Hello to Everyone: I just received an article from George William Stuart from Raleigh, MS. I thought some of you may find it interesting, and perhaps can shed some additional light on the Mississippi branch of the Stewart/Stuart family. The article will be archived at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvrcbiog/StuartsFromMS.html . Nyla Lost Stewart Family Found in Mississippi by George William Stuart Through the modern marvel of DNA research a long lost branch of the Stewart family of old Augusta County, Virginia, has been located in Neshoba County, Mississippi. George William Stuart, great-great-grandson of William Davis Stuart, recently participated in the Stewart/Stuart Family DNA Project. He had an exact match (25/25) with known descendants of James and Mary Lafferty Stewart of old Augusta County, Virginia. This was also the only family in the project even remotely matched. Evidently we are one of a kind! It seems we are of direct descent from early Viking colonies in Scotland, Ireland, and to a limited extent England and France. Prior to this discovery, the Mississippi branch had not been able to determine just where their patriarch, William Davis Stuart had come from. >From his tombstone, located at Old Pearl Valley Baptist Church, Neshoba County, Mississippi, we obtained his date of birth (February 22, 1823) and his date of death (June 20, 1907). However, we don’t know who supplied this birth information to the monument people or the accuracy of it. >From the 1850 Winston County, Mississippi census and the 1860 through 1900 Neshoba County censuses we obtained the place of birth stated as AL. When census information started including parents place of birth we started getting varied answers. His mother’s place of birth stayed consistent as South Carolina; but his father’s place of birth was given as Kentucky on one, Alabama on another, and Virginia on yet another. Because this Stewart family of early Virginia and West Virginia is the only match, I now must try to find the link between it and the Mississippi Stuarts. I’m asking for help from the Stewarts reading this message. In my first few weeks of learning about the Stewarts, it seems likely that Capt. Ralph Stewart will be my link. Capt. Ralph had sons that migrated to Greenup County, Kentucky. It seems that several Stewarts migrated into Kentucky in the early 1800’s and one of them may be the father or grandfather of my William Davis Stuart. Family photos posted on MyFamily.com websites by Stewart descendants of these Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina families look remarkably like the Mississippi Stuarts! I welcome any discussion, helpful directions, etc., from all. George William Stuart 26319 Highway 35 North Raleigh, MS 39153 [email protected] or [email protected]