Traditionally, researchers have placed the John Lewis, presumed to have married Susan Daniel, in Pulaski County, Kentucky, and they have attributed the location of the elder Lewis children's birth as Pulaski County, Kentucky.
There's just one big problem with that. The John Lewis of Pulaski County, Kentucky does not have enough children. As a general rule of thumb, when looking at the early census, I want to see a head of household with at least as many children as have been documented to be the children of that individual and who can be documented to be living in that census year. An individual with more than the known number of children cannot be ruled out because of the high mortality rate. There were potentially more child than are known. However, an individual with too few children can be ruled out.
I found these individuals of Pulaski County, Kentucky to be of interest on the 1810 census:
Lewis, John 1001 - 1101
Lewis, Leonard 001 - 101
Lewis, Daniel 0001 - 1001
Lewis, Samuel 00301 - 000001
This John Lewis has in his household the following:
one male under age 10
one male age 26 - 44
one female under age 10
one female age 10 - 15
one female age 26 - 44
The elder children of John D. Lewis had these approximate birthdates, according to census records:
Wiley Lewis b. c. 1798 or 1799
William Henry Lewis b. c. 1799
Joel D. Lewis b. c. 1801
Celia (Lewis) Babb b. c. 1803
Matilda (Lewis) Mason b. c. 1807
Rebecca (Lewis) Mason b. c. 1809
Spencer P. Lewis b. unknown
Daniel A. Lewis b. unknown
The John Lewis of Pulaski County, Kentucky simply does not have enough sons and daughters to be our John D. Lewis.
From the 1810 Kentucky census, a better fit for our John D. Lewis is the John Lewis of Knox County. There are these individuals of interest on that census:
Joseph Daughtery 1001 - 11201 1 - slave
Robert Daniel 0011 - 2001
James Daniel 13001 - 00201
Abner Lewis 2111 - 3001
John Lewis 2201 - 3001
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| Knox County, Kentucky Census, 1810 |
This John Lewis has the following individuals in his household:
two males under ten = Joel D. Lewis and unknown
two males 10 - 15 = Wiley and William Henry Lewis
one male 26 - 44 = John Lewis
three females under 10 = Celia, Matilda, and Rebecca Lewis
one female 26 - 44 = Mrs. John Lewis
This John Lewis is a much closer fit for our John Lewis. Plus, he has the added advantage of being in the same location as those with the surname Daniel and Daughtery. I propose that if we want to be more successful in tracing the line of John D. Lewis and his supposed wife, Susan Daniel, that we shift our attention from Pulaski County, Kentucky to Knox County, Kentucky.
Other posts in this series:
Matilda (Lewis) Mason, Daughter of John Lewis
Elizabeth (Lewis) Babb - Obituary
John Lewis and the Blaine Deposition
Jane Lewis, Wife of Milton Wardlow
Rebecca Lewis, Wife of Aaron Rice
John Lewis, Reference to McNairy Co., TN Estate in Tishomingo Co., MS
John Lewis, Tishomingo Co., Mississippi Probate Court
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