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An American Family History

 

Lewis Family

 
 

Rutherford County, North Carolina was formed in 1779 from Tyron County.
Tyron was formed in 1768 from Mecklenburg.
Mecklenberg was formed in 1763 from Anson.
Anson was formed in 1750 from Bladen.
Bladen was formed in 1734 from New Hanover.
In 1791 parts of Rutherford and Burke were combined to form Buncombe.
In 1841 parts of Rutherford and Lincolnwere combined to form Cleveland.
In 1842 additional parts of Rutherford and Burke were combined to form McDowell.
In 1855 parts of Rutherford and Henderson were combined to form Polk.

 
 

 

 
 

David Lewis, Sr. was born about 1690 in Hanover County, Virginia. He was probably the son of John Lewis. 

He married Anne Terrell.

William Terrell Lewis (1718, married Sarah Martin),
Susannah Lewis (1720, married Alexander Mackey),
Hannah Lewis (1722, married James Hickman),
Sarah Lewis (married Abraham Musick),
David Lewis ( married Rebecca Stoval and Elizabeth Lockhart),
John Lewis (1728, married Sarah Taliaferro and Susan Clarkson),
Joel Lewis (married Mary Trueman, Mrs. Gordon and Lucy Daniels), and
Anna Lewis (married Joel Terrell and Stephen Willis).

In 1734, David and Joel Terrell were granted 3,0 00 acres on the north side of what is now Lewis Mountain in Albemarle County, Virginia.

In 1734 thirteen grants were made... Another formed a notable exception to what had hitherto been the rule. It was the first to leave the streams, and strike out towards the middle of the county. It was obtained by Joel Terrell and David Lewis for twenty-three hundred acres, and shortly after for seven hundred more, lying on both sides of the Three Notched Road and extending from Lewis's Mountain, which it included, to a point near the D. S. The Birdwood plantation was comprehended in this tract. (from Albemarle County in Virginia by Edgar Woods)

He was still in Albemarle County in 1743 when he was appointed to be the road surveyor.

...on 20 September 1743 O.S. appointed David Lewis surveyor of the road from the D. S. Tree down to Moors Creek and into the Secretarys Road. . .

[In 1745] David Lewis secured permission to clear a road over Capt. Charles Lynches ford̂ on the Rivanna River at the present Pen Park....David Lewis lived to the west of the University area...(from Albemarle County Roads by Nathaniel Mason Pawlet)



 
 
 
 

John Lewis, Sr. was born in 1728 in Hanover County, Virginia. He was the son of David Lewis and Ann Terrell.

According to Ezekiel Graham, who was Thomasin Lewis' husband, John married Sarah Taliaferro on March 3, 1750 in Virginia. Thomasin was a granddaughter of John Lewis, Sr and Sarah Taliaferro.

John and Sarah's children may have included:

Robert Lewis (1752, unmarried),
Taliaferro Lewis (1754, unmarried),
John Lewis (1757, married Ann Berry Earle),
Mildred McCoy Lewis (1759, married Thomas Rowland),
Charles Crawford Lewis (1761, married Elizabeth Russell),
Jesse Lewis Pitman (1763, married Charles Pitman),
Richard Lewis (1765, married Sarah Miller),
Frances Rhodes Lewis (1767, married married William Twitty), and
Henry Graves Lewis (1767, married Mourning Mills),

Sarah died on January 20. 1769.

After she died, John married Susannah Clarkson.

Susan Lewis (1772, died young),
Julius Lewis (1773, died young),
David Jackson Lewis (1774, married Martha Baker).

Charles Lewis and John Lewis were in Rutherford County in 1782.

John Lewis received 50 acres on the waters of Mountain Creek.
George Lewis received 100 acres on both sides of Puzzle Creek.
Charles Lewis received 50 acres on the east side of Mountain Creek.
Richard Lewis received 100 acres on Knob Creek.

John's will was dated October 20, 1779 and was proved in April, 1782 in Rutherford County, North Carolina.

In 1607 the London Company established Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony.

 
 
Slavery is an immoral system of forced labor where people are treated as property to be bought and sold. It was legal in the American Colonies and the United States until the Civil War.

Abel Lewis, Sr. was born in the mid 18th century.

Abel married Charity about 1770.

Abel and Charity's children may have included:

Charity Lewis (1770, married Bartlett Eaves),
Abel Lewis, Jr. (1770), and
Sarah (Mary) Lewis (1777, married Thomas Robinson).

In 1773, Thomas Tramel and Abel Lewis were securities for Thomas Price, Jr. to insure his appearance before the court.

In 1780, Sergeant Abel Lewis served under Captain Adam Hampton and Colonel Andrew Hampton from Rutherford County, North Carolina.

Abel appeared on the 1782 tax list of Rutherford County, North Carolina. He was in Captain Robert Rankin's Company.

In October, 1782 he was called for jury duty in Rutherford County.

On December 3, 1784 Abel Lewis entered 200 acres in Rutherford County on Puzzle Creek, a branch of the Second Broad River adjacent Graves Eaves land.

In April, 1786, Abel Lewis was on the jury Rutherford County.

Charity Lewis married neighbor, Bartlett Eaves, about 1785.

In 1796 Sarah (Mary) Lewis married Thomas Robinson.

North Carolina was one of the thirteen original Colonies. It was first settled by small farmers and grew quickly in the mid 18th century.

 
 
 

Abel Lewis, Jr. was born about 1770

The household was in Rutherford County in 1790. It included:

one man older than 16
2 females
a boy under 16
an enslaved person

On August 8, 1795 James Arrowood bought

certain pieces of land lying ... on the Shole branch of Puzzel Creek originally patented by Jacob Davis ... to a stake in Eavis' line ... being one hundred acres more or less ...

from Thomas Davis, for sixty pounds. The deed was witnessed by Abel Lewis and Bartlett Eaves.

 

Abel Lewis was a member of the Concord Baptist Church in Bostic, North Carolina in 1804.

 
 
 
 

John Lewis was born about 1757.

He married married Ann Berry Earle.

The baptism records of St. Peter's Parish for New Kent County listed four children baptized as the the sons of John Lewis between 1680 and 17xx:

John Lewis, Jr, on February 27, 1687,
David Lewis on May 5, 1695,
Abraham Lewis on November 27, 1698,
William Lewis on November 22, 17?.

 
 

 

 
     
 

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The American Revolution was ended in 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed.

from To My Parents Jesse Berryman Robinson II and Helen Evelyn Cox by Helen Graves.

John Lewis
b. 1728 Hanover Co., Va. d. 1782 Rutherford Co., N. C. m . 1st-Sarah Talliaferro b Va 2nd-Susan Ann Clarkson d. after late 1779.

John was born In Virginia in 1728 and moved his family to N. Carolina between 1755-1775. He probably moved simultaneously with his two brothers- in- law, Alexander Mackey who married Sarah Lewis, and Joel Terrell who married Anna Lewis.

It is probable, but not proven, that John fought in the Revolutionary War. The heirs of a John Lewis, Private, received a 640 acre grant for 84 months service. The grant was dated 4-23-1785, after John's death. It was executed by Major Joseph Dixion who in Oct, 1780 was with the N. C. Militia, Kings Mt, of which many men in this group were from Rutherford. Co.

He died in Rutherford Co., N. C. where his will dated 10-20-1779 was proven in court in April, 1782. In his will, he states that if his wife attempts to violate the will and sieze control of his property, other than her dower right, then the property bequeathed his youngest sons, Julius C. Lewis and David J. Lewis shall be divided among his other sons. This is an odd directive that two sons should be denied property because of an act of their mother. A possible answer is that his wife, Susan Ann, was showing favoritism for her sons over his children by his first wife, and this threat was the only way he could prevent such action after his death.

The number of children he had is unknown. He mentions only five children by name in his will, Mildred, Frances, Julius C, David J., and Talliaferro, and then refers to "the rest of my sons." Four of his other sons were probably Charles, Abel, Rd., and John and possibly Henry and Hercules. These were the christian names of Lewis families living adjacent to one another in the 1790 Census.

Rd. and John Lewis were bondsmen on the marriage of Abel Lewis' daughter, Mary Lewis, to Thomas Robinson. And since they; Rd., John and Abel Lewis were apparently well established by the 1790 Census, each having two children and owning several slaves, they were too old to be Mary's brothers, therefore, were probably her uncles. Since Charles Lewis, who also fought in the Revolutionary War, was born in 1761, he has to be a son of John Lewis. Henry and Hercules Lewis are not found in other records other than the 1790 Census, where they were living in the same vicinity with other Lewis families.

One researcher stated that she had strong indication that Julius C, was Julius Charles, and that David J. was David John, therefore, these two sons are duplicated in the records. Children:

Mildred Lewis m. Thomas Rowland
Frances Lewis m. Rhodes (Roads)
Julius C. Lewis
David J. Lewis
Talliaferro Lewis
Abel Lewis b ca 1750 Va.
Charles Lewis b. 5-26-1761 d. 12-13-1833
Rd. Lewis
John Lewis Believed to be the John Lewis who married Annan Earle 12-21-178_ in Rutherford Co.
Henry possible son
Hercules possible son

The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive battle of the American Revoluton. It took place on October 7, 1780, nine miles south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson.
 
 
 

from To My Parents Jesse Berryman Robinson II and Helen Evelyn Cox by Helen Graves.

Abel Lewis b. ca. 1750 Va. d. probably before 1777
m. Mary She married 2nd-ca. 1777 Jesse Berry d. by 1790

Children:
Abel Lewis, Jr. b. ca. 1770
Mary "Sallie" Lewis b. 4-29-1773 d. 4-25-1863 m. Thomas Robinson, Jr.

Abel apparently died early in his marriage. According to family tradition, his daughter Mary Robinson had no recollection of him, but did fondly remember her stepfather, a Jesse Berry. She named her first son Abel Lewis Robinson. She named another son Jesse Berryman Robinson and made a lovely quilt which she gave to this son, to be given to each suceeding son named Jesse Berryman. The quilt was destroyed around 1948, when a fire burned down the house of Jesse Berryman Robinson III. The author remembers this beautiful quilt and how my mother used it as a showpiece for company.

The stepfather, Jesse Berry, died before 1790, for the Census of that year recorded Mary Berry as head of a family living adjacent to several Lewis families which were her brothers-in-law. Her family consisted of four boys and two girls, indicating that she had additional children by either Abel, or more likely by Jesse Barry.

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book P, Pg 14, 13 Apr 1794.

Abel Lewis to John Sullins, both of Rutherford Co, for 60£,
50 acres on the north and east side of "Robesons Creek,"
the lower part of 200 acres granted by William Nevil, Esquire, high sheriff to Abel Lewis, beginning at the mouth of Abel Lewis's Spring Branch in Thomas Robertson's (Robinson) line.

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book P, Pg 87, 18 Jan 1795.

Abram Irvine, Esquire, Sheriff of Rutherford Co to Abel Lewis of same, per an execution from Rutherford Court against George Winters,
75£ S5 P6 recovered by Abel Lewis, also 4£ S1 P7 costs; exposed to sale for 5£, 250 acres on a branch of Winters Mill Creek on the wagon road from Gilberttown (Rutherfordton) to the Island ford on Main Broad River.

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book O, Pg 171, 25 Sep 1795.

James Flinn of Rutherford Co to son John Flinn of same, for 200£, 70 acres on the east side of the Second Broad River, part of a survey made for William Eves 9 Aug 1787, said land I now reside upon.
Witnessed by Abel Lewis, Adam Wallar, and Sally Lewis Junr.

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book Q, Pg 103, 11 Jan 1796. Thomas Hawkins of Rutherford Co to Halbert Hawkins of same, for 50£, 100 acres on west side of Second Broad River at the mouth of Buck Branch, part of a 200 acres granted to William Eaves on 26 Apr 1786.
Witnessed by Abel Lewis and Sally Lewis.

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book, Pg 283, January 1796.

Thomas Hawkins of Rutherford Co to John Robinson of same, for 30£, 30 acres on Second Broad River joining Thomas Robinson and Thomas Cavender's entry.
Witnessed by Abel Lewis and Sarah Lewis.

 
 

9 Sep 1797, Pg 146, Rutherford Co Land Entries.

Abel Lewis and John Robinson enter 260 acres in Rutherford Co on eastside of Second Broad River and on the waters of Puzzel Creek adjacent James Flin, George Lewis , John Robinson, Langum, Waterson, Whitesides, Samuel Thomason

 
 
 
 

from Rutherford Co Deed Book 14, Pg 341, 15 Sep 1797.

Abel Lewis of Rutherford Co to James English, Iron Master of same, 150£, 130 acres on Robesons Creek half a mile from the mouth, granted to George Winters 21 Jul 1774, joining Abel Lewis Spring Branch, Robison, Lincoln Road.
Witnessed by Bartlette Eaves and William Leveritt.

 
 
 
 

from 12 Jul 1803, Pg 291, Rutherford Co Land Entries

Abel Lewis enters 50 acres in Rutherford Co on eastside Puzzel Creek adjacent his own land, Thomas Hawkins, Joseph Akins, John Watterson, Thomas Flemming on eastside.

 
 
 
 

from Deed Book 24 to 26 pg 99-101 15 Oct 1805 Rutherford Co NC.

Thomas Robinson of Rutherford Co from Wm Carson Sheriff of said County...
in virtue of an execution against Abel Lewis by James Cook for thirteen pounds...
the Sheriff did seize goods and chattels of said Abel Lewis and sold twenty acres of land beginning at a persimmon on the Rock Spring thence down Lincoln Road to Abel Lewis's Spring Branch said tract is part of a 200 acre tract patented by George Winters 21 July 17??. Said land was sold for thirteen pounds, five shillings to Thomas Robinson.
Wit: Luke Robinson and James English

 

 
 
 
 

from Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America

John Lewis, son of David and his wife, Miss Terrell,was born in Hanover county, Virginia, about the year 1728, where he was raised. As a citizen he was much esteemed by all who knew him. As a husband, father and brother, he was kind and affectionate, and was a favorite among his sisters; hence, most of them named a son after him.

He was twice married; first, to Sarah Taliaferro, in 1750, by whom he raised nine children. His first wife having died in 1769, he married, as his second wife, Susan Clarkson, sister of Manoah Clarkson, of Albemarle county, Virginia, by whom he had three children, but only raised one.

It is not known what year he left Hanover county, but it appears that he was living in Amelia county in 1759, as some of his children were born in that county. He afterward settled in Albemarle county where his father, brothers and sisters had previously settled.

He remained in Albemarle county until just before the Revolutionary war, when he emigrated to, and settled in, Rutherford county, North Carolina. David, his father, having died in 1779, and after his estate was wound up, John returned to Albemarle county to attend to the division of said estate and died there in 1784...


John Lewis, who married Sarah Taliaferro and Susan Clarkson, raised nine children by his first wife; had three, but raised only one, by his second wife. Their names were, viz.:
Robert, born in 1752; died single in Kentucky in 1799.
Taliaferro, born in 1755; died single in Virginia in 1810.
John, born in 1757; married Ann Berry Earle and died in Georgia.
Mildred McCoy, born in 1759; married Thomas Rowland and died in South Carolina.
Charles Crawford, born in 1761; married Elizabeth Russell and died in North Carolina.
Jesse Pitman, born in 1763; married Nancy Clarkson and died in Virginia.
Richard, born in 1765; married Sarah Miller and died in South Carolina.
Henry Graves, born 1767; married Mourning Mills and died in North Carolina.
Frances Rhodes, born in 1767; married William Twitty and died in North Carolina.
Susan, born 1772; died in childhood.
Julius, born in 1774; died in childhood.
David Jackson, born in 1774; married Martha Baker and died in Kentucky.
The 8th and 9th, 11th and 12th were twins.

 
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©Roberta Tuller 2023
tuller.roberta@gmail.com
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