Descendants of John Stewart

Descendants of John StewartJohn Stewart was born ca 1795 in Scotland, according to his son, Robert Stewart 2nd marriage record. Little is known about John. By 1820 he lived in Wharton Township, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, with an unknown wife and 1 child. By ca 1836 he was likely dead leaving at least 9 children. Margaret, Robert and Thomas Stewart are named as his children in the 1831 tax record, but only because John was too poor to pay the school tax. Daughter, Lydia

John Stewart was born ca 1795 in Scotland, according to his son, Robert Stewart 2nd marriage record. Little is known about John. By 1820 he lived in Wharton Township, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, with an unknown wife and 1 child. By ca 1836 he was likely dead leaving at least 9 children. Margaret, Robert and Thomas Stewart are named as his children in the 1831 tax record, but only because John was too poor to pay the school tax. Daughter, Lydia Stewart's descendants were proven by DNA matches to me. The other 5 children remain a mystery that I someday hope to solve, along with his parentage. This book is a record of the descendants of the four known children. It has a strong emphasis on my parents, Stanley and Marie Downs Tatum and our upbringing in the wonderful community of Samuels, Nelson Co., Kentucky. I have included lots of family pictures. It has a chapter on the ice pick / stone hammer murderess, Geneva Chapman Prather, who planned and participated in the murder of her father, Justice George W. Chapman, for financial gain in 1938. My mother worked for the jailer as live-in help and had to endure spending her nights in the same bedroom with Mrs. Prather. There were no separate quarters in the jail for women. How much rest would you get sleeping in the same room with an ice pick murderess? The research that went into this book is a culmination of years of family study. My mother was orphaned at 13 months of age. I encountered many "genealogy brick walls" moving back in her line to John Stewart. The genealogy trails of his four known children have taken me through PA, KY, TN, WV, VA, MO, TX and CA. I've encountered many coal miners in this bloodline, but a surprising number of doctors and nurses and academics too.