Colonel Charles Lilburne Lewis of The Byrd

Me > Virginia Crofford > Teresa Allen > Augustus Allen > Robert Scott Allen > John Watson Allen > Turner Allen > Mary Lewis > Col. Charles Lewis.

I am posting this now, but plan to keep adding to it as I have time.  See also a previous post on the Allen and Lewis families.

Charles Lilburne Lewis was born in 1696 at Chemokin, New Kent County, Virginia.  His parents were John Taliaferro Lewis of New Kent County and Elizabeth Warner of Warner Hall (which is now a bed and breakfast and destination wedding site in Gloucester).  In 1717, Charles married Mary Howell, daughter of James Howell who was owner of "The Byrd" Plantation in Goochland. In 1725, Charles and Mary acquired The Byrd and moved there.  Charles was thereafter known as "Charles Lilburne Lewis of The Byrd." He lived there for fifty years. His son, Robert, inherited it after Charles' death.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=7213&id=I18946

Byrd plantation, showing how imports and exports came by ship to the front door. http://www.wikiwand.com/en/History_of_Virginia

The Byrd is now a farm and winery in Goochland.  I can find no mention of a historic home on the property, but it would be wonderful to visit and soak in the family history there.

Col. Lewis wrote a well-known journal during his time serving in the military under George Washington.  I purchased a copy of it from Amazon.

Research Status Update

The ancestry DNA results will take some time to sort out - LOTS of time.  I have to click on each of the hundreds of "cousins" who share my DNA and look at the list of common surnames.  A cousin may share my DNA, but have no surnames in common with my tree (how could that be?).  And not every surname is the one that links us.  We may have ten surnames in common, but which is the one that connects us? Sometimes the results will show a specific ancestor that we share (not just the surname) and it will show the relationship of that cousin to me on the family tree.  That is the gold nugget that I search for in the results.

There have been several "gold nuggets" concerning the Allens of St. Peter's Parish, New Kent County, Virginia. The common ancestors in this case are Robert Allen, Sr. (1704-1784) and his wife, Elizabeth Young Stokes.  The problem is, I am having trouble determining from which one of their many children we are descended. Working backwards from my great-grandfather Augustus Dozier Allen (1859-1904), there was his father, Robert Scott Allen (1797-1864), and HIS father, John Watson Allen (abt 1770).  I just need to determine the missing generations between the original Allen and John Watson Allen.

Robert Allen, Sr. (1704-1784) m. Elizabeth Young Stokes (1702-1762)
Children:  Lt. Robert Samuel Allen, Jr., William Carr Allen, Drury, Reynolds, David, Young, James, Josiah, Ann, Judith, Sarah, Agnes, Elizabeth, Susannah, Richard.

Our most probable path is William Carr Allen (1724-1789) > Turner Allen (1751-1800) > John Watson Allen > Robert Scott Allen > Augustus Dozier Allen.  

Augustus Allen married Eva Bosworth, so I also hoped to prove the link to the Bosworths.  Sure enough, there are several DNA matches that share specific Bosworth ancestors with my tree.  This proves that their only child "Ethelyn," and my grandmother Teresa are one and the same.  The Bosworth link also confirms our Mayflower descendance from the Howland/Tilley families.

This fulfills my primary purpose in having the DNA test done.

I will eventually write about the illustrious Allen family of Virginia, who associated with the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and who owned vast tracts of land in what is now Gloucester and New Kent County.  Stay tuned!