David Lewis (abt. 1690)

Husband of Maritje (Philipse) Lewis — married about 20 Jan 1717 in Schenectady, Schenectady, New York

Descendants

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Biography

Parents are speculative.

See brief biography for David Lewis:

• http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/firstsettlers/he_mcg.html

http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2952365&id=I580745183 DAVID, innkeeper, came to Schenectady as early as 1713; m. Maria Philipse, wid. of Jacob Cromwell. Ch. bp: Willem, Nov. 5, 1720; Sander, Oct. 26, 1722.

http://books.google.com/books?id=7RQCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=%22david+lewis%22+innkeeper&source=web&ots=6qM3N1xbW5&sig=1YDG5zn3gAORtJMw0YHcTqopTuM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA106,M1 Cromwell married Maria Philipse, 26 September, 1703; after his death she married David Lewis, innkeeper, who received a conveyance of the above property from Willem Marinus to whom Cromwell had devised it by will of date 19 August, 1711.

http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3163229&id=I1861 Give a birthplace of Massachusetts for David.

Cant, Roderick J. Stowits and Gibson families of the Mohawk Valley. 1931. https://archive.org/details/stowitsgibsonfam00cant

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyschoha/simms15.html On the 9th day of July, 1781, a party of the enemy, numbering about five hundred, mostly Indians, under the command of Captain John Dockstader, a tory, who had gone to Canada from the vicinity of the Mohawk, entered a small settlement called Curry Town,3 in the present town of Root, three miles southeast from Spraker's Basin. A small block house had been erected near the dwelling of Henry Lewis and picketed in, previous to this invasion, which took place about 10 o'clock A.M.; and so unexpected was it, that most of the settlers were at their occupations at home when the first alarm was sounded. The Henry Lewis house is still standing. Jacob Dievendorf, a pioneer settler at that place, was at work in a fallow, with his two sons, Frederick and Jacob, and a negro boy named Jacobus [James] Blood. The last two were captured; and Frederick, a lad twelve or fourteen years old, in attempting to escape to the fort, was overtaken, tomahawked and scalped. Mrs. Dievendorf, with several female children and five or six slaves, fled from her dwelling and reached the fort in safety. Mrs. D. Was a large fleshy woman, and in hastily climbing a fence, on her way to the fort, it fell with her. Peter Bellinger, a brother of Mrs. Dievendorf, who was plowing in the settlement, hearing the alarm, unharnessed a horse, mounted it, and rode toward the Mohawk, pursued by several Indians, who arrived in sight of the river almost as soon as he did; he, however, escaped. Rudolf Keller and his wife happened to be at the fort when the invaders appeared; Keller, Henry Lewis, and Conrad Enders being the only men in the fort at the time. Keller's oldest son, discovering the enemy, ran home: and as they lived too far north of the fort to think of gaining it, he hurried the rest of the family into the woods northwest of the house, where they gained a place of temporary safety. As they entered the woods they looked back and saw the Indians at their dwelling. Frederick Lewis and Henry Lewis, Jr., were among the first to gain the fort. The former fired three successive guns to warn the settlers of danger, and several, thus seasonably warned, found a safe retreat in the forest. Jacob Tanner, with his family, were among the last to gain the picketed inclosure. The escape of this family would afford the artist a fair subject for his pencil. As the Indians were approaching the dwelling, he fled from it with a small child in one hand and a gun in the other, followed by his wife, with an infant in her arms, and several children on foot hold of her clothes. The family were pursued toward the fort by the tawny savages, with uplifted tomahawks, thirsting for their blood. Finding he could not cut off their retreat, the Indian in advance drew up his rifle and fired at Tanner. The ball passed just over the head of the child he carried, and entered a picket beside him. Several guns, fired from the fort, caused the enemy to gain a more respectful distance. The Indians plundered and burnt all the buildings in the settlement, a dozen or more in number, except the house of David Lewis, who resided where Henry Vorhees now does, and a log schoolhouse. Lewis was a tory, and although his house was set on fire, an Indian chief with whom he was acquainted, gave him permission to put it out when they were gone. He did so, and part of the building is still standing. Jacob Moyer and his father, who were cutting timber in the woods not far from Yates's, were found dead and scalped, one at each end of a log. They were killed by the party who pursued Peter Bellinger. The Indians were visible about the settlement until after four o'clock, P.M., when they moved off with their booty. They either killed or drove away most of the cattle and horses in the neighborhood. Several of the latter which were let loose by the Dievendorfs on the approach of the enemy, fled from their pursuit, and leaping a fence the sagacious animals gained a place of safety in the forest.

Sources