James Lewis (1740 - abt. 1818)

Born 14 Feb 1740 in Monroe, Orange, New York Colony [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (North) Lewis — married about 19 Oct 1772 in Montgomery, Orange, New York Colony [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Lewis — married after 1813 in Pennsylvania, United States [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about 1818 at about age 77 in Catharine, Schuyler, New York, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

Married Sarah North, About 19 Oct 1772. probably Montgomery, Orange, New York. To this union were born:

1. John Lewis 1773–1812
2. David North Lewis 1775–1854
3. Jacob Lewis 1777–1854
4. Alpheus Lewis 1779–Deceased
5. Esther Lewis 1780–1862
6. James Lewis 1782–Deceased
7. Samuel Lewis 1784–1859 ​​
8. Elias Smith Lewis 1786–1844
9. Thomas L. Lewis 1789–1865 ​​
10. Reuben Lewis 1791–1848
11. Isaac Lewis 1794–Deceased
12. Sarah "Sally" Lewis 1796–1873

Was in Lucerne county, Pa. Where most of the children were born. May have died in Pennsylvania.

In 1778, James Lewis, his wife Sarah and their two young sons, five year old John and two year old David were living in the Wyoming Valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

In early June of that year and as a part of the American Revolution, British Colonel John Butler led a force of 1,000 loyalists and Iroquois allies against the 5,000 inhabitants of the valley. James and his family took refuse at Forty Fort. On July 3, 1778, Forty Fort was attacked resulting in the death of 360 men, women, and children. Many others escaped to the forests, including Sarah, the boys, and her sister-in-law. This incident became known as the Wyoming Massacre.

Ada Miranda Lewis, daughter of David North Lewis and granddaughter of James and Sarah related the following story to her young granddaughter, Ina Sherwood Peckman, regarding the Lewis family experience at Wyoming Valley. Ina wrote:

"In the early days of America, date July 3, 1778, there was a massacre in the Wyoming Valley.

The white people had a fort to protect them from the Indians. One day they received news that the Indians were coming. They made ready for the Indians and in the daytime the women were in the Fort while the men went out to work in the fields.

One day when all the men were out and the women were all at the Fort, one woman with her two little boys (one was five and the other one younger) and her sister-in-law left the Fort with some provisions. They wandered through the forest a long time and came to an old cabin.

When their husbands came to the Fort at night and found them gone, they took some pork and flour, and when they got to the gate the guards would not let them pass out of the Fort. They threw the guards to the ground and went out to search for their wives.

They walked a long way through the forest having hard work doing so at night. When they saw a light in the cabin window, they wondered who was in it, so they slipped up and looked in, and inside was their wives and children.

They were very much surprised for they thought it was Indians, but were so glad they had found their families.

That night the Fort was attacked by the Indians and everyone was killed that was at the Fort.

These people that ran away from the Fort were the Lewis's. David Lewis, the youngest boy, was my Great-Grandfather.”

Ina Sherwood Peckman

Sources

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154027503/james-lewis
• Lewis, Charles H., John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont, Heritage Books, 2008, p. 61.