The Descendants of Andrew LINN Sr
Fifth Generation
24. Verlena LYNN (Daniel LYNN , William T LYNN , Nathan LYNN , Andrew ) was born 1 about 1820 in Mongomery Co, MO. She died in 1892 in Douglas Co, OR.
Verlena married (1) Jesse WOODSON about 1837 in MO. Jesse was born in KY.
They had the following children:
+ 29 M i John D WOODSON + 30 M ii William Thompson WOODSON + 31 F iii Mary Margaret WOODSON
Verlena also married 1 (2) Alfred Thomas AMBROSE on 4 May 1847 in Platte Co, MO. Alfred was born 2, 3, 4 in Sep 1822 in MO. He died on 20 Jun 1912 in Douglas Co, OR.
They had the following children:
+ 32 M iv James M AMBROSE + 33 M v Nathan Allen AMBROSE 34 F vi Josephine AMBROSE was born 1 about 1854 in Douglas Co, OR. She died after 1870. + 35 M vii Eugene AMBROSE 36 F viii Verlena AMBROSE was born 1 about 1861 in Douglas Co, OR. She died in 1880. 37 M ix Albert AMBROSE 1 was born 2 on 12 Aug 1864 in Douglas Co, OR. He died on 17 May 1900 in OR.
26. Cordelia Rose Altha LYNN 1, 2, 3, 4 (Daniel LYNN , William T LYNN , Nathan LYNN , Andrew ) was born 5 on 29 Oct 1831 in Warsaw, Benton, MO. She died 6 on 14 Mar 1914 in CA and was buried in Aptos Cemetery, Soquel, Santa Cruz, CA.
Cordelia married Alfred Richard STEWART 1, 2, 3, son of Benjamin STEWART and Elizabeth WOOD, on 28 Nov 1851 in South Tualatin, Washington, OR. Alfred was born 4, 5 on 13 Jul 1825 in Callaway Co, MO. He died on 28 May 1908 in Corralitos, Santa Cruz, CA and was buried in Aptos Cemetery, Soquel, Santa Cruz, CA.
ALFRED AND CORDELIA LYNN STEWART
Alfred Stewart was born in 1826 in Callaway county Missouri, and spent his early childhood in that central area of the state. Early in the 1840's his father, Benjamin, seeking richer farmland, moved his family to Andrew county Missouri and begin preparing for a journey to Oregon territory. The eight month trip commenced in April 1846 and it was apparently on this long adventure that Alfred acquired the wanderlust that remained part of him for the rest of his life. It was on the Oregon Trail that Alfred met Jesse Applegate. Several of the Applegate brothers had made the trip to Oregon in 1843 and had returned to Missouri to lead wagon trains over a new trail they hoped to establish on a more Southerly route through Nevada and California
and ending in Oregon. Alfred worked for several months with the Applegate brothers and others to blaze this new trail and it was during this time that Alfred Stewart and Jesse Applegate became lifelong friends.
Alfred was an excellent horseman and teamster. It was while on horseback, dressed all in buckskin, that he first met his wife Cordelia Lynn. After a six week courtship in the Summer of 1851 they were married.
Alfred stood about 5 feet 5 inches tall and had grey-blue eyes. Cordelia was tiny, less than 5 feet in height and in her lifetime never weighing over 90 pounds. What she lacked in size, she more than made up in spirit and resourcefullness. A favorite family story has been passed down through the generations about Cordelia's wedding dress. In 1847 while living in Platte county Missouri, Cordelia and her father, Daniel Lynn, planted flax which Cordelia later processed into fiber. She wove herself a dress from the flax and from wool which she had carded and spun. In addition to the black of wool and beige of the flax the dress also was beautifully colored with natural plant dyes Cordelia had made, red from berries, green from peach leaves, and blue from indigo. This dress was carried all the way from Missouri to Oregon in 1850 when the Lynn family came West. Like a precious tartan, pieces of this dress still exist, preserved in quilts her grand-daughters made.
With his father and brothers, Alfred settled land in Washington county Oregon in 1851. He did not like farming there and abandoned part of his land claim in 1855 to try gold mining in Southern Oregon. This did not work out and Alfred returned to Washington county to sell the remainder of his land and then moved the family south to Douglas county Oregon near a settlement called Winchester. This was a sparsely settled area with only a few families including the Applegates and Cordelia's two sister's families, the Smiths and Ambrose's. There were numerous Indians in the area as well and some were hostile. Alfred had built a small cabin on his land claim there, and one day while he was out hunting, Cordelia left the cabin briefly, leaving their baby, Julia, alone in a tiny cradle on the hearth. When she returned the cradle and Julia were gone. Certain the Indians had kidnapped her baby, a frantic Cordelia ran the half mile to her nearest neighbor's house for help, only to find Julia safe and sound
with the neighbor. While Cordelia was outside, the neighbor had come to visit and finding the cabin empty with little Julia in the cradle, had taken the baby for safekeeping. She had taken a piece of charcoal and written on the hearth, ' took baby', but Cordelia could not read.
In 1868 Alfred decided to seek greener pastures and moved his family to the San Joaquin Valley of California. He had tired of farming and purchased an ox team and wagon. For several years he hauled goods between San Francisco and Sacramento. A flood drowned the ox team, and this loss reduced Alfred to a life of subsistance farming. For a time he worked for a farmer in Visalia California, who was so poor he could only pay Alfred in corn. One of Alfred's daughters would say years later, all we had to eat then was corn bread and syrup (sorghum molassis). The situation in Visalia was close to intolerable and Alfred loaded his few earthly possesions into a wagon pulled by two horses in hopes of moving his family over the coastal range of mountains to King City. At the summit of the Pacheco Pass one of the horses expired and the other was too weak to pull the wagon alone, so Alfred left Cordelia and the children alone at the summit and walked to King City California to get help from Cordelia's cousins (the King family). During the weeks he was away, Cordelia had to fend for herself and to feed the family, and sent her two boys, Daniel and Demarcus, out to hunt quail and wild pigs. It is doubtful Cordelia enjoyed the experiance, but the children did immensely, as one later remarked, ' then, we were as wild as the pigs'.
Alfred worked for a number of years on David Jacks' ranch near Salinas and later built a cabin in Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz mountains of California where he and Cordelia spent their final days. Alfred Stewart died in 1908 at the age of 81. Cordelia died in 1914.
Sources: 1. Family memories compiled by Emma Coon Bradley.
2. Stewart family stories recorded in a letter written by Alyce Lynn Mackin dated January 5, 1974.
3. Affidavit filed by Alfred Stewart for his 1853 land donation claim in Washington county Oregon. In this affidavit he stated that he was born in 1826 in Callaway county Missouri. This is the only record of his place of birth. His exact date of birth, July 15, 1826 is recorded in his Bible.
4. Voter registration roll of 1900 for Boulder Creek California. Alfred Stewart is listed as being 5 feet 5 inches in height with grey-blue eyes and grey hair.
They had the following children:
+ 38 F i Anna Elizabeth STEWART 39 M ii De Marcus STEWART 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 was born on 16 Aug 1857 in Winchester, Douglas, OR (near). He died in 1934/1940 in AZ from innjuries sustained in an automobile accident and was buried in Los Angeles Co, CA.
Demarcus Stewart was named after his first cousin, John Demarcus Busey (see descendents of Nancy Stewart).
Demarcus Stewart was very close to his younger brother, Daniel Lynn Stewart. When they were boys Demarcus Stewart had saved Daniel's life by pulling him out of the Umpqua River when Daniel was drowning. Later the two brothers worked together as teamsters, hauling borax by mule teams from the Death Valley area of California. Demarcus Stewart worked in the silver mines of Arizona and was in the Klondike gold rush of 1898.De married 5 Margaret J CAMPBELL 1, 2, 3, 4 on 22 Feb 1888 in Pinal Co, AZ. Margaret was born in Jan 1859 in Nova Scotia, Canada. She died in 1920/1930 in Los Angeles Co, CA. + 40 F iii Julia Etta STEWART + 41 F iv Alice Lynn STEWART + 42 M v Daniel Lynn STEWART 43 F vi Rosella STEWART "Rosie" 1, 2 was born 3 on 16 Oct 1866 in Winchester, Douglas, OR. She died on 2 Jun 1872 in Salinas, Monterey, CA and was buried in Salinas, Monterey, CA. 44 M vii Creed STEWART "Cready" 1, 2 was born 3 on 26 Sep 1869 in San Joaquin Co, CA. He died on 24 Sep 1873 in Salinas, Monterey, CA (probably). + 45 F viii Eva Lynn STEWART 46 M ix Alfred Richard STEWART Jr 1, 2, 3 was born on 31 Aug 1877 in San Joaquin Co, CA. He died on 10 Aug 1929 in San Joaquin Co, CA and was buried in Aptos Cemetery, Santa Cruz Co, CA.
27. Arethusa Emeline LYNN 1 (Daniel LYNN , William T LYNN , Nathan LYNN , Andrew ) was born 2, 3 on 12 Jun 1834 in Warsaw, Benton, MO. She died on 6 May 1911 in Douglas Co, OR and was buried 4 in Masonic Cemetery, Roseburg, Douglas, OR.
Arethusa married Thomas SMITH Sr 1 in Oct 1852 in Douglas Co, OR. Thomas was born 2, 3 on 12 Feb 1824 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. He died in 1910 in Douglas Co, OR and was buried 4 in Masonic Cemetery, Roseburg, Douglas, OR.
They had the following children:
47 M i George SMITH was born 1 about 1854 in Douglas Co, OR. 48 M ii Marion SMITH was born 1 on 2 Jan 1856 in Douglas Co, OR. He died on 20 May 1872 in Douglas Co, OR and was buried 2 in Masonic Cemetery, Roseburg, Douglas, OR. 49 M iii Lynn SMITH was born 1, 2 about 1858 in Douglas Co, OR. He died after 1910. + 50 M iv Lee SMITH 51 M v Nathan SMITH was born 1, 2 in 1862 in Douglas Co, OR. He died after 1910. 52 M vi Ralph SMITH was born 1, 2 about 1865 in Douglas Co, OR. He died after 1880. 53 F vii Mary A SMITH was born 1, 2 about 1869 in Douglas Co, OR. She died after 1880. 54 M viii Thomas SMITH Jr was born 1 in 1872 in Douglas Co, OR. He died in 1911 in Douglas Co, OR and was buried 2 in Masonic Cemetery, Roseburg, Douglas, OR. 55 M ix Rolla SMITH was born 1 on 19 Feb 1874 in Douglas Co, OR. He died on 31 May 1874 in Douglas Co, OR and was buried 2 in Masonic Cemetery, Roseburg, Douglas, OR. 56 M x Arethusa Emeline SMITH was born 1 in Aug 1875 in Douglas Co, OR. He died after 1900. 57 F xi Helen Verlena SMITH was born 1 in Dec 1876 in Douglas Co, OR. She died after 1900. 58 F xii Grace D SMITH was born 1 in 1879 in Douglas Co, OR. She died after 1880.
