He lived in Londonderry, N.H., and in 1714 he bought of Margaret Aken (probably his sister) her right in her father's estate. February 27, 1748 he bought two lots of land in Colrain, of Samuel Rankin of Londonderry. August 26, 1748, he seems to have sold his homestead in Londonderry to his brother, John Stewart of Windham, N.H., and about that time moved to Colrain. June 19, 1749, he bought a house and home lot of Joseph Rankin of Pelham upon which he settled the same year. He was chosen tithingman in 1754. Again he was chosen tithingman and one of the committee to manage the affairs of the town in 1759; was also surveyor and hog constable. His will, dated April 1, 1776, and probated May 6, 1777, may prove interesting to his descemdants.
His farm was located in a wild and romantic little valley made still more weird by the frequent Indian raids and depradations committed here during the French and Indian War of that period. It was lot 22 and he was the fifth owner and the third or fourth occupant. It was bounded south by Matthew Clark, west by the highway, north by the land of John Anderson, and east by the town line. He died about 1777, and the whole house is removed, but the little green plot is there, and a phantom presence hovers around the spot and guards its sacredness, while like a beautiful mirage, there is flashed upon the vision an humble abode with its huge chimney sending forth a slow flowing stream of curling, white smoke, while busy feet flit lightly about bent upon the various duties assigned them to keep the wolf and the enemy from the door, for "eternal vigilance is again the price of safety," the savage foe lurks in ambush, the danger signal is wafted loud and deep through the air, anxious faces peer around corners, and soon the members of this busy family are on the way up the rugged hillside to the nearest fort for protection. The curtain falls; wild nature is subdued, the corner stones of our quiet, comfortable homes are laid. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War. The old pewter cup, with which he served out rations of rum to the soldiers in Fort Lucas, has long been an heirloom in the family, and is now in the possession of one of his descendants in Pennsylvania. He was buried in the old hillside cemetery in Colrain.
"E'en to this day a rude enclosure pressed
On flank and rear and tangl'd thickets deep;
Rank grasses, by the gentle winds caressed,
Crown the rough sod neath which the fathers sleep.
That spot is hallowed by the honored dust
Of those who sowed that other hands may reep.
What garnered treasure held in sacred trust
Is half so precious as the one we keep?"