Thompson Bay

Alexander Stewart. Origin: Loyalist.

Alexander Stewart or Stuart was granted 66 acres of land (D-77 on the Lands & Surveys map, where his surname was spelled “Stuart”) or 60 acres (Tatnall Map #92, where he is listed as “Stewart”) on 8 September 1789 in what is now Thompson’s Bay, Long Island. It was bounded by the lands of John Braddock, Alice Thompson, Benjamin Thompson, and by the sea. His grant, on which his name was spelled “Stewart,” indicates that he was granted a waiver of 10 years quit rent.

The surname Stewart is listed in the 1740 Census, and a John Robert Stewart was born on New Providence 6 October 1741. The 10-year waiver of quit rent may indicate he was a Loyalist. Three men by the name of Alexander Stewart are listed as serving in the southern campaign of the American Revolution: a private in the 96th Brigade, a Captain with the North Carolina Loyalists, and a General with the Camden South Carolina Militia.

There are two Alexander Stuarts listed in Loyalists of the Southern Campaign. One was listed as a captain on half-pay at Savannah in 1780. The other was a private serving in Colonel Nicholas Lechmere’s Regiment, Granville County Militia, South Carolina, in 1781. We suspect the Long Island grant recipient John Stuart was the latter. Also serving in that South Carolina Militia were several other men who received land grants on Long Island: Major Andrew Deveaux, Private George Braker, Surgeon Archibald Campbell. The heirs of a John Stuart were banished from South Carolina, where John Stewart owned property in 1782. Interestingly (and confusingly), there was an Alexander Stewart serving in the same Militia as Alexander Stuart. We were never able to determine whether one of the spellings was correct, or whether this was just a Scottish name with interchangeable spelling in English.

References: Grant, DM, LSC.