Andrew Jackson Stewart
(Story from A. J. Stewart, Sr. family group sheet)
Andrew Jackson Stewart was born September 12, 1819 in Jackson Township, Ohio. Andrew's father, Philander Barrett Stewart, died when he was five. At nine he floated down 1000 miles of the Ohio River. At ten when working for Elijah Haws he saved Haw's stepdaughter from being buried under a cave-in and was promised the child Eunice to wed by the grateful mother. Two men hired him and team to take them and baggage to Springfield, Ill. Arriving there they left without paying and he was advised by a lawyer, A. Lincoln, at no charge to pawn their baggage for their fare. During a sick spell (1843) he dreamed that the true gospel had been restored to the earth. That fall he visited the Haws and married Eunice. In 1844 they joined the Church, was ordained a seventy, was told by Joseph Smith that in 5 years the Saints would go to the Rocky Mountains and that he wanted him to go. In 1846 Andrew and Eunice were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple by Amasa M. Lyman in the presence of Brigham Young. They opened a store in Keg Creek and in 1850 went to Utah and were called to settle 20 miles south of Provo. In 1851, as a surveyor (like his father) he surveyed Provo. He also built the first adobe house and opened the first store there. In 1853 they moved to Provo and in 1855, he was called to a mission in Australia. He earned his passage by keeping the ship's log. Called home in 1857 because of Johnson's Army, Pres. Geo. A. Smith and his wives lived with Andrew in Provo for a time. In 1860 he was appointed assistant Surveyor General. When the Pony Express was started he took a contract for furnishing horses from Camp Floyd to Platte and Ruby Valley, using 500 horses. In 1861 he acted as Deputy Clerk in the Supreme Court. And when the Army left Camp Floyd he engaged in wholesale war-surplus sales. In 1861 he bought the Frease Wood Farm in Benjamin and homesteaded an adjoining tract. In 1866, assisted by his son, Jr., he surveyed the Iron beds in Iron Co., organized a manufacturing company, built blast furnaces and made pig iron. About 1880 Andrew imported the first blooded horses (Hamiltonians) and in 1883 established a track record with a horse named Raris which sold for $4,500.00. Elected president of the Ut. Stock Association in 1884 he was sent to a convention in St. Louis and later, to New Orleans, expenses paid. On a RR pass to NY he met the Governor who sent him to Mexico with a letter introducing him to the President who gave him lands but he interested no one.
History of Andrew Jackson Stewart
(Handwritten history from Clyde. I. Fechser's family history book. Retyped by D. Whittaker July 24, 1999.)
Left Ohio May 1, 1828, arrived Iowa 1 May 1836. Baptized a Presbyterian.
Born 12 Sep 1819, Jackson Township, Monroe County, Ohio. Baptized by Elder William Cory in Fox River Iowa 18 Jul 1844. Ordained a Seventy by President Joseph Young 7 April 1844 at Nauvoo, Hancock Country, Ill., at the General Conference of the Church in the Sacred Grove. His name was presented by the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was sent on a mission to Adams, Brown, Schuyler and Cass Counties, Illinois.
He married Eunice Pease Quimby at Keosangua, Van Buren Co., Iowa by George Duden, Justice of the Peace. They went through the Nauvoo Temple and were sealed by Amasa M. Lyman 12 Jan 1846, Brigham Young was a witness. Both he and his wife received patriarchal blessings at this time by John Smith. He left for his mission 1 Feb 1845. "There was an uprising of a mob to drive the Saints out of Illinois. I went to meet them in Brown County to settle and make peace. Met them on parade at M. J. Sterlings place, in their Hollow Square and made a speech to the army of about 2000 men. They accepted terms, made a good peace. Preached in Adams, Browns and Cass Counties. Induced Jenkins Saulsbury, Joseph Smith's brother-in-law, to return from Cass County, Ill. to Nauvoo which was a great satisfaction to the Prophet Joseph Smith's mother, to have her daughter return home again and come back into the church." (A. J. S)
Brigham Young told A. J. Stewart that if he would stay in Winter Quarters instead of coming on to Utah in 1847, that he would be blessed with a better wagon. When he came in 1850 he was equipped with a herd of cattle, sheep, and horses; a fine carriage and a great deal of good equipment. He and Nathaniel Haws arrived in Salt Lake in September 1850. He was a captain of ten. In 1850 he surveyed Provo and Payson. He built the first adobe house in Provo, a two room house in 1851 where Lestra was born. George A. Smith lived in one room of this house and the other room was used by he and A. J. S. as a law office. A. J. S. and Nathaniel built the first log house and came to Provo to live. That spring their daughter Sarah Catherine died of typhoid. He had a store in Payson (the first store) and later started the first store in Provo which was kept by his wife. He also kept a store at Camp Floyd during the time Johnston's army was in Utah and when they left he bought a great deal of material from them. In 1854 he went on a mission to Carson Valley, Nevada. While there the Indians came and killed the settlers so he was recalled by Brigham Young. While there he surveyed land for the government. He was paid $1000 in government script for his work. With this money he bought a wagon and supplies in Salt Lake on his return trip to Provo. He was called on another mission with Amasa Potter to Australia. They left about 18.. They rode with traders to San Francisco. From there they worked their passage to Australia. A. J. S. paid his passage by keeping the log of the ship, while Amasa Lyman acted as cabin boy. He spent three years there and paid his way in part by making maps for the American Minister or Ambassador. He was called home upon the arrival of Johnston's Army. (1848 - From his own Family History and as told by his Daughter Eunice Lestra Stewart.)
Philander Barrett Stewart
(Story from Philander Barrett Stewart Family Group Sheet. Retyped by D. Whittaker 7/26/99.)
Philander Barrett Stewart was born in the same year the Declaration of Indepenence was signed and ten years later in the same city his wife, Sarah Scott (affectionately called Sally) was born. In 1800 the Scott family moved to West Virginia, with Philander, and settled on the banks of the Ohio River. Soon Philander married their daughter and both families moved accross the river and settled in the river bottom oppostie Patton Island, Jackson Township, Ohio. Here they lived happily for 24 years blessed with 12 children. They had a farm and a grist mill. Unfortunately, they went security on a note for $2,000 to help Phil's brother. He failed and they had to pay the note. But much worse, Philander drowned in the Ohio River trying to save others and the four oldest children died! The next-to-youngest also died! The noble woman sold some property, paid the debt and four years later with her two brothers, Stephen and James built a flat boat and floated down 1000 miles on Ohio River stopping off at the larger cities. By ox team they moved to Illinois where they joined the Church and then to Iowa and in 1850 to Utah, settling in Payson, Utah. Philander boarded with the Scott family while a student at Williams College, at Williamstown, Mass. He was a civil engineer by profession. They helped settle Marietta, Ohio, the first incorporated town west of the Alleghany mountains.