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Fielding Lewis Jr. (1751–1803)

Role

Bushrod Washington and Fielding Lewis Jr. were first cousins. 

Description

Fielding Lewis Jr., oldest child of Elizabeth Washington Lewis, was born on 14 February 1751 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1769 he married Ann (Nancy) Alexander (d. 1788), daughter of Colonel Gerard Alexander of Alexandria. A reckless spendthrift, Lewis was deeply in debt by the time he inherited 1,000 acres upon his father's death. Within a decade, he had sold most of the land to pay off creditors, but even then had to endure a stint in debtors' prison.

Citations

"To George Washington from Fielding Lewis, Jr., 22 February 1784," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-01-02-0106. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, vol. 1, 1 January 1784 – 17 July 1784, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 145–146.]

"To George Washington from Betty Washington Lewis, 25 September 1792," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-11-02-0079. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 11, 16 August 1792 – 15 January 1793, ed. Christine Sternberg Patrick. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2002, pp. 155–156.]

"George Washington’s Last Will and Testament, 9 July 1799," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0404-0001. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 4, 20 April 1799 – 13 December 1799, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 479–511.]

Fielding Lewis II at Find a Grave.

Fielding Lewis at FamilySearch.