page 72 History of Highland County

Steuart, a young Scotchman, had a thrilling experience in reaching these mountains. Being well educated, he expected to follow a profession. The ship on which he took passage was captured by Spanish pirates, and the crew killed. He was the only passenger and was put on the South Atlantic shore with no clothing save a piece of canvas and without his chestful of books. Thence he drifted northward to the Augusta colony, doing at first manual labor. His soft hands and intellectual air brought him a welcome invitation to teach school, and he followed this calling the rest of his life. But downcast at the loss of his beloved library, he was content to spend his days in the frontier wilderness. Steuart settled just below the mouth of Shaw's Fork. In marrying Margaret Usher he became brother-in-law to Loftus Pullin.