the grandson of a Scotch nobleman, who left his country at the time of the persecution and settled in New Jersey. His son John lived in Pennsylvania for some years and Joseph, who was born in that state, eventually removed to Kentucky.. Joseph Norris Stewart, son of John and Mary (Inlow) Stewart, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana. April 15. 1829. His mother, who was a daughter of Jesse Inlow, died in 1842 and his father in 1860. Mr. Stewart's boyhood was spent in the rough pioneer days when Montgomery county was sparsely settled, schools few and far between, much hard work and few diversions. He had to go a long way to the nearest school and his attendance was so irregular that he obtained but a limited education in youth. This deficiency, however, he made up afterward by reading and observation, with the result that he became a well informed man. His father improved two farms, which involved an immense amount of labor, and his boys had little time to play during the arduous period of clearing, grubbing, log-rolling, seeding and harvesting. Of the fifteen children in the family, only two are now living. Joseph started life for himself at an early age, renting and working land in his native county after reaching his majority. In 1862 he removed to Tip-pecanoe county, renting land first in Jackson and later in Wayne township. At length he located on a small farm of thirty-one acres, which when bought by him was covered with timber and brush. So he was compelled to resume his old business of grubbing and clearing, but in time had a pleasant and comfortable home where he has resided for more than forty-two years. In 1864 Mr. Stewart married Elizabeth Kerr, who died in 1885. His second wife was Susan, daughter of Edfred C. and Elizabeth (Dunn) Cokry. She was born in Massachusetts, taken in infancy to Montgomery county, Ohio, by her parents and when six years old to Attica, Indiana, where she grew to womanhood. Both her parents are dead. They were married in Ireland and brought four children with them to this country. Mr. Stewart had three brothers in the Civil war, and his wife also had a brother and two brothers-in-law in the Union army during that great conflict. Mr. Stewart was first a member of the Baptist church, but later joined the Methodist Episcopal church in Fountain county, of which he is a trustee and was long a class leader. He is a staunch Prohibitionist, and a man of high moral notions on all subjects. A farmer all of his life, he has done much arduous work and deserves as well as receives the esteem of all who know him. (additional note: Joseph Stewart born 15 Apr 1829 married to Elizabeth Kerr & Susan Cokry.)