COBB COUNTY, GA - BIOS - John Henry Lewis, 1856-1940 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Betty Cash" Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/cobb.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm John Henry Lewis, 1856-1940 Cobb County, Georgia Dec 1856 in the Red Rocks district of Cobb County, Georgia, John Lewis (born 9 Apr 1790 Rockingham County, N.C) and Rebecca Beard Draper (born 26 May 1824 Walton County, GA) became the parents of John Henry Lewis, their first born. Their other children were: M. Parker Lewis, born about 1859; Emma Luster Lewis, born 2 Nov 1860; Jet Thomas Lewis, born about 1863; and Lucia Matilda Lewis, born May 1866. Time has clouded the ancestry of John and Rebecca before 1860. The only evidence available to me are the many faded census pages from the prior years. According to data base 135961 posted at Ancestry.com by John Thomas, the parents of John the father were Peter Tilman Lewis and Annie Stratin. Peter was born in England, came to the newly formed United States where he met and married Annie believed to have been born in North Carolina. What events passed in the life of John between his birth in 1790 and 1860 can only be speculated based on what is written on the 1860 Cobb County census, Lost Mountain District, image 107. Living in his household that year were: wife Rebecca, age 36; C. E. Lewis male age 47, born Georgia, listed as idiotic under column 14; John Henry age 3; M. Parker age 1; and Washington Beard male 14. It is highly probable that John had been married before and C. E. was a child of that marriage. Washington was most likely a brother or nephew of Rebecca. The first positive fact is that on 20 Mar 1856 John Lewis wed Rebecca Beard Draper in Walton County, Ga. Rebecca's ancestry was equally clouded. A census search of Walton County, Georgia, for 1830 turned up two possible fathers for her, Archibald Beard on image 41 and James Beard on image 51. Nothing has been found to identify the Draper man she married before John Lewis. Pure chance led me to make *the* connection which has now added three generations to Rebecca's ancestry. That connection is a living descendant of her sister Lucinda. Their father was James Beard (or Baird) born 1792 in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Their mother was Lucy Parr, born before 1815, daughter of Bridges Parr (born 1768 North Carolina, died about 1839 Butts County, Ga) and Penelope Howze ( born about 1775 Lancaster County, South Carolina to James Howze and Mildred Morris.) Lucy's siblings were Littleton, Jenny, Bridges (Jr), Penelope and Louisa. Bridges (Sr) Parr's parents were Thomas and Mary Parr. His siblings were Claiborn, John, Thomas, Allen and another unidentified sister. Thus we come to the birth of my great grandfather John Henry Lewis. By the time of the 1870 census, (Cobb County, Acworth, image 29) C E Lewis and Washington Beard are no longer in the household, but his younger siblings have arrived. John the father is now 81 and their mother 45. The 1880 census (Cobb County, District 28 Red Rocks, image 19) was taken 8 June 1880. The make-up of the Lewis household at number 167 is the same. John Henry, age 23, is widowed. He had married Sarah C 'Sallie' Day on 25 Apr 1878. His sister Matilda, age 14, is listed as attending school but cannot read or write. Their father is now 90 and listed as helpless. He died 28 July 1880. Sallie Day was the daughter of Benson or Benjamin and Hester Day. She was born 31 Mar 1856 and died 24 Apr 1879 two days after giving birth to an unnamed child that lived to 7 May 1879. The Day family can be found on census image 20 of the 1870 Cobb census, living next door to the Hadaway family. The Day family are still living close by the Lewis and Hadaway families on the 1880 census. Same 1880 census image 19 as widowed John Henry, household number 164, Richard Philip and Susan Matilda Haynes Hadaway are the parents of Martha, age 14. She became the second wife of John Henry Lewis on 24 Dec 1882. (Richard was the son of William Hadaway found on the previous census image 18, also close by the Day family.) John Henry Lewis and Martha A. Hadaway became the parents of: Lillous A Lewis, born 10 Nov 1883; Ida R Lewis, born Mar 1886; Eli Virgil Lewis, born 26 Dec 1888; and Mary Vinnie Lee Lewis, born May 1889. According to a 1952 affadavit by her sister (Missouri Abigail Hadaway Moon Stein) Martha Hadaway Lewis died 1898. Eli Virgil's daughter Totsie recounted her first hand knowledge of the family very late in her life. She said Ida married a Kelly and they had 14 children but could recall the name of only one, Gladys. As it now turned out Kelley was a given name. His full name was Oscar Kelley 'Paw' Wallace. They wed 27 Jun 1904. (He was born 20 May 1879, son of Tolliver Watson Wallace and Eliza Jane Rainey.) They had a popular candy store in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia. Vinnie married John Barrett and they were the parents of Edna born 1914 and Glen born 1917. (John Barrett was the son of Thomas B Barrett born about 1854 and Georgia A Barrett born about 1866.) Lillous married William E. Wright on 18 Aug 1901. 1900 census finds widowed John Henry Lewis and his children in Cobb County, District 42 Red Rocks, image 2. By 1910 (Acworth, image 10) John Henry has moved to Acworth, given up farming and become a rural mail carrier. He married Georgia E.Clayton 14 Jun 1903. Georgia was the daughter of Charles P and Mariah Clayton (1900 census of Cobb County, all townships ED 31, image 13, where Charles listed born Dec 1834 and Mariah born Sep 1844) She was a school teacher before marrying John Henry. They were the parents of: Winston D; Walter E; Thelma; Ruth; and twins Hattie and Mattie. The following information is according to tombstones at Liberty Hill Cemetary near Acworth. Ruth was born 7 Aug 1907 and died 31 Aug, lived 3 weeks. The twins were born 22 Nov 1914. Hattie lived to 26 Dec 1914 and Mattie lived to 14 June 1915. Georgia, born Sep 1872, died 31 Oct 1915. Winston D. Lewis was born 1905. He married Nora Free on 2 May 1925. Walter E. Lewis was born about 1911. He married Mattie Bearden on 24 Aug 1929. Thelma was born 1913. She married Clarence E. Goss on 27 Jun 1934. These are the only children of Georgia to live to adulthood. Somehow John Henry and family were missed on the 1920 census. I have found no trace of them in any state except for 7 year old Thelma living with her married sister Vinnie Lewis Barrett (Red Rocks, image 3.) It is unknown when or where John Henry met and married his fourth wife Annie Lou Phillips. In 1910 she was boarding in the home of Elvia Harris in Rome, Ga and working as a seamstress in a pants factory. Her tombstone at Liberty Hill Cemetary says born 2 Dec 1885, died 12 Jun 1928, wife of John Henry Lewis. According to family, Annie Lou had no children with John Henry. Her death certificate says she died at Nolan's Sanitarium in Marietta, Ga. 3 days after surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. The last census available is 1930. John Henry Lewis has just married Pearl Winstead, age 34. It is her first marriage and they never had children. A search of State of Georgia death records listed John Henry Lewis, Cobb County, 8 Aug 1940, age 84, certificate 19521. That death certificate was signed by his son Walter E. Lewis who was living in Macon, Ga at the time. These are the hard facts from existing records. But there is family lore passed down by descendants during their lifetime. About 1911 Eli Virgil Lewis married a widow with one child, Martha Demarius 'Mattie' Ellington McDonald of Covington, Georgia. She was born 1 Jun 1879. (Her parents were George Thomas Ellington born Oct 1857 and Martha Missouri Peek born Apr 1857.) Mattie's first child was Mary Francis McDonald who later wed Ed Childers and they had one son Ed Lewis Childers who is still living. Eli and Mattie moved to Jasper, Walker County, Alabama, where their only children Totsie Lorene Lewis and Charles Rainey Lewis were born 1914 and 1915. Charles is still living. Totsie married 1932 in Birmingham, Al to Benjamin Hooks Bishop, born Jul 1912 (His parents, per his birth certificate, Benjamin Franklin Bishop and Ella Thomas WIlliams.) Ben and Totsie had 2 daughters, Martha Mynon (born Sep 1933, died May 2002) and myself, born Bennie Lorene Bishop. Just to keep the reco! rd straight, Totsie is the given name of record on her birth certificate and not a nickname. Circumstances were such that Martha and I were given up for adoption when I was 2. Some 25 years later I found my birth mother and we shared MANY happy hours of her telling me about my family and looking at the pictures she saved for me. She said she always knew I would come looking for her and she wanted me to have her keepsakes - birth records, marriage certificates, family lore, names and their connections, photos. Ben and Tot divorced about 1942 or 43. Ben remarried to Crenina Lindsay and had 5 more children; Ben Jr, Annette (Bowman), Lindsey, Tammy and Jeannie (Glanton.) Tot remarried about 1945 to Peter Danciu Jr, son of Romanian immigrants Peter and Joanna Danciu, all lived in Hammond, Indiana. Tot and Peter had one daughter, Helen D. Today I know that John Henry Lewis drove a horse and buggy or wagon, and delivered mail on a rural free delivery route out of Acworth, Georgia. He had near strikes by lightening at least 3 times in all the years he had that mail route. He met his last wife on his mail route when she was 16, barefoot, and could not read or write. They married 18 years later. Mama described her as having a heart of gold, and being a fantastic cook. John Henry's brother Jet Thomas never married. He was age 66, still living in the Red Rocks area, probably at the old home place, in 1930. Emma Luster married William Henry Moses Johnson and they had 11 children. She died Feb 1945. Their daughter Lena Ophelia married Daniel Monroe Thomas and they had 5 children. These are the ancesters of John Thomas who posted the tree on which I found much info about our mutual ancesters. Lucia Matilda married a Storey and was widowed by 1900, living with her mother Rebecca and brother Jet Thomas. She had children Maud born Jan 1888 and Jesse E born Apr 1891. I finally found M. Parker Lewis on one census (1930 Cobb County, Big Shanty district, image 9) with wife Annie F, both age 71. His full name was Marion Parker Lewis. The story of his life and many descendants was found in a tree posted by John C Pickens. Parker first married Mary Prudence Story about 1886. They had one child Thomas Oscar Lewis born 19 Sep 1887. Parker later married Frances Ann Robertson. From the Pickens Tree I know that Parker had at least 8 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren. John Henry's immediate family held a reunion mid to late 1930's at his home on Main Street, Acworth. Photos of the family at that reunion are now in my hands and posted here. Some additional hard facts: Ida and Kelley Wallace had 11 children: Pearl Lee; Oscar Lewis (died 22 Nov 2003); Clyde Eugene; Julius Halley; Marion Edward; Gladys; Ida Sue; Lily Florence; Oliver Kelly; Richard Hiram; and Bonnie Mae. Ida Lewis Wallace died July 1966 Oscar Kelley Wallace died Jan 1957 Burials at Crest Hill Cemetary, Marrietta Lillous and William Wright had eight children: John; Mattie; Theodore; Mary; Lee; Eva; Florence; and Emma. Lillous Lewis Wright died 30 Oct 1947 William E. Wright, born 1 Feb 1869, died 15 Jul 1927 Burials at County Line Methodist Church Cemetary Eli Virgil Lewis died 20 Oct 1962 at Birmingham, Al Mattie Ellington Lewis died 2 Aug 1952 at Memphis, TN Both buried Elmwood Cemetary, Birmingham, Alabama Totsie Lorene Lewis Bishop Danciu died 29 Jan 1988 Peter Danciu died during Desert Storm bombing Jan 1991 They are buried in the veterans section of Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens at Schereville, Indiana Martha Mynon Bishop (Burns) Hope Huffstutler Cruise died 26 May 2002 at Ft Worth, Tx. She had 4 children, grandchildren and g-grandchildren. Without the help of Linda M. in Cobb County I could never have known most of this information about my family.