Person talk:John Lewis (91)

John Lewis's wife Ann(a) [16 March 2012]

Has anyone read the the original will of Anna Lewis? I received an email this week that said that Anna Lewis left small bequests to the children listed in the will except for Jerusha. Jerusha received the bulk of Anna Lewis's estate and was named executor. If this is correct, then it would support an hypothesis that Anna (Lanphere) Lewis was the widow of John Lewis and the mother of Jerusha. Take a look at the years of birth of the children of John Lewis.

According to Arnold, Vital Records of Rhode Island, the births of the following children of John Lewis were recorded in Westerly at one time. Then at a later time the birth of Jerusha daughter of John and Ann was recorded. Jerusha was born in 1707. Joseph, b 1683 Sarah, b 1687 Mary b 1689 Anna, b 1691 Abigail, b 1693 John, b 1698 William, b 1701/2

Notice the intervals between the births. There may have been a child born between the births of Joseph and Sarah since this is a 4 year interval. This child would have been deceased by the time John got around to recording his children's births. Then from Sarah to Abigail there are 2 year intervals between births, followed by John 5 years later and then a 3 year interval ending with the birth of William. Finally Jerusha was born 6 years later in 1707.

Based on the terms of Anna's will and the 6 year interval between the birth of William and Jerusha, and the probability that Anna (Lanphere) Lewis was born circa 1680 and was too young to have been the mother of John's older children, I suggest that John Lewis was married twice. His first wife was the mother probably of the seven children listed in the Westerly records as children of John. This first wife (not named in the records) died. John then married for the second time to Anna Lanphere and they had a daughter Jerusha. --Bill Wright 10:43, 16 March 2012 (EDT)