| Source: | (1) Barbara Lewis Williams "Descendants of George, and Sarah (Jenkins) Lewes of Barnsstable Massachusetts..(2) Barber, Henry"British Family Names"London, 1903..(3) Lewisiana, Volumes 1-17,1887-1907..(4) Hull, Mary Lou M.,"George Lewis Family of Massachusetts"..(5) Barnstable County, Massachussetts: Register of Deeds, FHL 0843118.(6) Deyo, Simeon L."History of Barnstable county, Massachusetts, 1620-1890,FHL 1000064, item 1..(7) George Lewis of Mass."FHL 1738314, item 10..(8) Reaney, P.H."A Dictionary of British Surnames", London, 1970..(9) Stratton, Eugene Aubry,"Plymouth Colony, it's History and People 1620-1691"..(10) Lewis, Ladd J.,"A Genealogical History of My Ancestors", 1921..(11) Samuel Dene "History of Scituate"..(12) "Genealogy of the Lewis Family" NEHG Register, Vol. 17, April, 1863, p. 162..(13) Robert S. Wakefield,"American Genealogist" July 01, 1997 "Mary Doggett, wife of George Lewis of Brenchley, Kent, and Sciatuate".. |
| George grew up as a boy in Brenchley, Kent, and early in life moved to London, England where he was living in 1632.He was at this time a member of Mr. Lothrop's Church in that great city.In 1633 or so George came to the new Massachusetts colony, and was first found in Plymouth colony,as he was a member of the church there.However, he does not appear on the tax lists in Plymouth in 1633, or in 1634.He may have been taxed as one of "Hatherlies Men".George was often referred to as Goodman Lewes because of his pious ways, and he was often associated with Mr. Hatherly.George was dismissed from the church in Plymouth in 1634, and he became a member of the church in Scituate, Massachusetts on 30 Sept., 1635. By profession George was a Clothier, and fabric maker.However, George was more interested in joining the church of Mr. Lothrop,having been a member of his church in London in 1632.It is thought that Mr. Lothrop came to Massachusetts in 1635,and that he first settled in Barnstable,Massachusetts.Before October of 1636 Goodman Lewes built a house on Kent street in Scituate.Most of the residents on this street were like George, they being pious, and from Kent, England.His lot was the first south of the Meeting house lane, and it contained 5 acres of land.In 1639 George moved from Scituate to be with his beloved Mr. Lothrop in Barnstable.He sold his house, and land in Scituate to Richard Willis of Plymouth,consisting of a house, and land in Scituate of about 5 acres, and one and three-quarters acres of swamp,and also three acres of marsh land.At this time the Reverend John Lothrop sold his new land in Scituate also, and he, and Goodman Lewes moved to their new homes in Barnstable.George Lewe's home lot in Barnstable was the second west of the Hyannis road.The lands on the south side of the highway,between that road, and Freeman Hinckley's or old Court house lane, was divided into five house lots of eight acres each, on four between Hyannis road, and the railroad avenue.He also owned an acre of meadow on the opposite side of the highway, with the high hill on the north, still known as Lewes hill.He had ten acres of land in the old common field, andfour more acres of marsh at Sandy Neck.This was good planting land, and Goodman Lewes soon became a successful planter in this new colony.On 26 July, 1654 George owned three and a half acres on Mystic Landing.His land was described in the early land records of Barnstable as sixty acres of upland by Rowley's pond, and this tract of land he sold to his sons Edward, and John in 1652.In 1654 George farmed land owned by a Mr. Dimmock,whose health was feeble.George was admitted a freeman of this colony on 14 Jan., 1637, and his early admission shows that he was a man in good standing, and was known by many of the other colonists before he came to this new colony.While in England George was a cloth maker,but with few sheep in the Massachusetts colony at this time, he soon took up the trade of Planter also.On 01 Jan., 1638 Timothy Hatherly, and the Reverend John Lothrop, and others including our George, complained that they had such small allotments of land in Scituate, of about five acres,that they could not subsist, and the Court granted them the lands in Barnstable, where they were able to gain much needed land to establish a larger, and more prosperous colony.As soon as they arrived in Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts colony, they established the first known ferry in New England.Goodman Lewes was not employed in public business often,but in 1648, and in 1650 he was a surveyor of highways, and in 1649 a Juryman.In 1651 he was elected as the town Constable in Barnstable.His last name appears most often as Lewes, but has been written also as Lewis,which most of his ancestors adopted.George was listed as a farmer of good repute in Barnstable in June, 1655, and in June, 1661, when he paid taxes.George was not one of the most distinguished men of his day.But he was a very honest man, and he made his living by working hard, and long.He was a God-fearing man who attended church, and was a sincere Christian.He was an average businessman,but a good farmer.He trained his children well, and this is shown in how they conducted their lives as will be seen below.His first wife Sarah Jenkins who came to Massachusetts with George, died in Scituate, and he married secondly to a woman named Mary who was still living in 1670 in Barnstable. George died in Barnstable before 03 March, 1663 when his will was proven.It mentions his wife Mary, and his children.It was witnessed by Thomas Allen, and William Casley, and Mary Lewis was the Administrator. |
