Lewis Name Study - 1634 Ship Hercules Lewis Descendants

Profile manager: Kevin Ireland [send private message]

See also https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1379482/colonial-researcher-improve-confirm-early-lewis-profiles for a more public discussion on the earliest ancestors listed here.

This research area of the Lewis Name Study originally focused on Lewis lines that descend from the John Lewis who arrived in Plymouth MA from Tenterden, England (with his wife, Sarah, and child) on the "Good Ship Hercules" that sailed from Sandwich England in early 1634.

However, researchers now seem convinced that the child who was on the Hercules with her parents John and Sarah was a daughter rather than a son. Although this John later had other children born in America, he no longer is thought to be a direct ancestor of this line (although he could be related).

There is a great deal of conflicting information about the various members of this family on both WikiTree and FamilySearch. Our goal is to have researchers collaborate here to present best conclusions available on the early descendants (and perhaps ancestors) of this line. Rather than overwriting others' conclusions (which is happening on FamilySearch), please present your theories separately here along with the sources you use to reach them. We can then use the comments area to discuss the differences.

Genealogy information below comes from "A LEWIS GENEALOGY: Being the Record of 12 Generations in America of the Lewis Direct Lineage from John Lewis I of Bossenden-in-Blean, Kent, England," compiled by Percy Williams Lewis, 29 Nov 1969. http://irelanddavis.com/docs/lewisgenealogy.pdf. If the extensive genealogy research of Percy Williams Lewis (1903-1985) is correct, then direct male descendants of this line should match to Y-DNA Haplogroup I-L1272 (a subclade of I-M223). This is not yet considered proven; information about non-matching Y-DNA tests would be greatly appreciated.

Percy's conclusions were based on decades of research from the 1900 to 1969 conducted in person by himself and by his uncle, Francis Melville Lewis (1854-1933). Some researchers with more current information have drawn different conclusions, which is part of the reason for this study.

As of late Feb 2022, there are multiple WikiTree profiles for this family. At some point, they'll be merged, but here is the current status of "this" line (if it's correct).

John Lewis I

If there was a John Lewis I in this line, he is no longer thought to be the John Lewis (bef.1606-bef.1680) who arrived with his wife Sarah, and a child in Plymouth MA on the Hercules from Sandwich in March 1634.

See also John Lewis (-abt.1657).

John Lewis II

There are currently competing profiles for John Lewis II:

• John Lewis (abt.1634-1717)
• John Lewis (bef.1650-1717)

John Lewis III

This is the weakest link in our ancestral line. While Percy names John Lewis III as the father of John Lewis IV, other researchers name his brother Moses Lewis as John IV's father. However, if we're correct that John and Moses are brothers, then their male descendants will still carry the same Y-DNA.

• John Lewis 3rd (1685-1758)
• Moses Lewis (abt.1694-1783) - brother of John Lewis III

John Lewis IV

John Lewis IV (1720-1786) The father of John Lewis IV is disputed and may have been John or Moses Lewis - or his ancestral info could be a big mess. However, the paper trail (and AncestryDNA evidence) up to John IV strongly supports that he and his male Lewis-line descendants are Y Haplogroup I-L1272 (or a closely related I-M223 subclade). John IV's wife is now known to be Mary (Brooker) Lewis (1723-1765).

Y Haplogroup I-L1272

For information about Lewis Y-DNA matches to this line, visit Lewis Name Study - Y Haplogroup I-L1272.