Updating with thoughts for 2022 A democracy requires two parties. That is the whole idea. Voting for one or the other. Not hating the other. The “other side” is not demonized but embraced like a spouse.

Actually the tears coming out of Colin Powell’s eyes election night 2008. I had them too, tears of joy, and for me it was not only, but wonderfully also, that this country had elected a Black President but also this Black Man (and all his family) they all are wonderful – all the former first family and all the in-laws – all of them.

But the tears streaming down Colin Powell’s face made me cry more that election night and there was an elation of something wonderful was happening – the country had grown and moreover there were more people out there than I thought, who thought like me, seriously liberal for all intents and purposes.

There had been the talk that Colin Powell should run (I certainly would have campaigned and voted for him) long before we heard of the Senator from Illinois, but there were a variety of reasons gossiped that tried to explain his not running – his wife didn’t want it – there were “worries”, “those” worries. (I should google and add more reasons and get the info exact).

After President Obama left office I also heard a tear-filled Van Jones talk about how often he was worried about those same “worries” for President Obama. I still dare not breathe and I still tear up but now over the awful way our dear President Obama was treated.

My belief in Senator Obama came in the 2004 Democratic Convention speech. Sitting in my living room I found myself not only clapping at what he said but finally standing to clap (in my own LR – I embarrassed myself). The icing on the cake was a cousin emailing and letting me know that the Senator was my 8th cousin once removed. I died and went to genealogy heaven.

During that 2004 speech I exclaimed to my husband, “HE – is the president”. And I was not surprised to see him take the country almost coast to coast (a few missing pieces, in-between) but of course it was holding breathe to the final declaration that he had won!

When they walked out to say hello as the first family to be, I want to say I felt it in the air. I think the world rejoiced with us. I think the world saw hope also for a time of unity and peace like the world had never seen.

…and then it started. Well, started is wrong, of course during the campaign the nasty stuff was also said, but right off the bat, Mitch McConnell saying something to the effect he would do NOTHING to work with him.

The 2nd election I still had hope, he made it, and I was yelling hallelujah and of course there was a lot of time and events between the two, and more for the story – but for another day.

But Colin Powell knew how ugly it might be – would be, if he ran, and moreover, if he won, and it hurt us to see the treatment of the finest first family to ever grace the Office. But I think this is why Colin Powell did not run, I think he knew America very well and just how mean they might be.

I miss President Obama (and all his family)

In researching genealogy online, most try to stay away from politics, but all that began to change. On AncestryDOTcom many people proud to have President Obama on their trees added a picture with an O and liked to note this person or that was an Obama ancestor.

But, some clearly did not like being related to President Obama, when they found the info and had negative comments on scans, pictures and illustrations of one sort or another to represent the life of an ancestor. But others, like me, were delighted.

Our, Obama’s and my, MRCA (most recent common ancestor), is David Lewis and Grand Pa David is the love of our email shared research for many years. He is one of these ancestors that has so may bookoodles of descendants that “everybody” gets him on their tree if they add the in-laws.

And he is one of the countless ancestors who ancestry is what is called falsified trees and whether it is intentional or by accident copying trees that are wrong – poor Grand Pa David like 1,000s of ancestors are attached to the wrong parents. And being that he is on one tree or another attached to about a dozen different parents and them jumble and a couple who never existed. But entirely too many folk attached gedcoms and merged family files and linked adding relatives from the new AncestryDOT trees until the files are lost to truth. The Jacob Money John Money merge is a famous mistake and the Robert Money Robert Monnett is another.

Almost any and every early colonial ancestor has trees with multiple spouses ad multiple parents and there is no changing anyone’s mind. Even with DNA and the above named families and others and the Lewis colonial families have had wonderful and conclusive DNA research completed to identify what lines of Lewises belong to what Lewises.

This works the same for identifying the family of any patriarch. And is the exact way to prove who a family is. David Lewis has a record which says his father was named John Lewis. In colonial Virginia at the time in the Parish and the next two Parishes there were at least 4 known John Lewises. The existing records are not complete and there easily could have been others at the same time, and one had to own land or pay tax or work in the parish or some kind of parish record and not everyone had one that survives to today. Plus there are many “burned or destroyed counties” and the county of David Lewis and of John Lewis IS a burned county also and so a large swath of the records are gone for another reason.

Many want to make the father of David to be the John Lewis of Warner Hall or John Lewis of Poropotank Creek – I happen to believe that he was the John Lewis of the Paumunkey River who lived near Matadaquin Creek in what became later St Paul’s Parish and Hanover County.

Please read the pieces on y-DNA and – knowing that the y-DNA test only reveals the y gene of a male’s paternal line and identifies the males father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father and on for ages – then the y-DNA test is perfect to test to identify an ancestor.

The Lewis Surname y-DNA project was one of the first, today there are almost 1,000 members of the project and many families including ours worked to use DNA to identify and group families. Two branches of our Lewis family had male Lewis descendants test and through this early work of our family members (add names with permission) we know at least who we are not related to.

The works the same for every family, for David Lewis, born circa 1690 – died 1779, – we know he had several male sons who had male descendants. So from each of those sons of David we research all the male only descendants to living Lewis males and have them test their y-DNA.

You must have at least two sons, male line descendants. In the case of our David we had a male Lewis from David’s son John Lewis (1728 – 1782) and a male Lewis from David’s son David Lewis Jr (1726 – 1787) and they both match each other.

With John Lewis of Warner Hall, we had a male Lewis descendant from Fielding Lewis whose father – I think it was grew up in the Fielding Lewis home (son of John Jr) and a descendant of Robert Lewis. They matched each other.

But the two Lewis families did not match each other. So we can say for certain that we know who John Lewis of Warner Hall was, and that we know who David Lewis was and the two male lines were not related

The debate is always writing about who his father was, and this is often the research requests of folks wanting genealogy on anyone – they was to go back and back – name collecting, and in the end they know nothing about the people in-between themselves.

If this and these google maps should not be used I will remove them. Every time I have asked them about using anything, they just say make sure their name is on it and that is great.

more…

We might not ever solve the mystery of the father John Lewis but we know much more about the life of the son David Lewis. David received the 1st land patent west of the Rivanna River and with deeds, estates, transfers and old wives tales coupled with later ownership of some of the old Lewis property and the magnificent research by Bernard Peyton Chamberlain we can know where Grand Pa David lived and likely died in the last days of his life in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. At the time David Lewis received the patent it was Goochland County.

Bernard notes in his book A Good Life, there has long been speculation about three main Lewis families – John Lewis of Warner Hall who Bernard notes he is related to, and that one of his sons Charles ‘The Byrd’ Lewis was a son of Warner Hall and lived not far away; and the famous General Andrew Lewis of Amelia and Nelson Counties etc and just south of what became Albe,marle and Bernard notes he is related to him also – but he says that some have thought David Lewis might have been related but he, without saying much does not voice any support for that idea.

But Bernard does know that the property he grew up on called Birdwood – had originally been the property and original Homestead of David Lewis. His research shows that the Lewis house was ‘above the spring’ and he noted that the spring is just below the club house for the University of Virginia golf course Birdwood on the back of his, Bernard’s, childhood home.

Bernard notes a flat plateau area just outside the club house – the putting green today for the golf course and he believed this was the location of David Lewis’ home.

Near Birdwood there is another plateau and one can look out and see Lewis Mountian. This property was purchased by David Lewis brother Abraham Lewis. When Abraham moved to Pennsylvania, he sold this land to David Lewis.

Just west of Birdwood Gold there is the Boar’s Head Inn – this property was owned by the daughter and son-in-law (also nephew) of Grand Pa David, Anne Lewis Terrell and her husband Joel Terrell Jr and at the time called Terrell’s ordinary. In “the day” Thomas Jefferson stayed at the Boar’s Head when the Terrell’s ran it and noted so in one of his letters. The Inn has a lunch room restaurant that is still part of the original Inn and one of the rooms that Anne and Joel worked and lived in.

https://www.boarsheadresort.com/our-resort/history

Some of the research of the locations of the Lewis properties came from later owner Bernard Peyton Chamberlain. He recorded some of his research in the book A Good Life. He grew up in the property bought by his father number 5 on the map. He bought and lived in until his death the home Midmont number 1 on the map.

Midmont

How does this all fit together? This is the patriot’s (Colin Powell’s) love of country and the country he loves, this is the president’s family (and mine also), and this is Charlottesville.

(Pull all Lewis notes into one place and move – other families to a place of their own)

Lewis research and mistakes – let the men in white jackets take me now

It is maddening, seeing all the trees with info that is not correct. But there does not appear to be anything to do about it except to keep sharing what is correct with folks as much as we can.

And more mad, is the mess these notes are in. They cannot possibly be readable, but several are waiting for me to get all the research up as promised.

add…

If I take time to read the above to see how muchof this i have added here already, i will never get this added.

The 1688 list from Colonial Virginia with names of “residents” has been thought to be many things. Our best family researcher, wrote, he thought this might have been a meeting and the list went around the room and maybe our John Lewis was the one of that name “sitting” beside David Crawford.

June Evans wrote: Men of Matadequin –

Ms Evans notes other lists like this have accompanied or been written on maps and this might note the order up the river from the James up the York to the Pamunkey River and if we look at the list that way and look at a map with that list we might see the families and the 1688 list in an all new way.

I will write Ms Evans again about using her work – she need to re-print – it is a wonderful study – and I cannot thank her enough for her work and more over publishing her work

And this map section is out of The Diary Of Robert Rose by Revd Fall (more name)

closer crop of page 22 name with our folks

more…

Cousin Joan… (add the credit information from what she wishes to be added at the time)

…descends from Jesse Pitman Lewis she located the obituary from the newspaper and also two large article for the estate sale which listed the property, which included the house and it was an extensive brick house.

It is understood that the UV Miller Center’s, Faulkner House was Jesse Pitman Lewis property. The next owner added the two brick wings of the house and now with this research coming with the house description then the center section, main house, must be what the house that Jesse built.

There are more newspapers where the house was advertised

I still have not found video of Colin Powell that night and i do hope there are lots of folks who have given him all he needs for his ancestry, since I am a bit long inthe tooth for this now.

But there is video of Jesse’s eyes

One of the greatest days in American history AND herstory

And, I owe Secretary and Mrs Colin Powell a genealogy story, I will try to write one, I believe it might include a few other neighbors of ours.