Francis Lewis

Destruction of his home, loss of his wife;

Lewis didn't recover for the rest of his life.

        Francis Lewis was born in Wales as an only child to an Episcopal clergyman and a clergyman's daughter.  Orphaned when he was only five years old, he was raised by a maternal maiden aunt who saw to it that he got a fine education in London.  After leaving Westminster School as a classical scholar, he obtained an apprenticeship with a local merchant.  At age twenty-one, he bought merchandise and sailed for New York to form a business venture with a partner.  A few years later, he married the sister (Elizabeth Annesley) of his business partner, and they had seven children.   B. J. Lossing, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, George F. Cooledge & Brother: New York (1848) [reprinted in Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, WallBuilder Press: Aledo, Texas (1995)], pages 71-72:

        In spite of some hardships, such as two shipwrecks off the Irish Coast, the business began to thrive.  He found himself traveling to Europe and even to Russia much of the time until the breakout of the French and Indian War.  As an active participant of the war, he was captured at the surrender of Oswego's fort, imprisoned in Canada, and later exchanged.  When the war ended, he was given five thousand acres of land by the British for his services. 

        In 1765, he was sent as delegate to the Colonial Congress.  Soon thereafter, he purchased a 200-acre estate at Whitestone and retired, or so he thought.  Because of British encroachments on human rights, he became alarmed and sprang into action.  He joined the Sons of Liberty as a fellowship to work against undue power exercised by the mother country.  In 1775, he was unanimously elected a delegate to the General Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence, and he remained an active member until 1778.  To further the cause, Francis expended a considerable portion of the fortune he had earned from his business risk to purchase provisions and clothing for the army.  He was competent and experienced in the importation of arms and ammunition, transactions which he performed faithfully and cautiously.

        Because the British despised him for his "disloyalty," there was a price set upon his head.  They destroyed his property, including the library he had composed with great care, on Long Island, New York.  Finding his wife, they imprisoned her, giving her no bed or change of clothes in a filthy prison with scant food for several months.  She had been followed by an elderly black servant who was deeply concerned that she be rescued.  Not only did he sneak food and clothing to her, he reported her location to the colonists.  It was finally though the influence and cunning maneuver of Washington that Mrs. Lewis was allowed to return home.  She was weakened considerably and died at a young age within two years of being released. 

        The servant who had followed her became gravely ill himself before she died.  As a devout Roman Catholic, he, whose name is not known to the history books but is surely highlighted in heaven, was inconsolable to die without the last rites of his church.  Very sick and at great peril to herself since New York was under martial law, Mrs. Lewis found a priest and smuggled him through British lines into New York in time to help him pass away in peace. 

       The latter days of Francis Lewis were confined to frugal and modest living as most of his independent fortune was given to his countrymen's need for independence.  He died in 1802 in New York City and was buried in the yard of Trinity Church [one of New York City's oldest and most famous Episcopalian churches].  Robert G. Ferris (editor), Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, published by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service: Washington, D.C. (revised edition 1975), page 94-96.          

http://hometown.aol.com/bayoubengalbait/page5.html   Were the Founding Fathers Christians

    Delafield, Julia Livingston 1801-1882, _Biographies of Francis Lewis and Morgan Lewis_, Pub. New York, A.D.F. Randolph 1877. 2v. 20cm. Held by: NY State Archives Personal subject: Lewis, Francis, 1713-1803, Lewis, Morgan, 1754-1844. CMS call num: 974.7 ZL6 MSC CALL NUMBER 1)974.7 ZL6  from Library of Congress. L.L. Call NO: Microfilm 43871 L.C. Call NO: E302.6.L6.D3       Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 193-197.

    Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence, by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, A.B. (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 1997). Orignaly Published in 1912 as volume 3 of The Pioneer Mothers of America: A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country, and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons). Pages 119-126.

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

 John 16:20