Chapter 8 – Major John Lewis
John was the older of two sons who came to Virginia in 1653 on the ship with their father John the Emigrant as well as with Major William and Lida Lewis. He was born in Abergavenny, and baptized Dec 15, 1633 (Register of St Teilo church, Moses p.25)
He obtained his first land grant in 1655, after turning 21. When Major William Lewis died, he willed the Chemokins estate to John. John was a Vestryman of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County.
St Peter's Parish exterior, 2007
St. Peter's Parish Church from Balcony
He was also a Major in the New Kent County Militia (hence his identifier of Major John). New Kent is the county and parish where Chemokins is located.
In one court record, Major John Lewis is mentioned as a surveyor. (Sorely, p27)
He married Isabella Miller, daughter of James Miller the Elder of York County, and they had two sons John and Edward.
Major John Lewis – Family notes:
Major John’s wife Isabella had a brother named James (the Younger), who died without heirs. In his will, he left his entire estate to his sister, with reversion to her sons John and Edward.
Isabella’s gravestone is in the small cemetery where Emigrant John is also buried. This would indicate she died before Major John, and he had her buried in his family cemetery and ordered a stone for her. Major John’s tombstone has never been discovered, and the exact date of his death is unknown. No probate of his will, if he had one, has been found.
Two people have contacted me saying Major John and Isabella had several other children (as many as 15 total in one case). The records of St Peter’s Parish do not corroborate any more children than the two sons John and Edward. To date I am unaware of any documentation to support the existence of other children, and there has been no DNA testing I am aware of of any direct male descendents of any of these other male children that would prove or disprove they were descended from the same male line as Emigrant John. I have contacted one direct male descendent in hopes he will do the DNA testing.
I am very hopeful there are two lewis families. My side is John Zachery Lewis and Walker with child ELISABETH MARY LEWIS MARRIES DR. JOSEPH DELANY HAS LAND FOR DOWERY AND JOINS AS ANCESTOR TO BARBEE FAMILY. I hope you can help me document this Zachery Lewis if I read your report correctly is from the swamp Plantation? Jim M.D.
James,
Unfortunately, I do not have any documentation on this Zachary Lewis. There might be something in Pioneer Lewis Families.
Good luck!
Mark
My name is Steven Ray Lewis, born 5 Aug 1954. I have been on this site many years ago. I am in the same Lewis lineage that is on your site. I am the one mentioned above about having information about Major John Lewis and his wife Isabelle Miller Lewis having 15 children. I have the names and birthdates of all but one. I recently sent a DNA sample off and will receive results in about 6 weeks. My Lewis line is:
Colonel John AP Lewis, the Immigant
Major John Lewis
Thomas Lewis Sr
Thomas Lewis Jr
Edward Lewis Sr
Edward Lewis Jr
Francis Lewis
Samuel Lewis
George Washington Lewis
Talbot Johnson Lewis
Robert Taylor Lewis Sr
Robert Taylor Lewis Jr
Steven Ray Lewis (me)
I have dates and siblings on most of them. I have a little info earlier than Colonel John Lewis going back to what I believe is Rhys Goch. Our family has a web site but it has been down for a while. I’m trying to get it back up and running. I will let you know when.
Thanks,
Steven Lewis
srlewis1@yahoo.com
Visalia, CA
I have 7 children listed for this coupe, including 4 daughters. I descend from one daughter, Letitia Elizabeth, born 7 May 1685 VA – d. 1716 Albemarle Co., VA
Letitia is a name that comes from the older Lettyce, and Major John Lewis had a sister by this name, born abt 1 Mar 1615, her recorded baptismal date. In the book, The Welsh Lineage of John Lewis (1592-1657), Emigrant to Gloucester, VA, all 4 children of John Lewis The Emigrant are researched and listed with Baptisimal dates. They include Gwenllian, Lettyce, Watkin, and John. It is explained where the names of the first 3 children came from and the relation to that family.
Letitia Elizabeth Lewis m. Colonel John Abram Martin Sr., son of James Abraham Martin & Rebecca Bell. James Abraham Martin was an Emigrant from Ballynahinch Castle, County Galway, Ireland who was wealthy and settled in King William, VA
Hello. I have stumbled upon this query/comment of yours on the website ‘Lewis at Home’. I, too, am a descendent from Letitia Lewis and Col John Martin. I am looking for documentation (or at least a lot of secondary evidence) for the parents of Letitia Lewis. I find considerable sites, books, histories, etc. that give her parents as John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner. Would you be interested in sharing research? My name is Kaye Wykoff. I am in the San Antonio, Texas area and have been researching my family genealogy for many years. It has just been recently that I’ve proven the connection to the Martin family and therefore to Letitia Lewis. I am descended from her son Thomas Martin who was married to Ann Moorman. I will enter my website in the form below, but at this point, it only contains my paternal line–it is my maternal line that includes the Martin/Lewis connection. Looking forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to email me directly.
Kaye Wykoff
John lewis and Elizabeth Warner did not have any daughter named leticia.there is NO documentation of any such daughter
I need to verify if Major John Lewis Jr 1650-1715 had a daughter named Susannah born ? who married Valentine Ball on March 31, 1733. Marriage is in the records of Christ Church Parrish, VA marriages 1653-1812. Also need to verify that Elizabeth “Lydia” Warner 1610-1680, sister of Col Augustine Warner 1611-1674, was the same person married to John Lewis Sr 1592/94-1657 and came over with him in 1653. It would make sense because her brother, Augustine, of Warner Hall came to Virginia also. I am descended from Susannah and Valentine Ball. Thanks for any help or info!
By the way, I forgot to mention in the above question that Susannah was Susannah (Lewis) Ball. Sorry!
Hello, I am actually a descendant of this John Lewis and Isabella miller. I took a DNA test as well showing that lineage. Also in my tree are Woodson, Washington, ball, Warner, etc. would you be willing to speak with me by chance? I know you had reached out to a descendant to take a dna test and maybe you could use mine to help your research.
As follows, Coucillor John Lewis, Robert Lewis (of Belvoir),John Lewis sr.,John Lewis jr married Elizabeth Kennon, Fauntleroy Lewis, Edward Garland Lewis of Milledgeville georgia, William Beaurigard Lewis of Hancock County georgia, Carlos William Lewis, Glenn Lewis, my father and Jeff Lewis, myself
Major John Lewis shared the following about his life, and I posted this in my family tree at ancestry.com. According to the ancestors, I descend from his daughter Frances, who married John Graves, Jr. A link explaining communication with ancestors is at the end.
(Sept. 17, 2024) Major John Lewis will speak:
“John. Three of the sons of John Lewis the immigrant lived. Two in Virginia. One went back to England with the father. Thomas was the one who ensured that a gravestone was sent. John the elder would never have been able. Thomas had to travel to arrange, and this was wondered at. The family was not known to be well off. The story was that Virginia was a land of abundance. This, unfortunately, gave a feeling of inclination to go to Virginia. Two men from the home village appeared. They were unhappy, and John understood the need to provide. This, at first, was hard. However, they were willing. John had abundant land. A promise resulted in good work, and this enabled John to advance more rapidly than he and other thought was possible.
“John. This element of the history was never discussed. The family wanted to not think of anything that gave a feeling of improper conniving. This was not of that, but the appearance was of. John, after being able to be generous with the two men, was inspired to allow three more. They were able and worked, with the guarantee that the headright that John received for importing them would be of them when the term of indenture was completed.
“John. This way of importing gave the men a way to respond to John as a master, with willing obedience and confidence that they would be respected. This gave others a way to aspire. The servants of some of the plantation owners were unwilling, and this led to very difficult crop decisions. The crop was tobacco. Without proper maintenance, the crop would not be of the type to export. This meant that it would be bought by Virginians who wanted to avoid the payment of good quality. This meant, a plantation with poor servants would have a poor master. John, after the two from the home village came, was able to avoid almost all of the common problems with servants who didn’t have any thought of planning for the future.”
(Major John Lewis will continue, but not yet.)
An explanation of communicating with ancestors begins here: https://theplanetsspeak.substack.com/p/communicating-with-ancestors-part