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Margery was born December of 1827 in Virginia, the daughter of John Lewis and Caroline Donnally. [1] There is a good chance that Margery was born at Valcoulon Mansion, the home built by her father Colonel John Lewis in 1826. The home was built on property once owned by Lewis, but later came into possession of William and Rachel Thompkins (not to be confused with Col. C. Quarles Tomplins, a Confederate officer who commanded several training companies there). At what point the property was transferred to Tompkins is unclear.
Margery married Edward Kenna on Tuesday, 15 June 1847, in Kanawha County , Virginia, United States.[2] This couple had three children: John Edward, Catherine, and Caroline.
Edward Kenna was shot and killed by his Lewis brothers-in-law [The two Kanawha newspapers in 1856 give Andrew D. and John V, but this is almost certainly John William and not James Van Bibber Lewis, who would have been onlly 17 at the time of the shooting- but this is currently conjecture] in a scandalous public shooting at Charleston’s fashionable Kanawha House hotel in June 1856. In 1858, his widow moved her family to Missouri, where her brother James V. Kenna, lived with his young family. She remained there until the outbreak of the Civil War, then returned to Kanawha County, Virginia (now WV).
The widow Margery (M. L.) Kenna married second to Mr. Richard J. Ashby in Carroll County, Missouri, on 2 June 1861. In the Minister's return her surname is misspelled "Kenner." She was married at the home of her brother James V. Lewis of Sugartree Bottom. Officiant was D. B. Cooper, M.E. Church.[3]
Margery Lewis was said to be the only daughter of her father Colonel John Lewis.[4]
Edward and Margery Kenna appear on the 1850 U. S. Census, District 29, Kanawha, Virginia, with thier two children John L. (sic) and Catharine Kenna.[5]
Margery Kenna and her family appear on the 1860 U. S. Census in Sugar Tree Bottom Township, Mile's Point Post Office, Carroll, Missouri. She is widowed, and living with her brother James V. Lewis, formerly of Virginia.[6]
Margara (sic) and Richard Ashbey (sic) appear on the 1870 U. S. Census, Charleston Township, Kanawha County, WV.[9]
the river at Malden.
Margorie (sic) Ashby appears on the 1900 U. S. Census, Ward 6-7, Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia, with her son and others. All but the youngest are literate.[10]
[Notes in preparation for expanding the bio and growing the tree]
Child of Margery Lewis and Richard Johnson Ashby Walter Lewis Ashby (1862 - 12 May 1920)
John Lewis was born on 10 July 1795 at Botetourt County, Virginia.1 He married, at age 28, Caroline Donnally, age 16, daughter of Andrew Donnally and Marjory VanBibber, on Thursday, 29 April 1824 at Kanawha County, Virginia.1 John Lewis died on 23 December 1854 at Duval County, Florida, at age 59 years, 5 months and 13 days.
John Lewis descends from a Huguenot family who took refuge in Ireland to escape religious persecution after the death of Henry IV of France. His rank was an Esquire. His wife, Margaret Lynn, was the daughter of the chieftain of the clan, Lock Lynn.
NOTES from Rootswebb by Carrie Newton 2013, who extracted her info from Re-Interment of the Hero of Point Pleasant, September 20, 1781- April 5, 1897. By Fanny R. Johnston. Reproduced from the Salem Times Register, April 9, 1897.) :
"John Lewis fled Ireland after his brother was brutally murdered and his wife injured by the Laird, Sir Mungo Campbell, who had also evicted him from his leasehold. He avenged his brother's death and murdered both the Laird and his steward. Due to the wealth and power of the Laird, a price was put on John's head, so he fled to America to Pennsylvania.
John Lewis eventually settled in Augusta County, VA at Bellefont, near Staunton. The children of John and Margaret Lewis were: Samuel Thomas Andrew William Charles
Andrew Lewis attained the title of General in the military and had five sons:
John Samuel Thomas Andrew William
John served under his father and was taken as a POW to Quebec and then to France. After he was liberated, he went to London and served a commission in the British Army as one of the Queen's guards. He resigned, returned to Virginia and married Patsey Love. His son, Samuel, went to KY. His daughter, Eliza married first John Luke of Alexandria, second Major Ball, and third, Alex K. Marshall (KY).His son, Captain Andrew Lewis, married Jane McClanahan(William, Eliza, Sally, John, Samuel, Emeline, Patsey. John Lewis died in Charleston, WVA (Andrew, John, James, Margery. Margery married Edward Kenna and their son, John Lewis Kenna, served in Congress as a representative of WVA.)
Samuel and Thomas, sons of General Andrew Lewis, inherited land in Greenbrier, Bath and Botetourt counties and in Kentucky.
Major Andrew Lewis, fourth son of General Andrew Lewis, of Bent Mountain, inherited Crystal Spring in Roanoke. His plantation was named Richfield (Dropmore), for which the retirement home west of Salem in Roanoke County is named. Also, Fort Lewis once stood on the land that was once part of the Lewis military grant.He married Agatha, daughter of John Madison and Agatha Strother. Agatha Madison had a sister, Lucy, who married Maj. Andrew Lewis's brother, William. A Brother of the sisters was James Madison, who was First Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia. They were cousins of President James Madison. (Their children were Charles, Thomas and Agatha. Charles died unmarried, Thomas was killed in a duel with MacHenry in Montgomery County in 1808. Agatha married Col. Elijah McClanahan and had nine daughters. Major Lewis married second and had one daughter, who married Mr. King).
William Lewis, youngest son of Gen. Andrew Lewis, married Lucy Madison. He inherited Richfield, the plantation west of Salem in Roanoke County. (Children: Dr. Andrew Lewis married Maria Walton- to TX. Agatha married Mr. Adams - to TX. Dr. William Lewis married first a McFarland, and second, a McClanahan who was sister of Colonel Elijah McClanahan. Ann Lewis, only daughter, married Rowland Madison, brother of Agatha and Lucy, and they went to KY."
Edward Burgess Gregory S. Morris Carrie Newton Fanny R. Johnston
Original Research and bio by Gregory S. Morris, Huntington, Sept. 2023
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L > Lewis | K > Kenna > Margery (Lewis) Kenna
Categories: Virginia Appalachians