Francis Lewis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Francis Lewis
Born	(1713-03-21)March 21, 1713 Llandaff, Wales
Died	December 31, 1802(1802-12-31) (aged 89) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Trinity Church Cemetery, New York City
Education	Westminster School
Occupation	Merchant, politician
Known for	Signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Annesley ​ ​ (m. 1745; her death 1778)​
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Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713 – December 31, 1802) was a Welsh merchant and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York.

Early life

Lewis was born in Llandaff, Wales on March 21, 1713. He was the only child of Morgan Lewis and Anne Lewis (née Pettingale) of Newport.

Lewis was educated at Westminster School in London.

Business career

He entered a mercantile house in London until he turned 21 and inherited some properties left by his father. Lewis sold the properties and used the proceeds to acquire merchandise, set sail for New York City, and arrived in 1734 or 1735. He left some of the goods in New York to be sold by Edward Annesley, his business partner and brought the rest to Philadelphia. After two years in Philadelphia, he returned to New York.

Lewis made several trans-Atlantic trips, visiting several northern European ports, St. Petersburg in Russia, northern Scotland and Africa. He was taken prisoner while he served as a British mercantile agent in 1756 and sent to France for imprisonment. On his release and his return home, he became active in politics.

Political career

He was a member of the Committee of Sixty, a member of the New York Provincial Congress, and a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1779. In 1778, he signed the United States Articles of Confederation and in 1779, he served as the Chairman of the Continental Board of Admiralty.

He helped his son Francis Lewis Jr. open a dry goods business named Francis Lewis and Son. Morgan served in the army during the Revolutionary War and later held many offices in New York State, including governor.

Personal life

Richard Stockton, Francis Lewis and John Witherspoon in the background of John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence (1819)

In 1745, Lewis married to Elizabeth Annesley (died 1779), a sister of his business partner. Together, they were the parents of seven children, only three of whom survived to adulthood:

• Ann Lewis (1748–1802), who married Capt. George Robertson (1742–1791) of the British Royal Navy, against her father's wishes, and immediately thereafter, left for England, never to speak or see her family again.
• Francis Lewis Jr. (1749–1814), who served as churchwarden of St George's Parish in Flushing from 1791 to 1794. He married Elizabeth Ludlow (d. 1831), daughter of Gabriel Ludlow, Esq.
• Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), who married Gertrude Livingston, the daughter of Judge Robert Livingston of Clermont.

In 1775, Lewis acquired and relocated his family to an estate located in Whitestone, in present-day Queens. The home was later destroyed in the American Revolutionary War by British soldiers, who also arrested his wife, Elizabeth, and denied her a change of clothing or adequate food for weeks while in captivity. Her hardships in captivity ruined her health and led to her death in 1778 after being released in a prisoner exchange.

Lewis died on December 31, 1802, although his memorial in Trinity Church Cemetery gives his year of death as 1803.

Legacy

Memorial to Francis Lewis at Trinity Church Cemetery, New York City.

Through his eldest surviving daughter Ann, he was a grandfather to Marianne Robertson (1779–1829), who married John Bird Sumner, the Archbishop of Canterbury and brother of Charles Richard Sumner, bishop of Winchester.

Through his son Morgan, he was a grandfather of Margret Lewis (1780–1860), who married New York lawyer and politician Maturin Livingston and became parents to twelve children. Through his son Francis Jr., he was a grandfather of Gabriel Ludlow Lewis.

In Queens, New York, Francis Lewis High School and P.S. 79 "The Francis Lewis School" are named after Lewis. The Francis Lewis Boulevard, which locals sometimes refer to as "Franny Lew" or "Franny Lewie," stretches almost the entire north/south length of the borough. Francis Lewis Park is located under the Queens approach of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. A Masonic Lodge, Francis Lewis #273, is located in Whitestone.