A quick update

Merry Christmas to you all.  May this be a wonderful Holiday for you and yours.  

I would like to update you with a few things.  Finally, I am enjoying a break; my semester ended December 13th and will start up again January 9th.   During my semester, I have had no time at all to do any research.  I have met with Professor Gunther, who was recommended to me by Professor Tadros.  Prof. Gunther is specialized in the studies of New England and its Colonies.  He has recommended a huge list of books for me to read (Ph.D. reading requirement).  In order to understand John Lewis of Westerly better, I have to go back to the beginning.  In his case, I have to follow what has been said about him.  Thus, I am starting in England, figuring out who came over to the New World when and why and what the similarities of those people were.   I would like to recommend a book by Virginia DeJohn Anderson, who is doing a great job in taking apart each element and presenting it in a way that will provide a much better understanding as to what moved the people to come to New England, which, let's not forget, was a very different reason then for those that came to the other colonies some time earlier.  Her book is titled "New England's Generation, the great migration and the formation of society and culture in the seventeenth century".

Within the book, she examines several families, such as familiar names of Roger Clap, Samuel Cole, Joseph Coleman, Benjamin Cooper, John Cotton, Davenports, Dixsons, Gaults, Samuel Gorton, Greens, Edmund Hawes, Hubbards, Johnsons, Kings, Mathers, Noyes, Paynes, Suttons, Tanners, Tildens, John White, Winthrops, and many many more.  She writes about their situation on the ships, such as the Talbot, Abella, Little Neptune, Mary Anne, Hercules, James, Rose, Jewel, Weymouth, Confidence, Sandwich and others.  You also find a very clear layout of her sources, which is something very important to me as one can follow those and hopefully end up with the primary source. 

Next, as per your request, I will write out a list of names of a book page from the Seventh Day  Baptist Church in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, which was the original SDB of Westerly, Rhode Island as I discussed in an earlier blog post.  This list will show who belonged to this church in 1718 (perhaps 1728) and will  be a help in confirming that certain people were present at the mentioned time in the mentioned "city".  I would scan this page and place it in my blog, but I copied it from the original church book and it is not a perfect copy, so I will just transcribe it as best as I can.  When something is unclear or not readable, I will mark it with [ ] and in some cases attempt transcribe within the brackets, but shall by NO means be taken as a fact.  I will start with quotation marks and copy exactly as it is written, I will not make any spelling corrections.  Do keep in mind that this is all handwritten and the person who wrote down the information was not always clear about the information given.

"A Table of the Names of the Brethren & Sisters belonging to the Church of Christ in Westerly observing the Seventh Day Sabbath Westerly 1718  it is in full communion [a different hand writing remarks: "this must have been taken in 1728 see page 26 for names in new list T.B.S. ]

X John Maxson Sr Edr	X Tobias Brand	Elizabeth Harris
X Joseph Clarke jnr	Thomas Brand	X Bethiah Hiscox
John Maxson jnr	X Samuel Beebee jnr	Mary Champlin
X Joseph Clarke Senr	-James Cove	Susanna Babcock
X Peter Crandall	X Edward Saunders jnr	Elizabeth Davis
X Samuel Beebee	-Samuel Burdick jnr	Mary Babcock
X Thomas Burdick	Zack[ ] Ren[ ]	-Lydia Babcock
William Beebee	Samuel Babcock son of Wi[ ]	-Sarah Landphear x
X Benjamin Burdick	William Beebee jr	Elizabeth Clarke
X Joseph Maxson	Silas Greenman	Dorothy Cottrell
X Francis Colegrove	Tho Wells	Elizabeth Gardner alias Cok[ ]
X William Tanner	X John Ma[ccarter] was Baptized September the [ ] AD 1750 and under hands	Elizabeth Newberry
X Israel Lewis	Sisters	Rebeckah beebee alias brown
X James Halls	Mary Cove	Hannah beebee
Samuel Clarke	Ann Colegrove	Rachel Roggers
Nathanial Newberry	Mary Lewis	Judeth Roggers
Georg Babcock	Judeth Maxson	Bethiah Maxson
Georg Stilman	X Ann Lewis	Elizabeth Maxson
Thomas Clarke	X Martha Burdick	Sarah Hall jnr
Thomas Hiscox	X Charity Davey	Freegift Clarke
John Witter	-Dorethey Clarke	Jane Loveless
Samuel Burdick	Tassey Maxson	Mary Satterly
X Edward Saunders	X Mercy Crumb	Ruth Beebee
-Oliver Babcock	Ruth Landphear	Mary Rhoades
X William Clark	Deborah Stillman	X Mercy Babcock
Jonathan Roggers	Mary Burdick	Mary Brown
X Georg Brown	Mary Clark	X Jane Clarke
X Jeremiah Crandall	Mary Tanner	Isbell Bliven
Benjamin Tanner	Constant Hall	Mary Wells
X Theodo[fius] Landphear	Sarah Hall	Sarah Eneas
X Thomas Greenman	Susanna Hall	Indian Betty
X John Davis	X Priscilla Crandall	X Mary Greenman
X Samuel Bayly	Mary Clark [jer:hr] wife	Elizabeth Lewis
John Dodge	Joanna Lewis	Bathshua King
X Joseph Maxson [jr]	X Elizabeth Davel	X Sarah Nyles
John Maxson jr:son	Hannah Larkin	Sarah Tompson
X Peter Barker	Rachel Lanphear	Sarah Lewis
X John Enos [Sr]	-Mary Lewis	X Mary Crandall
John Crandall	Elizabeth Brand	X Annah Clarke
X Jonathan Maxson	Rebeckah Vaurs	X Jean Burdick
Hubbard Burdick	X Sarah Witter	X Jean Shelly
Robert Burdick	Elizabeth Larkin	Elizabeth Dodge
		Jean Tanner
		X Susanah Barker
		Content Maxson
		Rob[ ] E[ ]

  (it is read from first column down to second column down to third column down) I do not know what the "x" or "-" in front of some names stand for.  I do know, however, that there is another book that goes with this list.  I will contact the director of the SDB as he was very helpful some time ago and see if he is in possession of that book as it certainly holds more detailed information, but is not in the possession of the first Westerly (Hopkinton) church.  Once I obtain that information, I will share it with you fine people right here via my blog.    The next list I will type up is another list of names, however, this one contains maiden names and identifies females with their husbands.   Stay tuned !  I will also continue with Jonathan Lewis, where my blog came to a halt due to lack of time.

Please remember, when you copy information off of my site and publish it elsewhere, i.e. Ancestry.com, Findagrave.com, familytree.com, your own blog etc.. , to cite me as your source (my name "Liane" and my blog address).  If you would like to receive a copy of the above scanned page, please provide me with your e-mail address either here via a comment or via email to LianeLew@gmail.com.  I have a lot more scans I will share openly as time permits.  However, if you see a name familiar to you in the above list and wonder if there is more, please let me know and I will check all other scans of the original book.  To those who have asked for the above information, I hope it helps a little more in your own research.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU FINE PEOPLE !!!!

WORK IN PROGRESS

Good morning to you fine people.  

    I have been unable as of late to spend a lot of time on my research.  School has "kicked it up a notch" and I find myself writing paper after paper without much of breathing room.  I think I will take my summer break to work on my research as well as putting all my findings in Rhode Island together to make sense of them, so that I may share them with you here.    

I am still contemplating to go back to Rhode Island (including Connecticut) to spend more time in their town halls, churches and libraries, but my History Professor advised me that Rhode Island is miserable during the summer months.  We shall see.   This will be my plan for the summer though:   MY RESEARCH.

Please bear with me and I shall pick up where I left off by mid May 2011.     (I will also address your questions then, perhaps that shall be my first post...  keep sending me your questions  use this e-mail:  lianelew@gmail.com) ...      Until then... lots of Hugs and stuff ;-)

Back in "Hotlanta"

Watch Hill, Westerly, Rhode Island

        We left Rhode Island early this morning.  It was somewhat sad to drive by the places that have become meaningful.  Last stop in Hopkinton to put a little more gasoline in the car, just in case.  I got my last little giggle out of that "quaint" little town.  On the sign for the gasoline, it gave two prices per gallon.  One indicating the total cost of the gallon when paying with cash, and the other showing a different total per gallon should you want to pay with your credit card.  Well, I thought that was a bit strange and funny at the same time, yet still making sense. 

Arrival in Hotlanta (as it was 88F at the airport !!!) made one wish to get back to Westerly where it was so much less crazy.  Such hectic !!   Westerly was so very calm, so very different, so very ... well.. just something else.  Not just the landscape, which reminded exactly of how Alan Taylor described it in his book American Colonies: Settling of North America.  I walk away from Rhode Island not quite with the knowledge I had hoped to gain as I could not see all I wanted to see, talk to all the people I wanted to see;  and those i did talk to, I could not ask all I wanted to ask.  I am contemplating of returning to get my answers.  I can't just leave those questions unanswered.  There is more history to be uncovered, more religious views to consider, more to explore.  

Although it was sad to leave this calm and very old place, where the people were just wonderful and where one felt as if stepped into the past,   I am happy to be back home... for now.   While I was in Westerly, the hotel internet connection did not allow access to my facebook and I could only post my blog updates as a blogger function with facebook.  I saw just now how many messages await me, but I shall answer all of those and those in my e-mail tomorrow.  

Be a little patient with me over the next couple of days as I will sort out my paperwork and pictures and then share them with you fine people. 

To all those of you whom I've met in Westerly, Hopkinton, Exeter, Connecticut and have become readers of my silly little journey:  I thank you all so very much (just once more) for all the wonderful time, for your kindness, for the gifts and for the laughs.  I cherish all of you wonderful people.  

And to you fine people who have been my readers of this blog for some time now, I thank you for joining me on this crazy trip, for giving me your feedback, and for asking me questions, which I will get to once I read all of my e-mail and facebook messages.  

Tons of hugs and stuff from me to you !!!

18 March 2011 Last full day in Rhode Island and my struggle with that stupid GPS thingy

Wilcox Park

     Today, Rhode Island treated us to wonderful weather.  Would you believe it was almost in the 60s?  I know !!!  Our first stop was back to that "quaint" (I've learned that as my new vocabulary word...  i even like how funny it sounds.. quaint) town of downtown Westerly and had a wonderful breakfast at the Prime Time Cafe in Connecticut.  I thought it was pretty clever when I remarked that we parked in Rhode Island, while eating in Connecticut, but it did not earn me any giggles or applause from Carol.  And the rest of the day, i really became very close-friends with my GPS...GRRRR.

After breakfast, we had to go back to the HUGE River Bend Cemetery and meet John there.  Well, my dilemma was that the car was parked in an area where I couldn't turn to the street I needed to turn to, and instead, it lead me further into Connecticut.  Yeah.. Paper bag comes to mind once again.  I finally turned into a street, did the ole turn around thingy and went back from where we came.  Whew, and now my friend the GPS could relax again and show me the way.  At the River Bend Cemetery, we enter the little building and two ladies are handing us a Cemetery lot list (they were two books) and pointed out a large number of Lewis-Family-Members. One of the ladies said that they are not allowed to make copies due to copyright laws.  I sit down and start to write... 1 name of 70+ names...  I don't get to write as fast as i wanted to as the "talking" started...  5 min. later, I bring name number 2 to paper.  after 15 minutes, I made it to 20... oops, wrong row again... concentration was just not where it was supposed to be as genealogy questions kept coming up. 

 John enters the building, we shook hands and he asked me what I'm writing.  "I am copying the cemetery list."  "You want me to copy that for you?"  "Can you do that?"  And now the other lady looks up and says that that's against the copyright, afterall, those two stood out there in the cold, "I remember it was so cold when they were out there and recorded the names,"  she said.  John looks at me and repeats his question and, of course, I said "yes".  He smirked!  "I will have no part of this" the lady at the desk says in the direction of John who is walking to the copy machine.  Zip-Zip-Zip... all is copied and we are ready to leave.  Of course, he remarked that he would have done this for me already if I would have sent the e-mail we've discussed last week, but he smiled while saying it...  The people here are so nice.. even the lady at the desk had some nice words to say.  We left to go to the Wilcox Park.  It's a cute, or perhaps quaint park ;-)  Unfortunately,  no educational information about that park could be found... but we found a few other things for the ole camera anyway.

such as this white oak tree... crazy tree!!

We had to get back to the hotel to do our check in and print out our boarding passes and the front office was closing early.  While Carol is dealing with the check in and passes, I called the Westerly Town Hall to see if I can make an appointment to show my silly little face at their Office to meet with the Town Clerk.  I was told that all the old documents were destroyed and if there are any information of value, it probably be found at the Westerly Public Library.  Since I was there already, I had no reason to go again as Mrs. Wright was so very helpful when I solicited historical documents of Westerly.  Next Stop, Pastor Stall, to pick up the book he had promised me.  After that, we were off to the Town Hall in Exeter.  And because I am so great in organizing and coordinating a day, I wrote down a description from a map Peter Lewis sent me to see Lewis City.  Worked out perfect, because the Town Hall was not far from that Lewis City.  However, my GPS argued with me that the place does not exist.  But not to worry, as I wrote down how to get there as it showed on Peter Lewis' map.

Wilcox Park (I am not that big of a fan of Columbus anymore though)

 Leaving Pastor Stall's church a bit later than anticipated, we arrived at the Exeter Town Hall 20 minutes before closing.  Not to worry, we know exactly what we are here to look for.  John Lewis, born 1780, son to John Lewis (1747).  The Lady gave us a name index which then shows which Book has the desired information.  First things first, we find John Lewis (1747), only, in this book his birth date is listed as : 11-10-1746 ( Exeter Births, Marriages, Deaths, Book 3, Page 164).  And that was it.  Nothing further.  No data in regards to his own family, in particular, his son John, born 1780.  Two minutes to spare.  I rush through the books to find some data for Peter Lewis.  I made a notation of what I found and we had to leave.  Wow... twenty minutes sure go by fast.  We go back to the car and I took out the notes how to get from here to the Lewis City.  The town clerk said "oh yes, you turn left and then right and you have to go about 5 miles.  I lived here all of my life.  I don't know if you actually can get there.  This is city property, there might just be some tracks going there."   Great, we shall see how far we get.  And so I turn left out of the parking lot.  After some time we noticed that we are no longer in Exeter.  Okay, next opportunity I get, I shall turn around.  The GPS is freaking out not knowing where to put the arrow.  It was a simple map I received from Peter Lewis.  From where I was, I should have had only about two turns and voila, Lewis City, right before me.  But no...  Instead, I am driving back to the Exeter Town Hall and while driving, I call Lewis to "HELP!!!".   Lewis, of course, sitting in his office in downtown Atlanta, checks out the ole google maps and tells me to go West on 10 Rod Road to Victory Rd.  "Are you heading west?"  I don't know why he keeps asking me those questions... I can read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but I have no idea where North, East and all that is.  He is such a patient man.  "I am going towards I95" I say... that's all I know.  Lewis agrees I am going West and tells me I don't have to turn right to follow Victory Rd or lane, but instead, I can take the left and follow 10 Rod Rd all the way to Midway Rail and then to Plain Rd.  Sounds easy enough, I think to myself.  And that's exactly what I did... i branch off to the left as previously discussed and follow the road.  Now, I am driving under a bridge, passing the on-ramp to I95S to my left.  "What?  where are you?, Lewis asked.  "What's the street you're on?" "On the same one I turned onto" ... I am quite helpful, yes?  "Okay, now I am in a little town.. it says 138S and there is a turn coming up, where do I go?"  Lewis can't find me on the map... I am starting to panic just a bit.  Lewis tells me to stop so he can find me, i turn left into a parking lot.  "What street are you on?", was his next question.. I don't know...  I get into the entire spill again of how I have not left the road he sent me on. "Which way is the plane facing?"... oh yeah, 'cause Lewis is a pilot, the GPS has a plane... is he asking me again whether I am facing north or west?  Why does he keep doing that?  "Push the zoom in button on the screen !!!"  Yeah... I told you "paper bag", didn't I?  Who gets lost with a GPS??????   do I really have any business driving in a different State?  In Rhode Island of all places... I will get lost here.  I don't think Rhode Island needs a crazy person.  Oh my gosh, I will die here!!!   "Go pull back out of the parking lot and take a left"... oh good, I do get to go home, he found me on the map.   A sign reads "Welcome to Hopkinton"... what????  How did we get to Hopkinton?  By now, Carol is ready to give up.  She tells me to just go ahead and push the button on the screen which says "Hotel/Resort".  Noooooo.. we can't give up...  Who gives up???  Oh good, another sign I95 to Westerly.  Go push the button to go home, Carol tells me again.  Meanwhile, Lewis had missed his bus and was called by the girls, asking where he is.  Really?  We give up now?   Fine... and so I push the button, thank Lewis for making sure I didn't end up in some of those spooky woods they have here and turned onto I95.  (I shall never leave Hotlanta without Lewis again!!!)

We are really hungry, so we decide to stop at that restaurant we keep passing when we get off I95, Exit 1.  Can't miss the turn to the restaurant.... well, YOU can't... I can.. and so i did.... unbelievable!!!!  We get to the restaurant and asked them if they have that infamous Rhode Island Clam Chowder... No, they don't, but we stayed anyway.  The restaurant was on the golf course, one player on the green.  After dinner, we returned to the hotel... while I am typing away, Carol fell asleep on the couch... She must have had one awesome and very exciting day !!! 



Tomorrow, we are heading back to Boston very early in the morning to catch our flight back to Hotlanta.  Although, as great as this trip was, I am so very disappointed that I was unable to prove the father-son-connection of Caleb and John Lewis.  :-(

Wilcox Park

17 March 2011, Hopkinton & Westerly, R.I.

         remember to click the images ;-)
   Top of the evenin', my fine people.  Today was a beautiful day.  Sunshine and what felt quite warm (keeping in mind that yesterday we had in the low 40s and lots of rain).  We met with Pastor Stall this morning at 10 a.m. (actually, the girl that I am, I made us be fashionably late by about ten minutes).  We met at his office where he allowed me to continue scanning pages out of the original SDB Membership-book (i scanned more than one-hundred pages), while Pastor Stall copied documents for me we found the other day.  I have yet to determine what those documents are about, but I am sure, getting more familiar with the belief-system of the SDB's, I should understand those documents better.  Pastor Stall has a closet full of old books, collecting dust and are just laying in there, not very loved by anyone.  Breaks my heart !!!

After the scans and copies were done, Pastor Stall allowed me to interview him and we talked about the history of the SDB church, the people which would attend and discussed for a moment whether or not the Narraganset Indians would either convert and join the church or took parts of the belief system to include in their own traditions, to which Pastor Stall said that he does not believe that to be the case, as the people of the SDB Church were "very English, very Protestant, very White."  As Pastor Stall could not recall the dates of some events, he said that he would get me a copy of a book he has, which will answer all those questions I have.  He has already given me a book "A Choosing People: The History of the Seventh Day Baptists" by Don A. Sanford, which gives an insight once more of the Journey of Roger Williams and William Penn.   After we finished up, we left the church to go to The First Hopkinton Cemetery in the hopes to find Daniel Lewis, son of John Lewis of Westerly.

No Luck in regards to finding any known Lewis.  There was only one headstone of a Lewis, and I am not sure whether he is even of the same Lewis Family.  Pastor Stall called a man named Charlie who is in the possession of an old cemetery which could have the Lewis' members interred there.  Before we went to his house, Pastor Stall joined us for lunch and took us to a local Pizza place.  The drive to Charlies house was quite interesting.  I love how they have their houses and land here.  Charlie and his wife were so nice (as is everyone we encounter in this town).  Charlie invited us into his house and unrolled the old paper map of the cemetery.  All names I recognized, Babcock, Burdick, Saunders, and so on, just not a Lewis.  Charlie and his wife suggested to go up to the Town Hall.

We arrived at the Town Hall, a tiny, old,  white house, right across from a meeting house which was built by the SDB of Hopkinton for the people in order to shorten their travels to church.  Inside, we meet the town clerk who was very nice, providing us with some background on the burial ground where Daniel Lewis and Mary Maxson (his wife) can be found, but one should not travel there, as it is deep in the "woods".  She took out a book she and another lady wrote, showing us a page which contained an image of Daniel and his wife's headstone, including exact description of the location.  The town clerk allowed me to scan the page and then went on to make copies of a list of Lewis Family Members buried in the Second Hopkinton Cemetery.  Before we went to the second cemetery, we stopped at a very small one, which was suggested by Charlie, but it turned out to hold the Thursten Family.  At the Second Hopkinton Cemetery we found a few Lewis's before Pastor Stall had to leave to tend his "pastoral" obligations.  Lewis' mom and I decided to drive back into Westerly, visiting the River Bend Cemetery and the Lewis Cemetery (or burial ground) of which I spoke in my post of John Lewis of Westerly and then see the house which is believed to be of John Lewis.

River Bend Cemetery is HUGE.  Right by the water and just HUGE.  Lots of Babcock's, Saunders', Wilcox's, Langworthy's, etc.  I have to call John again, the nice man I spoke to before of this cemetery.  He told me to send him a list of Lewis's and he would find them all for me and then give a tour.  I just did not have the time at all to get this done before my departure from Atlanta.  I thought: "how hard can that be to find a headstone with a name on it???  I will be just fine."  Well, very hard!!!!!  and no, I was not fine.  So, a phone call to John it is and hopefully he will forgive my rudeness and show us around.  After finding our way back out of that HUGE cemetery, I drove us to the Lewis Burial ground next to the Moore company.  Thanks to Peter Lewis, who has been there before, he suggested where to park the car and how to get to the area.  My Lewis put that spot to park into the GPS and then hoped for the best, as I manage to get lost even with a GPS.  My history Professor made a statement which made me giggle, 'cause he might as well said my name with it.  He said: "some of you can't find their way out of a paper bag" referring to the results of a geography quiz.  I did well on the quiz, but in real life, well.. it's just another story I shouldn't get into.  The Lewis Cemetery (i didn't take my camera while illegally entering Mr. Moore's property).   What a sad vision.  Nothing there reminds even remotely of a burial ground... nothing reminds at all that a great person and his family were laid to rest right there.  Pretty sure that was not what he had in mind when devoting a little corner of his land to be the final resting place for him and his family.

 We then continued to what we thought to be the Lewis house (also put into the GPS by my lovely Lewis [i am telling you, i'd be sooooo lost if Lewis would not take such good care of my location-deficiency ... paper bag]).  I cannot be sure, but we somehow believe that this picture is it.  It is right by the water.  Beautiful !!!!   From here, we had a crazy thought of going to Watch Hill.  People kept telling us that we need to go there.   Now the dangerous adventure begins, as Lewis did not put that into the GPS.  But I did well.... I only had to turn around once to correct my direction.  Yeah, I was proud of myself.  We made it there and made it all the way to the very tip.  It was well worth the trip.   After that, we drove back towards our hotel.

Watch Hill

Watch Hill

Finally, we made it to the beach right at our hotel.  It was quite the view.  I could stay forever !!!   In all the excitement, we forgot to go to the Wilcox Park.  We shall do so before we have to leave this Saturday.  It was a great day, in part due to Pastor Stall.

Westerly (at our hotel)

Watch Hill is where the money is... just in case you, like me, thought that everything is just old and tiny over here!!

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In addition:  Thanks to Peter Lewis (once again) who provided a picture of the actual Lewis-Card-Perry-House, I shall share it with you all right here...

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16 March 2011, Westerly, Rhode Island

                         (Don't forget to click on the images for a larger display)
  Today was a good day.  Weather-wise, not so much as it was raining until the early afternoon; but in regards to research it was a very nice day.  Thanks to my Lewis, all I have to do when we get to the car, is hit the button on the ole Garmin, find a destination within the "favorites-tab" and off we go.  Our destination for today is the Westerly Public Library.  On our way, we passed the Riverbend Cemetery (which we will see tomorrow) and the Company building located right next to the Lewis Cemetery (we will see that tomorrow as well)(I have spoken of this cemetery in my post for John Lewis of Westerly).  And then we entered this cute little area, full of cute little shops and restaurants.  The Family houses are quite pretty, reminding of Colonial times.

At the Westerly Public Library we met the Librarian Nina Wright, who was ever so helpful, providing quite the old documents of the purchase of Westerly, town meetings, records of the English having to deal with the local Indians and much more.  She also provided us with some genealogical books, especially a collection of five volumes by Michael Cook "Pioneer Lewis Families".  Michael Cook set out to find his own lineage of Stephen Lewis, however, he was not successful in doing so.  Instead, for ten years, he created a collection of many Lewis Families often using as his reference the infamous Lewisiana, or Lewis Letters , as they were often referred to (I have mentioned those in previous posts as my own reference).   With this in mind, we also know to take on his collection carefully and understand that it could have mistakes in its reports.  I have ordered those books at my local library a while back, but unfortunately, only few copies exist and those libraries lucky enough to have his volumes in their possession are not willing at all to lend those to other libraries.   I was soooo happy to finally see those books.

Mrs. Wright allowed me to scan the documents where one can read about the "Misquamicut Purchase", the purchase of land which is now known as Westerly.  Although, this document is not the original (I am sorry, Professor Tadros, I tried !!!), it is only a copy.  Mrs. Wright believes that they no longer have an original.  Either it burned in a fire, or it was perhaps stolen by those who looked for some verification that they are of Indian decent, for what purpose I am a bit unclear, but Mrs. Wright  mentioned the nearby Casino in Connecticut as a reason for the need of verification to their Indian heritage; Mrs. Wright could not say for sure though.  For now, I shall be happy with the "Copy", and happy I am. (even though I was still not able to make that darn "Caleb-John" Connection...GRRRR)

At about 5:30 p.m. we left the Library to find a restaurant to get something to eat.  We walked to the Pawkatuck River and saw the restaurant suggested by Mrs. Wright "Prime Time Cafe".  This Restaurant is actually in Connecticut; we had one foot in Rhode Island and the other in Connecticut... I thought that was pretty cool.  The food and the service were excellent.  I even learned something new, and at first I thought he was making fun of me; he was telling us that there is a Rhode Island Clam Chowder, as I wondered which one was New England Clam chowder, the white one or the red one.  Later, a lady came in and was saying that we should not leave Rhode Island without having had a Rhode Island Clam Chowder, which this Restaurant did not serve.  We shall not leave this State without having had "Rhode Island Clam Chowder".  

Tomorrow, we meet with Pastor Stall once more.  Weather is supposed to be in the high 50's and sunny... See you all tomorrow ;-)

15 March 2011, Coventry and Hopkinton, Rhode Island

Today was a bit of an emotional day.  We went to the Town Hall of Foster, Rhode Island to look for Caleb Lewis'  twin sons Henry and Rhodes, born in 1841 in Foster.  Nothing could be found.  No sign of Caleb Lewis or his sons even having been in Foster at all.  Looked through birth records, probate records, deeds, and even tax records... nothing !!!  With that disappointment, we decided to go and find the cemetery we tried to find yesterday;  the Lewis Cemetery on Lewis Farm Road in Coventry.

The GPS didn't help much as it could not find a Lewis Farm Road at all.  I called my very dependable Lew-Lew and he guided us to where we needed to be.  I almost tossed out the ole Garmin, as it then displayed  "driving on Lewis Farm Road".  We drove along the entire street.. one of those dark roads again, with tons of creepy trees, and those stone walls and very old houses.   We reach the end of the road and have not seen a cemetery.  I turned around and figured we should drive that road one more time, just in case, when this very nice lady stopped beside us, rolled down her window and asked if we were lost.

She told us that there is indeed a Lewis cemetery, right on the Lewis Land, which no longer belongs to the Lewis' Family though.  She told us that the new owner has to allow us access to the cemetery, as one has to walk across his property to reach the cemetery.  We thanked her and drove back down towards the property she described.   A very large piece of land with a dark brown wooden house, can't miss it.  The cemetery is fenced in.  When they say fenced in, it does not necessarily mean that there is a wooden or metal fence, but rather that knee-high stone wall.  We arrived at the property, which is a corner property.  So very large, with a body of water, like a small lake, very hilly, surrounded by trees.  And right next to the house, a small stone wall encasing; indeed a cemetery. 

Somehow the sun went away, leaving us on this gray, very gloomy, spooky, overgrown little old cemetery.  Within that stone fenced cemetery was small area fenced in with metal rods.  A sign, "Historical Cemetery, Coventry" and two empty Headstsone-holders, for the lack of a better word.  There were no head stones, but those two stone place holders.  Somebody placed two little American Flags right there, indicating perhaps the involvement in the civil war if not even in the American Revolutionary War.   The rest of the stone encased area just looked devastated and so very sad.  Headstones were either without writing (perhaps due to erosion), broken, fallen over, or sunken halfway into the ground.  Some of those that were supposed to be there, were not to be found.  Perhaps those were totally consumed by the ground. 

 

ADDITION:  above: This enclosed area within the Lewis Cemetery is the resting place of Benoni E. Lewis and his wife Sarah (Hawkins).

However, some stones were in better condition and one could actually read what was recorded on them.  One of those was that of John R. Lewis.  Another one was that of Amy Sheldon Lewis, wife of John Lewis (b. 1747).   I took pictures of every headstone for those readers who are interested in receiving those pictures.  After we climbed back over the stone fence, we walked back to the car and made our way back to the hotel room.  Pastor Stall, from the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Hopkinton, R.I. called and suggested to get together this evening so that I may look through "the vault". 

An edition of the church was built where Daniel Lewis'  dwelling house stood.  Daniel Lewis is a son of John Lewis (the John Lewis who settled in Westerly, after participating in the negotiation with the Narragansett Indians for the purchase of the land (Misquamicut Purchase (now known as Westerly)), brother to our Samuel Lewis.  Daniel Lewis was married to Mary Maxson, daughter of Mr. Maxson, who came to Hopkinton from Newport in what is called the Newport Migration (or Newport Movement) in 1661, after the purchase of Westerly was completed.  He and Mr. Clarke founded the SDB Church in Hopkinton and today, I was looking at the original Membership-Book.  I did not take a picture, but will do so tomorrow.  It shows as members the Lewis Family (mainly the sons of John Lewis and their wives).  Pastor Stall was kind enough to allow me to scan those book pages.  At 9 p.m. we left the church and will return on Thursday. 

                                            The day was not a total loss after all.