George Lewis of Canaan and Cornville, Maine

This is a "work in progress" on my research of George Lewis of Canaan and Cornville, Somerset County, Maine. His name came about while working on my 5th Great-Grandparents, Jeremiah Brown and Charlotte Lewis, as they had sold a part of George's land in 1821, being listed as heirs of his estate.

Here is what I have so far....

George Lewis of Boothbay, Maine and Dorcas Lambert married in Pownalborough, Maine on 25 Apr 1773 [Maine Historical Magazine, Vol 7, pg 84]. I've seen it mentioned that Dorcas was the daughter of Sherebiah Lambert. With them naming their son Sherebiah, as well as Lambert moving to Canaan (see 1790 census image below), this seems to be a likely conclusion.

During the Revolutionary War, he is believed to be the George who served from 12 July 1775 to 31 Dec 1775 in Capt Timothy Langdon's Company, stationed at Boothbay for seacoast defense. He may also be the one who served from 11 July 1779 to 24 Sept 1779 as a private in Capt Archibald McAllister's Company, Col Samuel McCobb's regiment, and was part of the Penobscot (aka Majabagaduce or Bagaduce) Expedition in July-Aug against the British troops occupying Castine (Fort George) Maine [Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, pg 740].

By 1790, George was in Canaan, Maine. The town's census page was not in alpha order so, by the clipping below, it looks like Sherebiah Lambert (his supposed father-in-law) and Sherebiah Jr lived near to him. In the 1798 Direct Tax listing for Canaan, George is shown with both a 40 acre and a 60 acre lot of land.

1790 census - Canaan, Maine (then in Lincoln County)

He was still in Canaan for the 1800 census (below). 

1800 Canaan, ME census (then in Kennebec County)

On 26 Dec 1803, he (with wife Dorcas relinquishing her right of dower) were in Canaan when they sold a 40 acre plot of land there to Daniel Parkman of Canaan for $192 [Som Cty Deeds vol.7 pg 120]. The lot bordered the Kennebec River, lying on the east side of it, and was the 5th lot from the mouth of the Wesserunsett Stream. This part of Canaan later became Skowhegan, and was called "Parkman Hill". The satellite photo below shows Parkman Hill Road running east to west, just above Rt 2 (that's on the river bank). The cleared land is part of the hill, though I'm not sure exactly where George Lewis's bounds were (I still need to find old plans for this area).

1809 map of the land between the Kennebec and Wesserunsett.

The 1810 census (below) finds them in Cornville, Maine. The numbers show 1 male aged 16-25, 1 male 45+, 2 females aged 10-15, 1 aged 16-25, and a female 45+. From the names I collected from George's estate sales, this household includes son Isaac, daughters Charlotte and Jane, another young female not yet known, with parents George and Dorcas. Son Sherebiah is listed below him.

1810 Cornville, Somerset, ME census

At left is a probate notice, published in the Herald of Liberty newspaper, 8 Oct 1811. On a recent visit to the Somerset County Probate Office in Skowhegan (June '15), I did not find any record of this case. The court house was located in Norridgewock in 1811, and those files are now stored in the Maine State Archives. The George Lewis file may be there, so I will need to visit this facility.

At least this newspaper source does serve to place George's death prior to 30 Sept 1811, and after the 1810 census. "Darcas" is a misspelling of Dorcas. I did not find a mortuary notice of his death.

Micah Pratt of Cornville purchased 100 acres in said town in 1809 from the proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase, lot #2 in the 6th range [Som Cty Deed v.3 pg. 165]. It wasn't recorded until 1819, so was filed in Somerset County instead of Kennebec. George Lewis, probably prior to Pratt, had purchased 60 acres of that same lot (I didn't see it in the Kennebec County deeds). From 1816 to 1821, I have found in Somerset County deeds, land sales from the heirs of George. Each person, it looks very likely they were his children, had sold a 1/10 part of his former land. It seems his land had been equally divided, either through a will (not yet found), or through a ruling in probate (not found either). I did not find anything with the widow Dorcas' name on it, but perhaps she had received the land after George's death, and had died by 1816, so all her children split up the estate. I can only account for 6 tenths of the property sales, so there are other heirs I have missed. The sales included:
2 Nov 1816
Sherebiah Lewis, Oliver Cone (w/ wife Kezia) of Cornville, and Thomas Annes/Annis (w/ wife Dorcas) of Canaan, sells to Dudley Marsh of Cornville, 3/10s for $30. -Som Cty Deed, v.26 p.361
27 Feb 1817
Samuel Weymouth Jr and wife Jane of Somersville, Penobscot, (Maine), sells to Samuel Weston of Canaan, trader, 1/10 part for $10. - v.25 p.139
14 Mar 1817
Isaac Lewis of Cornville, yeoman, to Dudley Marsh of Corn., yeoman, 1/10 part for $8. - v.25 p.137
17 Nov 1821
Jeremiah Brown and wife Charlotte of Cornville, for $6., sells 1/10 part to Samuel Weston, Esq - v.12 p.100.

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Based on the names from the known deeds, I have made up the following list of possible children of George and Dorcas (Lambert) Lewis. This is not a complete list:

DORCAS LEWIS, b. perhaps 1774 (first child listed in Canaan vr b.Nov 1792). Marr CHARLES THOMAS ANNIS (ANNES/ANNAS). 14 children recorded in Canaan VR, starting in 1792.

SHEREBIAH (SHERIBIAH) LEWIS, b. 1781-1790 [based on 1830 census]. An online tree says 1/30/1785.

KEZIA (KEZIAH) LEWIS, b. ca 1781-1790 [based on age bracket in 1830-40 censuses; she was listed as age 60 in 1850 and 67 in 1860]. Married to OLIVER CONE [intents field 25 Jan 1810 in Clinton, ME]

JANE LEWIS, b. 14 July 1792 [grave]; d. 18 Aug 1870 [grave]. Married SAMUEL WEYMOUTH, JR. (1794-1848). They are buried in Abbott, Piscataquis, Maine. 

ISAAC LEWIS, b. ca 10 Oct 1794 [calc from age at death]; d. 27 Oct 1864, aged 70 yrs, 17 das [grave]. He and wife BETSEY buried in Cedarville, Cemetery, Argylle, Penobscot, Maine.

CHARLOTTE LEWIS, b. ca 1796 in Canaan, Maine [1865 Marlborough, MA census; also seen as Cornville]; d. 2 June 1882 in Wakefield, MA [MA vr]. Marr to JEREMIAH BROWN after 30 Mar 1820 (date when cert issued in Cornville). See my other blog about this couple:
http://www.mynewenglandancestors.com/blog/the-family-of-jeremiah-brown-and-charlotte-lewis

[In Cornville Vital Records, there is a PATTY LEWIS who was married to a DANIEL AUSTIN of Bloomfield in 1815. She may be another child of George and Dorcas, or a daughter from an elder son of theirs I have yet to prove. I didn't know of this couple when I researched the other land deeds, so hadn't looked up the names in deed index]