Person:John Lewis (92)

The first record of John Lewis is his signing the Articles of Agreement at the settlement of Misquamicut dated 22 Mar 1661. At this time, Westerly, RI, was known by the Indian name Misquamicut. The names of his parents and his wife are unknown. He is alleged to have emigrated from Wales or England.

Some accounts of John Lewis also include the "Once upon a time" type of fairy tale, "Three (or five) brothers came to America ..." Too many families have passed down similar unverifiable stories. Without documentation, these accounts should not be believed.

Internet families trees for John Lewis that list his wife's name and perhaps his parents are undocumented and misleading.

DNA testing shows significant matches between descendants of this John Lewis of Westerly and two men named Samuel Lewis born in Virginia, ca 1740-1750. See Group 13 on this webpage: http://lewissurnamednaproject.com/test_results.htm

These DNA matches suggest that a "cousin" of John Lewis may have emigrated from England/Wales to Virginia a generation or two after John Lewis immigrated to Rhode Island.

This Lewis family is projected to be in Haplogroup R1b1b2 which suggests an origin in western Europe. Wikipedia says, "In human genetics, Haplogroup R1b is the most frequent Y-chromosome haplogroup in Western Europe. Its frequency is highest in Western Europe, especially in Atlantic Europe (and due to European emigration, in North America, South America, and Australia). In southern England, the frequency of R1b is about 70%, and in parts of north and western England, Spain, Portugal, France, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the frequency of R1b is greater than 90%."

There is no evidence that his wife was named Mary or that she was Mary Button. His wife is not named in the Rhode Island records.--Bill Wright 17:28, 29 August 2010 (EDT)

1. ↑ Ancestors and Descendants of William Browning Greene and Mary Hoxsie Lewis with Allied Families, in William E. Wright
   366, 1993.
2.   Austin, John Osborne. The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island. (Orig. 1887; Reprinted 1969 Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing)
   p 124.