Death certificate of son Julius Edwin LEWIS (indexed at MO State Archives site as "Lulius" Edwin LEWIS (died 21 Jan. 1925) listed his father as born in Jefferson Co., AL. Jefferson County, AL was formed in 1819, the year after James was born, from Blount County.

For details on James' ancestry, see Fredric Z. Saunders' website at:
Ancestry at LEWIS Family

James was born 17 Sep 1818, Blount [later Jefferson] Co., Alabama, the son of Daniel and Abigail (Brown) Lewis, who had either gone there soon after their marriage in Tennessee or who were perhaps married in Alabama.  At the age of about ten, James came with his parents and younger brothers and sisters to Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO.

By 1840, James was out of his parents' house and living far enough away that he didn't often get family or Lonedell neighborhood news. Letter from James' brother William P. Lewis, dated 24 Sep 1840, copied from the 1958 Lewis family book:

Dear Brother,
I imbrace the opitunity of addressing you a few lines to inform you that I am well, hoping when these few lines arrive to hand, they may reach you enjoying the same blessing. The health of the people are generally very good this season in this neighborhood. Crops are very fine this season. There have been several weddings since you left here. Andy Walls would have maryed, but his lover was not in the same notion or he was to bashful to ask her the question and for the same reason I am single and a good many others I have no dout, but there is time enough for me by and by. I must conclude my nonsense. Father and Family is all well. I want you to rite me how it is with you, whether you are in Andrew's fix and mine or not, or what progress you are making.

Remain your Effectionate Brother,
(signed) William P. Lewis

James was 26 years old when his father Daniel died in 1844, leaving James forty acres of land in Lonedell and some furniture.  The land James inherited was the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ of section five in township no. forty-one of range no. two east.  [If you take Hiway N north from Lonedell this starts after about 1/8 of a mile and is about ¼ of a mile off on the right.  The land is ¼ of a mile by ¼ of a mile.]  He was also bequeathed a bed and furniture.  His mother and his two brothers, William Perry Lewis and Joshua W. Lewis inherited adjoining land.

Four days after his father's will was probated, leaving him in possession of his own farm and able to support a family, James was married on 25 Nov 1844, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO, to Mrs. Ann Mariah Falwell, widow of Haliard Musick. John Q. Dickeson, Justice of the County Court at Franklin Co., MO, performed the ceremony. Ann was the daughter of Robert and Frances Falwell and had one son from her first marriage, Marvel L. Musick. According to the 1958 Lewis family book, Ann had inherited slaves and probably other property or money from her parents and/or other family in Virginia.

James and Ann were probably Baptist, like most of the rest of the Lewises, and may have been members of the Little Meramec Baptist church in Lonedell and possibly later the Oak Grove church in Lonedell. His brother William P. Lewis and his wife were charter members of Oak Grove and are buried there, along with at least two of James and Ann's own grandchildren.

James and Ann settled down to raise a large family of their own, in addition to little Marvel, and became prosperous in both real estate and personal property.  Their first known child, Abigail, named for James' mother, was born in 1845 or 1846.  In all, they would raise ten children.  In 1850, they had two slaves, likely brought into the marriage by Ann from her inheritance.

1850 Franklin Co., MO, census, page 28, dwelling 108:
James B. Lewis, age 31, farmer, real estate worth $400,    born in Alabama
Ann M. Lewis, age 22, born in Virginia
Abigail F. Lewis, age 4, born in Missouri
Daniel R. Lewis, age 2,       "
Sarah J. Lewis, age 6 mos,    "
Marvel L. Musick, age 5,      "

[page 002 of the 1850 Franklin County slave schedule]
James Lewis:
One male slave, age 15
One female slave, aged 10

In 1851, they bought an additional 40 acres of land.

The 1860 census shows them claiming what for the county and township was a high value on their property:

1860 Franklin Co., MO, census, Calvey township, page 22, house 140:
Lewis, James, 42, farmer, Ala, 5 children in school, real estate worth $2000, personal property worth $3000
Lewis, Ann M., 34, VA
Musick, M.L., 17, MO
Lewis, A.F. or T., 14, MO
Lewis, Daniel R., 12, MO
Lewis, Sarah J., 10, MO
Lewis, James W., 8, MO
Lewis, W.W., 6, MO
Lewis, J.E., 2, MO
Lewis, M.A.or M.H., 1, MO
One female slave named Hannah, age 16, race black

James and Ann in the Civil War - James and Ann were slaveholders.  The 1850 census shows them owning a fifteen-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl.  In 1860, they had only one slave, a 16-year-old girl named Hannah.  James claimed a very high value on his personal property ($3,000, as opposed to $2,000 for the total value of his real estate.  A small part of this would have been the value of Hannah, but the rest would have been live stock, probably including mules and horses.

According to the 1958 Lewis family book, the slaves in Lonedell had their cabins clustered in a small community, and one of them was a man who worked for our Jim before the Civil War as a mule driver.  After the war, this man got a job doing the same for the Hibbard Mercantile Company and became financially independent.  The following story concerning another slave was told in the 1970s by Eugene M. Lewis, Jim and Ann's grandson.  According to Eugene, his grandfather Jim once owned or hired a man who was a preacher in the slave community to work on his farm.  Jim had an "ornery" old sow that was always causing problems.  One day the sow tried to rush the pen gate while the slave was closing it and in anger he hit her on the head with a shovel he was holding.  Unfortunately, he hit her too hard and killed her.  Fearfully, the man told Jim what he had done, but Jim laughed it off with the comment, "Well, you ought to preach that old sow's funeral!" The whole family was startled awake the next morning by the sound of the slave outside on the hill loudly preaching a funeral oration for the pig.  Evidently he was still afraid of being punished and was taking no chances.  Or maybe he thought it would appeal to Jim's sense of humor.  After the war, the freed slave went south looking for work, but suffered only ill fortune.  Eventually, he wrote a letter to Jim asking him to hire him back and send money for him to make the trip.  Jim replied asking for proof that he was who he claimed to be, and the man wrote back, "Remember the funeral I preached for that old sow?"  Jim sent him the money.

There is no way to be sure on whose side in the war Jim and Ann's sympathies lay in the Civil War.  They and most of their friends and family were Southerners by background and culture, but not all Southerners approved of the idea of secession.  In either case, Missouri stayed in the Union and Jim never left his large family to go fight on either side.  His sons were all too young to fight.  However, a William Lewis from Prairie Township did fight 1862-63 in the Union army and he may have been a relative.

James was a Freemason - James was initiated into Pacific Lodge No. 159, A.F. and A.M. Missouri (now defunct) on January 16, 1864.  He was passed Feb 21, 1864, raised March 19, 1864.  His name first appears on the roster of 1869.  He was affiliated in 1870 as a charter member of Fraternal Lodge No. 363, Robertsville, Missouri.  His brother, William P. Lewis, joined the same lodge about the same time.  A lot of Freemason lodges sprang up in the south after the defeat of the Confederacy, perhaps as a means of privately discussing local politics.

Ann died on 22 Aug 1869, aged only 43, when her tenth and youngest child, John, was only two years old.  The timing suggests that she may have died in childbirth along with the baby.  She was buried in the Johnson cemetery, where her sister, Mary F., wife of Thomas J. Johnson, had been buried just a few years earlier in 1866.  This is also very likely the place where their parents, Robert and Frances Falwell, had been buried when they died in the early 1840s.  Next to Ann's grave and between where Jim would later be buried is an old, roughly shaped grave stone.  This probably marks the grave of one of her and Jim's children, perhaps the hypothetical child she died giving birth to. 

James, left with a house full of children, remarried less than a year later on 2 June 1870 to Sarah Logan, who was probably a widow and the same age as James at about 51 years old.  They had no children together, but Sarah raised Ann's children.

Sarah had been listed on the 1870 census in Catawissa, Calvey Township, Franklin Co., MO as a widow with her children:
Sarah F Logan 42 TN
Alice Logan 11 MO
Emily Logan 8 MO
Benj Logan 5 MO
Wm H Logan 3 MO

1876 Missouri state census
James B. Lewis, age over 45
Sarah F. Lewis, age over 45
Edwin Lewis, age 10-18
John C. Lewis, age 10-18

1880 Franklin Co., MO, census, Prairie Township, pg 195A, dwelling 60:
James B. Lewis, 61, farmer, AL, NC TN   
Sarah F., 61, keeps house, VA VA VA
John C., 16, works farm, MO AL VA, attends school
James W., 29, farmer, MO AL VA
Edwin J., 21, works farm, MO AL VA
Wade, William F., 15, servant (white), MO MO MO, attends school

James' later years - According to the 1958 Lewis family book, 'Jim' was a gunsmith at Lonedell in his later years.  He had a blacksmith shop, but his grandson Jerry couldn't remember that he ever made a plowshare.  He made guns with intricate walnut stocks.  One he made was disguised as a cane and was sold to Dr. Ben Jones, who lived near Luebbering, MO.

James raised and ran race horses near Lonedell on blue grass.  Once he sold a horse to a Kentuckian who won a Kentucky race with it.

In 1900, Jim was living with his widowed son Julius Edwin and his children near Lonedell.

James died in 1903 in Herculaneum (according the 1958 Lewis Family book), a small town on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, in 1903.  This is the town where he had stopped as a child with his parents on their way to Lonedell from Alabama (or Tennessee).  He was brought back for burial next to Ann in the Johnson cemetery. 

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James and Ann's children:

1. Abigail Frances Lewis, b. 2 Dec. 1845, Franklin Co., MO; m. 16 Apr 1868, to 'Doc' Silas Nathaniel Green Herrington [b. 22 Mar. 1841 Jefferson Co., MO; d. 4 Apr. 1919, age 78; bur. Union Cem., Texas Co., MO]; she d. 30 Mar. 1869, Franklin Co., MO, resulting from childbirth, age 23.

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2. Daniel Robert Lewis, b. c. 1848, Franklin Co., MO; m. 14 Jun 1868, to Permelia E. Williams [b. 1849, MO; daughter of J. and E. J. Williams]; he d. 1885, Franklin Co., MO

1870 Franklin Co., MO census, Prairie, p. 273 18 Aug 1870
[next door to half-brother Marvil Musick]
Dan R. Lewis, 22, b. MO
Amelia, 21, MO
Norman, 3 mos b. May 1870

1880 census, Prairie Twp., Franklin Co., MO
Self Daniel Lewis M 29 Missouri
Wife Permelia Lewis F 29 Missouri
Son Norman Lewis M 10 Missouri
Daughter Anneliza Lewis F 8 Missouri
Son James Lewis M 6 Missouri
Daughter Maud Lewis F 3 Missouri
Daughter Oda Lewis F 0 Missouri

Daniel Robert Lewis' children:

1) Norman Lewis, b. May 1870, Franklin Co., MO

This may be him:
1900 census, ED 27 Cypress Township, Faulkner Co., AR
[in household of Benjamin Witcher]
Laborer Norman Lewis M age 30 b. Mar 1870 Missouri

2) Anneliza Lewis, b. 1872, Franklin Co., MO

3) James Lewis, b. 1874, Franklin Co., MO

4) Maude Lewis, b. 1877, Franklin Co., MO

5) Oda Lewis (daughter), b. 1880, Franklin Co., MO

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3. Sarah Jane Lewis, b. 22 Jan 1850, Pacific, Franklin Co., MO; m. 25 Dec 1866, to Michael Silas McKay [b. 27 Nov 1848, Franklin Co., MO; d. 19 Jan 1921, DeSoto, Jefferson Co., MO; buried City Cemetery; son of William McKay and Adeline Wilson.]; she d. 2 Feb 1918, Desoto, Jefferson Co., MO, aged 68 yrs; buried City Cemetery, Desoto.

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4. James Woodson Lewis, b.c. 1852, Franklin Co., MO; m. 1st 21 Jan 1884, Franklin Co., MO to Adelia J. Smarr; m. 2nd 19 May 1902, DeSoto, Jefferson Co., MO to Mary Hahn [the widow of Henry Hering; b. 25 Jan 1874, Iron Mountain, St. Francois Co., MO or Pilot Knob, Iron Co., MO; d. 14 Aug 1934; buried Herculaneum Cemetery, Herculaneum, Jefferson Co., MO; daughter of Henry Hahn and Mary Richards]; he d. 1908; buried Rankin Memorial Cemetery, Herculaneum, Jefferson Co., MO.

Stella, Carl, and Oscar are Mary's children from her first marriage. Their surname was Hering or Herning:

1910 census, Joachim, Jefferson, Missouri
SELF Mary Lewis F 37y Missouri
DAU Stella Lewis F 15y Missouri
SON Carl Lewis M 14y Missouri
SON Oscar Lewis M 11y Missouri
SON Harvey Lewis M 7y Missouri
DAU Essie Lewis F 5y Missouri
SON Asa Lewis M 3y Missouri
Joseph Lock M 22y
Mathew Badgers M 24yPennsylvania
John Meyers M 20y Illinois

1920 census, Jefferson Co., MO
SELF Mary Lewis F 46y Missouri
SON Oscar Hering M 21y Missouri
SON Harvey Lewis M 16y Missouri
DAU Essie Lewis F 15y Missouri
SON Asa Lewis M 11y Missouri

James Woodson Lewis's children:

1) Harvey L. Lewis, b. 27 Dec 1902, MO; m. 1st 20 Jan 1926, Jefferson Co., MO to Hallie L. McGuire [b. 1908; daughter of J.C. McGuire]; m. 2nd to Blanche __ [b. 1914, MO]; he d. 28 Mar 1975; buried Sandy Baptist Church Cemetery, Hillsboro, Jefferson Co., MO.

1940 census, Joachim Township, Jefferson, Jefferson Co., MO
Head Harvey L Lewis M 37 Missouri
Wife Blanch Lewis F 26 Missouri

2) Essie Lewis, b. 28 Sep 1904, MO; m. 16 Jun 1923, Jefferson Co., MO to Dennis McClanahan [b. 1902, MO; d. 1976]; she d. Nov 1981; buried Herculaneum Cemetery, Herculaneum, Jefferson Co., MO.

1930 census, Joachim, Jefferson Co., MO
Head Dennis Mcclanhan M 27 Missouri
Wife Essie Mcclanhan F 25 Missouri
Daughter Ruth Mcclanhan F 6 Missouri
Son Leon Mcclanhan M 4 Missouri
Daughter Wauneta Mcclanhan F 3 Missouri
Daughter Bettie J Mcclanhan F 0 Missouri

Essie Lewis's children:
i. Ruth McClanahan, b. 1924, Jefferson Co., MO
ii. Leon McClanahan, b. 1926, Jefferson Co., MOMcclanhan
iii. Wauneta McClanahan, b. 1927, Jefferson Co., MO
iv. Bettie J. McClanahan, b. 1930, Jefferson Co., MO
maybe others

3) Asa Adam Lewis, b. 9 Mar 1907, Herculaneum, Jefferson Co., MO; m. 20 Sep 1929, Jefferson Co., MO to Neola Doretaa Carter [b. 20 May 1912, Davenport, IA; d. 1 Dec 1996, WS; daughter of William Carter and Ida Alfrey]; he d. 19 Dec 1958, Town of Hull, Portage Co., WS; buried Saint Casimir Cemetery, Casimir, Portage Co., WS.

1930 census, Joachim, Jefferson, MO
Head Asa Lewis M 23 Missouri
Wife Neolia Lewis F 18 Iowa

Residence in 1935: Crystal City, Jefferson, MO

1940 census, Plattin Township, Jefferson, Jefferson Co., MO
Head Asa Lewis M 33 Missouri
Wife Neola Lewis F 27 Iowa
Son Dale Lewis M 8 Missouri
Son Robert Lewis M 4 Missouri

Asa Adam Lewis' children:

i. Dale Lee Lewis b. 17 Apr 1931, Crystal City, Jefferson Co., MO; he d. 22 Nov 1987 in Shadybrook, Cherokee Co., TX .

ii. Living child

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5. William W. Lewis, b.c. 1854, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO; m. 29 Apr 1873, to Eliza Jane McKay [b. 1857, MO; daughter of Rev. William McKay and Adaline ___]; he d. 1888.

1870 census, Hillsboro, Jefferson Co., MO
William Mckay M 52 Missouri
Adaline Mckay F 48 Missouri
Mary Mckay F 18 Missouri
Amanda Mckay F 16 Missouri
Eliza Mckay F 13 Missouri
James Mckay M 10 Missouri
William Mckay M 7 Missouri
James Short M 21 Missouri
Christopher Boen M 18 Missouri

1880 census, Prairie, Franklin, Missouri
William Lewis Self M 25 Missouri
Eliza Jane Lewis Wife F 23 Missouri
Adaline Lewis Daughter F 4 Missouri
Etta J Lewis Daughter F 2 Missouri
William Lewis Son M 0 Missouri

William W. Lewis's children (perhaps others):

1) Adaline Lewis, b. 1876, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO;

2) Etta J. Lewis, b. 1878, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO;

3) William Lewis, b. 1880, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO;

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6. Mary Ann Lewis, b. 1 Oct 1857, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO; m. 24 Sep 1872, to Nathan Marion Pierce [b. 27 Feb 1850; d. 18 Mar 1932, Shannon Co., MO. Occupation on death cert is minister. Father: Nathan P. Pierce; mother: Isabella Pierce]; she d. 23 Feb 1945, aged 88, buried near Twintree, Shannon Co., MO in Corinth Cemetery.

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7. Julian Edwin Lewis, b. Nov 1858, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO; m. 13 Dec 1882, Franklin Co., MO to Martha Matheldra Whitworth [b. 1861, Grubville, Franklin Co., MO; d. by 1900, Prairie Twp., Franklin Co., MO; d/o James and Annie E. Whitworth]; he died 21 Jan 1925, Franklin Co., MO; buried Oak Grove cemetery.

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8. Martha Ellen Lewis, b. 11 Mar 1861, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO; m.c. 1877 to Thomas Milton Pierce [b. 5 Aug 1858, Grayson Co., TX, d. 29 May 1928, Shannon Co., MO; buried Corinth Cemetery; s/o Nathan Priloh Pierce and Isabella McKay]; she d. Jun. 29, 1931; buried Corinth Cemetery, Shannon Co., MO

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9. John Chapman Lewis, b. 8 May 1864, Lonedell, Franklin Co., MO; 14 Jun 1885, Franklin Co., MO, to Mariah Ella Taylor, [daughter of David C. Taylor and Rebecca Short]; he d. 4 May 1923, St. Clair, Franklin Co., MO; buried in Bethel Baptist Church cemetery, Lonedell, MO.

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