The Lewis Legacy Descendants of Betty Washington and Fielding Lewis

Lewis Coat of Arms: Kenmore VOL. 6, NO. 1 Publisher: Michael Frost, PhD Editor: Sandra Duffy WINTER 2015

Dear Lewis Family, Washington Foundation that owns both Kenmore and the boyhood home site of George and Betty I am Larry Holmes, President Washington. Mr. Garner and his archaeologist General of the Lewis Family showed us the excavated location of the home Descendants. I was elected where Betty and George were raised by Mary President General at the Ball, after the death of Augustine Washington. meeting of the Lewis Family After visiting the Washington home known as at Kenmore, home of Betty Ferry Farm, we traveled to Pope Creek, the birth Washington and Fielding place of Betty and George. The views of the river Lewis, Sr., in Fredericksburg, at that point were magnificent, just as similar Virginia, this past June. views are appreciated at Mt. Vernon. We

The 2014 Heritage Weekend was a very exciting thoroughly enjoyed each other and the Lewis and time, as we met in Betty and Fielding’s mansion Washington family locations. for two dinners: one in the museum’s conference We hope to see you at this summer’s Heritage room, and the other dinner in a wedding tent Weekend. within the north garden. After dinner, Saturday Best regards, night in the rose garden, we walked to the west lawn of the mansion where we enjoyed a Larry Holmes Shakespearean play Macbeth by residents of President General Fredericksburg. The audience of several hundred sat in lawn chairs for the performance.

We visited the grave of Betty Washington at SAVE THE DATE Western View and the newly restored plantation of James Madison. This year, we traveled in a Next LFD Heritage Weekend large, comfortable bus, and really enjoyed the June 11-14, 2015 time together as we went from location to location Thursday through Sunday between Culpeper and Fredericksburg. We met Location to be announced soon. with Bill Garner, President of the George

Table of Contents President General’s Message...... Page 1 Crib ...... Page 3 Lewis Family Descendants Officers ...... Page 2 Photos / Lewis Family Heritage Weekend ...... Page 4 “Lewis Legacy” Spotlight ...... Page 2 Ancestors of Our Members...... Page 5 Notes on Reading Old Manuscripts ...... Page 2 Stuart Painting of George Washington ...... Page 6 Books You May Enjoy...... Page 2 The Octagon ...... Page 6 Did you know ...... Page 3 George Washington’s Troublesome Teeth ...... Page 7 Profile Portrait of Eleanor Parke Custis ...... Page 3 Marmion Estate ...... Page 8

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Notes on Reading Old Manuscripts Lewis Family Descendants Officers

2014 – 2016 Whether you’re reading the Declaration of Independence or family documents, you might consider the following. President General Lawrence Tayloe Holmes 1st Vice President General John Fielding Lewis, Jr. In part due to the English language’s rich and complex history, the spelling of English words took a long time 2nd Vice President General Stephen Patrick Holmes to become standardized. 3rd Vice President General Sandra Duffy Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, a major aid to the Past President General Michael David Frost, Ph.D. standardization of modern English, was first printed in Secretary John Fielding Lewis, Jr. 1755. Many of our family’s events occurred long before that date. Treasurer Stephen Patrick Holmes Registrar Michael David Frost, Ph.D. Sometimes not only the spellings of words but the forms of the letters themselves present challenges. Chaplain Samuel “Sandy” Frierson Take, for example, the “long s.” In the Declaration of McDonough, Jr. Independence, you will see the word “necessary” Historian Linda Reilly spelled in letters that look like “necefsary.” That is because the first “s” is written as a “long s.” This was a Editor: The Lewis Legacy Sandra Duffy holdover from an earlier style of writing used with Web Master John Fielding Lewis, Jr. Latin and various other European languages. It generally tended to be used in the middle of a word, so it is less common to find one at the end or the beginning of a word. It gradually faded from use as printing The Lewis Legacy Spotlight became more common, and was hardly used at all by the second half of the nineteenth century. The Lewis Legacy Spotlight, for this issue, shines on Elizabeth “Betty” 

Whitlock. Books you may enjoy…

Betty descends from Warner Lewis, Citizen Washington by William Martin brother of Fielding Lewis. She traces This is a colorful, highly readable, factually-based her Lewis lineage through her father, fictional account of George Washington’s story. It is Fielding Lewis Marshall Jr. She was told as a memoir from several points of view. bornFielding in Montgomery, Lewis Marshall, Alabama. Jr. She was born in Montgomery, Alabama. House Divided by Ben Ames Williams In 1959, Betty married Bennett Clarke Whitlock, Jr. in This book is an excellent fictional account of the Mobile, Alabama. They have two children and five lives of the members of a Northern Virginia family grandchildren. during the Civil War. It presents details of the everyday life of the period which had not changed very much from the days of the founding settlements. You will Betty became a member of the Lewis Family recognize the area as familiar Lewis family territory. Descendants on March 16, 2010, and she attended the 2010 and 2012 Lewis Family Descendants reunions in Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin Virginia. This biographical account of Lincoln and his rival candidates for the Republican nomination of 1860 Not only is Betty a member of the Lewis Family presents the intricacies of the political situation leading Descendants, she is also active with the DAR and the up to the Civil War. Its descriptions of the war and the Washington Northern Virginia Chapter of Jamestowne atmosphere in Washington, D.C., provide a parallel Society. account of events shown in House Divided.

(Cont’d page 3)

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3 | P a g e Books you may enjoy… Crib (Cont’d from page 2) a granddaughter of George W. Lewis, a son of Fielding Lewis,(Made Sr. in America, ca. 1799; Mahogany and Oak)

The Civil War: A visual History by Dorling Kindersley This book has great timelines and summaries of action. It also works well with the two prior selections for our understanding of the actions in Northern

Virginia.

A Prince in Their Midst by A. J. Hanna Achille Murat was the son of Joachim Murat and Profile Portrait of Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of Napoleon. His Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis father was one of Napoleon’s greatest generals and was given many rewards for his service, including the throne (Drawn by James Sharples, ca.1796; Pastel on paper) of the Kingdom of Naples. However, all that came to an end when Napoleon was exiled for the second time.

Achille decided, at age 21, to immigrate to America. Eventually, he crossed paths with and married Catherine Daingerfield Lewis Gray, a young widow. Catherine was a granddaughter of George W. Lewis, a son of Fielding Lewis, Sr.

Did you know… Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis

would come to be regarded as “the most brilliant and beautiful young woman of her day, the pride of her On George Washington’s last birthday, February 22, 1799, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis married grandmother and the favorite of Washington?” Washington’s nephew, Lawrence Lewis. For a time, the couple lived at Mount Vernon, and according to family Profile Portrait of history, Martha Washington presented them with this crib Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis when their first child, Frances Parke Lewis, was born the Drawn by James Sharples, ca. 1796 following November. With classical columns, the crib Pastel on paper was fashionable as well as functional: a hinged side permits the crib to be placed adjacent to a bedstead, allowing for easy tending of the infant at night.

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/research- collections/collections-holdings/nelly-custis-artifacts-in-the-mount vernon-collection/

English artist James Sharp le’s portrait of Nelly

captures her beauty and vivacious spirit at age 17. Family tradition attributes her “wind-blow”

appearance to the fact that she ran in from the garden to sit for the artist. One year later, the

Washingtons would relocate , permanently, to Mount Vernon after George Washington’s second

term as president concluded. Of their return, Nelly wrote, “When I look at this noble river, & all the beautifull prospects around – I pity all those who are in Cities, for surely a country life, is the most rational & happy of any – & all of the refinements of art and luxury are nothing in comparison to the Beauties of Nature.”

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/eleanor -nelly-parke-custis/

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Photos from the Lewis Family Heritage Weekend June 12-15, 2014

Posing in front of some Washington tombs are (left to right) Janet Holmes, Valerie Reilly, Lawrence Holmes, Sandy McDonough, Stephen Holmes and Linda Reilly.

Some Family Members in front of St. George’s Episcopal Church

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6 Members descend from 12 Members descend from Elizabeth Lewis Carter Howell Lewis

Bostic, Eileen Davis Anderson, Dr. Lane Schofield III Goodman, Staci Jenkins Anderson, LeRoy Burckhardt Jenkins, Ambrose Driskill III Bird, James Russell Jenkins, Jerrald Norman De Natale, Jeanne Jasper Jenkins, Richard Jeffrey Lewis, John Fielding Jr. Jenkins, Stephen Driskill Lewis, Lawrence Bernard  Mathis, Margaret Anderson (Peggy) Miller, Caroline Stewart 4 Members descend from Murray, Elizabeth Lyon Fielding Lewis Jr. Slater, Edna V.

Duffy, Sandra Robinson Tate, Elvira McMillan Frost, Michael David Wooldridge, Marilyn Lewis

Pesek, Monica Ann  Simmons, Mark Anthony 3 Members descend from  John Lewis

17 Members descend from Gunter, Pattie George Lewis Lane, Claudia Stewart

Barborek, Loretta A. Tyler, John Paul

Browning, George III  Browning, George IV Browning, Morgan M. 2 Members descend from Browning, Susan Lawrence Lewis Halter, Mary Browning Chapin, Charles Merrill III Holmes, Janet Lee Petrov, Barbara Ann Holmes, Karen Ann Holmes, Lawrence Tayloe  Holmes, Stephen Patrick Johnson, Alexandria Browning 1 Member descends from Kurkjian, Nancy Lewis Nicholas Lewis

McDonough, Samuel Frierson Jr. Weaver, Richard Reilly, Bridget Elizabeth Reilly, Linda Holmes  Reilly, Valerie Anne Schercinger, John Marshall 1 Member descends from Warner Lewis  Whitlock, Elizabeth Marshall

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P a g e | 6 Stuart Painting of George Washington

The portrait below depicts Dolley Madison saving the Stuart painting of George Washington just before the British torched the “president’s house.”

As British troops approached Washington, August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, its citizens fled.

Among the last to remain was First Lady Dolley Madison, who stayed to the very end as a demonstration of American determination until she received President Madison’s hurried message from the Battle of Bladensburg to “clear out!”

Dolley issued her last order before fleeing: “Save the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington.”

Her inspirational courage secured this national treasure, which hangs today in the East Room and is considered the most valuable historical object in the White House.

The Octagon One of the earliest and finest residences which is a museum today, in Washington, D.C., was constructed 1798-1800. The building was designed by Dr. William Thornton for John Tayloe III and his wife, Anne Ogle Tayloe, at the urging of his friend George Washington. The house served as an important social center in Washington’s early years, and when the British burned the White House in 1814, President Madison and his family lived in the Octagon for six months as the city rebuilt. It was here that the Treaty of Ghent was signed by President Madison in February 1815, formally ending the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States.

The Tayloe family lived in the house until Anne’s death in 1855. After Anne’s death, her sons rented the house, first

to a Catholic girls school, and later to the federal government for office space. By the 1880s,

the building housed numerous poor families as a tenement.

Around that same time, the American Institute of Architects, headquartered in New York City, began looking for a new national headquarters location in Washington, D.C. In 1898, the AIA rented the Octagon, and the organization purchased the building in 1902.

The Octagon returned to its Tayloe-era appearance in the 1960s and the 1990s, when major restoration efforts were The Octagon The Octagon Museum undertaken. Painting by artist Peter Wadell

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George Washington and His Troublesome Teeth

Washington was afflicted with dental troubles all his within a new set of dentures or if he employed the teeth adult life. Despite his legendary physical strength and at all. While this transaction might seem morbid to a iron constitution, George Washington’s failing teeth modern audience, purchasing human teeth was a fairly were a source of constant suffering. At age 24, common practice in the 18th century for affluent Washington recorded in his diary that he paid 5 shillings individuals. to a “Doctr Watson” who removed one of his teeth. Letters and diary entries later in his life make regular Despite all his attempts to save his remaining teeth, reference to aching teeth, lost teeth, inflamed gums, ill- Washington was down to just one tooth at the time of his fitting dentures, and a host of other dental miseries. inauguration as the first President of the United States. Payments to dentists and purchases of toothbrushes, This final survivor was finally pulled by Dr. John teeth scrapers, denture files, toothache medication, and Greenwood in 1796 and Washington allowed his dentist cleaning solutions are also regularly to retain this famous tooth as a memento. present in Washington’s communications Dr. Greenwood eventually had the tooth throughout his life. inserted into a small glass display that he hung from his watch chain. One of the most enduring myths about George Washington is that his dentures Washington’s dental troubles impacted were made of wood. Contrary to popular These dentures are in the collection the shape of his face. As Washington’s mythology, they were not made of wood. at Mount Vernon – the only remain- dental troubles became ever more severe, ing full-set in existence. It’s quite possible that some of his many artists and close observers began to dentures, particularly after they had been stained, took notice significant changes in the shape of Washington’s on a wooden complexion, but wood was never used in face. Paintings of Washington from later in his life all the construction of any of his dental fittings. seem to show changes in the shape of his jaw and mouth.

Throughout his life Washington employed numerous full Washington was very and partial dentures which were constructed of materials self-aware of the impact including bone, hippopotamus ivory, human teeth, brass that ill-fitting dentures screws, lead, and gold metal wire. had on his appearance. In a 1797 letter to Dr. Aware of his failing dental health, George Washington John Greenwood, retained several of his pulled teeth for use in his dentures Washington complained within a locked desk drawer at Mount Vernon. In a how his ill-fitting Christmas Day 1782 letter, Washington wrote to Lund dentures were “already Washington, his distant cousin and the temporary too wide, and too manager of Mount Vernon, requesting that the teeth be projecting for the parts wrapped up and sent to him in Newburgh, New York. they rest upon; which Washington hoped that these original teeth could be used causes both upper, and George Gilbert Stuart's circa 1798 within new dentures that were being fitted for his use. portrait of George Washington. under lip to bulge out, as Take note of how Washington's if swelled.” In a separate jaw and mouth are more distended "In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which letter the following year, in this portrait. (Mount Vernon stands in my study you will find two small (fore) Washington noted that Ladies' Association) teeth; which I beg of you to wrap up carefully, another set of dentures and send inclosed [sic] in your next letter to me. had “the effect of forcing the lip out just under the nose.” I am positive I left them there, or in the secret drawer in the locker of the same desk." Washington’s dental troubles made him less willing and able to speak. Always sensitive about his appearance and Deep within one of Washington’s account books is an comportment, Washington was no doubt self-conscious entry which details Washington’s purchase of nine teeth about his dentures and the troublesome contraptions also from “Negroes” for 122 shillings. It’s not clear if made speaking more of a challenge. Washington intended to use these teeth as implants or

Article excerpted from: http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/the -trouble-with-teeth/

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P a g e | 8 Marmion Estate

Pictured on the left the sign reads: "Two miles north is Marmion, probably built by John Fitzhugh early in the eighteenth century and later named for Scott's poem. About 1785 it passed from Philip Fitzhugh to George Washington Lewis, Washington's favorite nephew, who died there. Marmion has come down in the Lewis family in direct line from him. The richly decorated interior is one of the best in Virginia."

Colonel William Fitzhugh of Bedford immigrated to Virginia in 1670, and built a house soon after his arrival to King George County. In 1674, he titled the land of his new home as the “Marmion” estate. This house is believed to be incorporated into the existing mansion. His youngest son, William ‘Marmion’ Fitzhugh, inherited the estate. His son, Colonel William Fitzhugh was born in the ‘Marmion’ house. William was close friends with George Washington.

An architectural survey indicates the home was built in several stages. Much of the ‘Marmion’ plantation house, as it appears today, was built after 1790 according to construction practices of the 18th century.

In 1797 Marmion was purchased by Major George Lewis (1757-1821), the favorite nephew of George Washington, son of Fielding and Betty Lewis of Fredericksburg. George Lewis served as Washington’s Aide-de-Camp during the Revolutionary War. He was married to Catherine Daingerfield Lewis (1764-1821). Marmion was inherited by their son, Captain Daingerfield Lewis (1757-1862), and his wife Lucy Brockenbrough Pratt Lewis (1764-1820). Marmion was then inherited by their son, Fielding Lewis (b. 1808) who married his cousin, Catherine Daingerfield Lewis (1820-1849). “Marmion” house Marmion then became the home of Mrs. Robert Carter Nicholas Grymes, otherwise known as Lucy Lewis (1787-1856), the last of seven generations of Lewises to own the house. Lucy was the great granddaughter of Colonel Fielding and Betty Lewis, who built the Kenmore Plantation in Fredericksburg, and financed a gun factory and arsenal in Fredericksburg. Fielding Lewis also financed the Virginia Navy, a fleet of war ships on the Rappahannock River during the Revolutionary War. Marmion remained in her family for the next 150 years.

Marmion is a two-story frame with a clipped gable roof, two chimneys and bay windows, all asymmetrically placed. Just outside the main house was a smokehouse, a dairy, a kitchen and office.

‘Marmion’ was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1970, and Virginia Landmarks Register on December 2, 1969. It is mostly known for the woodwork taken from the parlor and displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (American art section) in Manhattan, New York. The walls were painted with landscapes, vases and cornucopias filled with flowers. With a corner fireplace and

Paneling from Marmion, two corner cupboards, this the Fitzhugh House, ca. Located in King George County, Marmion is near Routes 649 fully paneled room has seven 1758; painting ca. 1770–80 and 609, in Virginia. sides.

Article excerpted from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/moyersteam/8097650490/ and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/16.112

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