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.

Family Names

Genealogy is so much easier when people give their children traditional family names.  I have been able to verify my research countless number of times by looking at the names of all the siblings of my ancestors.  One or more of the siblings will usually have a middle name that comes from a grandparent or great grandparent.  Many times at least one sibling will have a middle name that comes from a maternal ancestor, which is the only way the maternal name is carried on.

Here is an example of how this naming tradition helps me.  I am having difficulty finding information on John Watson Allen.  I believe he is my 3X great grandfather, but I can't find any documentation to support that.  However, I can make assumptions based on what I do know:

• John Watson Allen married Rebecca Scott of Lunenburg County, Va.   
• Rebecca Scott's mother was Ann Dozier.
• Robert Scott Allen is the father of Augustus Dozier Allen, my great grandfather.
• Robert Scott Allen was born in Lunenburg County, Va.
• One of Augustus' sisters is named Rebecca Scott Allen.  

Therefore, I can conclude that John Watson Allen and Rebecca Scott must be the parents of Robert Scott Allen.  This conclusion does not meet genealogical proof standards, but it is all I have to go on at the moment.

Family Tree - maternal grandmother (5 generations)

This is part of the family tree that has been the most work.  There are still some unverified links here... the DNA tests have both helped and confused things.

Proving that my grandmother Teresa was actually born as Ethelyn Allen was the primary aim of the DNA test, and I believe that was a success:

1) DNA indicates a connection to the Allens of New Kent County, Virginia.  

2) Augustus Dozier Allen's father is from Virginia according to census documents.  

3) Dozier is a family name linked to my tree, further proof that Augustus Dozier Allen in my great grandfather.  

4) Augustus Allen's only daughter was named Ethelyn; therefore, she has to be my grandmother.

There is some question still about who Eliza Ann Applegate's parents are.  There are an unbelievable number of Eliza Applegates from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois! She is definitely listed on a U. S. Census document in the household of "Tabitha" Applegate; however, there is another Eliza Applegate who is the daughter of Samuel and Cassandra Newkirk. This would not seem to be the correct Eliza, except that the Newkirks have shown up in my DNA test results.  I am still scratching my head over that one.

Interesting to note here that my grandmother was born in Illinois, grew up in Wichita, and lived in an orphanage in Texas.  But both her mother and father's families originated in Virginia.  

Family Tree - paternal grandmother (5 generations)

My little red-headed grandma "Jack" Abbott has an intriguing genealogy.  The Abbott family of New Jersey were well-known piano makers from England.  John Abbott married into the Whitfield/Godfrey family, who were descendants of some important first settlers in New England including Roger Williams of Rhode Island. My grandmother's maternal ancestors were original land grant holders in Southhampton County, Virginia.  Owens, Bryant, Cobb, Underwood, Chandler, and Edwards are still common names in that area. Eley Bryant was a Civil War POW at Point Lookout, Maryland.  

I still have many questions about this branch of the family tree.  Ida Rene Bryant was the subject of more than one previous post and there are many curiosities about her life. I'd like to know exactly where Eley and Margaret Bryant lived when they moved to Princess Anne County near the end of their lives. I know it was in the Blackwater/Land of Promise area, but have no idea how to find the property.  I'd be willing to bet the house is still there! I'd like to know how the Bryant family originally connected with the Abbott family in New Jersey... Ida Rene's brother Charles Bryant moved from Southhampton County to New Jersey and became a piano dealer.  Another brother, WilliamThomas Bryant, married Rebecca Abbott, George Abbott's sister. William and Bonnie lived in Princess Anne County until his mother Margaret died and then they moved to New Jersey.  Ida Rene later married George Abbott who was 14 years younger than she.  Strange that a family in New Jersey would have so many close ties to a family so deeply rooted in Virginia.

Family Tree - paternal grandfather (5 generations)

This is my paternal grandfather Ernie Zaun's family tree.  Part of this tree doesn't go back very far because my 2X great grandfather John Adam Zaun came straight from Germany. I know where he was born, but cannot identify his parents.  My burning question to him would be, why would you come to a new country at a time when it is embroiled in a Civil War?  My 2X great grandmother Elizabeth Wellner came over from Germany with her parents on the same ship with Adam Zaun.  I found them on an immigrant passenger list, but that is all I know about them.  My great grandmother Georgia Powell ("Nanny") came from an illustrious New England lineage which includes a Governor of Connecticut and First Settlers of Hartford.  I can trace her ancestry back to the earliest colonial days in the Judd and Bradley families.

My grandfather Ernie's paternal side was from Germany as I mentioned. His mother Georgia's paternal side was from Ireland and England; her maternal side was from England and Scotland.  There are previous posts telling the stories of George James Powell, Mary Louise Judd, Orrin Bishop Judd, and Elizabeth MacDonald.  

Family Tree - maternal grandfather (5 generations)

I am so deeply immersed in the lives of our ancestors that they are almost as familiar to me as my immediate family. I have written stories about many of the individuals, but I realize that it may be difficult to keep track of the relationships if you don't visit Ancestry.com on a regular basis.  I thought it might be helpful to post a visual.

In the last post, I showed my family tree back to my 2X great grandparents.  Next I will post my four grandparents' trees back to my 4X great grandparents...starting right here with my maternal grandfather's tree:

Much of what I know about this branch of the family tree I learned from the writings of my great- grandmother Ada (Hall) Crofford.  I discovered that some of the details in her family history were not completely accurate, but she wrote stories that colorfully connected our family to historical events of the day.

Ada's mother's side of the family were prominent in the Dutch community in New York.

To remind you of a few other interesting details:  

John Dillingham told a story of being lost at sea as a young man with a few other men. They were finally rescued but not before they had discussed the possibility of which of them would be sacrificed for food.

The Dillingham family is still an important family in Liberty, Indiana - there are buildings, places, and streets named after them.  

Jacob Wandell, my 4th great grandfather, was Quartermaster at Valley Forge with Gen. George Washington. 

William Haight was mentioned in the journal of Deborah Sampson, the notorious Revolutionary War soldier (male imposter).

Andrew Hall from Michigan was trained as a Civil War soldier in Newport News.  He became a surgeon's assistant under General McClellan during the Seven Days Battle in Virginia.

Horace Calvin Crofford's discharge papers after the Civil War were signed by Ulysses S. Grant.

My Family Tree - 5 generations

Here are five generations of my family tree, as accurate as I have been able to prove thus far.  I printed this basic tree from Ancestry.com, but on the actual website, you can see all the documentation and photos that I have accumulated on each person.  Each one has a unique story to tell!  I am 100% sure of the identities of all but two of these folks.  Sadie Wright and Elizabeth Highland, both 2X great grandmothers, have precious little information available, either in family documents or online.  Their names are about all that could be found.

I hope this is readable - it was hard to get a scanned copy to fit this space.

I took an online course to be able to better understand the DNA test results. It made me realize that more of our family members should get tested in order to more fully prove my genealogy research!  I thought that siblings had nearly identical DNA, but that is not true at all.  My sister and I each got different pieces of our parents' DNA; therefore, she may have gotten pieces of DNA from an ancestor that I did not.  I also learned that cousins, up to 4th cousins, almost certainly share at least some DNA.  On the other hand, I could be cousins with someone who shares absolutely no DNA at all with me, but we could both be linked by DNA to a different cousin who shares our same ancestor.  This gets very complicated, as you can imagine.