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!