Early Years
Lewis was born in County Donegal, Ireland to John Lewis and Margaret Lynn. In 1732 John Lewis had fled to America after killing his landlord in an altercation. He brought his family to Virginia, including his sons Andrew and Thomas. The family were among the first settlers in western Augusta County. Andrew Lewis received a basic education and learned the skills of a surveyor.
Early in the 1740s Lewis married Elizabeth Givens, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Cathey) Givens, formerly of County Antrim, Ireland. They established their own home, called Richfield, in what today is Roanoke County near Salem. They would have seven children: Samuel (c.1748-1763), John (1750–1788), Thomas (1752–1800), Andrew Jr. (1759–1844), Ann (1760), William (1764–1812), and Charles (c.1768-1781).
Lewis spent the next fifteen years farming and working as a surveyor in southwestern Virginia. He surveyed much of the Greenbrier District of Augusta County, later Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He became county lieutenant and later a captain in the Augusta County militia.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Lewis (soldier)
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“It was common practice for me to take my children with me whenever I went shopping, out for a walk in a white neighborhood, or just felt like going about in a white world. The reason was simple enough: if a black man is alone or with other black men, he is a threat to whites. But if he is with children, then he is harmless, adorable.”
—Gerald Early (20th century)
“Good Heavens! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing it.”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)