Like many Lewis researchers in Virginia and Maryland, I have
been trying for some years to find the parents of a Lewis
ancestor, in my case Thomas Lewis of Difficult Run, Fairfax and
Loudoun County VA, who married Mary Moss, daughter of John
and Frances (-----) Moss.  (There were several Thomas Lewises
of Difficult Run; mine is the least prominent amongst them.)  He
was still alive 7 June 1788 when he deeded land and personal
property to his sons William Lewis, Daniel Lewis, and Levi
Lewis.  It appears from circumstantial evidence that my Thomas
Lewis belongs to the Lewis family of Prince George's County
MD.

The progenitor of the Lewis family of Prince George's County
MD, Thomas Lewis, whose will was proven 5 June 1696 Prince
George's County MD, had three sons: Richard Lewis,
presumably the Richard Lewis whose will was proven 1719
Chowan County NC, John Lewis whose will was proven 20
April 1711, and Thomas Lewis about whom much less is known.

Thomas Lewis Jr has therefore long been a catch basin for the
hopes of those seeking a father for unconnected Lewises along
either side of the Potomac.

In "Pioneer Lewis Families" Michael Cook assigned Thomas
Lewis the Younger four sons:
1.   Thomas Lewis; married Elizabeth Thomas
2.   John Lewis of Prince George's County MA; estate
     account 1748 Prince George's County MD; married
     Winifred Thomas
3.   Richard Lewis; [frequently said to have married Susanna
     Stonestreet although he did not]
4.   Jonathan Lewis of Prince George's County MD; estate
     inventory 13 February 1724 Prince George's County
     MD]; married Mary -----

A deed has surfaced showing that none of those sons belongs to
Thomas Lewis Jr.  The deed, dated 11 March 1755,  is from his
daughter Elizabeth and her husband Joseph Fry, at that time of
Fairfax County VA, to William Robins of Prince George's
County MD in which they conveyed to Robins Elizabeth's
interest in Battersea [Prince George's County MD Liber NN,
f.352].  (I am indebted to William Neal Hurley Jr for the
reference.)  The deed states that Elizabeth's father Thomas Lewis
was the son of Thomas Lewis who left him part of Battersea in
his will; that her father was the brother of John Lewis and died
after John; that her father died intestate without male issue; that
he left four daughters: Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, and Catherine.

That deed leaves the above four men--Thomas, John, Richard,
and Jonathan--as free agents.  Given current research, can anyone
connect those four men to their proper father?  Does anyone
have hard evidence about them?

Does anyone have a hypothesis about the parents of my Thomas
Lewis of Difficult Run?

Many thanks for your help, and best wishes to you.

Scott Swanson
Department of History
Butler University
4600 Sunset Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana  46208-3485
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