The Stewart Farm is likely the oldest farm complex on Harsens Island. Harvey Stewart, a brewery and distillery owner from New York State, came to the Michigan Territory in 1810 and served as a guide and messenger to General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812. A widower, he married Mary Graveraet in 1814. She was the granddaughter of Jacob Harsen, who had settled on the island around 1778, and she had inherited 640 acres originally owned by Harsen but abandoned the land during the war. After the war, she returned with Harvey Stewart and his two sons, Aura and John, and they took up farming. In 1849 Aura Stewart bought 53 acres of the farm and soon began building the house. Born in New York State in 1804, Aura Stewart moved to Harsens Island at age 12 and in 1876 wrote memoirs that were published in the Marine City Gazette and the 1883 History of St. Clair County. He recalled the wild beauty of his new home, including dense forests, the River St. Clair, abundant waterfowl, wolves howling at night, canoes of Native people passing through the woods and waters, and the songs of French voyageurs rowing across the blue water.