Tag Archives: Revolutionary War

Samuel Fitz Randolph

April 20, 2009

Samuel Fitz Randolph was born October 1738 in Piscataway, NJ and died February 25, 1825 in New Salem, Virginia (now West Virginia) On March 25, 1761 the Reverend Jonathan Dunham, pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Piscataway, NJ, married Samuel and his cousin Margaret Fitz Randolph.

We know these facts about Samuel:

  • He was an officer in the War of the Revolution, mustering in on May 16, 1777 as an Ensign in the Company of Militia, Second Regiment, Sussex County, New Jersey. His descendents are entitled to membership in DAR/SAR.
  • He purchased 300 acres of land in Yellow Creek, Armstrong Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania April 16, 1785
  • He moved to Fayette County, PA between Nov 21, 1785 and Nov 26, 1790
  • He purchased over 800 acres of land Nov 21, 1795 from Robert Martin
  • He purchased 256 acres of land in Harrison County, WV (where the present town of Salem was laid out) on Nov 26, 1790 from Catherine Swearingen for the sum of 132 pounds, 10 shillings, 5 pence Virginia money
  • He moved to Salem after May 10, 1792

Children of Samuel and Margaret, all born in Piscataway, NJ:

1.          Mary Fitz Randolph, born October 16, 1761, married James Hill in 1795

2.          Sarah Fitz Randolph, born November 8, 1763, married 1) Daniel Sharpneck, 2)John Rice, 3) George Murdock

3.          Elizabeth Fitz Randolph, born May 13, 1766, married William Brand

4.          Jesse Fitz Randolph, born May 21, 1768, married 1) Delilah LaForge, 2) Elizabeth Gillis

5.          David Fitz Randolph, born June 23, 1770, married 1) Mary Richardson

6.          Rhulanah Fitz Randolph, born March 13, 1773, married John Bonnell

7.          Jonathan Fitz Randolph, born May 20, 1775, married Mary Davis in 1798

8.          Margaret Fitz Randolph, born February 4, 1777, married William Clayton in 1798

9.          Nancy Fitz Randolph, born February 19, 1781, married Stephen C. Davis

Their fourth child, Jesse, is my ancestor.

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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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Overview – Lewis Family History

April 17, 2009

Lewis is a common name in Wales and the US, with many different Lewises immigrating to the colonies in the 1600s and 1700s.  A lot of well-intended but highly contradictory information has been published about various branches of the family, and unless you go to source data, the task of tracing our Lewis roots becomes quickly tangled.  Our Samuel Howell Lewis family is fortunate to be among a small minority of families that have surviving records that we can be used to trace our ancestry – we can go back 500 years using those source documents.  Many records survived the ravages of  the English Civil War, US Revolutionary War and US Civil War.  We can read church records from St Teilo parish in Wales, Abingdon Parish in Gloucester County, VA and St Peter’s Parish in New Kent County, VA.  We are also most fortunate that our emigrant ancestor’s grave was discovered, and that Grace McLean Moses had the knowledge, desire and resources available to sponsor an exhaustive examination of historical records in Wales to uncover all surviving records of our ancestors.

Here is the family crest of our immigrant ancestor, John Lewis, the key to unlocking the history of our family.

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