Lewis Family

Fled to America from Ireland in 1729, on the lamm after he "slew the Irish lord." Margaret and children came a year or two later.

This page contains random notes, problems, errors, updates, corrections and source citations for the Lewis family as I come across them. The items listed following bibliography provide an excellent general background of the Lewis family, so it will not be necessary to repeat all that information here.

• The Family of John Lewis, Pioneer ; Frazier, Irvin, Cowell, Mark W. Jr. and Fisher, Lewis F.; Fisher Publications, Inc.; San Antonio, Texas; 398 pages; June 15, 1985; ISBN-10: 1893271005; ISBN-13: 978-1893271005. This is the definitive work and definite starting point for researchers and descendants of this family. Worldcat shows 155 libraries nationwide that have this book. December, 2006 Amazon.com had two new copies in-stock, so it appears the book is still in print.

• Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America From the Middle of the Seventeenth Century Down to the Present Time ; by William Terrell Lewis of Perryville, Winston County, Miss.; Louisville, KY.; Courier-Journal Job Printing Co.; 1892/1893. Free view and download at Google Books.

  Family, descendants, sibling and ancestors of "Pioneer" John Lewis (1678-1762). HOWEVER, from a quick initial look, there appear to be errors, so use this cautiously and skeptically. The book begins with a migration of "four brothers" legend but does not name the parents. The LDS Ancestral File names the father as Edward Lewis with just these four sons. No further information about Edward Lewis, so the claim is unproven. AF information may have been taken from this book.

• Lewis Family : lynnside.com

• The Valley Manuscript (Diary of Margaret Lynn Lewis) : Has been discredited as fake. Also, the portrait that has been widely circulated is NOT Margaret Lynn Lewis.

• Kinfolks of William Parke and Synah Perry & Josiah Wilson and Margaret Crow Including the Related Families of Hammonds, Lewis, Stephens, Wheeler, Estes, Lynn, Hopper, Ficklin, Ellis and Others; ; Howell, Margie Ellis (Mrs. Roy); 1967. See Section 28 for extended discussion.

• Lewis Family Histories and Ancestories : lewisgenealogy.com

  Primarily the family of John Lewis (1678-1762) and Margaret Lynn but some other Lewis families also.
  However, as of September 2011, this site is empty, apparently since around 2007. The following page retrieved and saved from the Internet Archive: John Lewis: Patriarch I did not go through the other pages preserved on the Internet Archive; there may be others of interest.

• Some Prominent Virginia Families ; Pecquet du Bellet, Louise [Have not seen]

The Children

I have not researched this myself, so I classify this as heresay. Various postings report from five to eight children of John Lewis (1678-1762) and Margaret Lynn (1693-1773). The ones that seem fairly certain are: Thomas (1718-1790), Andrew (1720-1781) (General), William Lynn (1724-1811), Margaret Lynn (1726-abt1797) (married Long then Crow), and Charles (1736-1774) (Colonel).

A brief summary of children John Lewis: Patriarch

Other reported children:

• Samuel Little known; some doubt existence, but may have been killed in a 1729 battle (?). Another report says killed in 1755 at Braddocks defeat. Not mentioned in his Uncle William Lynn's will (d. 1757, prob. March 1758); Thomas, Andrew, William and Charles Lewis were named. Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America; from the Middle of the Seventeenth Century Down to the Present Time ; Lewis, William Terrell; Louisville, KY; 1893; 454 pages:

  "D 1. Samuel was a captain in the war between the English and French colonists. His brothers, Andrew, William and Charles, were members of his company, and all four were at Braddock's defeat and three of them wounded."

• Anne An Ann(e) Lewis is shown on various online family trees and websites as b. 1728 in Ireland, married 1752 to a Michael Finley Jr. (1718-1785). Two children: Joseph and Ebenezer. Lived near Gettysburg, Pa. From Bogus Portrait Supplements Old 'Valley Manuscript' Hoax ; Richmond-Times, February 1948.

  "According to family records she [Margaret Lynn Lewis] lost a young daughter, Anne, soon after their arrival in America."

  No further information as to what or where these "family records" are. Whether there actually was a daughter Anne and/or if she was one who married a Michael Finley, Jr. is is not demonstrated by any evidence I am aware of. Further, John Lewis came to American in 1729, his wife and children about a year later. 1752 (Anne's reported marriage year) is not "soon after" 1730/1.
 
• John (abt1720-abt1781) "Major"/"Mountain John" Reported as son by various online family trees, no further information or sources. POSSIBLY ancestor of the Lewis's of Pike County, Illinois (See Chapter 114 Jess Thompson History of Pike County Illinois.)
 
• Alice "The Valley Manuscript" aka The Diary of Margaret Lynn Lewis aka "The Commonplace Book of Margaret Lynn Lewis" among its many problems mentions "Alice," a supposed daughter of John and Margaret Lynn Lewis. There is no evidence otherwise that such a person existed. If an Alice is shown somewhere as their daughter, this discredited Manuscript is probably the source.

Misc Stuff:

• Reported marriages of children of Margaret Lynn Lewis Long Crow (1726-abt1797) are:

  
   1787 - Botetourt  County, VA: John Crow (est1765-abt1803) to Williana Phipps
   1789 - Rockbridge County, VA: Thomas Crow (1762-1837) to Nancy Donnally
   1790 - Pulaski Co., KY: Margaret "Peggy" Crow (abt1770-1817) to Josiah Wilson (1765-1830)
   1799 - Mercer Co., KY:  Andrew Lewis Crow (1768-1820) to Margaret Montgomery
   1801 - Mercer Co., KY:  Nancy (Mary) Crow (abt1774-bef1821) to William Mongtomery
  
  

  These marriages seem to indicate that, if she did go to Kentucky after her husband's death in 1795 in Botetourt County, Virginia, she may have gone first to Mercer County, Kentucky. Mercer County seemed to be a typical first stop for immigrants to Kentucky and was an area fortified against the indian attacks that were common in Kentucky in the late 1700's. However, it is unexplained how Peggy Crow would marry in 1790 in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Based on births of her children, that year appears correct, but the first two children are reported born in Botetourt County, Virginia; next (3) Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky; then (4) Adair County, Kentucky. (It was Adair County where Nancy Wilson married Perry Parke.) But the marriages, dates and locations are reported; I have not seen any primary sources.

• Directions to the grave of John Lewis (1678-1762)

  The grave of Augusta County's recognized pioneer settler, John Lewis, is located on a prominent hill on his once-2071-acre property, Belefont, overlooking his homesite, about 300 yards away.

  The gravesite, on land owned for the past 10 years by P. William Moore, offers a fine prospect, with the Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the Allegheny chain visible.

  From Statler Boulevard, take Va. 254 (New Hope Road) east about 4/5 of a mile. Turn left at the sign "Staunton Wastewater Treatment Plant and drive about 100 yards to a locked farm gate on your right. A small sign there designates the "John Lewis Gravesite."

  Climb over the board fence adjacent to the gate and walk up the hill in open pasture towards a large lone sycamore near the top of the hill. You'll reach this tree in about 322 paces & from there, forward to your left, you'll observe an iron picket fence about 50 paces away enclosing the grave of John Lewis. The fenced enclosure measures 14 feet, 11 inches by 19 feet, seven inches.

  Within the enclosure, through an unlocked gate, you'll find the grave of John Lewis. The grave was originally covered by a large limestone marker. In 1850, a granite slab replaced this stone. In 1929, the Beverley Manor Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Staunton aided in the formation of the John Lewis Memorial Foundation, which replaced the granite slab with the present marble marker, measuring 7 feet, two inches by 3 feet, 12 inches, on which is engraved, in 17 lines:

  "Here lie the remains of JOHN LEWIS, who slew the Irish Lord, settled Augusta County, located the Town of Staunton, and furnished five sons to fight the battles of the American Revolution. He was the son of Andrew Lewis and Mary Calhoun and was born in Donegal County, Ireland in 1678, and died Feb’y lst, 1762, aged 84 years. He was a true patriot and a friend of liberty throughout the world. Mortalitate Relicta Vivit Immortalitate Inductus."

  Translated, the Latin reads: "Mortality relinquished, he lives clothed in immortality."

  There are at least a couple of other small stones near the grave, unmarked, which could possibly be the headstones for the graves of John Lewis' wife, Margaret Lynn Lewis, their son Samuel Lewis, or others.

  Shenandoah Sketches
  John Lewis: Patriarch
  By JOE NUTT
  Special Writer
  

• Wikipedia - Andrew Lewis (1720-1781)

• Following was found on a page from the lewisgenealogy.com website as preserved at archive.org:

  It has come to my attention that there may be an error in one of the lines that was published in what I consider one of the best sources for the John Lewis and Margaret Lynn line, "The Family of John Lewis, Pioneer". It looks as if ACABB Col. Samuel S. Lewis, may not be the son of ACAB Col. Samuel Lewis & Esther (Catherine) Whitley. It is thought by many that Col. Samuel S. Lewis was actually the son of a different John Lewis & his wife Sarah.

  My father participated at my request in the Lewis DNA project (which I highly recommend). It was a surprise to find out that his DNA (descended from John & Margaret's sons Thomas & Charles due to cousins marrying down the line) did not match with another person on the Lewis DNA website that descended from ACABB Col. Samuel S. Lewis. At this time, I have taken Col. Samuel S. Lewis and his descendants out of the John Lewis & Margaret Lynn tree, and added a new tree for this line.

  Was on: http://www.lewisgenealogy.com/the_next_generation/