Lawrence Lewis (April 4, 1767 – November 20, 1839) was a Virginia planter, possibly best known as the nephew of George Washington, who married Nelly Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington, and as one of the executors of the late president's estate.
Early and family life
He was born in Fredericksburg, Colony of Virginia in 1767 to merchant and planter Fielding Lewis and his second wife, Betty Washington Lewis, a sister of George Washington. In addition to his business in Fredericksburg, Fielding Lewis operated a plantation nearby using enslaved labor. The elder Lewis' first wife bore two sons (one of whom died as a child) and a daughter, who became young Lawrence's half siblings. Betty Washington bore eleven children, of whom only two boys died. Thus, Lewis had an elder older half-brother (John Lewis; Warner Lewis not reaching maturity), five elder full brothers (Fielding Lewis Jr., Augustine Lewis, Warner Lewis, Charles Lewis and Samuel Lewis, the latter two never reaching adulthood) as well as two younger brothers, Robert Lewis and Howell Lewis. Of these family members, George Washington was the godfather of Warner Lewis (who died before reaching adulthood), Fielding Lewis Jr. (whose financial extravagance disturbed his father and godfather) and Charles Lewis (who also died as a child), whereas Lawrence Lewis' godfather was his uncle Charles Washington, who was also the godfather of his elder brothers Augustine and Warner Lewis. This large brood strained the Lewis family finances, but George Washington helped his youngest nephews. George Lewis received an officer's commission in the Continental Army but resigned it in 1779 following criticism of his performance yet was still able to marry and establish a plantation on land he inherited on the Shenandoah River in western Virginia. Gen. Washington paid for Robert Lewis to attend Andover Academy in Massachusetts and the youth accompanied Martha Washington from Virginia to New York City for her husband's inauguration. Fielding Lewis Jr. sold his inheritance in Frederick County to his half-brother John but continued to experience financial problems and was sent to debtors' prison in Winchester in 1790, with Lawrence Lewis accompanying him to the sentencing.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Lewis married an heiress in Essex County, Susannah Edmonton. However, despite grandmother Mary Ball Washington attending the childbed, Susannah died in 1790 giving birth to their child, who also died.
Military service
Lewis volunteered for service in 1794 to help suppress the Whiskey Rebellion and served as aide-de-camp to General Daniel Morgan, achieving the rank of major.
Career
Washington, after finishing his tenure as president, and following the retirement of his main plantation manager, Lund Washington and an issue with his longtime personal secretary, Tobias Lear, called on several of his nephews to assist him at his Mount Vernon plantation. He sought to employ Lawrence Lewis as a manager, but he could not be found, so Washington employed his youngest brother, Howell Lewis, as one of the new managers. On August 4, 1797, Washington wrote to Lawrence Lewis, inviting him to serve as his part-time personal secretary, unpaid except for room and board for him and a servant.
Second marriage and litigation following Washington's death
While at Mount Vernon with his brother, Lewis came to know Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington and Daniel Parke Custis. She and her brother, George Washington Parke Custis, had been informally adopted by George and Martha Washington after the 1781 death of their father, John Parke Custis. At Mount Vernon, she acted as the social director, entertaining the many visitors of the former president.
Lewis and Nelly Custis were married at Mount Vernon on February 22, 1799, and resided there for the first several years of their marriage. Their first child, Frances Parke Lewis, was born at Mount Vernon estate on November 27, 1799.