The Journey Begins

"The party boarded the steamer ARCTIC, at Pittsburg on April 1st, 1853 and 'started the 2' according to the diary kept by Hellen Stewart in a little leathercovered book, printed in London and given to her by her "Aunt Simpson". It has a silver clasp.

Agnes Stewart also kept a diary on the trip west, and both diaries show plainly what delightful girls these Stewart sisters were. Hellen became attached to newly-met fellow travelers on the ARCTIC and hated to leave them when, at St. Louis, the party transferred to the HONDURAS for the trip up the Missouri river to St. Joseph, one of the outfitting points for the westward bound emigrants. Hellen comments that the scenery on the Missouri reminded her of "some old ruined castle I have read about."

On the 20th of April, they had arrived at St. Joseph, but the women and children stayed on board the steamer all night. By the 29th of April, some of their company had started on the road to Oregon, but John Stewart and family still lingered at St. Joseph and on May 2nd, Elizabeth
Young Stewart married Frederick Warner there. Record of their marriage in St. Joseph's court house states that the parties were "bound for Oregon."

Notes: Steamboat picture is just an example of a steamboat that would have been like the one on which the Stewarts & Warners traveled.

Pine Township is now apart of Pittsburgh, PA.

John & Janet Stewart, Pioneers of 1853

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some information about John & Janet Stewart. They are Michael's 5th Great Grandparents.

The following is from "The John Stewart Family, Oregon Pioneers of 1853" by Leah C. Menefee. It was printed in the "Lane County Historian" Vol. IX - No. 2 Eugene, Oregon, August 1964.

"Before he came to America, John Stewart, born in Dundee, Scotland on May 20, 1785, had served a five year term in the Forfar and Kincardine Regiment of Malitia. He was discharged on December 1, 1807 from this regiment commanded by Col. Archibald Douglas. At this time, his discharge, which is owned in Lane county by one of his descendants, stated that he was 24 years old, five feet seven and a half inches tall, with black hair and a 'fresh' complexion. He was from the parish of Munro, County Forfar, Scotland. He was a shoemaker by trade.

In 1815 John Stewart married for the first time. His wife was Annie Black and they were married in Dundee. They had one daughter, Annie, born February 16, 1816. In 1817 Annie Black Stewart died and on June 20th, 1820, John Stewart married Janet Smilie (Smiley) also in Dundee.

John Stewart and his second wife, Janet, had a daughter, Elizabeth Young Stewart, born in 1822. Her birth was followed by that of a son, born 1824 and died the same year, and by a daughter Mary A. born in 1826.

At this point, plans for coming to the United States came to fruition and these descendants of Scottish Covenanters--with their worldly goods and their Bibles--crossed the ocean in either 1826 or 1827."

Next Week: Settling in Pennsylvania