David Lewis Revolutionary War Headstone
"David Lewis, the first child of John and Priscilla Brooks Lewis. He was born on Tuesday March 21, 1747 at Guilford County, North Carolina. (David is also listed as being born at Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia) He died June 23, 1822, Anderson County, South Carolina. His father John Lewis, born April 11, 1720, Orange Grove, Frederick County, Virginia married his mother Priscilla Brooks who was born January 16, 1725 in Orange- Guilford- Randolph County, North Carolina. The couple established their home also in North Carolina.
David and his 7 brothers and sisters grew up in wilderness of North Carolina during the historical struggles for that time near the township of Franklinville. David was raised on the family farm located near today’s Patterson Grove community just north of Franklinville, NC....
David Lewis and Ann Beeson met and married in Guilford County, North Carolina. Ann's parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth (Hunter Beeson, were staunch Quakers. The record of the Society of Friends (Quakers) of New Garden, Guilford County, show that Ann Beeson "married out of meeting." This meant that she chose a husband who was not a Quaker, which resulted in her dismissal from fellowship.
David Lewis married Ann Beeson at the age of 20 and she 18, on Saturday, January 30, 1768 in the New Garden, Quaker Church, Guilford Co. North Carolina. She was born May 30, 1749 in Hopewell, Fredrick County, Virginia. As a little girl Ann’s parents moved their family to this town site to establish a new Quaker community in about 1754 when she was 5 years old. This Church site is in present day Greensboro. They grew up about 20 miles apart during this time.
Early stories of Randolph County describe the Lewis’s as tall, broad, muscular and powerful. It must have been a great sorrow for Benjamin Beeson when his daughter Ann chose to marry outside her faith, but he may have known the kind of men of valor the Virginia Lewis’s were in their efforts with the Militia against Indians, and as soldiers in the new nations Revolution. (Lewis’s were a rather famous family in Virginia, having military officers and generals, fighting in the Continental Army for General Washington.) Although Benjamin Beeson may not have fired his weapon at men during the Revolution, he is listed in records as helping in the War for Independence and was granted a war pension. Benjamin had a military discharge in 1776 and listed in DAR records has having helped in Revolutionary War. Maybe he was the spy mentioned in family journals. Who would suspect a Quaker?
David and Ann (Beeson) Lewis had at least thirteen children. Their children were born in Guilford County, North Carolina. After their marriage in 1868 she must have helped soften his soul and calm him during this troubling time.
David served from April 12 1781-2 for the year of enlistment. He is not recorded as having enlisted for further campaigns but enlisted as a private in the 10 regiment of the North Carolina Line,(? in Captain Benjamin Bailey’s Company, Col. Abram Shepherds Regiment.)
Ann would have had 6 children by this time, at their first home location, and the oldest being 13 and the youngest being newborn. During the years after his military service, David and Ann had 5 more children, with the last being born in 1789.
Right after 1789 and the American Revolution ended, territory opened up beyond the Appalachian boundaries. Settlers started pouring into the new frontier and the Lewis family was among them.David and Ann Lewis laid out claims and bought considerable land in Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina. They moved their 9 remaining children and property and moved. Here they lived 23 more years. (another note states that “Some time between 1800-1812 they moved from NC to SC”)
Ann’s precise and practical Quaker ways must have rubbed of as the Lewis farms and property were neatly laid out, well organized, and meticulously cared for. The journals of Neriah’s sons tell of these work habits. David’s sons helped their father to clear land, build homes, barns, and buildings so that the family could live well in their new home. They moved about 200 miles southeast.
Ann died December 12, 1812 at the age of 63 at their home in Pendleton District/or now Anderson County, South Carolina and is said to be buried at the Old Stone Church Cemetery but no record of this. David Lewis married Penelope - in 1813 at Anderson County, South Carolina and had two more children by her, before he died on June 23, 1822 at the age of 75.
He was buried on Tuesday, 25 June 1822 at the Old Stone Church, Clemson University, Pickens County, South Carolina. His tombstone is labeled as “David Lewis 10 NC Regiment, Revolutionary War, Mar 21, 1747, Jun 23, 1822.” (This was a Presbyterian Church, built in 1802.) This church is only about 5 miles away from Pendleton City.
David was a farmer and merchant, often making trips to Charleston for goods, one time bringing back a nest of chests for his daughters, one of which is still in existence and in the possession of Mrs. Hale Houts.
David and Ann were the parents of twelve children, all born at the same location in Guilford County, North Carolina. The two oldest are listed born in Rowan County, but remember Guilford County was formed in 1771 out of part of Rowan County and Orange. They were descendants and participants of American colonists who had been a part of the early historical events of America.David was in the 10th Regt. Line, North Carolina, during the Revolutionary War from April 12, 1781- April 12, 1782.
David Lewis also had 1 brother and his father, who served in the American Revolution. According to the family tradition, there were seventeen uncles, cousins, bothers in the Revolutionary War and their stories of their experiences were exciting especially tales of the soldiers who were spies.The family members were large in stature. Neriah Jr. was a grandson to David Sr, who was the smallest of Neriah’s sons, stood six feet one inch tall and weighed one hundred and seventy pounds." They had 12 children.
After Ann Beason Lewis died, David married Penelopy." They had two children.
References
1. David and Ann (Beason) Lewis. Retrieved from OurFamilyHeritage.
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