the lewis legacy - lewis family...

Table of Contents

President General’s Message............................ Crib .................................................................. Page 3

Lewis Family Descendants Officers ................. Page 2 Photos / Lewis Family Heritage Weekend ......... Page 4

“Lewis Legacy” Spotlight ................................ Page 2 Ancestors of Our Members................................ Page 5

Notes on Reading Old Manuscripts ................. Page 2 Stuart Painting of George Washington ............... Page 6

Books You May Enjoy..................................... Page 2 The Octagon ..................................................... Page 6

Did you know .................................................. Page 3 George Washington’s Troublesome Teeth ......... Page 7

Profile Portrait of Eleanor Parke Custis ............ Page 3 Marmion Estate ................................................. Page 8

Dear Lewis Family,

I am Larry Holmes, President

General of the Lewis Family

Descendants. I was elected

President General at the

meeting of the Lewis Family

at Kenmore, home of Betty

Washington and Fielding

Lewis, Sr., in Fredericksburg,

Virginia, this past June.

The 2014 Heritage Weekend was a very exciting

time, as we met in Betty and Fielding’s mansion

for two dinners: one in the museum’s conference

room, and the other dinner in a wedding tent

within the north garden. After dinner, Saturday

night in the rose garden, we walked to the west

lawn of the mansion where we enjoyed a

Shakespearean play Macbeth by residents of

Fredericksburg. The audience of several hundred

sat in lawn chairs for the performance.

We visited the grave of Betty Washington at

Western View and the newly restored plantation

of James Madison. This year, we traveled in a

large, comfortable bus, and really enjoyed the

time together as we went from location to location

between Culpeper and Fredericksburg. We met

with Bill Garner, President of the George

Washington Foundation that owns both Kenmore

and the boyhood home site of George and Betty

Washington. Mr. Garner and his archaeologist

showed us the excavated location of the home

where Betty and George were raised by Mary

Ball, after the death of Augustine Washington.

After visiting the Washington home known as

Ferry Farm, we traveled to Pope Creek, the birth

place of Betty and George. The views of the river

at that point were magnificent, just as similar

views are appreciated at Mt. Vernon. We

thoroughly enjoyed each other and the Lewis and

Washington family locations.

We hope to see you at this summer’s Heritage

Weekend.

Best regards,

Larry Holmes

President General

VOL. 6, NO. 1 WINTER 2015

The Lewis Legacy

Lewis Coat of Arms: Kenmore

Descendants of Betty Washington and Fielding Lewis

Publisher: Michael Frost, PhD Editor: Sandra Duffy

SAVE THE DATE

Next LFD Heritage Weekend

June 11-14, 2015

Thursday through Sunday

Location to be announced soon.

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http://lewis-family-descendants.com

Lewis Family Descendants Officers 2014 – 2016

President General Lawrence Tayloe Holmes

1st Vice President General John Fielding Lewis, Jr.

2nd

Vice President General Stephen Patrick Holmes

3rd

Vice President General Sandra Duffy

Past President General Michael David Frost, Ph.D.

Secretary John Fielding Lewis, Jr.

Treasurer Stephen Patrick Holmes

Registrar Michael David Frost, Ph.D.

Chaplain Samuel “Sandy” Frierson

McDonough, Jr.

Historian Linda Reilly

Editor: The Lewis Legacy Sandra Duffy

Web Master John Fielding Lewis, Jr.

Fielding Lewis Marshall, Jr. She was born in

Montgomery, Alabama.

The Lewis Legacy Spotlight

The Lewis Legacy Spotlight, for this

issue, shines on Elizabeth “Betty”

Whitlock.

Betty descends from Warner Lewis,

brother of Fielding Lewis. She traces

her Lewis lineage through her father,

Fielding Lewis Marshall Jr. She was

born in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1959, Betty married Bennett Clarke Whitlock, Jr. in

Mobile, Alabama. They have two children and five

grandchildren.

Betty became a member of the Lewis Family

Descendants on March 16, 2010, and she attended the

2010 and 2012 Lewis Family Descendants reunions in

Virginia.

Not only is Betty a member of the Lewis Family

Descendants, she is also active with the DAR and the

Washington Northern Virginia Chapter of Jamestowne

Society.

Notes on Reading Old Manuscripts

Whether you’re reading the Declaration of

Independence or family documents, you might consider the following.

In part due to the English language’s rich and complex

history, the spelling of English words took a long time

to become standardized.

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, a major aid to the standardization of modern English, was first printed in

1755. Many of our family’s events occurred long before

that date.

Sometimes not only the spellings of words but the

forms of the letters themselves present challenges. Take, for example, the “long s.” In the Declaration of

Independence, you will see the word “necessary”

spelled in letters that look like “necefsary.” That is because the first “s” is written as a “long s.” This was a

holdover from an earlier style of writing used with

Latin and various other European languages. It

generally tended to be used in the middle of a word, so it is less common to find one at the end or the beginning

of a word. It gradually faded from use as printing

became more common, and was hardly used at all by the second half of the nineteenth century.

Books you may enjoy… Citizen Washington by William Martin

This is a colorful, highly readable, factually-based

fictional account of George Washington’s story. It is

told as a memoir from several points of view.

House Divided by Ben Ames Williams

This book is an excellent fictional account of the lives of the members of a Northern Virginia family

during the Civil War. It presents details of the everyday

life of the period which had not changed very much

from the days of the founding settlements. You will recognize the area as familiar Lewis family territory.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin This biographical account of Lincoln and his rival

candidates for the Republican nomination of 1860

presents the intricacies of the political situation leading up to the Civil War. Its descriptions of the war and the

atmosphere in Washington, D.C., provide a parallel

account of events shown in House Divided.

(Cont’d page 3)

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Books you may enjoy… (Cont’d from page 2)

The Civil War: A visual History by Dorling Kindersley This book has great timelines and summaries of

action. It also works well with the two prior selections

for our understanding of the actions in Northern

Virginia.

A Prince in Their Midst by A. J. Hanna

Achille Murat was the son of Joachim Murat and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of Napoleon. His

father was one of Napoleon’s greatest generals and was

given many rewards for his service, including the throne of the Kingdom of Naples. However, all that came to an

end when Napoleon was exiled for the second time.

Achille decided, at age 21, to immigrate to America.

Eventually, he crossed paths with and married Catherine Daingerfield Lewis Gray, a young widow. Catherine was

a granddaughter of George W. Lewis, a son of Fielding

Lewis, Sr.

a granddaughter of George W. Lewis, a son of Fielding Lewis, Sr.

Profile Portrait of

Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis

(Drawn by James Sharples, ca.1796; Pastel on paper)

Crib

(Made in America, ca. 1799; Mahogany and Oak)

On George Washington’s last birthday, February 22,

1799, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis married Washington’s nephew, Lawrence Lewis. For a time, the

couple lived at Mount Vernon, and according to family

history, Martha Washington presented them with this crib

when their first child, Frances Parke Lewis, was born the following November. With classical columns, the crib

was fashionable as well as functional: a hinged side

permits the crib to be placed adjacent to a bedstead, allowing for easy tending of the infant at night.

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/research-

collections/collections-holdings/nelly-custis-artifacts-in-the-mount

vernon-collection/

English artist James Sharple’s portrait of Nelly

captures her beauty and vivacious spirit at age 17.

Family tradition attributes her “wind-blow”

appearance to the fact that she ran in from the

garden to sit for the artist. One year later, the

Washingtons would relocate, permanently, to

Mount Vernon after George Washington’s second

term as president concluded. Of their return, Nelly

wrote, “When I look at this noble river, & all the

beautifull prospects around – I pity all those who

are in Cities, for surely a country life, is the most

rational & happy of any – & all of the refinements

of art and luxury are nothing in comparison to the

Beauties of Nature.”

Did you know… Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis

would come to be regarded as “the most brilliant and

beautiful young woman of her day, the pride of her

grandmother and the favorite of Washington?”

Profile Portrait of

Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis Drawn by James Sharples, ca. 1796

Pastel on paper

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/eleanor-nelly-parke-custis/

http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/collections-holdings/nelly-custis-artifacts-in-the-mount%20vernon-collection/



http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/eleanor-nelly-parke-custis/

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Photos from the

Lewis Family Heritage Weekend

June 12-15, 2014

O

Posing in front of some Washington tombs are (left to right) Janet Holmes,

Valerie Reilly, Lawrence Holmes, Sandy McDonough, Stephen Holmes

and Linda Reilly.

Some Family Members in front of

St. George’s Episcopal Church

5 | P a g e


6 Members descend from

Elizabeth Lewis Carter

Bostic, Eileen Davis

Goodman, Staci Jenkins Jenkins, Ambrose Driskill III

Jenkins, Jerrald Norman

Jenkins, Richard Jeffrey Jenkins, Stephen Driskill


Fielding Lewis Jr.

Duffy, Sandra Robinson

Frost, Michael David

Pesek, Monica Ann

Simmons, Mark Anthony


George Lewis

Barborek, Loretta A.

Browning, George III

Browning, George IV

Browning, Morgan M.

Browning, Susan

Halter, Mary Browning

Holmes, Janet Lee

Holmes, Karen Ann

Holmes, Lawrence Tayloe

Holmes, Stephen Patrick

Johnson, Alexandria Browning

Kurkjian, Nancy Lewis

McDonough, Samuel Frierson Jr.

Reilly, Bridget Elizabeth

Reilly, Linda Holmes

Reilly, Valerie Anne

Schercinger, John Marshall


Howell Lewis

Anderson, Dr. Lane Schofield III

Anderson, LeRoy Burckhardt

Bird, James Russell

De Natale, Jeanne Jasper

Lewis, John Fielding Jr.

Lewis, Lawrence Bernard

Mathis, Margaret Anderson (Peggy)

Miller, Caroline Stewart

Murray, Elizabeth Lyon

Slater, Edna V.

Tate, Elvira McMillan

Wooldridge, Marilyn Lewis


John Lewis

Gunter, Pattie

Lane, Claudia Stewart

Tyler, John Paul


Lawrence Lewis

Chapin, Charles Merrill III

Petrov, Barbara Ann

1 Member descends from

Nicholas Lewis

Weaver, Richard

1 Member descends from

Warner Lewis

Whitlock, Elizabeth Marshall

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Stuart Painting of George Washington

The portrait below depicts Dolley Madison saving the Stuart painting of George Washington just before the British torched the “president’s house.”

As British troops approached Washington, August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, its citizens fled.

Among the last to remain was First Lady Dolley Madison, who stayed to the very end as a demonstration of American

determination until she received President Madison’s hurried message from the Battle of Bladensburg to “clear out!”

Dolley issued her last order before fleeing: “Save the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington.”

Her inspirational courage secured this national treasure, which hangs today in the East Room and is considered the most valuable historical object in the White House.

The Octagon

One of the earliest and finest residences which is a museum today, in Washington, D.C., was constructed 1798-1800.

The building was designed by Dr. William Thornton for John Tayloe III and his wife, Anne Ogle Tayloe, at the

urging of his friend George Washington. The house served as an important social center in Washington’s early years, and when the British burned the White House in 1814, President Madison and his family lived in the Octagon for six

months as the city rebuilt. It was here that the Treaty of Ghent was signed by President Madison in February 1815,

formally ending the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States.

The Tayloe family lived in the house until Anne’s death in 1855. After Anne’s death, her sons rented the house, first

The Octagon Museum

The Octagon

Painting by artist Peter Wadell

the building housed numerous poor families as a

tenement.

Around that same time, the American Institute of

Architects, headquartered in New York City, began looking for a new national headquarters location in

Washington, D.C. In 1898, the AIA rented the Octagon,

and the organization purchased the building in 1902.

The Octagon returned to its Tayloe-era appearance in the 1960s and the 1990s, when major restoration efforts were

undertaken.

to a Catholic girls school, and later to the federal government for office space. By the 1880s,

7 | P a g e


George Washington and His Troublesome Teeth

Washington was afflicted with dental troubles all his adult life. Despite his legendary physical strength and

iron constitution, George Washington’s failing teeth

were a source of constant suffering. At age 24, Washington recorded in his diary that he paid 5 shillings

to a “Doctr Watson” who removed one of his teeth.

Letters and diary entries later in his life make regular

reference to aching teeth, lost teeth, inflamed gums, ill-fitting dentures, and a host of other dental miseries.

Payments to dentists and purchases of toothbrushes,

teeth scrapers, denture files, toothache medication, and cleaning solutions are also regularly

present in Washington’s communications

throughout his life.

One of the most enduring myths about

George Washington is that his dentures

were made of wood. Contrary to popular mythology, they were not made of wood.

It’s quite possible that some of his

dentures, particularly after they had been stained, took on a wooden complexion, but wood was never used in

the construction of any of his dental fittings.

Throughout his life Washington employed numerous full

and partial dentures which were constructed of materials

including bone, hippopotamus ivory, human teeth, brass

screws, lead, and gold metal wire.

Aware of his failing dental health, George Washington

retained several of his pulled teeth for use in his dentures within a locked desk drawer at Mount Vernon. In a

Christmas Day 1782 letter, Washington wrote to Lund

Washington, his distant cousin and the temporary

manager of Mount Vernon, requesting that the teeth be wrapped up and sent to him in Newburgh, New York.

Washington hoped that these original teeth could be used

within new dentures that were being fitted for his use.

"In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which

stands in my study you will find two small (fore) teeth; which I beg of you to wrap up carefully,

and send inclosed [sic] in your next letter to me.

I am positive I left them there, or in the secret

drawer in the locker of the same desk."

Deep within one of Washington’s account books is an

entry which details Washington’s purchase of nine teeth from “Negroes” for 122 shillings. It’s not clear if

Washington intended to use these teeth as implants or

within a new set of dentures or if he employed the teeth at all. While this transaction might seem morbid to a

modern audience, purchasing human teeth was a fairly

common practice in the 18th century for affluent individuals.

Despite all his attempts to save his remaining teeth,

Washington was down to just one tooth at the time of his inauguration as the first President of the United States.

This final survivor was finally pulled by Dr. John

Greenwood in 1796 and Washington allowed his dentist to retain this famous tooth as a memento.

Dr. Greenwood eventually had the tooth

inserted into a small glass display that he hung from his watch chain.

Washington’s dental troubles impacted

the shape of his face. As Washington’s dental troubles became ever more severe,

many artists and close observers began to

notice significant changes in the shape of Washington’s face. Paintings of Washington from later in his life all

seem to show changes in the shape of his jaw and mouth.

Washington was very

self-aware of the impact

that ill-fitting dentures had on his appearance.

In a 1797 letter to Dr.

John Greenwood,

Washington complained how his ill-fitting

dentures were “already

too wide, and too projecting for the parts

they rest upon; which

causes both upper, and under lip to bulge out, as

if swelled.” In a separate

letter the following year,

Washington noted that another set of dentures

had “the effect of forcing the lip out just under the nose.”

Washington’s dental troubles made him less willing and

able to speak. Always sensitive about his appearance and

comportment, Washington was no doubt self-conscious about his dentures and the troublesome contraptions also

made speaking more of a challenge.

These dentures are in the collection at Mount Vernon – the only remain-

ing full-set in existence.

George Gilbert Stuart's circa 1798 portrait of George Washington. Take note of how Washington's

jaw and mouth are more distended in this portrait. (Mount Vernon Ladies' Association)

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/the-trouble-with-teeth/

http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/the-trouble-with-teeth/

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Paneling from Marmion, the Fitzhugh House, ca.

1758; painting ca. 1770–80

placed. Just outside the main house was a smokehouse, a dairy, a kitchen and office.

With a corner fireplace and two corner cupboards, this fully paneled room has seven

sides.

Marmion Estate

Pictured on the left the sign reads: "Two miles north is Marmion, probably built

by John Fitzhugh early in the eighteenth century and later named for Scott's poem.

About 1785 it passed from Philip Fitzhugh to George Washington Lewis,

Washington's favorite nephew, who died there. Marmion has come down in the

Lewis family in direct line from him. The richly decorated interior is one of the

best in Virginia."

Colonel William Fitzhugh of Bedford immigrated to Virginia in 1670, and built a

house soon after his arrival to King George County. In 1674, he titled the land of

his new home as the “Marmion” estate. This house is believed to be incorporated

into the existing mansion. His youngest son, William ‘Marmion’ Fitzhugh,

inherited the estate. His son, Colonel William Fitzhugh was born in the ‘Marmion’ house. William was close

friends with George Washington.

An architectural survey indicates the home was built in several stages. Much of the ‘Marmion’ plantation house,

as it appears today, was built after 1790 according to construction practices of the 18th century.

In 1797 Marmion was purchased by Major George Lewis

(1757-1821), the favorite nephew of George Washington, son

of Fielding and Betty Lewis of Fredericksburg. George Lewis

served as Washington’s Aide-de-Camp during the

Revolutionary War. He was married to Catherine Daingerfield

Lewis (1764-1821). Marmion was inherited by their son,

Captain Daingerfield Lewis (1757-1862), and his wife Lucy

Brockenbrough Pratt Lewis (1764-1820). Marmion was then

inherited by their son, Fielding Lewis (b. 1808) who married

his cousin, Catherine Daingerfield Lewis (1820-1849).

Marmion then became the home of Mrs. Robert Carter Nicholas Grymes, otherwise known as Lucy Lewis

(1787-1856), the last of seven generations of Lewises to own the house. Lucy was the great granddaughter of

Colonel Fielding and Betty Lewis, who built the Kenmore Plantation in Fredericksburg, and financed a gun

factory and arsenal in Fredericksburg. Fielding Lewis also financed the Virginia Navy, a fleet of war ships on

the Rappahannock River during the Revolutionary War. Marmion remained in her family for the next 150 years.

Marmion is a two-story frame with a clipped gable roof, two chimneys and bay windows, all asymmetrically

‘Marmion’ was listed on the National Register of Historic

Places on February 26, 1970, and Virginia Landmarks

Register on December 2, 1969. It is mostly known for the

woodwork taken from the parlor and displayed at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art (American art section) in

Manhattan, New York. The walls were painted with

landscapes, vases and cornucopias filled with flowers.

Located in King George County, Marmion is near Routes 649

and 609, in Virginia.

“Marmion” house

Article excerpted from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/moyersteam/8097650490/ and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/16.112

https://www.flickr.com/photos/moyersteam/8097650490/

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/16.112

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