John Stuart

Background

John was born around 1700 and was native of Scotland, United Kingdom, who emigrated to America about 1748.

Career

He is said to have campaigned with his brother Francis against the Spaniards in Florida. In 1757 he was commissioned captain in the South Carolina provincials by Governor William Henry Lyttleton. After the capture of Fort Loudon by the Cherokee under Oconostota, Stuart was spirited away by Attakullaculla (Little Carpenter) whom he sent back to promote peace.

In 1762 he was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for the southern district, with a salary of $1, 000 and $3, 000 for Indian presents and other expenses.

In 1772 he built a beautiful house in Charlestown, now Charleston, which is still (1935) standing, and he acquired a plantation on Lady's Island. At first he was without definite powers and a staff, and he was subservient to the governors, who had largely handled Indian affairs themselves.

Following the proclamation of 1763, he became responsible to the secretaries of state in England, though still cooperating with the governors and commander-in-chief. During the summer and autumn of 1764 he was in the Floridas, and in October he was included in East Florida's Council by Governor James Grant.

In 1765 he utilized the "Plan for the Future Management of Indian Affairs, " emanating from the Lords of Trade, to obtain full imperial status for his department. In November 1765 he and Governor Grant met the Creeks at Fort Picolata, East Florida, where peace was assured and boundaries were defined.

In December 1766 Stuart was informed by Lord Shelburne that he had adopted the new plan too quickly in West Florida, and that his expenses were running above all expectation and proportion.

In order to strengthen his authority Stuart suggested to Lord Hillsborough his appointment on the councils of all colonies within his district, and in April 1770 mandamuses were received by the governors of Virginia and of the provinces southward naming Stuart "councillor extraordinary" to advise them and their boards on Indian affairs. Thus the superintendent was able during the next five years to extend his influence widely. His predecessor's expenditures seem not to have exceeded $1, 500 sterling a year, but his had increased steadily on account of numerous congresses and the lavish distribution of Indian presents. In 1768 they had been fixed at $4, 000.

By 1776 they had reached the "imperial" figure of $19, 000, and they continued to mount until his death. During the rest of the British regime they were kept down to about $3, 900. Early in June 1775 his arrest was ordered by the assembly of South Carolina on the charge of attempting to incite the Catawba and Cherokee in the British interest.

Fleeing from Lady's Island to Savannah and thence to St. Augustine, he remained until his death a refugee in the Floridas. His management of the southern tribes was much hampered by Revolutionary developments to the northward and was subject to the plans of British commanders operating in the south. Early in 1776 his wife and her daughter were restricted to their Charlestown home and allowed $100 a month in currency from his estate, which had been sequestered. Later Mrs. Stuart managed to escape. To carry into effect Sir William Howe's directions about the management of the Indians, Stuart removed to Pensacola in July 1776.

In February 1778 he sent two of his deputies to prepare the Cherokee and Seminole for action when summoned. He also organized three companies of refugees, one of which he dispatched to stop the rum traffic at Mobile.

In March he posted two parties of whites and Indians on the Mississippi in compliance with Lord George Germain's warning of a possible invasion by that route. Nevertheless, James Willing's expedition surprised Natchez on March 20 and compelled its neutrality. Another mischance, despite instructions, was the failure of the Indians to cooperate on the frontiers with Colonel Archibald Campbell's expedition to Georgia in the winter of 1778. While under the severe censure of the British government for these reasons and the prodigious increase of his expenses, Stuart died at Pensacola

Achievements

• John Stuart was the superintendent for the southern district of the British Indian Department from 1761 to 1779; his northern counterpart was Sir William Johnson, based in the colony of New York. Stuart's home, built in 1772 in Charleston, is now known as the Colonel John Stuart House and was named a U. S. National Historic Landmark in 1973.

Connections

He married Miss Fenwick, of a prominent Carolinian family, and in 1759 a son was born who was to win fame in the Peninsular War and become Lieuenant-General Sir John Stuart.

Wife:

Miss Fenwick

Brother:

Francis Stuart