George
Lewis
aka Lewes
Born before in Brenchley, Kent, England
[uncertain]
Ancestors [uncertain]
Son of George Lewes
and Dennys (Forman) Lewes
Brother of
Elizabeth Lewis, Mary Lewis, Margery Lewis, James Lewis, John Lewis, Eliza Lewis and Elizabeth (Leawes) Morris
Husband of
Mary (Doggett) Lewis
— married
1 Nov 1624 in Horsmonden, Kent, England
Descendants 
Father of
Mary (Lewis) Bryant, George Lewes, Thomas Lewis, James Lewes, Edward Lewes, John Lewis, Ephraim Lewis and Sarah (Lewis) Sparrow
Died
after age 63
in Barnstable, Plymouth Colony
Profile managers:
Darin Neves 
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], John Putnam [send private message], Michelle Brooks [send private message], Bob Hall [send private message], and Christopher Bacon [send private message]
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], John Putnam [send private message], Michelle Brooks [send private message], Bob Hall [send private message], and Christopher Bacon [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 14 Sep 2010
This page has been accessed 11,041 times.
There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's spouse. See the text for details.
| George Lewis migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 4, p. 281) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Contents |
Biography
George Lewis was a native of Kent, England. He was baptized in Brenchley, Kent, England, on August 31, 1600. [1][2] Published histories and genealogies, such as Lincoln's History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts and Deane's History of Scituate, Massachusetts, have traditionally stated that he came from East Greenwich in Kent,[3][4] but records found in England establish that he was from Brenchley. He was a son of George Lewis and Dennis (Forman) Lewis of Brenchley.[2]
George emigrated to New England by 1634. He was granted land at Scituate, Massachusetts, on 20 February 1634/5 and he became a member of the Scituate church of Rev. John Lothrop on 20 September 1635.[5] He removed from Brenchley to Staplehurst in Kent not long before emigrating. His wife and children remained in Staplehurst for at least a few months, joining him in New England sometime after the May 1634 birth of the couple's fifth child, Edward. [6] George's brother John Lewis emigrated in 1635 with his family, also settling initially in Scituate.[7]
He died about 1662 in Barnstable, Massachusetts.[3]
George became a freeman of Plymouth Colony on January 3, 1637, [8] and had moved to Barnstable by 1641. He lived at times in both Plymouth and Scituate, MA. George was among those freemen of Scituate granted land on January 1, 1638, provided that they erect a ferry over the North River [9]. He was one of those Barnstable townsmen found fit to bear arms in August 1643 [10]
According to Deane, George Lewis had a house lot in Scituate on Kent street, the first south of Meeting-house lane.[4][11].
Marriage
- On November 1, 1624, George was married Mary Doggett[5], daughter of Thomas Doggett (ca Jan 1572/3-bef Jun 1621) & Isabel [Doggett] (-14 Oct 1641), in Horsmonden, Kent. Mary was baptized in Horsmonden, Kent, England, on September 21, 1600. She died after July 3, 1676, in Barnstable, Massachusetts.[6] She was the mother of at least his first five children.[2][6][5]
See [#Research Notes|Research notes] for information disputing Sarah Jenkins as his wife.
Children
- Children include:[5]
- Mary (Lewis) Bryant (1625-1655), baptized 27 December 1625 at Brenchley (died 2 July 1655)
- George Lewes (bef.1627-1709), baptized 11 November 1627 at Brenchley
- Thomas Lewis (bef.1630-abt.1709), baptized 5 January 1630/31 at Brenchley (died May 1709)
- James Lewes (abt.1632-1713), baptized 25 March 1632 at Brenchley (died 4 October 1713)
- Edward Lewes (abt.1634-1703), baptized 25 May 1634 at Staplehurst, Kent, England (died 29 Mar 1703)
- John Lewis (abt.1637-abt.1676), born 2 Mar 1637/8 at Scituate, Massachusetts, Plymouth Colony; killed by Indians 26 March 1676 at Pawtucket (Rhode Island)
- Ephraim Lewis (1641-1670), born 23 Jul 1641 at Barnstable, Massachusetts
- Sarah (Lewis) (Cobb) Sparrow (1643-1735), born 2 February 1643/4 at Barnstable, Massachusetts.
From 1910 Book
- Barnes[12] presented the following speculative description of George Lewis' English origins that is contradicted by records discussed above:
- "It is supposed that they resided in London, and were members of Mr. Lathrop's church, and probably came to this country in 1632, after the Church in London was broken up, and Mr. Lathrop imprisoned. George was of Plymouth in 1633 and though a member of the church there, his name does not appear on the tax lists of 1633 and 1634. Though not a man of wealth, he was liable to pay a poll tax, and the omission of this can be accounted for only on the supposition that he was taxed as one of 'Mr. Hatherlie's men.' That gentleman was benevolent, and assisted many worthy men to come to New England, and after their arrival he assisted them to employment and comfortable homes.
- Barnes also discusses his life in America:
- "'Goodman Lewis'" name is often associated with Mr. Hatherlie on records, and he was probably indebted to him for assistance. He was a clothier by trade and there was no business to give employment to a clothier, so he became a planter. In further proof that he began life in this country as a poor man, we learn that his allotment of land in Scituate was "only five acres, the amount known as 'a servant's share.' Yet he was evidently a man of good standing and known by the colonists before coming over, which is shown by his early admission as freeman of the Colony, which occurred January 14, 1636. George was, with a number of others, dismissed from the church at Plymouth in 1634,' in case they join in a body at Scituate.' The church was organized there on the arrival of Mr. Lathrop, the aged and revered pastor who had suffered persecution in London, and Geoge became a member there eight month after the organization, on September 30, 1635. Before October, 1636, 'Goodman Lewis' built a house on Kent Street, Scituate, which street received its name because the residents came from that county, and were known as 'Men of Kent.' His lot was the first south of Meeting House Lane, and contained five acres, and stands No. 18 on the list of houses built in that town. On his removal to Barnstable in 1639, he sold to Richard Willis of Plymouth, his dwelling house, and thee acres of 'Marsh ground' for the sum of &19 Sterling: the marsh ground, or salt meadows being especially desirable for raising stock. His home lot in Barnstable was the second west of Hyannis Road. He also owned an acre of meadow on the side of the highway, with a high hill on the north still known as Lewis Hill. He received a grant from the town on July 26, 1654, of three and a half acres of meadow at Mystic Landing. His great lot is described as sixty acres of upland, and this he sold to his sons Edward and John in 1652, and some is yet in the possession of his descendants."
Will
- George's will was undated, but it was presented in Court at Plymouth on March 3, 1663/4. In it, he mentioned his wife Mary, sons Ephraim, George, Thomas, James, Edward, and John, and daughter Sarah Lewis. His wife Mary was the executrix.[5][13]
- Will: The last Will and Testament of George Lewis, Sen'r deceased exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth; the third of March 1663 on the oath of Mr. Thomas Allin of Barnstable.
- In the Name of God Amen; I being in continual expectation of death; butt yett in my perfect memory and senses: I doe comitt and bequeath my sole to God whoe gave it mee and my body to the earth from whence it came; and my worldly goods I doe bequeath as followeth:
- Imprimis I doe give unto my wife and my son Ephraim Lewis my whole estate that shall bee left Remaining after my debts are payed; as well my lands and other Interests as alsoe all my Cattle and Chattle of goods whatsoever; and my will is further that my wife and my said son Ephraim they or either of them shall quietly enjoy the same during either her or his life time; and if either of them die the other shall enjoy it wholly during her or his life time, and after the decease of them both what shall bee then left Remaining shall be divided amongst my other five sonnes viz, my son George my son Thomas my son James my son Edward and my son John; onely my son George shall in the first place have five pounds of it and the Remainder shall be equally divided between him and them; onely I doe will That my daughter Sarah Lewis shall have alsoe an equal share in it;
- Item I make my wife Mary Lewis my full and onely exequitrix, to pay and Receive all my debts to order Improve and dispose of all after my decease.''
Research Notes
Disputed Spouse: It has been commonly been assumed that Sarah Jenkins was the first wife of George Lewes, but that appears to be an error. Older genealogical sources, including Deane's History of Scituate, Massachusetts, identified George Lewis' wife as Sarah Jenkins, sister of Edward Jenkins.[4][11]
No son Nathaniel: Some online trees (including Geni.com as of 5.6.23) have a son Nathaniel Lewes (1645-). There is no evidence that George had a son of that name. (The connection was severed as of 2023) Its possible that there was some confusion with the family of Edmond Lewes (abt.1601-abt.1650) who did have a son Nathaniel who resided in Swansea.
Sources
- ↑ "England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GR58-PVJ : 21 April 2023) > Kent > Brenchley > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials 1560-1656 > image 208 of 284, “the same day [last day of August 1600] baptized George the son of George Lewes"; citing Register of Brenchley, A.D. 1560-1654, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone; FHL DGS 004989810, image 59 of 718.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Robert S. Wakefield, “George and John Lewis of Brenchley, Kent, England, and Scituate, Massachusetts,” The American Genealogist, vol. 68, 1993, pages 24-28; digital copy, AmericanAncestors (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB283/i/12963/24/0).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 George Lincoln, et al., History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, published by the Town of Hingham, 1893, Online edition at USGenWeb Hingham, Plymouth Colony
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from Its First Settlement to 1831, Loring, Boston, 1831.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L,, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 2005. Pages 281-284. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Remington, George Lewis, "Mary Doggett, wife of George1 Lewis of Brenchley, Kent, and Scituate, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist, 72 (1997): 321-328. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription).
- ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L,, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 2005. Pages 284-287. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
- ↑ Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, editor, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, [aka Plymouth Colony Records], volumes 1-8 (Boston: Press of William White, 1855-57), 1:48; digital book, FamilySearch (FamilySearch Book: 479192 : 23 April 2023).
- ↑ Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, editor, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, [aka Plymouth Colony Records], volumes 1-8 (Boston: Press of William White, 1855-57), 1:72-73; digital book, FamilySearch (FamilySearch Book: 479192 : 23 April 2023).
- ↑ Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, editor, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, [aka Plymouth Colony Records], volumes 1-8 (Boston: Press of William White, 1855-57), 8:193; digital book, FamilySearch (FamilySearch Book: 139772 : 23 April 2023).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 400 years with a New England Lewes/Lewis Family, 1990, Gateway Press, Baltimore
- ↑ Harriet Southworth (Lewis) Barnes, Smith with Collateral Lines, Chipman, Divine, Huckins, Jones, Lewis (Barnstable branch) and Mayflower Connection; Ancestral Records of Francis Amelia (Lewis) Barnes, (Philadelphia: n.p., 1910), pp. 35-38; digital copy, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/534034/?offset=0#page=34: accessed 13 April 2023).
- ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-VSHZ : 7 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 225 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
- See also:
- Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L, pages 281-284. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
- Burrage, Henry S. and Albert Roscoe Stubbs. The Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine. Volume 3. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1909 Google Books
- Hamblen, David. "The First Settlers of Barnstable, MA," NEHGR Vol. 2:195 (Apr 1848)
- Otis, Amos. Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, published online by Ancestry.com. The Generations Network, Inc., Provo, UT, 2005; original publisher: F.B. & F.P. Goss, Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1890.
- NGS Quarterly Report of George Lewis, posted at Ellsworth La Coste's website
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Categories: Brenchley, Kent | Scituate, Massachusetts | Barnstable, Massachusetts | Clothiers | Puritan Great Migration
George Lewis-467 did wed before 1654 a Mary, surname unknown, following the death of Sarah Jenkins Lewes. This Mary unknown Lewes is in the will of George Lewis-467. At least 6 genealogies report that Sarah Jenkins and George Lewes emigrated with their several children to Plymouth. Their emigration occurred shortly after Rev Lathom’s First Independent Church in London was shut down and members persecuted and imprisoned, some died. Two of those genealogies are by direct-line family members and another is by Mr. Amos Otis, a highly credible man, who routinely published his genealogies of the relatively small Barnstable community in its local newspaper.
Among hundreds of Lewis family members in Barnstable, another genealogy, including the handwritten page image shown, was thoroughly researched in the Lathrop library and published in 1966. Genealogical Notes of Cape Cod Families, Vol 33. (Lewis to Loring). 1966. Extensive Lewis pedigree, many pages of Lewis family of Barnstable. Handwritten. See page 267 for George Lewes, Sarah Jenkins, and Mary? and family. Note the page of references, after the inside front cover page, including references from the Lathrop library. https://ia800308.us.archive.org/6/items/genealogicalnote33brow/genealogicalnote33brow.pdf
Even today Barnstable is not a large community, isolated on a peninsula as it is by ocean, bay and geography. Amos Otis, a local, probably knew by name every Lewes and Lewis in the community. If in the very unlikely event Amos Otis published the incorrect name of Sarah Jenkins Lewes, the matriarch of this large, well known family in Barnstable, and previously in nearby Scituate and Plymouth just across the bay, then Amos Otis would have been immediately corrected by dozens of locals, family members, and fellow Lathrop congregants.
Yet, incredibly, this scrambled George Lewis-467 profile as well as that of Mary Doggett's scrambled profile claim that the wife and children of this George Lewis-467 emigrated later after George. Yes Mary Doggett emigrated later, but it was to join her husband a different George Lewis.
Furthermore, the persecution and destruction (by the Church of England led by the King of England) of Rev Lathom's First Independent Church in London is the obvious reason there are no English church records of the marriage of George and Sarah and the births of George and Sarah’s children. Those records would have suffered the same fate as Rev. Lathom's church in England and other records.
It was a different non-related George Lewis who married in England and fathered children in England with Mary Doggett, who then left his wife Mary Doggett and children in England and emigrated to Casco, which is 203 miles north of Barnstable and inland from Portland, Maine. This non-related George Lewis and Mary Doggett did eventually move to Barnstable where this George was recognized as a troublemaker with another man in the Barnstable community. Edward Lewis, son of George Lewis and Mary Doggett, is born in England in May 1634, after George Lewis-467 and Sarah Jenkins Lewis family are already in America. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7GM-M6P
On the other hand, George Lewis-467 married to Sarah Jenkins, was a "Goodman" as his church nickname states, notable in his community, who moved with his family to re-join with Rev Lathom and his congregation.
For easy reference, here is the Amos Otis reference: Amos Otis revised by C. F. Swift, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Vol. II, F. B. & F. P. Goss, Publishers and Printers, Barnstable, MA, 1890: https://archive.org/details/genealogicalnot00swifgoog/page/n126/mode/2up
George Lewes, wife Sarah Jenkins and wife Mary unknown and family are described in detail in the 1990 publication, 400 Years with a New England Lewes-Lewis family, by direct descendant Barbara Lewis Williams, available on loan here: https://archive.org/details/400yearswithnewe00will/page/n7/mode/2up
George Lewes, clothier, his wife Sarah Jenkins and Sarah’s brother Edward, a clothier like George, and George's second wife Mary surname unknown are described in detail by direct descendant Winslow Lewis, M.D. in Brief Memoir of Dr. Winslow Lewis, compiled by J.H. Sheppard. The George and Sarah Jenkins Lewes family are described on page 24 and the multi-generation linkage of the Lewis and Jenkins families are described on page 11. https://archive.org/details/briefmemoirofdrw00shep/page/n47/mode/2up page 24
Among other references, the George Lewis who emigrated to Casco, Maine is mentioned in State of Maine: Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine; compiled ... Little, George Thomas, ed. 1857-1915, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t3jw8hg40;view=2up;seq=22;size=125 page 1062-1064 Lewis of Lewes of Kent, England to Massachusetts and Maine, United States from 1632-1904. Lineage and historical information of descendants.
And here: http://dunhamwilcox.net/me/me_bio_lewis.htm
edited by Clare Bromley III
https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/american-genealogist-the/image?pageName=321&volumeId=13132&rId=24764117
Nathaniel Lewis-67 and Joseph Lewis-62 are probably sons of this George and Mary Doggett-341 Lewis. But this is not George Lewis-467 who emigrated along with Mary Sarah Jenkins and children to Barnstable. This explains why there is no history of a Mary Doggett-341 Lewis in Barnstable, MA and the discrepancy with the list of children.
edited by Clare Bromley III
ATE, MASS. By Dr. Percy Bryant, of Buffalo, N. Y. ... He lived in Barnstable previous to moving to Scituate...He married three times: first, Mary, daughter of George and Mary (Jenkins) Lewis of Barnstable, Nov. 4, 1643, by whom he had seven children. She died July 2, 1655. ... https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor48wate/page/46
https://archive.org/details/agenealogicalre02farmgoog/page/n184 I will post an jpg image. FARMER, JOHN. A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New-England; Containing an Alphabetical List of the Governours, Deputy-Governours, Assistants or Counsellors, and Ministers of the Gospel in the Several Colonies, from 1620 to 1692; Graduates of Harvard College to 1662; Members of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company to 1662; Freemen Admitted to the Massachusetts Colony from 1630 to 1662; With Many Other of the Early Inhabitants of New-England and Long-Island
The family of George Lewes (Lewis) p 115 -147 https://archive.org/details/genealogicalnot00swifgoog/page/n14
https://archive.org/details/genealogicalnot00swifgoog/page/n14
1. I. Mary, born in England about the year 1623, married Nov. 16, 1643, John Bryant of Scituate, and died before 1657, leaving a family of seven children.
3. II. Thomas, born in England, married June 15, 1653, Mary Davis, daughter of Dolar. Thomas removed to Falmouth, was proprietor's clerk, and a prominent man there. ...