Tag Archives: councilor

Chapter 10 – Robert Lewis of Belvoir

April 18, 2009

Chapter 10 – Robert Lewis of Belvoir, VA

Colonel ROBERT LEWIS of Belvoir (b. 1704 d. 1765 ) m. Jane Merriwether (b. 1705 d. 1753)

Councilor John’s son Robert (1704 – 1765) was the first Lewis child born at Warner Hall.  Robert was the third son, so he did not inherit Warner Hall, but instead got half the family farm Chemokins on the Pomonkey River in New Kent County. His older brother Charles inherited the other half of Chemokins.  Robert married Jane Meriweather, and helped settle the land around what is today Charlotte, Virginia.  His estate there was known as Belvoir, and he is referred to as Robert of Belvoir.

Robert Lewis (Robert of Belvoir) (b. 1704 d. 1765 ) married Jane Meriwether(b. 1705 d. 1753, daughter of Nicholas Meriwether.  His (HER????) siblings included at least: Nicholas, Mary, Mildred, Isabella, John, Jane, Anne, Howell?

His will is abstracted in Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Vol. II, p. 213 by Lyman Chalkley.  Children of Robert of Belvoir whose will was proved Sept 11, 1766 include:

  1. John
  2. Nicholas
  3. Robert of Granville
  4. Charles
  5. William (father of Meriweather Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition)
  6. Jane Lewis Meriwether
  7. Mary Lewis Cobbs
  8. Mildred Lewis
  9. Sarah Lewis
  10. Ann Lewis who married a John Lewis

Robert of Belvoir – Family Notes

Sources for information on Robert Lewis (Robert of Belvoir), husband of (Mary) Francis Lewis, include:

Pioneer Lewis Families, M.C. Cook, c. 1984, p200-1, children listed p. 202, 214, 226

Lewis of Warner Hall, M.E. Sorley, c 1935, p. 701-2, 710

History of North Carolina, Wheeler, v.1, p 84-5, v.2 p 162

History and Genealogy of old Granville County, NC, Thomas McAdory Owen, c.1993, p157

Abstracts of Wills, 1973

One of Robert of Belvoir’s sons was William Lewis who stayed in the Charlotte area. Robert granted him land that became known as Locust Hill in Ivy Depot and it remained in the family to this day.  William was an officer in the Revolutionary War and father of Meriweather Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame.  So, Meriweather Lewis was the grandson of Robert of Belvoir.

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Chapter 9 – Councilor John Lewis

April 18, 2009

Chapter 9 – Councilor John Lewis b. Nov 30, 1669 d. 1725 Warner Hall m. Elizabeth Warner

Major John and Isabella’s son John (Nov 30, 1669 – Nov 14, 1725) married Elizabeth Warner .  John and Elizabeth lived at Chemokins, the family farm he inherited from his father.  John was a “Vestryman” at St Peter’s Parish, meaning he had both lay religious duties as well as governmental duties carried out through the church.  John and Elizabeth had 14 children before Elizabeth died.

In 1701/02, when Elizabeth’s brothers died without children, Elizabeth inherited her family estate, Warner Hall, as she was the oldest daughter.  John and Elizabeth packed up and moved from Chemokins in New Kent County to Warner Hall in Gloucester County.

Their third son Robert (our ancestor) was their first child born at Warner Hall.  The original main home burned in the mid-1800s, but some structures there are original.  Warner Hall remained in the Lewis family through 1830.  Warner Hall and 600 acres remain intact, the land was never sub-divided.  Today Warner Hall is a Bed and Breakfast. (paste photos here)

In addition to inheriting Warner Hall, John filled his late father-in-law’s position as “Councilor”, one of 12 men in Colonial Virginia who served in the Governor’s Council and administered the colony.  He is referred to as Councilor John to differentiate him from the many Johns who came before and after him.

Both Councilor John and Elizabeth are buried at the historic cemetery at Warner Hall.  Their Lewis descendants lived here longer than any family, until the last of the family sold it in 1830.

Councilor John Lewis – Family Notes

Councilor John Lewis owned significant land, and married into one of the most prominent Virginia families when he married Elizabeth Warner.  We’ll examine some of her family background, as her ancestors are also our ancestors.

Nicholas Martiau was born in France in 1591, was educated as a military engineer in England, and was naturalized as an Englishman by royal decree.  In May 11, 1620 he left England on the Francis Bonaventure and arrived in Virginia that June.  He was among the individuals listed in the first census of Virginia, which was taken in 1624.  As his descendant, you are eligible for membership in the First Families of Virginia, a society of descendants of those people whose arrival predated that initial census.

As a military engineer, Nicholas Martiau was placed in charge of military fortifications and designed Fort Yorktown.  His descendants are entitled to join two organizations.   “First Families of Virginia” is one, and we are eligible because our ancestor arrived before the first census was taken.  The second society is the “Grand Dames of Virginia”, a group of women whose ancestry dates to early colonial Virginia.  Nicholas is the earliest emigrant ancestor of George Washington, Robert E Lee and of course us.

Nicholas Martiau married the widow Jane Berkely in 1625, and their first child was a daughter Elizabeth.  He also had daughters Mary (married John Scarsbrook) and Sarah (married Captain William Fuller).  Nicholas received a large track of land that is present-day Yorktown, Virginia, where he died in 1657.

Colonel George Reade was born in England on October 25, 1608 into a very prominent and well-documented English family.  He immigrated to Virginia in 1637, was active in colonial politics, and became the secretary of the Virginia Colony.  In 1641 he married Elizabeth Martiau, when she would have been a young girl of around 15.  He was a public servant, becoming Secretary of the Virginia Colony, and was probably the acting Governor when Governor Harvey was recalled to England in 1638 and 1639. Following his retirement, he was a representative in the assembly and then was a member of the Governor’s Council for 18 years preceding his death.

Col George Reade and Elizabeth Martiau Reade had at least eight children, the oldest being their daughter Mildred, who married Col Augustine Warner, Junior.

Colonel Augustine Warner, Senior, was born November 28, 1610 and immigrated to Virginia as early as 1628 but before 1642.  His coat of arms is of the Welsh family Warner.  He is believed to have acquired the land where he built Warner Hall in 1635.  He married a woman named Mary whose maiden name is not known. They had a son Augustine Warner Junior and a daughter Sarah.

Colonel Augustine Warner Senior’s daughter Sarah married Lawrence Townley and is the great-great-great grandmother of General Robert E. Lee.

Augustine Warner, Junior, also known as Speaker Warner, inherited Warner Hall when his father died.  He was Speaker of the Assembly / Burgess, and later was elevated to one of 12 members of the Governor’s Council.  He married Mildred Reade, daughter of Col George Reade and granddaughter of Nicholas Martiau.  They had three sons and three daughters.  Their three sons died without children, so Warner Hall transferred to their oldest daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Councilor John Lewis.

Elizabeth’s younger sister Mildred Warner married Lawrence Washington.  Their son Augustine Washington was the father of George Washington

Elizabeth’s youngest sister Mary Warner married John Smith and is the 7x great-grandmother of Elizabeth, Queen of England and 8x great-grandmother of Charles, Prince of Wales.

Historic Cemetery there – Councilor John, Elizabeth, her parents buried there. (photos)

Children include: John, Charles (of the Byrd), Robert (Robert of Belvoir)

Councilor John and Elizabeth’s oldest son John II inherited Warner Hall.  John II’s oldest son, Warner Lewis, inherited Warner Hall.  John II’s third son, Fielding Lewis, was a great patriot in the revolution supplying many of the cannons to the General Washington’s army, married George Washington’s sister Betty and had his residence at Kenmore.  The Kenmore estate is well preserved today, and is open to the public to visit.

There are many Vestry meeting notes in New Kent Parish mentioning Councilor John, and some of the meetings were held at his home Chemokens.  Another prominent vestyman was Captain Nicholas Meriwether, whose daughter Jane married Councilor John’s third son Robert.

Sorely Notes:

Speaker Warner married Mildred Reade.  Their daughter Elizabeth was born 1672 at Chesake in Glocester County, before Speaker Warner moved to Warner Hall in 1674.

Speaker Warner died June 19, 1681 at age 39.  A portrait of Speaker Warner hung in the library of William and Mary college in 1935.

Mildred Reade Warner died 1694.  One son pre-deceased her.  Two other sons died after her and did not have children, so Warner Hall reverted to eldest daughter Elizabeth upon death of last son.

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Chapter 1 – Overview

April 17, 2009

Chapter 1 – Overview

This book was written primarily for descendents of Samuel Howell Lewis, who was born March 12, 1796 in Mecklenberg County, VA; married Henrietta Mabrey July 4, 1818 in Warren County, NC; believed to have had children James, Samuel, Hardin and Ansell; later married Jane Darnell and had children Benjamin Darnell, Ann, Robert, and William Baugh; moved to Southern Illinois with his three youngest sons Benjamin, Robert and Will about 1845 after Jane died; died November 28, 1867 in Pope County, IL and was buried in Joyner Cemetery, Stonefort, Saline County, IL.  This book may be of interest to other descendents of the “Warner Hall” Lewis family as well.

One shortcoming of this book is the relatively little information on descendents Samuel’s sons Dr Ben and William, as well as Samuel’s older children and their descendents. I would be delighted to have contact with any of these descendents and gather more material that could be included in a future revision.

This is written in as straightforward a manner as possible.  Deciphering Welsh history and names was anything but straightforward, twisting both the tongue and brain.  I have tried to integrate much information and distill our history to its essence.  Family Notes are included in several chapters to tie in locations, historical events and people who are not our direct ancestors.

Acknowledgements:  This work could not have been possible without the efforts of family history researchers whose work this report is built upon.

Leland Lewis, whose passion for family history led him to travel widely to research family history. He interviewed many people familiar with our family, and preserved stories and lineage of Samuel Howell’s descendents in his book Lewis Genealogy 1557 – 1982. His stories of family and the area around Stonefort were an inspiration to dig deeper into our roots. Much of the information about Samuel Howell and his descendents comes from Leland’s book, and his descendents have very graciously allowed me to include it in this booklet.

  • Dr Malcom Harris, whose discovery of the grave of John Lewis on Poropotank Creek near Adner, Virginia in 1948 led to unlocking the mystery of our ancestry. He was a country doctor with a keen interest in the history of the area where he practiced medicine, and spent much of his life collecting and publishing that history.
  • Grace McLean Moses, whose unrelenting determination to discover factually supported historical information led to the deciphering of the coat-of-arms on the grave of our immigrant ancestor John Lewis, as well as tracing his history in Wales and Virginia. She documented her research in the book The Welsh Lineage of John Lewis (1592-1657) Emigrant to Gloucester, Virginia, ISBN 0-8063-4542-X. Dr Susan J Daves of the University of Wales was the principal researcher, conducting her extensive work in 1983/ 84 at the National Library of Wales.
  • Col Edgerton Sorely who wrote “Lewis of Warner Hall, The History of a Family” in 1935, providing much valuable information on descendents of Councilor John Lewis of Warner Hall. Although his ancestry of the Lewis family of Warner Hall was borrowed from earlier published works, and is inconsistent with source documents uncovered through recent research, his book is a wonderful source of information on Councilor John Lewis and his descendents. One omission that is significant to our branch of the family is the fact that he does not list Robert Lewis of Mecklenberg as a child of Robert of Granville.
  • John Cook, who transcribed source records across many states which he later published in his four volumes of the book Pioneer Lewis Families. This excellent reference is no longer in print, but can be found in select libraries.
  • David Brown and Thane Harpole, archaeologists who worked at Warner Hall, and published Warner Hall, Story of a Great Plantation, ISBN0-9763585-0-6
  • Dr Edy MacDonald, the driving force behind the Lewis DNA Project.
  • John Davies, author of A History of Wales. Until recently he was a member of the Department of Welsh History at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. He wrote this book in Welsh, and later translated it to English. The book is an excellent source of Welsh information and is easier to read than others I encountered on this history journey.

There has been heated controversy for at least 100 years among Lewis families in America about their origins, and we need to address it now so it does not cause some readers to be distracted later in the book.  One strongly held and widely published story by multiple Lewis families in both Virginia and New England is that their emigrant ancestor is one “General Robert Lewis”, son of Sir Edward Lewis of the Van and Lady Ann Sackville, who come to America with his wife Elizabeth on the ship “Blessing” in 1635, and received a grant of land of 33,333.3 acres.  Several Lewis books state this “General Robert Lewis” is the ancestor of the Lewis family of Warner Hall, while others state he is the ancestor of their separate line.

Here is the data that leads me to not accept General Robert Lewis as our emigrant ancestor:

  • a Robert and Elizabeth Lewis sailed to the New World on the Blessing on July 16, 1635, but according to the Public Records Office in London the ship sailed to New England, not to Virginia where our ancestors landed
  • Robert and Elizabeth Lewis landed in Salem Massachusetts, then moved to Newbury Massachusetts where Robert died in 1644
  • Although Sir Edward Lewis of the Van and Lady Ann Sackville had a son named Robert, there is no record linking Robert Lewis of the Blessing to them
  • The coat of arms used by the Warner Hall Lewis family is not the same coat as Sir Edward Lewis of the Van
  • There has been no military or civil record found of a “General” Robert Lewis in either England prior to 1635 or Virginia following 1635. In fact, the British War Office has no record of any officer of any rank named Robert Lewis at that time
  • All Virginia land grants from 1634 forward are recorded, and there is no grant for 33,333 acres to anyone with the last name Lewis during that era
  • The grave of Isabella Miller, mother of Councilor John Lewis of Warner Hall, is one of the graves in the same small family cemetery as that of John Lewis who emigrated to America in 1653. Those grave stones, and the multiple church, court and land records that survived the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, link our Warner Hall Lewis family to the emigrant John Lewis buried in that cemetery.
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My Short Lewis Lineage 1592 – Today

April 15, 2009

Here is my brief Lewis family history, starting with my father Harry Vernon Lewis.

  • My father was Harry Vernon Lewis, born Dec 28, 1925 in Stonefort, IL and died April 9, 1961 in Greenup, Cumberland County, IL, buried at Joyner Cemetery outside Stonefort.
  • Harry’s father was Oliver Lewis, born 11 Mar 1873 in Stonefort, Saline Co, IL, died 22 Mar 1966 in Stonefort, Pope Co, IL, second marraige 6 Sep 1915 in Golconda, Pope Co, IL to Katie Crank, born 21 Oct 1893 in Golconda, Pope Co, IL. Their deceased children include Ray Maxwell, Charles Edward, Lester, Harry Vernon (my father).
  • Oliver Lewis’ father was Robert Lewis, born May 12, 1832 in Jackson County, TN, died 6 Dec 1919 in Bolton, Saline Co, IL, second marraige 7 Apr 1866 in Stonefort, Saline Co, IL to Minerva Oshel, born 10 June 1842 in Stonefort, Saline Co, IL, died 11 Feb 1908 in Stonefort, Saline Co, IL. He fought in the civil was as a 1st Lt in the 31st Illinois Infantry, Company B.
  • Robert Lewis’ father was Samuel Howell Lewis, born 12 Mar 1796 in Mecklenburg Co, VA, died Johnson Co, IL 28 Nov 1867, who married Henrietta Mabrey July 4, 1818 in Warren Co, NC.  We believe they had sons named James, Hardin, Samuel and Ansell with Henrietta, but have lost all trace of them.  (Based on DNA testing, it appears we may have located a descendent of son Samuel.)   He later married Jane Darnell, born c 1800 in TN, died ca 1844 in Calloway Co, KY. With Jane he had sons Benjamin, Robert and William, as well as possibly a daughter Ann.
  • Samuel Howell Lewis’ father was Robert Lewis of Mecklenberg, VA born 1764 at Albermarle Co, VA, died Mecklenberg Co, VA 19 Oct 1806, married 10 Nov 1788 in Mecklenburg Co, VA to Ann Bugg who died after 15 April 1816. Their children include Elizabeth Bugg Lewis, Samuel Howell Lewis, James Meriweather Lewis, Anna Bugg Lewis and Robert Lewis.
  • Robert Lewis of Mecklenberg’s father was Robert Lewis of Granville, born 1738/9 at Hanover Co, VA, died 7 Nov 1780 at Granville Co, NC, married on 3 Sep 1760 in Goochland Co, VA to (Mary) Frances Lewis , 1st cousin, born 1 August 1744 in Goochland Co, VA, died ca 1791 at Granville Co. Her parents are Charles Lewis and Mary Howell. Robert Lewis of Granville served as Delegate from Granville to the Constitutional Convention which met in Halifax, NC on Nov 12, 1776. He was later comissioned as “Colonel of the Granville Militia”. Through him my Aunt Laura and other relatives have been accepted into the DAR.
  • Robert Lewis of Granville’s father was Col Robert Lewis of Belvoir (b. 1704 d. 1765 ) who married Jane Merriwether (b. 1705 d. 1753). Col Robert Lewis of Belvoir was the third son of Councilor John Lewis of Warner Hall. His oldest brother John inherited Warner Hall, and Robert and his older brother Charles split their father’s original estate, Chemokins, on the Pomonkey River at the top of New Kent County, VA. They later sold that farm and settled the land around Charlottesville, VA. Charles had a farm on the Byrd River, and was called Charles of the Byrd. Robert nmed his farm Belvoir, thus his name Robert of Belvoir.
  • Col Robert Lewis of Belvoir is the third son of Councilor John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner, and the first Lewis child born at Warner Hall. Councilor John was living at his farm, Chemokins, when he married Elizabeth Warner. Her brothers died without heirs, and she inherited Warner Hall upon the death of her father, Augustine Warner, Jr..  John, Elizabeth and their two sons left Chemokins and moved to Warner Hall when Augustine died, and Warner Hall was held by the Lewis family for many generations.
  • Councilor John Lewis’ father was Major John Lewis who married Isabella Miller. He was a Major in the Virginia Colonial Militia, thus his name to distinguish him from the other John’s in the family. He inherited the Chemokins farm at the death of his father’s brother-in-law, William Lewis. Isabella is buried at the family cemetery near Poropotank Creek outside Adner, VA. Major John’s gravestone, if he had one, had not been discovered.
  • Major John’s father was Emigrant John Lewis (1592 – 1657), who is buried at the family cemetery near Major John’s wife Isabelle. His gravestone is the oldest known in King and Queen County, VA, as of June 2007.

All source documents point to Emigrant John Lewis being the same John Lewis, Senior Burgess of Abergavenny, Wales. Recent evidence (research based on his tobstone sponsored by Grace McLean Moses as documented in her book “The Welsh Lineage of John Lewis (1592-1657) Emigrant to Gloucester, VA” thoroughly lays out the case based on Welsh coat-of-arms, church records and court records.

The family history is also documented in “Pioneer Lewis Families” by Michael L. Cook, Cook Publications, Evansville, IN 47712.

Every family has history controversy, and mine is no exception. Earlier (apparently unresearched) publications list a “Gen Robert Lewis” as patriarch of my line. Interestingly, there does not appear to be source document evidence that such a General Robert Lewis ever existed in either England or Colonial Virginia.  Some relatives seem to become quite defensive when this story is questioned – I guess it is hard to consider the possibility that this family story is not based on researched fact, but is rather asserted and repeated.  It seems to be a poplar and widely held story – after all, who wouldn’t like to be a descendant of a general?

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