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Vol. 6, No. 2 Publisher: Michael Frost, PhD Editor: Sandra Duffy

Descendants of Betty Washington and Fielding Lewis

Fall 2015

The Lewis LegacyLewis Coat of Arms Kenmore

Dear Lewis Family,

The 2015 Heritage Weekend was a great success despite the hot and humid weather.

As usual Kenmore showed us Southern Hospitality with a warm welcome from Bill Garner and Andrew Barry. We enjoyed two dinners, presented by a new caterer, which were memo-rable.

We welcomed a new member, Barbara Petrov who was there with her husband Brian, during the busi-ness meeting.

Bill Garner led us on a walk to the graves of George Lewis, (son of Betty and Fielding) and his wife Cath-erine Daingerfield at the Willis Cemetery. Bill showed us a short cut to the graves, avoiding the steep hill and a long walk in the heat.

It was then on to Alexandria, VA and the touring of the ship L'Hermione. This ship is an exact replica of the ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette to a meeting with George Washington with the news of French aid.

The next day we headed for Berryville, VA to tour Fairfield. Warner Washington, cousin to George Washington built this home in 1770. The owners, Robin and George Greenhalgh, were very gracious, and we were able to tour the mansion and grounds. The house and thirty-eight acres are for sale for $2,250,000.00 if anyone wants to live like our ances-tors.

Our alfresco lunch was at Veramar Vineyard with wine tasting and a panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 15 miles away. Everyone enjoyed the wine and lunch almost as much as the eventful reunion.

For the 2016 reunion, we are going to try something different. Our Lewis Heritage Event will take place mid-October to take advantage of the cooler weather. We will be utilizing the historic Inn at Warner Hall where we will enjoy three special dinners. Hotel accommodations will be close by.

From this base we can tour Jamestown and Yorktown plus the immigrant cemetery of the Warner Family.

Hope to see you all in 2016. Larry HolmesPresident General

SAVE THE DATE

Next LFD Heritage EventOctober 18-20, 2016

Tuesday through ThursdayThe Inn at Warner Hall

Gloucester, Virginia

Table of Contents

President General’s Message Lewis Family Descendants Officers Page 2Lewis Family Heritage Event 2016 Page 2Warner Hall Story of a Great Plantation Page 2The Evacuation of Kenmore June 1781 Page 3Fairfield Page 4Lewis Family Heritage Weekend 2015 Page 5The History of the Hermione and Lafayette Page 6The Dragon of Wales Page 7For Your Reading Pleasure... Page 7The Lewis Dragon Page 8

Fall 2015

http://lewis-family-descendants.com

Lewis Family Heritage Event 2016

As you have read in Larry Holmes’ note to the family, next years event will be held at the Inn at Warner Hall, in Gloucester, VA. This beautiful manor house was originally established by Augus-tine Warner. The Warners and the Lewises are the two families most associated with the property from the mid-17th century, well into the 19th century. Queen Elizabeth II, is a direct descendant of Augus-tine Warner through the Bowes-Lyon family and the Earl of Strathmore. In England, Warner Hall is referred to as “The home of the Queen’s American ancestors.”

The Lewis Family Heritage Event will be held Tues-day, October 18 through Thursday, October 20. Family members will want to arrive Tuesday so they can visit local sites on their own around Gloucester or the Warner-Lewis family graveyard at Warner Hall. Banquet dinners will be served Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the Inn at Warner Hall. The chef at Warner Hall, Eric Garcia, is well known for his excellent cuisine.

Wednesday, the family will travel to Yorktown for the annual Yorktown Victory Celebration, which includes a parade. A trip to historic Jamestown is scheduled for Thursday.

More specifics will follow in the winter newsletter, and each family member will receive a letter with a detailed itinerary and costs.

So mark your calendars now, you don’t want to miss this unique opportunity!

Lewis Family Descendants Officers2014-2016

President General Lawrence Tayloe Holmes Registrar Michael David Frost, Ph.D.1st Vice President General John Fielding Lewis, Jr. Chaplain Samuel “Sandy” Frierson McDonough, Jr.2nd Vice President General Stephen Patrick Holmes Historian Linda Reilly3rd Vice President General Sandra Duffy Editor: Sandra Duffy Past President General Michael David Frost, Ph.D. Secretary John Fielding Lewis, Jr. Web Master John Fielding Lewis, Jr. Treasurer Stephen Patrick Holmes

The Lewis Legacy

The Inn at Warner Hall, Gloucester, Virginia

Warner Hall Story of a Great Plantationby David Brown and Thane Harpole

The innkeepers of Warner Hall have suggested David Brown and Thane Harpole, as key note speakers one night during the Lewis Heritage Event. They are the authors of Warner Hall, Story of a Great Plantation. The book is highly recommended by other family members. It is an historical and archaeolog-ical exploration of Warner Hall. We hope to schedule

these two authors, so this book might be a wise addi-tion to your library. Copies of the book can be obtained at Warner Hall for $12 + tax and shipping. Contact Waraner Hall if interested in purchasing a book.

Fall 2015


The Evacuation of Kenmore June 1781By The Living History Interpreters,

Robert and Susan Bailey

This is an excerpt from the presentation given by Robert and Susan Bailey to the Lewis Family, at Kenmore in July. They brought this exciting story to the present tense.

The “Dark before the Dawn” is how many historians have characterized the situation in America between 1779 and 1781. In General Washington’s own words, the new country was “at the end of its tether.” The American economy had collapsed; its people dispirited; and its army was in tatters, starving, and unpaid.

In Virginia, in the first part of 1781, British forces under the commands of General William Phillips and the ex-patriot, General Benedict Arnold, would begin stepping up its military aggression by conduct-ing raids on prominent tobacco ports along the James River, destroying warehouses, buildings, and ship-ping all along Virginia’s waterways.

With command of the waterways and the bulk of the American army in the north, the British were able to success-fully terrorize the state of Virginia virtually un- checked, while Cornwallis continued to freely plunder Geor-gia and the Carolinas. Cornwallis, however, headed for Virginia to deliver a final blow to bring the Old Dominion to her knees and its leaders to the gallows.

In Fredericksburg, news had arrived of British dragoons pushing hard toward the town. Their intent was to destroy the warehouses and the gun manufac-tories nearby, but, worst of all, they might attempt to capture General Washington’s mother and his sister’s family. The situation is this: Lafayette is in a full retreat from Cornwallis and is racing north to

link with General Wayne in order to gain enough strength to face the threat. Lafayette has been man-aging to stay about 4 to 6 hours ahead of Cornwallis as he races north. Lafayette crosses the North Anna, while Cornwallis simultaneously crosses the Pamun-key, east of him. These rivers are only around 15 miles apart. Since then, recent reports have Lafay-ette and Cornwallis both converging well into Spot-sylvania County.

The militia at Hunters Heights, could deal with a dragoon raid, but are no match for the main body. Per Lafayette’s instructions, they have removed all portable public stores and the valuable equipment at both the Gunnery and Hunters Iron Works. They are also assisting the Washington and Lewis families to flee to the western counties.

Word has just arrived that Lafayette has turned west-ward and is now nearing Wilderness Run, while other intelligence has reported sighting the enemy's dragoon outriders at Chesterfield Tavern. This is consistent with Lafayette's belief that the main body will reach Fredericksburg sometime this day.

Welcome to June 2nd 1781.

Robert and Susan BaileyLewis Family Heritage Weekend 2015, Kenmore

Charles, 1st Marquis Cornwallis by Daniel Gardner-1782

Fall 2015


Fairfield

Another stop for the Lewis family was at Fairfield near Berryville, VA. This historic estate house was built in 1770, and designed by architect John Ariss. It was built for Warner Washington, first cousin to George Washing-ton, with his second wife Hannah Fairfax of Belvoir. Seven children were born to Warner and Hannah at Fairfield. Upon Warner’s death in 1791, one of his sons, Fairfax Washington, inherited the estate. The signature of his wife, Sally Armistead is inscribed in the mortar on an eastern façade.

George Washington’s diary records visits to Fairfield with his family, the first of which occurred in August of 1769. Below is an excerpt from March 1774. Visits by the Warner Washington Family to Mount Vernon are also recorded in the diary.

9. Dined at Snicker’s & lodged at Fairfield.10. Went by my Tenants on Bullskin to my Brothers at Harewood.11. At Harewood all day.12. Returned by my Tenants on Bullskin to Fairfield.13. At Fairfield all day with others.

In addition to the impressive stone manor and terraced lawn, there are two cottages, a smokehouse and summer cabin, a greenhouse and garage/shop. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Hosts of Fairfield; Robin and George Greenhalgh

Lewis Family members at Fairfield

Library at Fairfield

Fall 2015


The Hermione, Alexandria, VA 2015

New members, Brian and Barbara Petrov

Enjoying wine tasting at Veramar, are Dorothy and Larry Holmes, and Betty Murray.

Standing in Willis Cemetery, grave site of George Lewis and Catherine Daingerfield,

are Stephen, Larry, Janet and Marlene Holmes.

Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, VA

Lewis Family Heritage Weekend 2015

Fall 2015


The History of the Hermione and the Marquis de Lafayette

One of the highlights of the Lewis Family Descendants Weekend was visiting the Hermione Ship in Alexan-dria. The French spent 17 years and $28 million repli-cating the Hermione down to the last detail. When the original Hermione was built in 1779, it was the pride of a newly re-energized French Navy: a 216-foot, 32-gun barracuda that could take a real bite out of the arro-gant English. The English recognized the Hermi-one’s excellence, when they captured its sister ship, the Concorde. They drew detailed schematics of the Concorde to help recreate the vessel for their own fleet. This proved fortunate 200 years later when France decided it was tired of being the only great seagoing nation without a replicated tall ship of its own. The modern day ship builders were able to use these drawings to re-construct the Hermione.

History of Lafayette and the Hermione

“Americans don’t, in the least, know who Lafayette was. The story has been lost in the telling,” says Laura Auricchio, author of a new biography, The Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered.

The Marquis de Lafayette who first arrived on U.S. soil in South Carolina, on June 13, 1777, was an unformed youth of 19. In a way, he had nowhere else to go. The early death of his parents left him orphaned but a very rich young man. In 1774, Lafay-ette, then 16, was married off to 14-year-old Adrienne de Noailles, who came from one of France’s best-born and most powerful families. The marriage made the provincial Lafayette an instant player at court, but his door pass did him little good. For one thing, he was a lousy dancer.

The match with Adrienne also brought Lafayette a lieutenant’s commission in the Noailles Dragoons, and with it the promise of an army career. But here, too, he hit an unexpected wall. A broad military reor-ganization in 1775 affected many of France’s existing regiments, Lafayette’s among them. He and many others like him suddenly found themselves sidelined with little hope of advancement.

It was in this context that Lafayette took up Ameri-ca’s fight for freedom. Many of Lafayette’s compa-triots tried to join America’s fight, only to be turned down by the American diplomats, Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin. In Lafayette, however, they recognized a pearl of great value—that is to say, great promotional value. So the Marquis first set sail for America in April 1777.

Lafayette never fully understood that his real job was to help get France into the war, not to fight it himself. Politically, he could be obtuse. Some argue that Franklin used Lafayette by granting him glory and then sending him back to France.

In March 1780, the Hermione set out from Roche-fort, France for Boston. Its speed and agility suited it ideally to the task of carrying the Marquis de Lafay-ette, to America. He was charged with giving George Washington the nation-saving news that France would soon be sending an infusion of arms, ships and men.

Lafayette played his assigned part perfectly. Many of the other French-men who came to America to fight, made themselves unpopular with their haughty man-ners and their prick-ly sense of entitle-ment. Lafayette was popular with the Americans because he was straightfor-ward and enthusias-tic. Lafayette also won over George Washington by fight-ing in the blue uniform of a major general in the Continental Army. An affectionate bond sprang up between Lafayette and Washington, and he spent much of the war at Washington’s side.

Article excerpted from: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/marquis-lafayette-sails-again-180954590/?no-ist

Lafayette as a lieutenant general, 1791Portrait by Joseph-Désiré Court


Fall 2015

The Dragon of WalesThe serpent-bodies, bat-winged dragon has been a fixture in mythologies worldwide since the earliest mists of time. In the West, Christian tradition has portrayed it as a fearsome, negative creature, in league with the devil. It stands for evil and must be overcome, as illustrated in the English legend of Saint George slaying the dragon. However, in the East the dragon has more positive characteristics, as seen in the Chinese dragon festivals. The dragon of Wales manages to embody some of those positive qualities.

The red dragon on the flag of Wales is the “good dragon” from a tale of two dragons supposedly told in the old times by a mysterious boy. The red dragon represented the people of Wales, and a white dragon represented their conquerors. After multiple defeats, the red dragon drove the white dragon away. 1.

The word dragon comes into English from French and derives from the Greek word meaning “mon-strous serpent”. The Oxford Dictionary cites its first recorded use in 1230. In the Welsh language, the word for dragon is draig or ddraich. It means leader, warrior or chieftain, and indi-cates bravery. The Welsh word “pen” means head, so the pen dragon is the head dragon.2 The legends of both France and Britain have kings named Pendragon. One was Uther, whose son was Arthur, also know as Arthur Pendragon.

The colors of white and green behind the red dragon on the Welsh flag come from Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII after his defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

1. welshflag.org2. www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/ society/flag_welsh

Uther Pendragon by Arthur Pyle

Lewis Coat of Arms

For your Reading Pleasure…

The Mabinogion, Unknown authors. Translat-ed by Jeffrey Gantz. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1979.

This is a collection of tales from Welsh folklore. There are many parallels with the Arthurian tales of both Britain (Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur) and France (Les Romans de Chrétien de Troyes).

This Penguin edition has an excellent introduc-tion by the translator.


Fall 2015

The Lewis Dragon

The Lewis Dragon did not have wings, but sails. A little known part of the history of the Revolution was the role that local ships had in protect-ing their lands. There was in effect, a Virginia Navy!

In the fall of 1776, the Continental Con-gress needed to be able to provide protection for convoys of troops crossing the Chesa-peake Bay. Four ships were requested from Virginia. Colo-nel Fielding Lewis built one of the ships, the Dragon, at Fredericksburg. In mid-December of 1776, Captain Eleazer Callender took what would become the 81-foot, three-masted vessel as her first captain and proceeded to assemble her crew. He had men enlisted both for the construc-tion and later performance of the ship. A review of the personnel listings show how difficult it was to first assemble, and then maintain, a skilled, function-ing team. Desertion was an on-going problem. It seems likely that the ship may have had up to 120 crew. It carried between 12 and 20 cannon.

It wasn’t until the end of the summer of 1777 that the Dragon was starting trial runs. After many more crew changes, by March of 1778, the Dragon was ready for service. She proceeded to York where she joined Virginia Navy vessels, Tempest and Tartan. These vessels were two of the four ordered by the Continental Congress and had been built at Frazer’s Ferry Shipyard on the Mattaponi River, a location that had proven more difficult to reach than Freder-icksburg. As a group, they were to locate the safe channels and possible safe harbors around Cape Charles, which is near the southern tip on the Virginia side of what we now know as the Delmarva Peninsula.

Gerrit Groenwegen engraving, Eberstadt Collection of Naval

Engravings and Etchings-Ship not identified

Colonel Fielding Lewis

By the late summer of 1778, the Dragon was part of a Virginia Navy escort group to two ships heading from Philadelphia to the West Indies. Her main service appears to have been distraction and pursuit of British vessels in the many inlets of the Tidewater area. She continued in such a support role until the end of her service sometime in 1780-1781. Final details are inconclusive, but it seems likely that she did not survive being burned when the British destroyed the Chickahominy shipyard.

Information summarized from awiatsea.com (America War of Independence At Sea), Post of 21 September 2014.

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