STEWART, Virgil A., born in Jackson county, Georgia, about 1810. In 1835 he became acquainted with John A. Murrell, who was the chief of an organization that existed throughout the south and southwest and made a practice of enticing negroes from their owners, with promise of freedom, and then selling them in a distant part of the country. The members of the conspiracy recognized one another by signs, and dexterously concealed their identity. Their crimes included robbery and murder. Mr. Stewart succeeded in gaining full information concerning the plans of the organization, which included an extended uprising of the negroes, who were incited by promises of freedom to rebel and slay all the whites on the night of 25 December, 1835. Meanwhile the members of the conspiracy were to take advantage of the condition of affairs and plunder generally. A knowledge of this plot, which was divulged to Stewart by Murrell, led to the arrest of the latter, and his subsequent sentence to imprisonment for ten years. After the conviction, Stewart published a pamphlet account of the affair, under the title of "The Western Land Pirate" (1835), giving the names of the conspirators. This quickly disappeared, statements were industriously circulated that Stewart was a member of the band, and efforts were made to murder him. See "The History of Virgil A. Stewart and his Adventure in capturing and exposing the Great Western Land Pirate and his Gang" (New York, 1836).