Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/442

 LEWIS

LEWIS

a Democratic represt-ntative from the tliird dis- trict of Georgia in the 55th, 50th, 57th and 58th congresses, 1897-1905.

LEWIS, Fielding, patriot, was born in Spotts- sylvania county, Va., July 7, 1725; son of Maj. John and Frances (Fielding) Lewis; grandson of Col. John and Elizabeth (Warner) Lewis; great- grandson of John and Isabella (Warner) Lewis and greats-grandson of Robert Lewis, the immigrant who came from London, England, and settled in Ware parish, Gloucester county, Va., about 1635. He received a liberal education, removed to Fred- ericksburg, Va., and was maj'or of the town, justice of the i^eace. and a member of the house of burgesses in the Virginia legislature. He was a general in the Virginia militia at the outbreak of the Revolution, but was too old to take the field and was appointed superintendent of an arsenal in Fredericksburg, Va. He gave liberally to the cause of the patriots during the revolution. He was married in 1746 to Catherine, daughter of John and sister of Warner Washington, and after her death in February, 1750. he married Elizabeth (" Bettie "), daughter of Augustine Washington, sister of Gen. George Washington and cousin of his first wife. He built " Kenmore House" a palatial residence on the border of Fredericksburg, and on the farm connected with this house Mary Ball Washington, the mother of General Washing- ton, died, and was buried in 1789. Fielding Lewis died at "Kenmore House," Va., Jan. 7, 1781.

LEWIS, Francis, signer, was born in Llandaff, Wales, in March, 1713; grandson of the Rev. Dr. Pettingal, a clergyman of the established church, settled at Caernarvon, Wales. Left an orphan, he was committed to the care of his uncle, the

Dean of St. Paul's, and was sent to West- minster school. He entered the counting house of a London merchant, and in 17- 34 he invested his fortune in merchan- dise, and sold one half in New York, and the rest in Phil- adelphia, with the proceeds establishing mercantile houses in both places. He was married to Elizabeth Annesley, the sister of his partner, Edward Annesley, also a Welsh- man. Lewis made many successful business voyages to Europe; visited St. Petersburg; the Orkney and Shetland Islands: and as far north as Archangel. In 1752, the French and Indian war interfering with his shipping business, he obtained

a contract to clothe the British army in America and was in Oswego, N.Y., when Montcalm with a body of French Canadians and Indians advanced upon the place. Lewis served as aide to Gen. Hugh Mercer, and when Mercer was killed and the garrison of sixteen hundred men was obliged to surrender Lewis was taken to France and ex- changed. On his return to America the colo- nial government presented him with five thou- sand acres of land in acknowledgment of his military services. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act congress that met in New York city in 1705, and one of the first to join the Sons of Libert}'. In 1765 he retired from business and removed to Whitestone, L.I., N.Y., and devoted himself to public affairs. In 1771 he removed ta New York city to establish his eldest son, Francis Lewis, Jr., in business, and accompanied him to England for the purpose of establishing commer- cial relations with that country. He soon after retired from business. He was unanimously chosen a delegate to the Continental congress and served 1774-79, and was appointed to examine claims, to make treaties with the Indians, to pur- chase arms and clothing for the soldiers, and to furnish the government with war vessels. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and with Elbridge Gerry and Roger Sherman was appointed to inquire into the state of the army in New York, and to devise the best means, for its maintenance. His residence in White- stone was burned by the British soon after they occupied New York, and Mrs. Lewis was held a prisoner several months, and was not released until General Washington ordered Mrs. Barren, the wife of the British paymaster-general,;::.d Mrs. Kemp, wife of the British attorney-gener: 1, to be put under arrest in their own houses i;i Philadelphia as hostages for her release. In 1770 Lewis accepted the appointment of commissioner of the board of admiralty. He was a memb( r and vestryman of Trinity church, New York. He died in New York city, Dec. 30, 1802.

LEWIS, Qraceanna, naturalist, was born in West Vincent. Pa., Aug. 3, 1821; daughter of John and Esther (Fussell) Lewis; granddaughter of John and Grace (Jleredith) Lewis, and of Bartliol- omew and Rebecca (Bond) Fussell; and a descend- ant of Henry Lewis, a native of Narbeth in Pem- brokeshire, South Wales, who came with AVilliam Penn to Pennsylvania, in 1682, with his family which included his father, Evan Lewis. Grace- anna attended the girls' boarding school at Kim- berton. Pa., and later devoted herself to the-study of natural history and to painting. She inherited anti-slavery views, her father's house being a station for fugitive slaves en route north bj- the " underground railroad." She was also an advo- cate of woman suffrage, and an opponent of war.