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William Lewis Jr. (1594 - bef. 1683)

William Lewis Jr. aka Lewes
Born in Landough, Glamorgan, Walesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 7 Feb 1618 in Llandough, Glamorgan, Walesmap
Descendants descendants
Died before before age 89 in Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colonymap
Profile last modified | Created 3 Nov 2010
This page has been accessed 10,133 times.
The Puritan Great Migration.
William Lewis Jr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 1184)
Join: Puritan Great Migration Project
Discuss: pgm

Contents

Biography

William Lewis AKA Lewes or Lewys

Uncertain Origin

William's exact origins (location and parentage) are not proven, but a reasonable case can be made for Llandough, Wales. The only "source" for his origin is the book "Lewis, with collateral lines : Andrews, Belden, Bronson, Butler, Gillett, Newell, Peck, Stanley, Wright and others : ancestral record of Henry Martyn Lewis" by Harriet Southworth Lewis Barnes.[1] This book was also cited by Buell Burdett Bassette's "One Bassett Family in America"[2] and both Buell and Harriett were then cited by Charles H. Lewis in "John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont : and other descendants of William Lewis (who came to Boston on the ship, the Lion, in 1632) through his grandson James Lewis of Jamaica, Long Island" (not available online) who was then cited by Frank Beeker in "'The Settlers of the Beekman Patent"[3]

Despite all the layers of citation, Harriet S.L. Barnes is the only source for his origins. She claims that Williams' birth of 3 January, 1594 at Llandough, Wale as the son of William Lewis who was born April 4, 1561 in Pennarth, Wales and Sarah Cathcart and further provides a lineage in Wales back to 1000 A.D.

She admits that many genealogists dispute her unsourced conclusions and states that "a claim has been made" that this family has been traced in Wales to 1000 AD, that information from 1000 to 1528 AD are "to a very great extent practically hearsays", that there is no "documentary proof of connections" and that these lines of descent "appear in the songs of Welsh bards, and are generally accepted by the Welsh, who probably know more about it than we do". So, Harriett Barnes at least was aware that she could not prove all of her claims.

Harriet notes that the names of the brothers of William of Wales (Christopher and Robert) do not appear in subsequent generations of the descendants of William of Connecticut. By itself this obviously is inconclusive, but it does stymie the "names are the same" line of reasoning.

Harriett asserts that William's birth is "clearly given in the parish records of Llandough, Wales", presumably the same source as WIlliam's 1618 marriage to Felix Collins. If this parish register can be found and examined, it will help to solidify these claims for parentage.

Marriage & Children

Per Harriett S.L. Barnes[1] again relying on parish registers apparently, William married on Feb 7, 1618 at Wales to Falicia/Felix Collins/Collyns. She makes some mention of a possibility of Felix's surname being "Olcott" based on a Thomas Olcott bequeathing one pound to William Lewis as "brother" in his will, but this could have been a church "brother" and Felix as daughter of Walter Collins seems to be more strongly supported as described below.

This is where things get interesting re: Was William of Wales the immigrant to Connecticut? According to Barnes, an Essex County (England) deed of 3 May 1624 wherein Walter Collins, late of Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales (the father of Felix Collins) reads as follows[4]

"...now of Stanstead, Essex conveys to my son-in-law William Lewys of S. Messuage, etc, now in the occupation of John Talcolt late of Braintree...&c".

NB: "Stanstead" as it was spelled by Harriett Barnes, is in Suffolk, not Essex. Did she mean "Stansted Mountfichet" which IS in Essex? Assuming she didn't mean Stansted, Kent.

Given that the names William Lewis with wife Felix and son William appear on the Lyon passenger list along with John Talcott and his family,[5] this does actually make a reasonable argument, assuming the 1624 Stanstead deed, referred to above, is quoted accurately, that William & Felix of Wales and Stanstead were the early immigrants to Connecticut. See Research Notes.

Children of William and Felix:[3]

  1. William b ca 1620; mar 1) Mary Hopkins, 2) Mary Cheever

Grandson, Philip, was a special family member. William began deeding land to him as early as 1668.[6] Then on 16 May 1675, when the court granted William 200 acres, he deeded 100 acres of that to his grandson, Philip.[CCCR 2:254][6] On 23 November 1682, William asked the Hartford town clerk to "record all the lands that do belong to me in Hartford unto my grandchild Philip Lewes which are not yet recorded."[6]

Immigrated in 1632

See "Marriage & Children" section for passenger list showing William Sr., Felix and William Jr. on the Lyon along with the John Talcott family.

William Lewis and his family sailed from England with their only child, William, twelve-years-old at the time.[6] They emigrated from London on the Lyon with Captain Mason, in 1632 to Cambridge, Massachusetts.[Hotten 150][6] The ship landed at the mouth of the Charles River (now Boston Massachusetts) on Sept 16, 1632.[7] On 6 November 1632, William was granted freemanship.[6] Church membership is implied, (probably at Watertown), as it was a prerequisite for freemanship.[MBCR 1:367][6]

Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts

The family settled first at Cambridge, Massachusetts.[6] In 1636, they resided at the northwest corner of Winthrop and Holyoke streets in Cambridge.[8] By 20 August 1635, when the Cambridge land inventory was taken, William owned nine parcels, including two houselots.[CaBOP 16][6] He had purchased three of these , and the others were assigned to him by the town.[6] Besbeech Thomas purchased a house in Cambridge from William Lewis in 1636.[8]

Suckiaug (Hartford), Connecticut

William was a member of the group from Cambridge which went, in June, 1636, with Rev. Thomas Hooker and Rev. Stone to settle at Hartford.[9] Some of these were from Braintree; thus the group was called the Braintree Company. However, as Paige points out, of the forty-two who received divided lands at Hartford, "at least one-half were not of the Braintree Company," and Wlliam was one of these who were not from Braintree[8] The whole group was about 100 men, women, and children who traveled overland through the woods from Cambridge to Hartford,[9] a trip of 100 miles. The name, William Lewis appears on the founders' monument at Hartford; the inscription reads:

In memory of the courageous adventurers who inspired and directed by Thomas Hooker journeyed through the wilderness from Newtown (Cambridge) in the Massachusetts Bay to Suckiaug (Hartford) – October 1635[10]

William was chosen as a Selectman in Hartford on 21 January 1640/1, and on 4 January 1650/1.[HaTR 41, 95][6] He also served as Constable for Hartford beginning 7 February 1653/4 and 28 February 1654/5.[HaTR 102, CCCR 1:327][6]

When the Hartford land inventory was taken, twelve parcels were listed as belonging to William Lewis.[6]

Note: Anderson, in Great Migration Begins, points out that William moved directly from Hartford to Hadley, and only lived in Farmington at the end of his life.[6] Apparently Pope wrote that the father, William, was in Farmington in 1645, but it was his son, William, who was in Farmington in 1645.[6]

Hadley, Massachusetts

By 1659, the churches at Hartford and Wethersfield both experienced a division within their respective congregations.[9] The exact causes have been lost to history, but church membership requirements were one inciting aspect. After the death of Mr. Thomas Hooker in 1647, the innovative ideas of Mr. Stone were implemented. Conflict with the conservative minority slowly escalated. Attempts at conciliation were made, but the schism only grew. Many of the members wanted to leave and form a new town and church. Governor Webster, Andrew Bacon, and William Lewis were "some of the principle men in the minority," and in early 1658, they began looking at Massachusetts as the site for a new church.(Pgs 3-7)[9] Both William and his son, William, along with many others (59 in all) signed an agreement to settle Hadley, Massachusetts. William and 39 others actually went. His son, William, continued to live at Farmington, but shared in the division of land at Hadley.[citation needed]

William served at Hadley as Deputy to the General Court for three terms: 7 May 1662, 27 May 1663, 18 May 1664.[MBCR 4:1:41, 72, 100][6] He also served on the Hampshire petit jury 26 march 1661.[Pynchon Court 49][6]

Owned eight acres of land in Hadley in 1663.[9]

Falicia (Collyns) Lewis died in Hadley, Massachusetts April 17, 1671.[6]

Farmington

In 1675, after the death of wife, William removed to Farmington, the town his son, William, had helped to settle.[6] He lived at the home of his son for those last years.[11]

Death and Legacy

William wrote his will 30 August 1683, and while it was proved 18 December 1683[12][3] the probate files include a note of the court on 3 Dec 1683 summarizing the estate inventory, proving that he indeed died by that date.[13]

The date of death given in Farmington LR is an obvious error: August 2, 1683.[3]

In his will, William mentions his son, William, and his grandchildren, Ezekial, Nathaniel, Abigail, Philip, and Ebenezer.[9]

Note: The erroneous death date is given in both Great Migration Begins and John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont, ...[6]

Burial

William was buried at the Colonial Burying Ground, Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut.[citation needed] Memento Mori Cemetery in Farmington is also known as: Ancient Burying Ground, Old Farmington Cemetery. Genealogists have searched for William's tomb stone, without success, which is not surprising due to the age of the stone.

Research Notes

  1. Parish records of Llandough, Glamorgan, Wales would confirm at least the baptism and marriage of people matching the names of this profile
  2. Stanstead, Essex County, England land deeds covering 3 May 1624 would confirm that Walter Collins deeded land to his "son in law" William Lewis and that Walter was formerly of Cardiff, Wales where William Lewis married Felix Collins.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lewis with Collateral Lines...&c by Barnes, Harriet Southworth Lewis Publication date 1910, privately published page 4
  2. One Bassett family in America, with all connections in America and many in Great Britain and France; principally an outline of what the ancestors did to help make America; mainly from original records heretofore unpublished. By Bassette, Buell Burdett, 1870- Publication date 1926 Vol 1. p.443 "The Collins Family"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Doherty, Frank J., The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, V.1-8, Vol 8, Page 108 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013), Web accessed July 3,2014
  4. Walter Collins by Barns in One Bassett family in America, with all connections in America and many in Great Britain and France, by Buell Burdett Bassette. Springfield, Mass., Printed by the F.A. Bassette Company, c1926. Link to digitized image
  5. Passenger List for the Lyon, 1632 (C.E. Banks and John Corley) https://whipple.org/docs/lyon.html
  6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 Anderson, Robert C. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (1995) Pages 1184-86. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
  7. Timlow, Heman R. Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Connecticut page clvi (766), Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard co. 1875, Web accessed July 3, 2014
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Paige, Lucius R., History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877: With a genealogical register. (Pages 487, 599) Boston: H. O. Houghton and company, 1877, Web accessed July 3, 2014
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Judd, Sylvester & Sheldon, George, introductions, & co., History of Hadley: including the early history of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts Springfield, Mass: H.R. Huntting & Company, 1905, Web accessed July 3, 2014
  10. Brooklynite, "A Founder of Hartford – William Lewis", Web accessed July 4, 2014
  11. Statement of James Steele in Volume 4, Digest of Early Connecticut Probate Records.
  12. Charles William Manwaring, A digest of the early Connecticut probate records, 3 vols. (1904-1906), 1:331 (William Lewes sen); digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014),
  13. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 Hartford Probate Packets, Ledlie, S-Lloyd, D, 1641-1880 for William Lewis 1683 probate image 1020 of 1451 $subscription and free image courtesy of ancestry.com

See also:

  • Fitzgerald, Charles D. "One More Connecticut Lewis Line," Connecticut Nutmegger (2005) v38 p 34. Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
  • "Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700," entry for William Lewis and "Felix (Collins/Whiting?) (no) ..."; database, AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 2014). References about 20 works consulted by Clarence Torrey (-1962) as "Bassett (1926) 209; LBDF&P 4:145; Olcott (1899) 3, 6; Reg. 16:393; Bennett etc. (1931) 29; Hartford Prob. 1:140, 164, 331; Bassett-Preston 174; Fairfield Fam. 1:378; Fulton Anc. 285; Boddie 199; Bos. Trans. 26 Dec 1926 4558.2; Booth (1910) 68; Flagg Anc. 239; Lewis (,2) 12; Lewis (,3) 7; Lewis (,4) 1:37, 43, 2:47, 4:78; F. D. Roosevelt's Anc. 154; Morton (1947) 22."
  • Barbour, Lucius Barnes, 1982, Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc., Glastonbury, Connecticut pp.367

Acknowledgements

  • Thanks to the kind folks at the Wisconsin Historical Society for information from the Charles H. Lewis book "John Lewis of Berkshire...&c". Visit them in Madison, Wisconsin or at their website
  • Thanks to the Allen County (IN) public library Genealogy Center for research assistance with the Lewis-Bassette-Barnes citation layer-cake




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Comments: 38

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Another encouraging record by WIlliam of Farmington supports that he was indeed the Wales immigrate on the Lion (the son of William and Sarah), when in 1675 he gave his attestation as to his sister, Ann and her husband Stiles. That is, of course, unless there could be another William Lewis who had a sister Ann who emigrated to the New World in 1642.

Other than the attached affidavit... in this profile, why is there no mention of this affidavit and its implications for answering questions about which William Lewis arrived on the Lion. If we believe Ann was the daughter of Wm's parents, this record strengthens the link of Wm Jr to father, Wm and mother, Sarah?

posted by b Paulson
This is circular reasoning. There is no reason to think William Lewis Sr and Sarah Cathcart had a daughter Ann, except for the affidavit showing that William had a sister Ann. William and Ann Lewis could belong to any Lewis family in England.
posted by Joe Cochoit
It all goes back to Barnes' 1910 book as I noted in "Uncertain Origins". She is the original claimant for William's Welsh parentage and further generations back and cites parish records and a 1624 land deed that nobody else has yet been able to find. Everybody else including Deward Charles Williams in 1964 ("The Ancestors and Descendants of Daniel and Lovina (Hovey) Williams of Wethersfield, Connecticut" as cited on William's supposed siblings) derives from Barnes. We know that William had a sister named Anne who married a Staines, and that is all we know for certain about the origin of either of them (and we don't know that they had any other siblings i.e. Christopher & Robert who are again from Barnes and without source or proof that they are from the same family).

As we discussed last year on supposed brother Robert's profile, the Abchurch marriage to Cosens is really more likely the Robert Lewis who was actually baptized in that parish in 1608 rather than a Robert Lewis who moved from Wales to London. But with such common names, it's impossible to say. Was Harriet Barnes just grasping at Lewis straws at this point?

Re: supposed brother Christopher, "Pioneer Lewis Families" by Michael Cook also cites a deed without saying when/where he found it that conveniently links Cathcart and William Lewis with land in Wales to William's supposed son Christopher. If you could find that deed, it would be great although as described it wouldn't prove that the William Lewis of Wales with a son Christopher was also the father of William the immigrant. Again, a convenient but unsourced and unfindable land deed linking these people together.

Maybe it would be best if we detached him from his supposed parents but then we would need to project-protect William & Ann and create an "Unknown Lewis" as their father and to be complete in doing so we would need to sever Christopher & Robert from them and leave those two both with unknown parentage as well. In either case we need a bunch of text explaining all this, which is why I wrote that paragraph.

posted by Brad Stauf
On my connection to William Lewis. It shows William, his son William, his son John, his husband John, his husband James. How can this be possible?
posted by Jimmy Lewis
Hi Jimmy,

I see a William Lewis Sr. (1561-1641) (Lewis-954) and also this profile, William Lewis Jr. (1594-bef.1683).(Lewis-953).

Might you post the WikiTree ID numbers for the other profiles about which you are inquiring? --Gene

posted by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
Jimmy, are you referring to the "Connection Finder" on Wikitree here https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Connection ?

When I run it using 'shortest connection' from you to Lewis-953 I get a different set of results. Or are you looking at a different web site, or at a graphic tree of your ancestry on wikitree, or what exactly?

posted by Brad Stauf
I have restored a change made this afternoon that changed his name to John, removed the PGM box, changed all vitals as to date and location, and removed all the narrative in favor of one line, "FamilySearch.org." --Gene
posted by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
Is it intentional? or is it a typo that in two paragraphs mentioning Wm Lewes in the Collins land deed it is 1st listed as "Essex County (England) deed of 3 May 1643", and 2nd listed as the "1624 Stanstead deed"? If these are two distinctly separate records it ought to be made clearer as such. If they are referring to the transaction described in the quote, "...now of Stanstead, Essex conveys to my son-in-law William Lewys of S. Mesuage, etc, now in the occupation of John Talcott late of Braintree...&c", then surely one date must prevail over the other.
posted by b Paulson
I have changed the date referred to as 1624 to 1643 (and then changed both dates to 1624). Locating a primary record for this deed would clear up the confusion? See Research Notes for the comment, "Stanstead, Essex County, England land deeds covering 3 May 1624 would confirm that Walter Collins deeded land to his "son in law" William Lewis and that Walter was formerly of Cardiff, Wales where William Lewis married Felix Collins."

The passage b referred to read, emphasis added,

This is where things get interesting re: Was William of Wales the immigrant to Connecticut? According to Barnes, an Essex County (England) deed of 3 May 1643 wherein Walter Collins, late of Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales (the father of Felix Collins) reads as follows:
"...now of Stanstead, Essex conveys to my son-in-law William Lewys of S. Mesuage, etc, now in the occupation of John Talcott late of Braintree...&c".
NB: "Stanstead" as it was spelled by Harriett Barnes, is in Suffolk, not Essex. Did she mean "Stansted Mountfichet" which IS in Essex? Assuming she didn't mean Stansted, Kent.
Given that the names William Lewis with wife Felix and son William appear on the Lyon passenger list along with John Talcott and his family,[1] this does actually make a reasonable argument, assuming the 1624 Stanstead deed is quoted accurately, that William & Felix of Wales and Stanstead were the early immigrants to Connecticut.

-- [1] Passenger List for the Lyon, 1632 (C.E. Banks and John Corley) https://whipple.org/docs/lyon.html

posted by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
[Comment Deleted]
posted by b Paulson
deleted by b Paulson
I am aware, but it is location of which we seek clarity, and/or the conveyance or deed that we seek, right?
posted by GeneJ X
still learning the ropes of Wales/England record searches.

Was told today "... Stanstead Hall and estate at Halstead is not that far from Braintree and Stansted Monfichet just a bit further. Either might have been spelled Stanstead". Search at following site did not return the Collins record: https://www.essexarchivesonline.co.uk/result_details.aspx?ThisRecordsOffSet=2&id=317266

apparently quite a few records with people surnamed Lewys/Lewis and lots of Talcotts. Finding this Deed will not be an overnight activity.

Not helpful that Barnes shows 'Talcolt', and Lion passenger manifest shows 'Talcott'.

posted by b Paulson
And those Wales/England record ropes seem very long at times. I wonder, would you be comfortable composing a G2G question about the search for the deed?

Exposure to a wider audience might help us shorten the ropes a bit. --Gene

posted by GeneJ X
Posted a question on G2G, today under title: "After 400 years will crowd-sourcing solve the problem?"
posted by b Paulson
Great, b.

Hoping only to be helpful, consider editing the G2G to update the tags. Perhaps remove two--(1) puritan_great_migration_project, and (2) wikiwales, and then add three (1) Lewis, (2) england, (3) wales.

posted by GeneJ X
Narrow, not wider...

This is not the parish-level. But the comment about THAT is not very encouraging.

Glamro / Swyddfa Cofnodion Morgannwg &lt [email address removed] gt; To: Bruce Paulson Ref: 2021-4292 Dear Mr Paulson, Thank you for your enquiry received on the 8th December 2021. Having checked the relevant records, we have been unable to find either the Baptism of William Lewis, or his subsequent marriage to Felix Collins. Please remember that Civil Registration was only introduced in the UK in 1837, and prior to that we have only the Parish and Non-conformist registers to rely on. These registers record only baptisms, marriages and burials which take place in their particular church or chapel and varied quite dramatically in both the amount of information they contained and the level of conservation they subsequently received. That any of these records have survived 500 years is quite remarkable. We hope that this has been of assistance. Yours sincerely, David A. Hail Cynorthwyydd Cofnodion/Records Assistant Archifau Morgannwg / Glamorgan Archives

posted by b Paulson
Wow. You are correct, this is not very encouraging. --Gene
posted by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
Bummer but the data it what it is. Or in this case, it isn't what it isn't :)
posted by Brad Stauf
A note about Wm's DOD from probate papers: 3 Dec 1863, the Hadley court posts a short, 6-line summary of the Lewis Will. 4 Dec 1683, Wms son, capt. Wm Lewis, signed a statement that an inventory of his father's estate in Hadley had been completed. Fairly certain all this is after his father's passing, and we may surmise Wm Sr died between date his Will was executed and date of this Hadley inventory. It is a very small record; two sets of just six & five lines of impossibly cryptic handwriting. With this doc, it seems Wms DOD is no longer an open-ended guess: Rather, it is aft. 18th Aug and bef. 3 Dec 1683.

-Ancestry link to digitized image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007627838_01017

record# 1017 of 1451 thru 1051 of 1451 The collection of probate records include Wm Sr, d. 1683 his son capt. Wm Jr, d.1690 and his son Wm. d. abt 1736?

posted by b Paulson
edited by b Paulson
I'll add the link and information to his death & estate section, thanks for finding it. The handwriting isn't really that bad, I'd say mine is harder to read and I don't even have to use a goose feather and ink-pot ;)
posted by Brad Stauf
another bit of transcription of Wm's 30 Aug '83 Last Will:

As you've already noted, the Will mentions all the grandkids, but also some detail:

... to his grandchild Ezekiel, the estate at Hadley, for which he's to pay his brother Nathaniel £1 6, if he lives to the age of twenty-one years; if he dies, it's to go to his granddaughter Abigail. He also bequeathed to Abigail his land at Hartford - “unless, her brother Philip needs and cannot do without it, and pays her for it.” ... The executors named were his son William Lewis, Samuel Steele of Wethersfield, CT, and Samuel Partridge of Hadley. NOTE: Neither of the grandson's died. So, presumably, Abagail got only the Hartford property. Yet the court records at the State Library in Hartford Show that Philip claimed his grandfather’s real estate in Hartford under the English law of primogeniture. Have to look further, but that seems as if he stiffed his sister for the property. Being the eldest, appears he felt entitled.

I'll bet there's more tidbits like this in the courts of Hadley, Hartford and Farmington?

-Ezekiel Lewis b. 1674; was son of 2nd wife Cheever; just 9 yrs old when grandpa died; d. 1755 in Boston. When 21, did he buy the Hadley estate from bro Nathan? It would be in the Grantor-Grantee records. -Abagail Lewis b. 1678 was dau of 2nd wife Cheever. She was just 5 yrs old when Grandpa Wm died. m. Wm Wadsworth in 1696. She d.1707 in Farmington. Her hubby outlived her by 40-something yrs. -Nathaniel b. 1676 also of 2nd wife Cheever; only 7 yrs old when grandpa WM died; d. 1752 in Farmington; 1st wife, Abigail Ashley, dau of famous CT minister, d. 20 yr earlier, 4 mo after b. of their last child. -Phillip b. 1646; is 37 yrs old when grandpa WM dies. Phil d. 1723 in Fairfield, CT, just off the coast, 60 mi SE of Farmington. Wonder if he still owned his grandfather's Hartford property? His 1723 probate record doesn't say, but names his dau Sarah, wife of John Taylor, as executrix. Oh, well...

posted by b Paulson
Just to be clear, 1643 was a typo (I'm the one who made the edit and the typo). I was sent pages of the Charles H. Lewis book by a librarian and 1624 was the correct year for the Stanstead deed. Thanks Gene for correcting that.
posted by Brad Stauf
Wm's 24 Jan 1675 probate affidavit is difficult to decipher (attached to profile). It does describe his two trips from Cardiff to New England w his sister Anne. And a long explanation of what appears to be an accident to Anne's husband, resulting in his loss of employment (which might be the reason for her 1644 return to Cardiff).
posted by b Paulson
edited by b Paulson
I adopted Staines and started piecing him together, reading through William's affidavit. Further commentary on his profile just to avoid cluttering up Williams.
posted by Brad Stauf
edited by Brad Stauf
Found transcribed versions in Barnes of the Probate Court for records of Anne Staines. Wm does NOT provide Anne's hubby's given name. Too bad.

But Will cared for Staines until Staines could go to Hartford to stay with his own brother, who lived there. I did a cursory search for the surname in Hartford... nada.

posted by b Paulson
The Doherty citation here for the parentage appears to predate Robert Anderson's work. The PGM Directory (p 208) states his parentage is unknown as does The Great Migration Begins I-III:1184 (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB393/i/12107/1184/23895543). Is there additional research on this elsewhere?
posted by T Stanton
The Doherty work cites a book by Charles H. Lewis which per worldcat.org is available in half a dozen libraries in the U.S. titled "John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont : and other descendants of William Lewis (who came to Boston on the ship, the Lion, in 1632) through his grandson James Lewis of Jamaica, Long Island". Maybe somebody lives near one of these and could look this up? SLC, St. Louis and St. Peters MO, Houston, Madison WI and Ft. Wayne IN all have copies.

Followup - a kindly librarian sent me the Charles Lewis book which uncovered the sources, such as they were for William's origins. Bio edits coming up...

posted by Brad Stauf
edited by Brad Stauf
As intriguing as the Barnes theories are to a descendant, I would imagine that Anderson was well aware of the research and discounted the whole thing. But, we don't know that. The parentage and location seem possible and reasoned. Beyond that... Thanks for looking into all of that, Brad.
posted by T Stanton
Thanks T, if we can uncover the baptism, marriage and 1624 land deeds somehow that would be a huge help. I don't know Welsh parish records that well, if they might be available in a local archive or something. I've been working on William's sister Anne and her husband Whathisname Staines, that one is pretty interesting too. Her husband, and possibly his brother were both pretty early immigrants to Connecticut but neither seems to appear in any records that I can find.
posted by Brad Stauf
I sent a query to the State Lib in Hartford concerning the probate and other records mentioned in Barnes. But she was writing in 1910. Today, all of Wms probate docs are digitized online (his Last Wiil attached here). Several pages of descriptions are attached to his probate file, which clarify land descriptions for various of Wms bequeaths. Could these attached pages be the extent of the 'many records' Barnes reported? And any attempt to find clues there to his pedigree were long ago put to rest when scanned?
posted by b Paulson
We have no primary documentation of this William Lewis's birth or ancestors. I suggest that this should be removed until primary documents are included in this profile.
posted by Michael Lewis
FYI, folks, coordination with projects is required for *significant* profile changes. Fixing broken URLs is not considered a significant change and can be handled directly by the person who notices it. Thanks.
posted by Jillaine Smith
The FAG link doesn't go anywhere. Can you please remove/fix? That memorial ID doesn't exist. Thanks.
posted by Teresa Downey
Jody, your birth/death info from family compilation on Wm Jr agrees w vitals in "No. Amer. Fam. Hist.", too.
posted by b Paulson
One answer to Michael Lewis' question concerning birth date and place: I have a family book compiled by an uncle who is a retired scientist. The book was completed in 1992. His sources statement reads as follows: "All information in the document has been derived from existing sources including living persons, published and unpublished books and documents, census records and computer files of the LDS Genealogical Library in Sacramento, CA. At times data on individuals is conflicting, especially dates and sometimes locations. Judgement was used in selecting the most "reliable" source.

From the family book:

William Lewis 1st (The first in America) Born:1/3/1594 Llandough, Glamorganshire, Wales Died 8/2/1683 Farmington, Hartford Co., CT

The book also includes information on ancestors.

posted by Jody Katopothis
What is the evidence that William Lewis was born January 3, 1594 (1593?) in Landough, (Llandough?), Wales? Where did this attribution come from?
posted by Michael Lewis
Lewis with Collateral Lines...&c by Barnes, Harriet Southworth Lewis Publication date 1910, privately published page 4
posted by b Paulson
My question about how to name the wife of William on WikiTree http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/85712/go-with-anderson-or-doherty?show=85712#q85712
posted by Cynthia (Billups) B

L  >  Lewis  >  William Lewis Jr.

Categories: Founders of Hartford | Lyon, sailed June 22, 1632 | Puritan Great Migration