BIOORAPniCAL NOTICES. 



470 



Merion, in 1C95. William Lewis re- 

 moved to Newtown, where lie and his 

 wife died in the eiirly part of 1708, 

 within a few days of each other. They 

 were both members of the religions 

 Society of Friends ; William being fre- 

 quently culled upon in the administra- 

 tion of the affairs of his meeting. Be- 

 sides his son, David, who settled on the 

 mansion tract in llaverford, Wni. Lewis 

 had three sons, viz.: Lewis, Evan and 

 William, and one daughter, Seaborn. 

 Lewis married .Mary Howell, of Bristol; 

 Evan, Mary, the daughter of Jonathan 

 and Ann Hayes, of Alarple, and Wil- 

 liam, Gwen Jones, of Gwynedd. Evan 

 died in 1735, and William, the younger, 

 in 1731. The daughter was born in 

 1686, at sea, and hence the name. All 

 the sons but David settled in Newtown. 



Lewis, Ellis, was born in Wales 

 about the year 1 680. His father dying 

 while he was quite young, his mother 

 married Owen Roberts. They all ap- 

 pear to have been Quakers, and about 

 the year 1698 made arrangements for 

 migrating to Pennsylvania. They had 

 proceeded so far as to forward their 

 goods, but severe sickness of the family 

 obliged them to remain. After being 

 restored to health they did not carry 

 out their original design, but removed 

 to Mount Molock, Ireland, where they 

 resided till 1708, when Ellis obtained a 

 certificate from the meeting at that 

 place and came to Pennsylvania. Be- 

 ing a VVelshnuui he met with a kind re- 

 ception from the Welsh Friends of Ha- 

 verford. a number of whom were pro- 

 bably his relatives. The next year 

 (1709) he removed within the bounds 

 of Concord Meeting, and in 1713 was 

 married to Elizabeth, the daughter of 

 Nathaniel Newlin. In 1716 he removed 

 to Kennet, and, his wife dying in 17 '.'3, 

 he some time afterwards married Mary 

 Baldwin. In 1749 he removed to Wil- 

 mington and died the ne.\t year, aged 

 seventy years. He is said to have been 

 a man of good understanding, and was 

 frequently concerned in settling ditfer- 

 ences amongst his neighbors. The 

 Hon. Ellis Lewis, formerly Chief Jus- 

 tice of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 

 Tania, is said to be descended from him. 



Lewis, William, born in Edgmont 

 in 1751, was the grandson or great- 

 grandson of the immigrant Kalph 



Lewis. He studied law in Philadelphia 

 with Nicholas Wain, who, at that time, 

 had an extensive practice. Aljout the 

 time he was admitted to the bar, Ni- 

 cholas Wain gave up the practice of 

 the law from conscientious scruples, 

 and being selected Ijy his preceptor to 

 close up his business with his clients, 

 young Lewis at once fell into a good 

 share of business, which his ability and 

 success at the bar soon greatly in- 

 creased. He was several times a mem- 

 ber of the Assembly, and was also a 

 member of the convention that formed 

 the constitution of 1790. It is said that 

 he was frequently consulted by govern- 

 ment ollicials during Washington's Ad- 

 ministration. He had a birthright with 

 the Quakers, and preserved his connec- 

 tion with that Society while he lived, 

 though his actions were not always en- 

 tirely Quakerish. He died in 1819, aged 

 sixty-eight years. 



Lewis, Enoch, the son of Evan 

 Lewis and Jane, his second wife, whose 

 maiden name was Meredith, was born 

 in Radnor township, on the 29th of 

 January, 1776. His early training was 

 strictly in conformity with the princi- 

 ples and practices of the Society of 

 Friends, of which his father was a de- 

 voted member. At an early age he 

 exhibited a remarkable talent for ma- 

 thematics, and although his opportu- 

 nities for obtaining an education had 

 only been such as were afforded by the 

 common schools of the neighborhood, 

 at the age of fourteen years he had 

 acquired sufficient knowledge to be 

 employed, advantageously, as an as- 

 sistant teacher in one of those schools. 

 One year later he taught a country 

 school as principal ; the gravity of his 

 manners, and the acknowledged supe- 

 riority of his acquirements, enabling 

 him to command the respect of pupils 

 even older than himself. In 1793 he 

 repaired to Philadelphia for the pur- 

 pose of pursuing his mathematical 

 studies, but was obliged to occupy a 

 part of each day in teaching to procure 

 the means for his support. Towards 

 the close of the next year he became a 

 resident of the city, and in 1795 was 

 employed as surveyor in laying out 

 several town plots in the western part 

 of the State, in pursuance of an act of 

 Assembly. From 1696 to 1699 he had 

 charge of the mathematical department 



