Jonathan Lewis (1791 - 1871)

Born 22 Oct 1791 in Shaftesbury, Bennington, Vermont, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Brush) Lewis — married about 1831 in Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 18 Jan 1871 at age 79 in Monroe Township, Allen, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Jonathan Lewis was born October 22, 1791, Shaftesbury, Bennington Co., Vermont. He was the child of Peleg Lewis and Lydia Reed.

He lived during the time (1816) of the "year without a summer" due to the cold summer weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora volcano the previous year. "On June 25, 1816, The Franklin Repository in Pennsylvania reported that snow blanketed the area. Around the same time, The Evening Post in New York described freezing temperatures and nearly a foot of snow. Farm animals in Vermont succumbed to the freezing temperatures as long-time residents said they’d never seen anything like it!" "As fall approached, the Hartford Courant noted that 1816 would go down in history because there had been frost every month of the year. European papers complained that constant rains had ruined crops and created a famine."

He appears in Solon, New York, in the 1820 Census, which shows he has a daughter under the age of 10 (that would be his eldest daughter Elsa "Elsie", who married Robert Edgecomb after the family had moved to Allen County, Ohio). It also shows a son under the age of 10 (that would be son Peleg "Pegley" Lewis, who was named after his grandfather). Robert and Elsie (Lewis) Edgecomb are listed next to Elsie's brother Pegley Lewis in the 1850 Census (Allen County, Ohio). And Elsa (Lewis) Edgecomb was almost certainly named after Jonathan's sister Elsa (Lewis) Bassett.

Jonathan was elected at Solon, Cortland Co., New York, to be Overseer of Highways for District 10 in 1823 and 1829, and he appears there in the 1830 Census (page 14). He doesn't appear on Trumbull County, Ohio, tax rolls until 1831. Therefore, he is definitely not the Jonathan C. Lewis of Gustavus Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, in the 1830 Census (who was there by 1824). However, there is no female who would be the age of Jonathan's wife in 1830 [males 101101; females 101000]. It therefore indicates that he married a first wife who died in 1829 or early 1830, and that he married Eleanor ("Nelly") about 1830-1831. If so, Eleanor would only be the mother of the 5 youngest of Jonathan's children (Philura, Besilea, Robert, Lydia, and Jacob). It is possible that the maiden name of his first wife was Stebbins (perhaps a daughter or niece of Walter Stebbins, who died at Solon in 1827; Walter Stebbins also lived fairly close to them in Otsego County during the 1810 Census). The maiden name of his second wife is apparently Brush? or Brust? (that maiden name given in the death certificate of daughter Lydia: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61442/101784593_00541/750177771?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/112308799/person/432082285958/facts/citation/1162112173291/edit/record

They would presumably have awakened to witness the great Leonid Meteor Storm of 12 November 1833 (https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/09/how-newspapers-helped-crowdsource-a-scientific-discovery-the-1833-leonid-meteor-storm/)

Jonathan and Eleanor lived in Lordstown Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, in the early-mid 1830s (tax records 1831-1834), and when he bought land in Allen County, Ohio, in 1836 he was "of Trumbull Co., Ohio." Jonathan bought land in Bath Township, Allen County, Ohio, the E1/2 of NW1/4 and the W1/2 of NE1/4 of Section 14. It was on Blue Lick Road, about a mile east of the present I-75 Interchange. See: https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=OH0680__.151&docClass=STA&sid=13ilo1oy.14k

They sold part of this farm in 1838, but remained on the other part, appearing in Bath Twp., Allen County, Ohio, in the 1840 Census (page 130). But they sold the remaining part in 1846 and moved to Monroe Township (apparently buying the Elias Everett farm (Elias was son-in-law of Chloe (Doud) Olmstead, who was a sister to Robert's mother Betsey (Doud) Edgecomb). The location of this farm has not been determined.

They were living in Monroe Township during the 1850 Census (page 738), 1860 Census (page 387), and 1870 Census (page 26). But they apparently sold their Monroe Township land between 1846 and 1850, because Jonathan reported no real estate in the 1850 and 1860 Censuses (just $800 in personal property in 1850 and $138 of personal property in 1860). They seemed to get poorer every census (perhaps having given much of their property to their children). They both died in Monroe Township, Allen County, Ohio, Jonathan on 18 January 1871 ("of old age") and Eleanor on Monday, 23 March 1874 (of "lung fever"). They are both buried in Miller Cemetery (located in Section 13, west of Rockport on Rockport Road).

Marriage Husband @P1216@. Wife @P1215@. Child: Peleg Lewis. Child: David Lewis. Child: Jonathan Lewis. Child: Betsy Lewis. Child: Elsa Lewis. Child: Abraham Lewis. Child: John Lewis. Child: Mary Lewis. Marriage 10 Sep 1785. Dighton, Massachusetts. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S-151894824

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=48002158

• United States Census, 1800, Town of Shaftsbury, Bennington Co., Vermont, p.171.

• United States Census, 1820, Solon, Cortland Co., New York, p. 584.

• United States Census, 1830, Solon, Cortland Co., New York, p. 14.

• 1831 Tax List (Lordstown Township, Trumbull County, Ohio): "Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JSX4-2TG : 29 July 2017), Jonathan Lewis, 1831; citing various county courthouse offices, Lordstown Township, Trumbull, Ohio, p. 406, indexed by Ohio Genealogy Society, Bellville; FHL microfilm 514,191.

• Picture of Land Patent: https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=OH0680__.151&docClass=STA&sid=13ilo1oy.14k#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

• United States Census, 1840, Bath Twp., Allen Co., Ohio, p. 130.

• United States Census, 1850, Monroe Twp., Allen Co., Ohio, p. 738.

• United States Census, 1860, Monroe Twp., Allen Co., Ohio, p. 387.

• United States Census, 1870, Monroe Twp., Allen Co., Ohio.

• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~besr/7.htm

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZVG-QWW