The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-28
USED TO 0WN EAST ROCK.
Milton J. Stewart Died Yesterday Morn,
 inG.

Ing.
 Milton J. Stewart died between and ? o'clock yesterday morning at his home at the corner of Warren place and Ridge street, near the foot of East rock. His death had been expected for some time as he had been suffering from heart failure, but his demise was hastened by an attack of dysentery, which came on about week ago. He was confined to his home for weeks, but went on the streets a couple of weeks ago and walked around among his old haupts to see familiar faces, but expressed himself as doubtful if he should ever recover his health again.
 MT. Stewart acquired a squatters S title to East rock more than third of a century ago. With his wife he lived in a rambling old stone structure, set back about fifty feet from the site of the present buildings on the rock. His house was built about on the site of the old wooden house In which an old couple were murdered by McCaffrey who was several months later appre- hended in Canada, brought back here tried and hung.
 MT. Stewart was always considered resort for sporting characters a quar- ter of a. century ago.
 Probably She best known local story concerning Stewart relates to the large sail boat which he constructed on the top of the rock. He was a number of years In building the boat, and many wondered how he was going to get 1t to the water when finished He tried to let it down the face of the cliff by means of cables. He gave it up, and for a number of years visitors to the rock wrote messages to Stewart on the hull of the boat. Stewart apparently enjoyed this, and spent considerable time in writing answers to these in scriptions. He finally hauled the boat down from the suminlt of the rock on a heavy wagon, and launched it In Mill river.
 One day Stewards eccentriclties took a new turn, and he ordered all visitors to keep away from the rock. To en- force this edict he closed up all the roads leading to the summit, and even went so far as to drive intruders away at the point of a gun. He had some ex- cuse for his belligerency in that he was constantly annoyed by loafers and put to trouble and expense by visitors of that description. His garden patches | were despoiled frequently by thieves and his property molested. He kept this up until 1884, when the city secured possession of the rock and converted 1t Into park.
 The city had endeavored to secure the rock for a number of years, but al- l though the land was of comparatively little value, Stewart obstinately refused | to sell. After making great many of fers to the old man, the city, in 1884, exercised the power of eminent do- l main, and wrested the property from him He was paid little over $13000 | for the land, but he always declared | that he was robbed
 With the $130OO or more Stewart erected the long row of frame dwelling houses in State street, on the banks of NH river, betWen the Forsyth laundry and Neck bridge. He did not prove to be a good business man and the houses were not q profitable investment He was In constant trouble with his ten ants and with the board of health. He contrived a sewer of his own inven- tion endeavoring to make sanitary use of the ebb and flow of the tide in Mill river. The plan did not work and the houses were in very bad sanitary condition. When the board of health would order him to provide a proper sewerage Stewart set up a cry of per- secution.
 It took all the income from the houses to keep them in repair, and Stewart never realized anything from his in- vestment, ard they finally fell into the l hands of trustee. He was a man of bony, snewy frame, tall, energetic and | was, moreover, in his way very in- teresting talker with congenial visitors. | He hardly ever failed, however, to re- | lapse into narrating his grievances against the city.
 | For the past few years MT. Stewart had a hard struggle to get along, and a | few months ago his health failed and | he took to his bed A widow and a son. Milton J, Stewart jr., survive him. The funeral will be held from the house at 9 o'clock this morning.