Lucy Jefferson Lewis
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Lucy Lewis, née Jefferson (October 10, 1752 – May 26, 1810) was a younger sister of
United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
and the wife of Charles Lilburn Lewis.


Early life and education

Born in Tuckahoe (plantation), she was the eighth of Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph Jefferson's 10 children. She was nine years younger than her brother
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
. She was born into an elite planter family and would have been educated at home by her mother, together with her sisters. Their father died when they were young.


Marriage and family

At age 16, Jefferson married her first cousin, Charles Lilburne Lewis, on September 12, 1769. He was related to
Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...
, who would help lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The couple eventually had eight children: Randolph, Isham, Jane Jefferson, Lilburne, Mary Randolph, Lucy B., Martha, Ann (Nancy), and Elizabeth . Her brother, Thomas Jefferson, did not seem to be close to Lucy after her marriage. He was not close to the men in the Lewis family and disliked Charles Lewis' sister, Elizabeth Henderson. Jane and Mary had married before 1806 and established their own households. The remainder of the Lewis family moved to Livingston County, Kentucky, in 1806 or 1808, following their grown sons Randolph and Lilburne and their families. Charles and Lucy Lewis built a plantation called "Rocky Hill" near the present-day town of Smithland. Lucy's older brother Thomas Jefferson took an interest in the education of her sons, and encouraged them in their studies. Lucy Jefferson Lewis died in 1810. She was buried on the grounds of the Rocky Hill plantation, but the gravesite has been lost. The estate is now in ruins. In 1812, the year after Lucy and her son Randolph died, the brothers Lilburne and Isham Lewis murdered a slave named George. The men tried to hide the youth's remains, but his skull was revealed by the collapse of a chimney during the second New Madrid earthquake. The brothers were arrested but received bail.Stewart, David, and Knox, Ray, ''The Earthquake America Forgot''
Marble Hill, Missouri: Gutenberg-Richter Publications, 1995, pp. 25–31
Before the trial, Lilburne urged Isham to join him in a
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
pact, but died almost by accident while preparing, and Isham did not go through with it. Held as an accessory in his brother's suicide while it was investigated, Isham escaped from jail and disappeared. The murder of the slave and suicide by Lilburne brought the entire family into disrepute.


Commemoration

*In Livingston County, a monument honoring Lucy Jefferson Lewis was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution at the intersection of U.S. Route 60 and Kentucky Route 137. *A few miles south of the monument, a bridge named in her honor, the Lucy Jefferson Lewis Memorial Bridge, spans the Cumberland River on U.S. Route 60 at Smithland. *An obelisk in her memory was placed in the Rocky Hill Cemetery by the local chapter of the DAR, which was named for her.


See also

* Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson (also Lucy's ancestors)


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Lucy Jefferson 1752 births 1810 deaths American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent Jefferson family Randolph family (Virginia) People from Albemarle County, Virginia People from Livingston County, Kentucky