52 Ancestors #9 - Thomas Lewis

Thomas Lewis came from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England to Saco, Maine (then MA) in 1628. He returned to England for a bit and then is back in Saco by June 28, 1631. The date of birth for Thomas Lewis is estimated as about 1590. The Great Migration says he was born in Shrewsbury to Andrew and Mary (Herring) Lewis. In May 1637, we know he was still living as he was sued by his future son-in-law, Richard Gibson for debt. However, he is called "deceased" in court records from April 28, 1640. 

The Council for the Affairs of New England in America granted a patent to Thomas Lewis, gentleman and Captain Richard Bonython on February 12, 1629. This patent extended along the north side of the Saco River for four miles from the mouth of the river and eight miles inland. In return for the patent, the patentees were required to transport fifty people to their colony in the next seven years and pay a small annual rent tot he Council. Thomas Lewis was a vinter and the owner of a tavern in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England called "The Sextry." This tavern was run by his partner, George Cleeve (another Maine immigrant). The web site "Discovering Shropshire's History" has a great deal of information about the tavern which it calls "one of Shrewsbury's best-known and most prestigious taverns." It says Thomas Lewis is of Welsh origin and his parents were Thomas Lewis, a draper and alderman and the daughter of Robert Ireland, Jr. This is in conflict with the information provided by the Great Migration Begins sketch. 



On August 29, 1618, Thomas Lewis married Elizabeth Marshall at St. Chad's, Shrewsbury. Elizabeth was the daughter of Roger and Katherine (Mytton) Marshall. Her will was executed on October 8, 1640 so she likely died shortly before that date. 

St. Chad's Old Church built in the 7th century - a new church was built in 1792

Children: 

1. Mary Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on June 28, 1619. She married Rev. Richard Gibson in late 1638. It would seem this was not a love story from the court testimony as follows "which marriage was thought a fit means of closing the differences and settling an order both for religion and government...some troublous spirits...have cast an aspersion upon her...which tends to her utter infamy...I married the maid upon long demures..."
2. Susanna Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on November 2, 1620 and there are no further records for her. 
3. Margaret Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on April 22, 1622 and there is no further records for her. 
4. Elizabeth Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on April 7, 1623 and married Robert Haywood of Barbados before March 29, 1662. 
5. Andrew Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on February 22, 1624/5 and buried at St. Chad's on November 15, 1625. 
6. Judith Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on October 23, 1626 and married James Gibbons (Gibbins) before 1648 - based on the birth of their first child. 
7. Andrew Lewis was baptized at St. Chad's on March 25, 1628 and there are no further records for him. 

Thomas Lewis
Judith Lewis
Rachel Gibbons
Thomas Edgecomb
Gibbins Edgecomb
Thomas Edgecomb
Mary Edgecomb
Benjamin Perley Philbrick
Lizzie Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Ancestry.com. The ancestry of Charity Haley, 1755-1800 : wife of Major Nicholas Davis of Limington, Maine [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.

Original data: Davis, Walter Goodwin,. The ancestry of Charity Haley, 1755-1800 : wife of Major Nicholas Davis of Limington, Maine. Boston, Mass.: Stanhope Press, 1916.

Ancestry.com. New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 1-3; The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-6. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011.