MERIWETHER Lucy

Notes:

Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks
Lucy Meriwether was born at Cloverfields on February 4, 1752. She married William Lewis of Locust Hill; he died in 1779 and she married Captain John Marks six months later. Lucy Meriwether was well known in Albemarle County throughout her adult life. Besides being the mother of the famed explorer, she had medical skills and often rode throughout the county to treat the sick. Even into old-age, she thought nothing of riding several miles to go treat an ill acquaintance.
She is reported to have notable culinary and intellectual skills as well. She could not afford many books, but collected a small library throughout her life. In her will, she was careful to address the dispersion of the books among her offspring; appraisers valued the total collection at the modern equivalent of several hundred dollars.
With regards to her cooking, Thomas Jefferson reportedly remarked "Merriwether Lewis' mother made very nice hams-better than even Monticello could produce."
A male acquaintance once described her as having a perfect person and complimented her on having "activity beyond her sex." She even scared away a crowd of rowdy British soldiers during the time that she lived at Locust Hill, her husband's family's home, with a rifle. That rifle came in handy as well when a hunting party from Locust Hill failed to kill a deer. A deer however had been cornered onto the grounds of Locust Hill by the party hounds, and Mrs. Lewis-Marks shot it and turned it into a succulent dinner before the party even returned.
Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks gave birth to Jane Meriwether Lewis, Meriwether Lewis, Lucinda Lewis (who died in childhood) and Reuben Lewis while married to William Lewis and John Marks and Mary Garland Marks while married to Captain John Marks. Both Reuben and John (II) grew up to become doctors, taking after their mother's medicinal abilities.
Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks was widowed a second time in 1791. She returned to Albemarle for good, and Locust Hill became her property after Meriwether's mysterious death in 1809. She started the Locust Hill Graveyard in 1810, probably on the hopes that she could have Meriwether's body re-interred there from Tennessee, and because her son-in-law Edmund Anderson and a neighbor died that year and needed to be buried. She lived there until her death in 1837 with her widowed daughter Jane Lewis Anderson.

Buried:
She started the Locust Hill Graveyard in 1810, probably on the hopes that she could have Meriwether's body re-interred there from Tennessee, and because her son-in-law Edmund Anderson and a neighbor died that year and needed to be buried. She lived there until her death in 1837 with her widowed daughter Jane Lewis Anderson.

Family/Spouse: LEWIS William. William (son of Col. LEWIS Robert, III and MERIWETHER Jane) was born about 1735 in Locust Hill, Albemarle, Virginia; died on 14 Nov 1779 in Cloverfields, Albemarle, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. LEWIS Jane Meriwether was born on 5 Mar 1770; died on 15 Mar 1845.
2. LEWIS Meriwether was born on 18 Aug 1774 in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; died on 11 Oct 1809 in Grinder's Switch, Tenn.
3. LEWIS Lucinda and died.
4. Dr. LEWIS Reuben was born in 1777; died in 1844.

Lucy married Capt. MARKS John in May 1780. John died in 1791. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Lucy Meriwether was born at Cloverfields on February 4, 1752. She married William Lewis of Locust Hill; he died in 1779 and she married Captain John Marks six months later.

In November of 1779, William Lewis died of Pneumonia. Less than six months later on May 13, 1780, Lucy married Capt. John Marks.

1. Dr. MARKS John, II
2. MARKS Mary Garland

Notes:

I am looking over some of the documents I have on my ancestors, who served in the Revolutionary War, and took note of the signatures. For some reason they just jumped out at me, and I thought they would be of interest to the list.

The Document I have is from Ambrose Lewis, who is the brother of my direct ancestor Charles Lewis. Ambrose and Charles served in the Revolutionary War as Seamen and Foot Soldiers. The document I have is a certification that Ambrose Lewis, is entitled to the proportion of land allowed a Sailor of the State Navy for three years service, and it is signed (it looks like December, or September), 21st 1783. There are two signatures, one is Thomas Meriwether, and the other is Benjamin Harrison. I believe this is the Thomas Meriwether who married his cousin Jane Meriwether.

Benjamin Harrison was the governor of Virginia at that time. Ambrose Lewis went to Washington DC after his pension was suspended. It was there that he petitioned the senate to have his military service at the Battle of Camden SC added to the record. He finally won, but his land bounty certificate was used by his heirs.

This short document has quite a bit of historical information on it.

Anita


Col. David Meriwether married Ann Holmes and had a son, Thomas. This Thomas Meriwether married Elizabeth Thornton, and had 11 children, including Lucy Meriwether , the mother of Meriwether Lewis. Ann also gave birth to Colonel Nicholas Meriwether (the first Meriwether to live at Cloverfields with his wife, Margaret Douglas) (Anderson, 1984) , Francis, David, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Mildred, Thomas, and Jane. You will notice by now that the Meriwether family tended to recycle the same name every generation, and occasionally more than once a generation. This has become very confusing to genealogists. Many have confused which Nicholas married who, and who exactly was Meriwether Lewis' grandfather. This presentation streamlines the family to list those who directly pertain to the explorers to clarify the connections.

Thomas married THORNTON Elizabeth. Elizabeth and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

When David Meriwether was born in 1690 in Goochland, Virginia, his father, Nicholas, was 25 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 24. He married his first wife in 1711 in New Kent, Virginia. In 1713 he married his second wife in Virginia. He died on December 25, 1744, in Louisa, Virginia, at the age of 54.

Birth: Probably James City County, maybe Surry County
Burial: Buried beside his father on the east side of the Rivanna River. Site has been lost.


Children
Thomas MERIWETHER b: ABT 1713 in New Kent County, Virginia
David MERIWETHER b: 5 OCT 1716 in Hanover County, Virginia
Nicholas MERIWETHER b: 11 Feb 1719/20 in New Kent County, Virginia
Anne MERIWETHER b: 11 NOV 1721 in Hanover County, Virginia
Sarah MERIWETHER b: 12 Feb 1724/5 in Hanover County, Virginia
Francis MERIWETHER b: ABT 1726 in Virginia
James MERIWETHER b: 1 JUN 1729 in Hanover County, Virginia
William MERIWETHER b: 25 DEC 1730 in Goochland County, Virginia

Col. David Meriwether married Ann Holmes and had a son, Thomas. This Thomas Meriwether married Elizabeth Thornton, and had 11 children, including Lucy Meriwether , the mother of Meriwether Lewis. Ann also gave birth to Colonel Nicholas Meriwether (the first Meriwether to live at Cloverfields with his wife, Margaret Douglas) (Anderson, 1984) , Francis, David, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Mildred, Thomas, and Jane. You will notice by now that the Meriwether family tended to recycle the same name every generation, and occasionally more than once a generation. This has become very confusing to genealogists. Many have confused which Nicholas married who, and who exactly was Meriwether Lewis' grandfather. This presentation streamlines the family to list those who directly pertain to the explorers to clarify the connections.

David married HOLMES Anne in 1713 in New Kent County, VA. Anne (daughter of HOLMES George, Esq.) was born on 19 Dec 1695 in King and Queen Court House, King and Queen, Virginia, USA; died on 11 Mar 1735 in Gwathmey, Hanover, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt. Death: 16 Jul 1694, New Kent County, VA
• Alt. Birth: 19 Dec 1695, Farnham, Yorkshire, England
• Alt. Death: 11 Mar 1735, Louisa County, VA
• Alt. Death: 11 Mar 1736, Gwathmey, Hanover, Virginia, USA

Notes:

Alt. Death:
Ann Holmes was born on July 16, 1694, in New Kent, Virginia

from Ancestry.com

Alt. Birth:
Type: Web Site
Title: LDS Ancetsral File
URL: www.familysearch.com

Alt. Death:
Ann Holmes died on March 11, 1735, in Louisa, Virginia, when she was 40 years old.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer/Planter, land speculator; Attorney
• Residence: 1729, Cismont, Albemarle County, VA; Cloverfields plantation
• Residence: 1735, Goochland County, VA

Notes:

Nicholas Meriwether was born on October 26, 1665, in Iceland, the child of Nicholas Meriwether to Elizabeth Woodhouse, age 32, and Nicholas Meriwether, age 34. He married Elizabeth Crawford in 1687 in Buckingham County, Virginia. They had eight children in 17 years. He died in November 1744 in Virginia, having lived a long life of 79 years.

Col. Nicholas Meriwether II
Col. Nicholas Meriwether II amassed a large quantity of land, at one point owning about 33,000 acres. His will, one of the longest recorded in Virginia, was witnessed by Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson.
Buried: East bank of Rivanna River, near present day Charlottesville. Actual site has been lost.

Children
William MERIWETHER b: ABT 1688 in James City County, Virginia
David MERIWETHER b: ABT 1690 in James City County, Virginia
Thomas MERIWETHER b: ABT 1691 in Virginia
Anne MERIWETHER b: ABT 1694 in Virginia
Sarah MERIWETHER b: 1697 in Virginia
Nicholas MERIWETHER b: 11 JUL 1699 in Virginia
Elizabeth MERIWETHER b: 20 JUN 1703 in Virginia
Jane MERIWETHER b: ABT 1705 in Virginia
Mary MERIWETHER b: ABT 1707 in Virginia

Lake Meriweather is located there and poss named after him

Historical Background The first plantation house was built by Nicholas Meriwether about 1735 where he died in 1744. Sometime before the Revolutionary War, the house burned and Col. Nicholas Lewis, grandson and heir of Meriwether, built a second main house which has since disappeared. Colonel Nicholas Lewis (1728-1807) (uncle of the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis) was a surveyor who served in several public roles including sheriff, surveyor and magistrate.[4] The 1782 tax records indicate he owned 33 slaves, 80 cattle and 17 horses.[5] His neighbor and friend Thomas Jefferson paid tribute to him in his writings for bravery in fighting the Cherokee Indians in 1776:[6]

Residence:
Cloverfields Plantation: The Cloverfields plantation, which the Meriwether family first acquired as part of the 3,000 acre grant to Nicholas Meriwether II in 1729. No one called it"cloverfields"until at least 1760, when Nicholas Meriwether II and his wife, Margaret Douglas built the first dwelling on the property. At the present time, there are several buildings in which people live. The original chimney from the kitchen still stands on the property, as well as the original smokehouse. The other buildings have been updated and/or rebuilt since the Meriwether's lived there. One of the buildings was added to the property in order to keep it from being destroyed. Developers were building on the land where the building originally stood. The graveyard is, of course, also in its original spot and condition. Edward C. Mead wrote in 1899"Here sleep undisturbed on their native ground those noble men and women who lived in the exciting times of the Revolution and saw the wild country emerge into a'new nation.'"Many of the people who lived at the plantation were originally buried in the family plot, but have since been moved to Grace Church in Cismont. Many people interred in the graveyard lie in unmarked tombs. The most well-known burial there is William Lewis, Meriwether's father. While on leave from the Continental Army to visit his wife and children at Locust Hill, he crossed the Rivanna River in a flood. His horse drowned and he caught pneumonia. Cloverfields, his wife Lucy's childhood home was much closer, so he went there to recouperate. Instead, he died there, and his body was never moved. Cloverfields is still a private property owned by the descendants of the Meriwether family."Cloverfields Cemetery."Write-up by Douglas Valentine. April 1998 and Barnes, Sara Lee. Live Interview at Cloverfields. 2 December 2002.

Source: http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/encounter/projects/homesteads/map/farm.html The farm was the 1020 acre plantation of Colonel Nicholas Meriweather, a contemporary of Thomas Jefferson's father, where he build his home in 1735. This stretch of land lies in the river flats between Moore's Creek and Meadow Creek. Its simple name comes from it being the earliest cleared loaction West of the Rivanna River and as such became a conspicuous landmark in the area. It was on this site with a view of Monticello that Nicholas Meriweather lived the rest of his life and was buried nearby. His grandson Colonel Nicholas LEWIS, a Revolutionary Officer uinherited the property.

Residence:
The Farm: Col. Nicholas Meriwether II amassed a large quantity of land, at one point owning about 33,000 acres. In 1735 he built his plantation, [which became] "The Farm", in Goochland (now Albemarle) County, the site of which is now the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. His will, one of the longest recorded in Virginia, was witnessed by Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson.

Descendants of Nicholas Meriwether II & Elizabeth Crawford are eligible for membership in the Magna Charta Dames or to the Barons of Runnymede (NHM p. 174).
02 May 2013 • F

Buried:
The Cloverfields plantation, which the Meriwether family first acquired as part of the 3,000 acre grant to Nicholas Meriwether II in 1729. No one called it"cloverfields"until at least 1760, when Nicholas Meriwether II and his wife, Margaret Douglas built the first dwelling on the property. At the present time, there are several buildings in which people live. The original chimney from the kitchen still stands on the property, as well as the original smokehouse. The other buildings have been updated and/or rebuilt since the Meriwether's lived there. One of the buildings was added to the property in order to keep it from being destroyed. Developers were building on the land where the building originally stood. The graveyard is, of course, also in its original spot and condition. Edward C. Mead wrote in 1899"Here sleep undisturbed on their native ground those noble men and women who lived in the exciting times of the REvolution and saw the wild country emerge into a'new nation.'"Many of the people who lived at the plantation were originally buried in the family plot, but have since been moved to Grace Church in Cismont. Many people interred in the graveyard lie in unmarked tombs. The most well-known burial there is William Lewis, Meriwether's father. While on leave from the Continental Army to visit his wife and children at Locust Hill, he crossed the Rivanna River in a flood. His horse drowned and he caught pneumonia. Cloverfields, his wife Lucy's childhood home was much closer, so he went there to recouperate. Instead, he died there, and his body was never moved. Cloverfields is still a private property owned by the descendants of the Meriwether family."Cloverfields Cemetery."Write-up by Douglas Valentine. April 1998 and Barnes, Sara Lee. Live Interview at Cloverfields. 2 December 2002.

Charlottesville
Albemarle County
Virginia USA
Cemetery notes and/or description:
THE OLD FAMILY GRAVEYARD, A DISGRACE TO ALL THE DESCENDANTS

Following the county road already described, starting at Charlottesville and as soon as you cross the Country Bridge over the Rivanna River, you are upon the plantation left by the will of Nicholas (2) "to my grandson Nicholas Lewis the son of Mr. Robt. Lewis, my plantation and land whereon I now live, containing by Patent One Thousand and Twenty acres, together with One Hundred and nineteen acres part of a greater tract bought of Thomas Graves…"

The county road begins to climb the side of the mountain as soon as it leaves the bridge. Off to the left a short distance, and facing the river, is the present Mansion, but upon the right of the road and facing more towards "Monticello", and the bend of the river, stood the old home of Nicholas (2) Meriwether and wife Elizabeth (Crafford). This was the house in which he died, and it was a beautiful site for a home. On the same first ridge of the mountain, but about 150 yards to the right of the present county road, and perhaps 200 yards from the bridge, was the old Meriwether family graveyard in which were buried Nicholas, Col. David, and many of the family.

At the time of the writer's visit the entire field where stood the old house and where is located the old graveyard, was planted in corn. Not even a mound marks a grave, and it seems to him a disgrace to every descendant of the family. Cannot this be rectified? The cost would be very small divided among so many

Nicholas married CRAWFORD Elizabeth in 1687 in Buckingham, Buckingham, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of CRAWFORD David, Esq. and CRAWFORD Jane --?--) was born about 1672 in New Kent County, VA ("Assasquin"); died before 11 May 1762 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA; was buried in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt. Burial: Unknown
• Will: Will proved in Louisa, but may have died in Albemarle

Notes:

. Her family is said to be descendents of Sir Roland Crawford, the grandfather of Sir William Wallace (the subject of Mel Gibson's 1994 epic movie Braveheart.) (Anderson, 1984) Together, they had nine children. Their oldest, Jane Meriwether married Colonel Robert Lewis; they became Meriwether Lewis' paternal great-grandparents. The second oldest, Nicholas Meriwether III married Mildred Thornton. The other children were William, Thomas, Colonel David Meriwether, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, and Mary.

Alt. Burial:
Burial place unknown, though some state "Clover Fields." May also have been with Nicholas on the Rivanna River.