BIOGRAPHY: the Lewis family; New York State
surname:Lewis, Pettingal, Annesley, Anglesey, Robertson, Sumner, Wilson,
Moncrieff, Ludlow, Livingston, Delafield

submitted by W. David Samuelsen 
***********************************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm

http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm
***********************************************************************    
Famous Families of New York, published 1917. Expired copyright

     There is a certain dualism in the Celtic, and more particularly in the
Cymric and Gaelic, character, which manifests itself at times in the
coexistence of the most contradictory qualities in the same individual. The
Welsh miner is often a bard and the Caledonian peasant the possessor of second
sight. The annals of Wales and of Caledonia abound with examples of this
singular and interesting type. It may have been produced by centuries of
communion with the bleak climate, inhospitable country, and sterile soil. No
matter how produced, it seems to have become an integral part of the organism,
and to be transmissible from father to children and children's children.

     Among the many brilliant New Yorkers of the eighteenth century there is
no better illustration of this class than Francis Lewis [1713], a signer of
the Declaration of Independence. His father was the rector of the parish of
Llandaff in Glamorganshire; his mother, the daughter of the Rev. Dr.
Pettingal, rector of the parish of Caernarvon. Both parents enjoyed a thorough
culture, more than ordinary mental attainments, and high social position. From
them he inherited a love of learning, and especially of poetry and romance.
The death of his mother, when he was but a child, threw him under the
influence of an aunt named Lianwelling, who was a noted scholar in a community
where every one was imbued with literary tastes. She taught Lewis the Cymric
language and the literature and history of its people. The death of his father
transferred his guardianship to his maternal uncle, the Dean of St. Paul's.

     The latter admired the mental abilities of the boy and saw, or thought
that he saw, in him the embryo of a great divine. He sent the youth to
Westminster, where he proved a scholar of aptness and ambition. Here he
received a good English education, a fair knowledge of Greek and Latin, and
some instruction in French. Upon finishing the curriculum of Westminster, he
went to the Scotch Highlands to visit a maternal relation. Here he acquired
the Gaelic speech, a love of hunting and adventure, and a dislike of the
English Government. It is worthy of note that his home in Glamorganshire and
that of his kinsmen in the Highlands were centres of political disaffection.
In after-life, he declared that before he had reached manhood's estate he was,
without knowing it, a rebel against the British Administration. It was
probably the opinions thus formed which prevented his taking orders, as had
been intended by his relatives, and induced him to engage in a commercial
life.

     On coming of age, he converted his patrimony into money, and this into a
cargo of merchandise, with which he set sail from London (circa 1734) for New
York. He had overestimated the commercial importance of the latter city, and
found to his surprise, when he arrived, that he could not dispose of more than
one half of his cargo at a fair profit. Undiscouraged, he sold the moiety, and
sailed with the remainder to Philadelphia, where he disposed of it upon better
terms than he had obtained for the first half. The entire transaction must
have been very profitable, as immediately thereafter he took a partner, Edward
Annesley, and established a business house in both New York and Philadelphia.

     This double arrangement surprised the staid merchants of the time, who
saw in it an unwarrantable extravagance, but its success soon proved the
wisdom of the young man. For a return cargo he bought wheat. Philadelphia
could supply but one half the quantity at reasonable rates. This he purchased,
and then sailed his ship to New York, where he secured the other half. The
firm prospered, and both members became very wealthy. He retired from business
prior to the Revolution with a handsome fortune.

     During his mercantile career he displayed every now and then those
curious romantic traits to which reference has already been made. He noticed
on one of his voyages a marked resemblance between a cabin-boy and his wife,
who was Elizabeth Annesley - a sister of his partner and a relative of the
Earl of Anglesey. Upon questioning the youth, Lewis ascertained that the boy
had been stolen from his parents, and further investigation showed that the
little waif was the undoubted heir of the house of Anglesey. Lewis took up the
fight, which he prosecuted with great vigor, and succeeded in giving the boy
his title and estates. It was a poor investment for the philanthropist. The
Earl proved ungrateful, and turned out to be a disgrace to the family name.

     Even more romantic was "the adventure of the African princes." The
captain of one of his trading-ships, while sailing on an African river,
rescued the children of an inland chief or king, and brought them back with
him to New York, where Lewis received them into his own home. He took up their
education, and soon had them speaking the English language. After he had won
their confidence, they told him all about their home and their royal blood,
and promised him that if he would fit out a ship and send them back to their
own country, they would fill his vessel with a freight which would more than
return him all his expenses. The vessel was equipped, to the great amusement
of cynical friends, who took endless delight in predicting how the "niggers"
would give Lewis the slip and laugh at him from the shadow of the palm-trees
the moment they had got beyond his control. They were sent back, and kept
their word. They loaded the little ship with gold-dust, ivory, palm oil, and
other African products, and did it with so generous a hand that the voyage
proved the most profitable ever undertaken by the firm.

     When the French war broke out in 1752, he had his first martial
experience, being in Oswego when General Montcalm attacked and captured that
place. In this struggle, which was brought to a successful issue largely
through the valor and patriotism of the colonists, Lewis realized for the
first time the formidable power which had been developed in the New World. He
saw that without the aid of its subjects in the colonies Great Britain would
have lost its possessions beyond the sea. When, therefore, the Government of
George III, failed to display any gratitude, and, on the contrary, increased
its exactions and the burdens upon the American people, he was one of the
first men of the Empire State to take up the opposition. In 1765, he was
selected as a committeeman for New York by the five delegates to the Colonial
Congress. Shortly after, he became a member and organizer of the "Sons of
Liberty"; was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1779, and a
signer of the Declaration of Independence and of the Articles of
Confederation.

     His wife was as imposing a figure in Revolutionary days as he himself.
She was endowed with unusual attainments, and conducted in person the
education of her children. At her home, whether in New York or at Whitestone,
Long Island, she dispensed hospitality with a graceful hand, and was a
favorite with the leaders of the early Republic. She was fiercely patriotic,
and willingly faced death for the sake of her convictions. Shortly after the
British occupation of New York, a detachment of redcoats was sent to destroy
the Lewis home and to capture the mistress. She witnessed the destruction of
her house with unruffled tranquillity. Taken to New York by her captors, she
was thrown into the common prison and denied a bed or any extra clothing. Here
she was treated as the vilest criminal for many months. The matter was
reported to Washington, who immediately put under arrest the wife of the
British Paymaster-General and the wife of the Attorney-General, until they
should be exchanged for Mrs. Francis Lewis.

     The prompt action of the American commander had the desired effect: the
lady was released from prison and put upon the jail liberties of the city. Her
sufferings and privation were too much even for her vigorous constitution, and
she contracted a fever which developed into lingering consumption. She lived
to see her children married, but not her country liberated from British rule.
Her husband reached the ripe age of ninety, passing away in 1803.

     Of the children, Ann married Post-Captain Robertson of the British Navy.
The union proved happy and fruitful. The children seem to have inherited the
Lewis characteristics, for all came to fill high positions in British society.
One of Ann's daughters married Dr. Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury; another,
Bishop Wilson of Calcutta; and a third, Sir James Moncrieff, whose son was
Baron Moncrieff.

     The two sons were exceedingly dissimilar. Francis, Jr., the elder, seems
to have inherited the commercial talents of the maternal or Annesley side, and
few or none of the paternal. He received a fair education, and in 1771
began a business career. His father, to aid the young man, became a partner in
the house for a brief time, and accompanied his son to England to help
establish mercantile relations with that country. He resigned from the firm
the moment it began to prosper. The son devoted himself exclusively to
business affairs, and took no part in public life. He married Miss Elizabeth
Ludlow of the famous colonial family of that name. This marriage was bitterly
opposed by the bride's brothers, who were strong Tories, and objected
strenuously to their sister "marrying a man whose father would certainly be
hanged as a traitor." True love triumphed, and the bride had the satisfaction
years afterwards of seeing her father-in-law protect her kindred, when they
returned from England in 1784 to take possession of their New York property.

     The younger son, Morgan [1754], was a duplicate of his illustrious
father. He was graduated from Princeton with high honors in 1773, his college
chum being James Madison. Ancestral influences had given him a strong
inclination for the pulpit, but his father, perceiving the trend of the boy's
abilities, induced him to prepare for the bar. He began his legal studies, but
was soon diverted from his work by the political excitement of the time. In
1774, he foresaw hostilities, and began to learn the military tactics of the
time. In 1775, he joined a volunteer company, and with it went to increase the
colonial forces at Boston. The same year, when just twenty-one, he was made
major. In June, he became chief of staff to General Gates, with the brevet of
colonel. In the winter, he was made quartermaster-general. He remained in
active service during the entire war, proving one of the best soldiers in the
Continental Army. He won the confidence and affection of nearly all the
generals, and more especially of Washington. At the close of the conflict he
retired from the army and resumed the legal studies which had been broken off
eight years before, but he had won too large a place in the public heart to
escape distinction. He was made colonel of a regiment of militia in New York
City, and marched at its head at the first inaugural of George Washington.

     He pursued his studies with remarkable zeal, frequently spending fifteen
and sixteen hours a day upon his law-books. He was admitted to the bar, and
within one year had become a popular pleader. His progress in public life from
this point on was rapid and notable. He was sent to the Assembly from New York
City in 1789, and sat alongside of Rufus King. Shortly afterwards, he removed
to Dutchess County, where the people honored him with the same office in 1792.
His next position was a judgeship of the Common Pleas, and then he became
Attorney-General of the State. In 1792, he was made a Justice, and in 1793,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1804, he was elected
Governor. His administration was marked by wisdom and statesmanship. Its main
feature was suggested in his message to the Legislature, which contained the
following:

     "In a government resting on public opinion, and deriving its chief
support from the affections of the people, religion and morality cannot be too
sedulously cultivated. To them science is a handmaid; ignorance, the worst of
enemies. Literary information should be placed within the reach of every
description of citizens, and poverty should not be permitted to obstruct the
path to the fane of knowledge. Common schools, under the guidance of
respectable teachers, should be established in every village, and the indigent
educated at the public expense. The higher seminaries, also, should receive
every support and patronage within the means of enlightened Legislatures."

     He was a member of the State Senate in 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814. His
official duties did not prevent his returning to military service upon the
breaking out of the War of 1812. He was appointed quartermaster-general, with
the rank of brigadier, served in Canada, took Fort George, and the next year
was promoted to be a major-general. In 1814, he was placed in command of New
York City, which was threatened with an attack by the British war-ships. Upon
the close of the war, he retired from political and martial life, and devoted
himself to literature and agriculture. Long after he was sixty, he took up the
study of Hebrew, and mastered that language in order to read the Old Testament
in the original. In 1835, he was made President of the New York Historical
Society. He was prominent in the Order of the Cincinnati, in 1829 being
Vice-President-General and in 1839 President-General, which he remained until
his death, in 1844. He was a distinguished Mason, and held every office up to
that of Grand Master of the State.

     General Lewis had an able helpmeet in his wife, Gertrude Livingston,
daughter of Judge Robert Livingston, of Clermont. She was a woman of rare tact
and social charm, who held a commanding position in New York society. They had
one child, a daughter, Margaret [1780], who married Maturin Livingston, and
their daughter, Julia Livingston, in the next generation married Joseph
Delafield.

     Both Francis the signer and Morgan were marked by an energy which was
stupendous. They worked because they loved work, and their enjoyment was
always in proportion to its difficulty. The same quality has marked their
descendants in this country and their kindred in Scotland and England. The
family records abound with little incidents which throw delightful side-lights
upon their character. What could be pleasanter than the story of General Lewis
and the dog? When he returned from the lines during the War of 1812, he
brought with him, as an honored guest, the dog of General Brock. The latter,
when dying, had requested that his faithful and aged servant and his dog
should be sent home to his family in England. The servant had sailed, but the
poor brute had been neglected. The General took charge of the dog, carried him
to his house, and there kept him until he was in good condition and ready for
the voyage to England. Then he made many inquiries in regard to the
accommodations for canines on outgoing vessels, waiting until he could secure
a ship on which his charge would be comfortable. This was at last secured; the
dog had a pleasant trip to England, where it was received as if a member of
the family by the relatives of the dead soldier.

     In the midst of war's alarms, the General could find time to think of
the lighter sides of daily life. Here is an illustrative letter to his wife:

     "ALBANY, 11th October, 1812.

     "My DEAR LOVE: I gave your invitation to the General and suite, which
they accept, provided nothing unforeseen prevents, so that you can look out
for us on Saturday, the 17th, the day of Burgoyne's surrender and the
succeeding one to my birthday. Have a light on the wharf. I hope we shall be
in time for a dance. Enclosed is a note of thanks from the General for his
present. The cover I tore off to render it more susceptible of enclosure. I
sent some sermons by Mr. Schell and the other articles by the Paragon.
     "God bless you all, prays your affectionate husband,
     "MORGAN LEWIS."