Betsy Ann Young, Wife of Daniel A. Lewis

©  Kathy Duncan, 2019

The children of Betsy Ann Young and Daniel A. Lewis can be proven by examining the estate records of her father William Young who died in Marshall County, Alabama in 1857. Betsey Ann (Young) Lewis was deceased by the time William Young's will was written in 1856. This will was filed by William Young's grandson William S. Lewis and was contested by Rachel Arena Higgins and William Ira Young, the only surviving children of William Young.

This probate paper provides a list of William Young's heirs, both living and deceased:

This list of William Young's makes reference to his daughter, Betsy Ann Lewis, deceased, who married Daniel A. Lewis. Their children are listed as being

1. Cecily Louisa Lewis [b. c. 1829] who married John R. Inlow

2. William S. Lewis [b.c. 1831]

3. Charlotte T. Lewis [b. 14 March 1834]

4. Susan M. Lewis [b. 27 September 1835]

5. Mansel or Mansfield W. Lewis [b.c. 1837/38/39]

6. Betsy Ann Lewis [b. 23 March 1838]

William Young's daughter Betsy Ann Lewis had been previously married to Thomas Hughes. They married 8 November 1826 in Madison County, Alabama. Betsy Ann (Young) Hughes married Daniel A. Lewis a year and a half later on 4 May 1828 in Madison County, Alabama. There are no Hughes children listed in William Young's probate.

We can conclude that Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis was living as of 1838 when her daughter Betsy Ann was born and that she was deceased by the time her father wrote his will in 1856. However, Betsy Ann is also nowhere to be found on the 1850 census while her children are living with various relatives and neighbors, suggesting that she was deceased before 1850.

Charlotte T. and Susan M. Lewis are living with their grandfather William Young in the Hart household. Susan is listed on the next page.

Betsy Ann Lewis is in the Samuel Wallace household, along with John Higgins, suggesting that this is an extended family: 

William S. Lewis is in the Henry Martin household: 

Celia Louisa Lewis has already married John R. Inlow and is living in Franklin County, Alabama:

How much before 1850 did Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis die?

Neither Daniel A. Lewis nor Betsy Ann Lewis is on the 1840 census in either Madison County, Jackson County, or Marshall County, Alabama.

However, the 1840 household of William Young is very revealing. The demographics suggest that William and Catherine Young are raising some of their grandchildren. Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis is the only child of theirs who might have been deceased by 1840. 

1840 Marshall County, Alabama:

William Young 020000001 - 131000001

1 male 5 - 9 years old =

1 male 5 - 9 years old = William S. Lewis?

1 male 60 - 70 = William Young

1 female 5 - 9 =

1 female 5 - 9 = Susan M. Lewis?

1 female 5 - 9 = Charlotte T. Lewis?

1 female 10 - 14 = Celia L. Lewis?

1 female 60 - 70 = Catherine

While Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis may have been deceased by 1840, her husband Daniel Lewis seems to be alive and well on the 1840 Crittenden County, Arkansas census with another wife.

Jasper Twp., Crittenden Co., Ark., 1840

One theory is that Daniel Lewis had married Tempie DeSpain, daughter of the John D. Spaine, who is next door to them on the census. What makes this even more interesting is that John DeSpain's wife was Charlotte Daniel. 

Daniel's brother Wiley Lewis was also living in Crittenden County, Arkansas in 1840.

Jasper Twp., Critten Co., Ark., 1840

Daniel A. Lewis's father John D. Lewis seems to have expressed some concern for the welfare of Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis's children, his grandchildren when he provided for them in his will while leaving his son Daniel A. Lewis only $1. Did Daniel separate from Betsy before her death? Or did he wait a short time after her death before remarrying? That would not have raised many eyebrows. However, Daniel seems to have left his children to be raised by others while he headed west to make a new life. This seeming abandonment of his children may be what put him on the outs with his father, John D. Lewis.

Revised January 26, 2021