DAVID LEWIS JR. OF VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA
Part 1
The emphasis of this paper is on David Lewis Jr.
Published information about David Lewis, Jr., contains numerous
discrepancies. This paper addresses those inconsistencies by
presenting all the available evidence in chronological format. This
approach may assist future genealogists by providing information not
previously discussed in print and make corrections in what has been
printed. There must be speculation in several areas because of the
lack of records. The loss of the records of the "burned counties"
makes the interpretation of surviving records even more important.
Differences in interpretation exist that may never be satisfactorily
resolved.
Three types of references are used: (1) Initials of the two major
genealogists, WTL(1) and NDT(2), with page numbers; (2) Endnotes; and
(3)References which may be found by referring to the complete date in
the Chronology. This type of reference may be unorthodox but it
eliminates the need for much repetition.
The Stovall Genealogy, published by NDT in 1993, is very important to
this research. David Jr. married, as his first wife, Rebecca Stovall.
Dr. Thompson found data on David Jr. when researching from the Stovall
viewpoint that I did not find when researching from the Lewis
viewpoint. Similarly, I found data of interest to the Stovalls that
Dr. Thompson did not find. He was to include this information in Vol.
2 of his genealogy, but is no longer associated with the Stovall
family. Someone else will complete the genealogy.
Michael Cook questioned WTL's statement about having seen a will of
John Lewis of Hanover Co., since so many Hanover Co. records were lost
in the Civil War. WTL started his research before the War and saw the
will. This is shown by his listing that Joshua West Johnson had eight
living children in 1859.(3) In listing the children of Joshua West,
WTL should have listed any deceased, but did not. The Bible of Joshua
West Johnson, now in possession of the Johnson family in Oxford, MS,
lists thirteen children born by 1871. Thirteen was the number always
mentioned by the children and grandchildren in any discussion of the
family. This was fine until I found in the 1900 and 1910 censuses of
Calhoun Co., MS, Maria Johnson told the census taker that she had had
14 children, twelve still living. She said this twice, ten years
apart. No one was able to explain these statements of hers. It was
unexplained until March of 1999, when during an exchange of e-mail
with Buddy Jackson of TN, he mentioned he had found the papers of Wm.
T. Lewis in the AL State Archives.(4) These were the letters and other
papers from which he compiled his genealogy. There were five letters
from Joshua West Johnson to Mr. Lewis telling about his family. In
the letter dated July 17, 1859 from Scottsville, Bibb Co., AL, J. W.
Johnson stated that his daughter Rebecca Rosalie was born 6th May
1852. "the next a son died when 3 days old not named." His next
child was Luretta Maria born the 6th June 1855. Mr. Lewis, in making
notes on this letter, numbered Rebecca as number 4, skipped over the
deceased son and numbered Luretta as number 5. Joshua West told this
to Mr. Lewis but he did not enter the information on his deceased son
in his Bible.
Michael Lewis Cook compiled, in a five volume set, every scrap of
data he could find about all Lewis families and organized them into
numbered families, such as 1L, 2L, 7L, etc.(5) In Vol. IV, he believed
he could combine the 7L and 9L families. Page 12, for 7L, and pages
74-8 and 80-2, for 9L, show his efforts to do this. 7L is the family
called "John Lewis of Hanover Co." which is that of David Lewis Jr.
9L is the family of Councellor John Lewis of Warner Hall. These
appear to be completely separate families.
This is also the opinion of Robert J. C. K. Lewis. In personal
correspondance, Mr. Lewis wrote on 18 Nov 1992, "When I started
researching the David Lewis family line all I had was Vol. 4 of
Pioneer Lewis Families and the attached diagram done by my cousin
'Trip' (Triplett) Russell. After looking at the St. Peter's Parish
Register, I felt it was very unlikely that the John Lewis listed there,
was identical with John Lewis Esq., as he is never given any other
designation than 'Planter', where John Lewis of Chemokins and Warner
Hall is designated 'Mr.' as early as 1690/1" - - and - - "all the
records of the children of John Lewis Esq. appear in the Abingdon
Registers or [were] absent from both the St. Peter's & Abingdon
Registers."(6)
The basic source for the John Lewis of Hanover County family is the
genealogy compiled by William Terrell Lewis. Tradition in the family
was that John Lewis was born about 1640 in Wales, and that he resided
for a while with the Mostyn family in Denbyshire before coming to
America.(7)
W.T.L. said that John Lewis died in 1726 and his will was on file in
Hanover Co. [this was before the Civil War]. He said that John's will
listed the names of six children: 1. Mrs. Rebecca Lindsay, born about
1677; 2. Abraham, born about 1679; 3. Sarah, born about 1681; 4. Mrs.
Angelica Fullelove, born about 1683; 5. David, born about 1685; 6.
John Jr. born about 1687.(8) These names and birth dates vary from
those in the St. Stephen's Parish Register of New Kent Co.: Jno., son
of Jno. Lewis, bapt. ye 27th of Feby 1686/7; David, son of John Lewis,
bapt. the 5 May 1695; Abraham, son of John Lewis, planter, bapt. 27
Nov 1698; and William, son of John Lewis, baptz ye 22 Nov 17__.(9) It
is this variance that led Robert J. C. K. Lewis to suggest that there
may be two John Lewises combined, the Immigrant and the one who died
in 1726.(10) It is also possible that he may have been married more
than once. We have no name for any wife. None was listed in his will.
William Terrell Lewis died 23 Jan 1893. His genealogy was completed
and published in 1893 by his family as a memorial to him.
Unfortunately they did not know his material as well as he did and made
errors that he should not have made. Examples can be found with David
Jr's siblings on pages 61, 118, 198, 199, 209 and 211. The first child
of David Lewis Sr. and his wife Ann Terrell, daughter of William
Terrell of New Kent and Hanover Cos.,(11) was William Terrell Lewis
born about 1718 in New Kent Co. On page 61, the second child,
Susannah, is given as born 1720 and the fifth child, David Jr., as born
1726. On page 118, Susannah is given as born in 1726 and on page 198
David Jr., as born in 1720. Nevertheless, Susannah is always listed as
the second child and David Jr. is the fifth child of David Lewis Sr.
Since the same birth order is always used, I feel this should settle
the birth date problem. Other examples of errors are on page 199,
where David Jr's daughter Rebecca is number D9 but on page 209 she is
number D7. On page 209 when numbers were given to the biographies of
the children that lived, the two children who died young, were omitted
(D6 and D7, but were listed on page 198). Then on page 211, the two
deceased children were added as D8 and D9.
In October 1734, David Lewis Sr. and his brother-in-law Joel Terrell
bought 2300 acres in Goochland County.(12) WTL said on pages 57 and 60
that they moved from Hanover County about 1750 to Albemarle County.
Actually, the Lewis family moved to the area before 15 Sep 1741. David
Lewis Sr. and Jr. were listed in the Goochland County Road Orders of
that date. David Sr. also took the oath of a Lieut. of Militia on that
date. In 1744, their area of Goochland became Albemarle Co.(13) This
is also shown in Doran's Atlas but he made an error in showing what was
the western part of Louisa Co., in 1744, as being a part of Albemarle
Co.(14) This area did not become a part of Albemarle until 1761.
Louisa deeds of this period show this as does the Fredericksville
Parish Vestry Book.
The first record I have found for David Lewis Jr. was this 15 Sep
1741 Road Order with his father. He would have been about 15 years
old. There are several mentions of David Jr. in Goochland Co. before
Albemarle Co. was formed.
In 1749 there were four plats surveyed in Albemarle County that
showed Capt. David Lewis as a neighbor.(15) David Jr. first appeared
on 4 May 1750 in the deeds of Albemarle Co., when he received 200 acres
in St. Ann's Parish from his father, which was a part of the large
patent of 2300 acres.
A Virginia law, passed in October 1712, required that all births,
marriages and deaths be registered with the minister, or clerk, of the
parish, of The Established Church, within 20 days of their occurrence,
or a penalty would be assessed.(16)
Unfortunately, in violation of the law, a register for St. Ann's
Parish of Albemarle Co., VA, was never kept. This information was
provided to me verbally on 27 Apr 1996 by Robert Young Clay of the
Virginia State Archives. Mr. Clay was in Fort Worth for the Virginia
Workshop of the Fort Worth Genealogical Society. Mr. Clay said that
one of his ancestors had a double first cousin who was sent as minister
to the Parish of St. Ann's in the 1770s. This man was The Rev. Charles
Clay who received a 400 acre grant in Albemarle Co. which was surveyed
on 26 Jun 1774. He wrote his family that the previous ministers had
never started a register. Mr. Clay then said, with a laugh, that this
man did not start one either. Mr. Clay said he will try to get a copy
of this letter. With the lack of this register, we have no original
record of either of the marriages of David Lewis Jr. or the births of
his children .
It was not until the end of 1785, when the parish system of
registration was discontinued, that the county took on the
responsibility of recording marriages. These marriages have been
microfilmed. It is unfortunate that they did not record the births
and deaths also. This change of system is shown after the last page
of the Vestry Book of St. Ann's Parish which is dated 1785. The next
page began the Overseers of the Poor book and is dated 1786. When the
St. Ann's Vestry Book was converted to the Overseers of the Poor Book,
it covered the whole county, including Fredericksville Parish.(17)
Several writers have discussed the activities and character of David
Lewis Jr. The early Albemarle County Historian, the Rev. Edgar Woods,
said that "David Jr. was a man of great enterprise and ability. He
owned numerous parcels of land in the Mechum's Depot section, and
carried on a brisk mercantile business in that vicinity."(18) The
recent historian, John Hammond Moore, said David Lewis Jr. was among
the merchants who bought and sold various goods, which business
appeared to be widespread and lucrative. He said "In 1762 David Lewis
Jr. had 155 accounts due him totaling nearly L 500."(19). The
Genealogist WTL, a grand nephew of David Jr., on page 198, said, "He
was a learned and talented man, but rather eccentric."
On 8 Nov 1758, David Lewis Jr. and his wife Rebecca sold a tract of
land to Richard Wood. On 6 May 1760, 8 May 1760 and 30 Jun 1762,
David Jr. sold other tracts of land, with Rebecca relinquishing her
dower right. The last record of Rebecca being alive was on 8 Jul 1762
when she relinquished her dower by oath in court. There is a mention
of Rebecca in a deed of 13 Nov 1766, as wife of David, but she did not
sign the deed and did not relinquish her dower. She was not examined
by the court separately from her husband. This land was purchased 11
Apr 1763, just one month before David III, son of Elizabeth Lockhart,
was born on 15 May 1763. It appears that Rebecca was listed in 1766
by clerical error.
David Jr. had some financial difficulties because on 17 Mar 1762
Thomas Gordon and John Hay complained in court about his debts to them.
Anthony Winston also sued him. These suits continued into 1774. He
owned numerous tracts of land but seemed to have been short of cash to
pay his debts. On 23 Jul 1762, he appointed Alexander Baine, a
merchant of Henrico Co., as his attorney, to recover from persons who
owed him money. 151 men were listed as owing him almost 500 pounds.
No court record has been found that Alexander Baine collected any of
these debts.
There is some uncertainty about when David's first wife Rebecca
Stovall died and the date of his marriage to Elizabeth Lockhart. The
I.G.I. (International Genealogical Index) of Virginia(20) lists the
last 11 children of David Jr. (who were born of his second wife
Elizabeth and have only been listed in print by WTL p. 61), as
children of Rebecca Stovall and born in Virginia. The I.G.I. of South
Carolina(21) shows these children as born to Elizabeth Lockhart in
South Carolina. This chronology will show that both of these have
errors as there were two daughters of Rebecca that WTL knew nothing
of. NDT, p. 53 listed three daughters of David and Rebecca. It is
also possible that several of the children of Elizabeth may have been
born in North Carolina. This possibility has not been mentioned by
anyone before.
WTL, on p. 198, said that, after his first wife died, David moved to
the Lancaster Dist. of South Carolina, near the Waxhaw Meeting House,
and there married Elizabeth Lockhart. This would have been in 1762 as
he gives David III born in SC in 1763. WTL was born in 1811 in
Rutherford Co., NC and moved to Spartanburg Co. in 1827, (WTL p. 285).
He probably was repeating the stories of the family he had been told.
In a phone conversation on 5 Feb 1996, Nancy Crockett, a local
historian in Lancaster, SC, said that the Waxhaw Meeting House was the
Waxhaw Presbyterian Church. At that time only the Established Church,
the Church of England, could use the term "church". Protestant
churches had to be called "meeting houses". She said that the first
hundred years of Waxhaw Church records had been lost to fires. The
Waxhaw Presbyterian Church was established in 1755 and in 1955
celebrated it's 200th anniversary.(22)
"Marriage in Virginia was a social condition which everyone was
expected to achieve. Bachelors and spinsters were condemned as
unnatural and even dangerous to society. When William Byrd II was
slow to remarry after the death of his wife, his female relatives urged
him forward - - -".(23)
It appears that David followed this tradition. Soon after Rebecca
died, he married Elizabeth Lockhart in Albemarle Co. WTL lists on p.
61, ten children born about every two years to Elizabeth between 1763
and 1781 and one born in 1784. Their first child, David Lewis III,
was born 15 May 1763 (his Bible record). Since there is no record
known of marriages in Albemarle County before 1785, other means must
be used to try to prove it. The children of David Jr. and Elizabeth
Lockhart used the surname Lewis, WTL p. 61. The English lawyer, Sir
William Blackstone said the rights of an illegitimate child "are very
few, being only such as he can acquire, for he can inherit nothing,
being looked upon as a son of nobody --". "Yet he may gain a sirname
by reputation though he has none by inheritance."(24) This was the Law
of England and, as such, was the Law of the Colony of Virginia. In
17th Century Virginia, the birth of illegitimate children was punished
with savage ferocity. It was regarded as an offense of the utmost
seriousness, not because it was a sexual transgression, but it
threatened to place a burden of support on the parish poor rolls.(25)
In the 18th Century it was not punished as severely. If David were not
married to Elizabeth, he would be flaunting community values by having
children every two years by a woman with whom he was not married.
Davis discusses the case of John Terrell who had three children by a
woman who was not his wife.(26) With the birth of each child, John and
Elizabeth Harrison were brought into court and tried and had to post
bond to assure the support of the child. It was a violation of the law
and the community did not want to pay for the support of a child of an
unmarried woman. This never happened to David Jr. which should
indicate that he was married to Elizabeth. No record has been found
that anyone ever questioned the right of David's children to use the
name Lewis.
David Jr. purchased tracts from 11 Apr 1763 through 10 Mar 1767.
Starting on 11 Jun 1767, David Jr. began to sell his lands in Albemarle
Co. It appears that the last sale he made while living in Albemarle
Co., occurred on 1 Apr 1769. He acknowledged this sale in the June
term of the Albemarle Court. Strangely Elizabeth is not shown as
relinquishing dower when any of these tracts are sold. This required
a search of the laws on dower rights. A law was passed in October
1748 that stated that a woman must be examined separately from her
husband and must give consent to the sale. If she did not, any deed
her husband gave was not binding on her or her children.(27) If David
were married to Elizabeth, she and her children could challenge any
of these deeds anytime in the future. If he were not married to her,
then she could not relinquish a dower right she did not have. We
still have no answer as to why Elizabeth is never shown as
relinquishing a dower right to lands bought during her marriage.
On 11 Mar 1769, David Lewis Jr. of Albemarle Co. gave a deed of gift
to Elizabeth Lockhart of Albemarle Co. The most likely reason he gave
her personal property in her maiden name was the long running series
of law suits against him. His property could be attached to pay his
debts. He probably was giving her this property in her maiden name to
show that this was her sole property and should not be attached as his.
David Lewis Jr. was a prudent business man and it appears that he
purchased lands in North and South Carolina in preparation for the
move. Deeds with the dates of 29 Apr and 20 Oct 1768 show him as a
bordering land owner in Craven Co. After June 1769, David Jr. moved
to South Carolina and purchased tracts in different areas but all near
the North Carolina border. On 1 Aug 1769 David was issued a
certificate for 500 acres on the Pacolate River in Craven Co., SC. He
purchased a tract of 300 acres in Granville Co., NC, on 17 Oct 1769,
from his son-in-law Henry Graves. It is not known that he ever lived
in Granville Co. On 9 Jan 1775 he made a deed as David Lewis the
younger, of St. Anns Par. I do not think that this means he had moved
back to Albemarle Co. It appears that he just returned to make a final
settlement of his affairs there. On 17 Feb 1775, he gave power of
attorney to his brother William Terrell Lewis as David Lewis Jr., late
of Albemarle Co., "now" resident of District Ninety Six, SC. On 14 Mar
1775, he sold 300 acres in Granville Co., NC to Henry Graves. It is in
the same area as the purchase he made from Henry Graves in 1769 but the
description is not the same, and he says "being the lands I bought of
Charles Williams". I have not found where he sold the land he bought
from Henry Graves nor any record where he bought any land from Charles
Williams. In the 8 Apr 1775 issue of the Virginia Gazette, he
published a notice dated 4 April 1775 Albemarle, saying he was "late
of Virginia, now living in South Carolina, District of Ninety Six."
David Jr.'s residence in South Carolina was near the border with
North Carolina. On 20 Dec 1775 he witnessed a deed in Tryon Co., NC
(later it was in Rutherford Co.) He witnessed other deeds and bought
a tract on 22 Oct 1779 from John Morris, and both were said to be of
Rutherford Co. But on 4 Mar 1780, David Lewis of District Ninety Six
sold a tract by lease and release to Joseph Barnett.
The Daughters of the American Revolution have accepted two records of
service for David Jr. These were listed in the applications for
membership of Maria Johnson Latimer #172235 and her niece Mary Johnson
Dorsett #494656. In lineage, #518387, Ruth Cochran Young used the
service of a Pvt. in the Militia as his Rev. War Service The records
are found in the Stub Entries to Indents Growing Out of the
Revolution. One Indent was for provisions supplied to the Militia in
1780 and 1782, dated 26 Jan 1786, and the other was for Militia duty
in Roebuck's Regt., and dated 18 Aug 1786. The supplier of provisions
certainly could be David Jr. Before 1760, he was a prominent merchant
and land holder in Albemarle Co., VA., and could be expected to
continue the same in SC, where he also operated a mill. There is a
problem though with the other record. The D.A.R. records him as a
private in the Militia, aged 60 (born in 1720).(28) It is felt that
this is very unlikely for several reasons: he was a 54 year old man,
born in 1726, he was the father of 14 children; he was an established
business man, land holder and mill operator; he was a prominent person
in the community, (he served on grand juries, was appointed to
inventory estates, appraise estates, etc.). The last reason is that
the Draper Papers say that Capt. Joel Lewis, son of William Terrell
Lewis, [brother of David Jr.], led a company in the Battle of King's
Mountain (14DD43). This was from a letter written by H. L. Claiborne
of Nashville, TN, dated 26 Feb 1881, to Lyman C. Draper which said that
his grandfather, Capt. Joel Lewis, [a nephew of David Jr.], led a
company in the Battle of King's Mountain that included 22 of his
kinsmen.(29) Roebuck's Regt. fought in the Battle of King's Mountain
on 23 Oct 1780 and in Cowpens on 17 Jan 1781(30). Possibly David Jr.
would serve as a captain or major, but it is doubtful that a man of
his stature and interests, would be only a private in his nephew's
company. In 1780, David Jr. did have a 17 year old son named David.
This son was probably the private.
From 3 Jan 1783 to 17 Sep 1787, the records located indicate that
David Jr. lived only in Spartanburg Co., SC. WTL said, on p. 198,
that David settled on Lawson's Fork and died there in 1787. His last
will and testament was filed by his sons, David Lewis Jr.[III] and Joel
Lewis, on 17 Mar 1788. Traditionally 1787 has been given as the death
date of David Jr., but it is felt that 1788 is more likely. If he died
in 1787, then his executors would be waiting more than five months
(more than two and a half months into the next year) to file his will.
He had five minor children that needed support and it is doubtful that
they would wait that long to start settling his estate.
It has been said that many people did not know on which side of the
line between North and South Carolina they lived. Therefore some filed
deeds in courthouses on both sides of the border. The line between
these colonies was surveyed in 1735 and because of errors, it was
resurveyed in 1772.(31) In 1735, the E-W line cut across the Lawson's
Fork area. In the resurvey of 1772, a tract of Tryon Co., NC, west of
the Cataba River, measuring about 8 miles N-S and 62 miles E-W, was
added to what would become Spartanburg and Lancaster Cos., SC. Now all
of the Lawson's Fork area was in South Carolina. Mill's Atlas shows
two mills designated as Lewis Mill. One is on a branch of Lawson's
Fork above the place where Green's Creek flows into Lawson's Fork and
one is below this joining.(32) A Road Order of Sep 1790 mentions "on
a road from the South Fork of the Pacolate River to the Widow Lewis's
Mill on a branch of Lawson's Fork". I think the one upstream is the
"Widow Lewis's mill". By this road order, we know that one of David's
interests was mill operations. One Revolutionary service credited to
him was furnishing supplies to the Militia and one of the most obvious
of supplies could be flour ground in his mill. His interests were so
wide spread that there are probably other records not yet identified.
David Lewis [the III] is in the 1790 census of Spartanburg Co. with
two females. One should be Margaret Wood whom he married about 1789
and the other could be his daughter who was born in 1790. There is a
John Lewis in the census with two males of 16 and up, one male under
16, and 4 females. This John is shown as head of household.
Elizabeth's son John would be about 15 and his mother should be listed
as head of household. If her unmarried son, Joel b.c. 1767, had been
listed as head of household, this family certainly could be the family
of David Lewis d. 1788. Was the wrong son listed as head of
household? Her married daughter, Pleasant, and her husband Edward
Ballenger, have been found in the 1800 census but not in the 1790.
Elizabeth Lewis has not been identified in the 1790 census with her
minor children aged 15, 13, 11, 9 and 6. Possibly she was in the
family with the above John. She died in 1796, WTL, p. 198.
[Continued in Part 2]
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