John Lewis

#90, (1678 - 1 February 1762)
Father*Andrew Lewis
Mother*Mary Calhoun

Family

Margaret Lynn b. 1693, d. 1773
Children 1.Samuel Lewis (1716 - )
 2.Thomas Lewis+ (1718 - 1790)
 3.Gen. Andrew Lewis+ (1720 - )
 4.Col. William Lewis+ (1724 - 1811)
 5.Margaret Lewis (1726 - )
 6.Anne Lewis (1728 - )
 7.Col. Charles Lewis+ (1736 - 1774)
John was the first settler in the Shenandoah Valley, arriving there circa 1732. 
Birth*1678He was born in 1678 at Co. Donegal, IrelandG.1 
Marriage*He married Margaret Lynn at IrelandG. 
1730He migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Ireland, possibly via Portugal. in 1730.2 
1731He and Margaret Lynn removed to Lancaster Co., PennsylvaniaG, in 1731 from Philadelphia.3,4 
between 1729 and 1732He and Margaret Lynn removed between 1729 and 1732 Orange County (Augusta as of 1738), Virginia.5,6 
1732He and Margaret Lynn lived in 1732 at Staunton, Virginia.7 
Death*1 February 1762He died on 1 February 1762 at Staunton, Augusta Co., VirginiaG.1 
Burial*4 February 1762He was buried on 4 February 1762 at Belefont Fram, Staunton, Augusta Co., VirginiaG; est. date.1 
Note on Counties: Rockbridge Co. created in 1778 from portions of Augusta and Botetourt counties.
On Nov. 1, 1738 an act was passed that carved two Shenandoah Valley counties out of Orange. They were Frederick and Augusta.
Botetourt County was established in 1770 from Augusta County.
Greenbrier County (WV as of 1862) was created in March of 1778 from portions of Montgomery and Botetourt counties (Virginia.)4 

Citations

  1. [S503] Shenandoah Sketches: John Lewis: Patriarch, Joe Nutt, Special Writer. Daily News Leader, Staunton, Virginia (date unknown),
    The grave of Augusta County's recognized pioneer settler, John Lewis, is located on a prominent hill on his once-2071-acre property, Belefont, overlooking his homesite, about 300 yards away.
    The gravesite, on land owned for the past 10 years by P. William Moore, offers a fine prospect, with the Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the Allegheny chain visible.
    From Statler Boulevard, take Va. 254 (New Hope Road) east about 4/5 of a mile. Turn left at the sign "Staunton Wastewater Treatment Plant and drive about 100 yards to a locked farm gate on your right. A small sign there designates the "John Lewis Gravesite."
    Climb over the board fence adjacent to the gate and walk up the hill in open pasture towards a large lone sycamore near the top of the hill. You'll reach this tree in about 322 paces & from there, forward to your left, you'll observe an iron picket fence about 50 paces away enclosing the grave of John Lewis. The fenced enclosure measures 14 feet, 11 inches by 19 feet, seven inches.
    Within the enclosure, through an unlocked gate, you'll find the grave of John Lewis. The grave was originally covered by a large limestone marker. In 1850, a granite slab replaced this stone. In 1929, the Beverley Manor Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Staunton aided in the formation of the John Lewis Memorial Foundation, which replaced the granite slab with the present marble marker, measuring 7 feet, two inches by 3 feet, 12 inches, on which is engraved, in 17 lines:
    "Here lie the remains of JOHN LEWIS, who slew the Irish Lord, settled Augusta County, located the Town of Staunton, and furnished five sons to fight the battles of the American Revolution. He was the son of Andrew Lewis and Mary Calhoun and was born in Donegal County, Ireland in 1678, and died Feb’y lst, 1762, aged 84 years. He was a true patriot and a friend of liberty throughout the world. Mortalitate Relicta Vivit Immortalitate Inductus."

    Translated, the Latin reads: "Mortality relinquished, he lives clothed in immortality."
    There are at least a couple of other small stones near the grave, unmarked, which could possibly be the headstones for the graves of John Lewis' wife, Margaret Lynn Lewis, their son Samuel Lewis, or others.
  2. [S637] Delia McCulloch, "Heroes of the Battle of Point Pleasant", American Historical Magazine III (Jan 1908--Nov 1908): pp. 624 ff.
  3. [S506] Gen. Andrew Lewis’ bust installed in Virginia Capitol, Salem Times Register, Salem, VA, 24 Mar 2010, online OurValley.org, "John Lewis, the father of Andrew Lewis, brought his family from Ireland to Lancaster, Pa., in 1731."
  4. [S520] VWH.
  5. [S504] Wikipedia, online Wikipedia.com, "Lewis was born in County Donegal, Ireland to John Lewis and Margaret Lynn. In 1732 John Lewis had fled to America after killing his landlord in an altercation. He brought his family to Virginia, including his sons Andrew and Thomas. The family were among the first settlers in western Augusta County."
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lewis_%28soldier%29; copied 26 Dec 2012.
  6. [S505] General Lewis Inn, online \http://www.generallewisinn.com/\, "General Andrew Lewis, for whom this Inn and the town of Lewisburg are named, was born in Ireland in 1720. He moved to Virginia with his parents in 1729. As a surveyor for the Greenbrier Land Company, he first came to the Greenbrier area in 1751, where he “discovered” Lewis Spring on the site of the present town of Lewisburg.". Hereinafter cited as General Lewis Inn.
  7. [S699] Oren F. Morton, History of Rockbridge County Virginia (Staunton, Virginia: The McClure Co., 1920), p. 76.