Henry Lewis was likely born in England around 1630. Henry married Elizabeth Slade around 1671 in Anne Arundel County, British Colonial Maryland. Henry Lewis died before April 28, 1679 in Anne Arundel County, British Colonial Maryland.
Henry Lewis was likely born in England around 1630. In 1668 Henry Lewis, physician, transported himself to Anne Arundel, Province of Maryland. Since Henry Lewis arrived as a physician, it is likely that Dr. Lewis received medical training in England and was probably born there.
Around 1671 Henry Lewis married Elizabeth Slade, daughter of William Slade. Henry and Elizabeth had 2 known children:
- Henry Lewis
- William Lewis
In 1671 Henry was a testator to George Collings' will.
William Slade, Henry's father-in-law, died in 1675. William devised Henry's wife Elizabeth a piece of land “The Square” which lay between the lands of Richard Moss and Thomas Turner. He bequeathed his son-in-law Dr. Henry Lewis, a mare about 2 years old and to his grandson Henry Lewis, a young mare, the foal of the mare bequeathed to his father. Dr. Henry Lewis along with John Rix, also spelled Ricks, were named executors.
During the 1670's and prior to his death, Dr. Lewis appraised or administered several of the estates of prominent landowners in the Town Neck and Broadneck areas of Anne Arundel County, including the estates of William Crouch, Ralph Williams, Thomas Turner, Nathaniel Stinchcomb, James Cox and Stepen White. He also appears to have attended to Thomas Stockett, Thomas Guinne (also spelled Gwinn), William Neale, William Donne, and Richard Moss as they were dying for their administration accounts record that Dr. Henry Lewis is owed payment.
In 1678 Henry patented “Lewis' Addition”, 325 acres by Cypress Swamp Creek.
Dr. Henry Lewis died prior to April 28, 1679, the date of the inventory of his estate. In his Will, Henry devised his son Henry “Lewis' Addition”, 325 acres, and his son William, the plantation where he lived “Tanyard”, also known as “The Tanyard”, and 50 acres purchased from John Clark between the Severn and Magothy Rivers on Cattail's Neck. “Tanyard” was patented to Thomas Thurston in 1664, 120 acres on the north side of the Severn River in Broadneck. It is not clear how “Tanyard” came into the possession of Dr. Henry Lewis. Henry's will also stipulated that William was never to sell any part of the land and that it should “fall from heir to heir forever”. Both sons Henry and William were children when their father died.
Henry devised his wife Elizabeth a tract of land “Lewis' Range”, 263 acres on the south side of the Patapsco River and likely was part of, if not all, the land Elizabeth had been devised by her father. A search for patents for “The Square” or for “Lewis' Range” has yet to yield a result. The patents may be known by another name and when Henry devised the tract of land, familiarly called “Lewis' Range”.
After Henry's death, Elizabeth married again, John Bird. On July 7, 1679 the Maryland Land Office issued a land warrant to John Bird of Anne Arundel County for 179 acres, of which 50 acres was due him for transporting himself into the Province and 129 acres (half of the acreage devised to Elizabeth), due him by virtue of his marriage to the relict and executrix of Henry Lewis. The administration account of the estate of Henry Lewis was filed on April 25, 1681 by John Bird of Anne Arundel County and Elizabeth “his now wife”, executrix, stating that John Bird had married the executrix of Henry Lewis "immediately after his death".
In November of 1683, a petition appeared in the Lower House of the Maryland Assembly, the outcome currently unknown:
"Then was read the petition of the orphans of Henry Lewis being presented and read in this house and a member of this house affirming to this house that the said orphans are extremely injured by the fraud of their said father-in-law [step-father]. This house do desire the upper house to take the said petition into their serious consideration and give direction to the Judges in Testamentary Causes to do therein what by the laws and precedents of this province can be done for the relief of the petitioners, and for securing what little remains of their Estate within this province."
John Bird and Elizabeth lived in Baltimore county at the time of the petition where John purchased land in 1681. He and Elizabeth then sold the same land in 1683. By 1691 John Bird was deceased. The inventory taken in Baltimore County on May 7, 1691, does not mention his wife Elizabeth, so it is presumed she died sometime between 1683 and John's death in 1691.
Genealogical Research and Life Sketch Updated: April 2022
Sources:
Gibb, Dr. Carson. “The New Early Settlers of Maryland”. Maryland State Archives. Updated 2005.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Wills. Liber 1 Folio 438.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Wills. Liber 5 Folio 45.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 2 Folios 134, 224, 294 & 304.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 4 Folios 359, 364, 388 & 567.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 5 Folios 140A & 457.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 6 Folios 90 Folio 441.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 7A Folio 34.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Wills. Liber 10 Folio 27.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber 7B Folio 8.
Maryland State Archives. Assembly Proceedings. November 1683, pg. 533.
Maryland State Archives. Maryland Land Records. Baltimore County. Liber RM HS, Folio 44.
Maryland State Archives. Probate Records. Inventories and Accounts. Liber. 13A, Folio 75.
