Wiley Lewis, Son of John D. Lewis

        ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

On 14 January 1840, John D. Lewis of Jackson County, Alabama wrote his will and left his son Wiley Lewis five dollars, which effectively disinherited him. In Ann Sharp's 1872 deposition, she stated that John D. Lewis told her that Wiley was disinherited because of  "his recklessness & dissipation." Recklessness probably meant that he disregarded any risks that followed from his actions. Those actions could have been connected to monetary matters - he could have been a gambler or maybe just a spendthrift. Dissipation implies that he was perhaps a wastrel - spending too much, drinking too much, etc. The image that springs to mind is a penniless drunk who would just squander his inheritance on the sins of the flesh. 

It's interesting to note that no matter how disgusted John D. Lewis was with Wiley, he left his other son Daniel A. Lewis only one dollar. What could Daniel's transgression have been?! It's also interesting to consider that while John D. Lewis went to great pains to leave Daniel's share of his estate to Daniel's first wife Betsy (Young) Lewis and her children, no such provision was made for Wiley's wife and children. 

In researching, Wiley Lewis, a totally different sort of man than what one might imagine emerges from the documents that are available so far. He seems to have been a respected, socially upstanding young man. He held several community offices, where he seems to have served competently. He may have had the occasional drink, but there is no record of him being arrested for being drunk. If John D. Lewis had joined in with the Disciples of Christ, as the rest of the family seems to have done during the Great Restoration Movement, then he would have been intolerant of any drinking. It seems more likely that Wiley may have had a tendency toward grand ideas in his investments. However, his actual financial ruin did not occur until several years after John D. Lewis died.

Let's start at the beginning.

Wiley Lewis married Charlotte Bricker on 24 October 1821 in Madison County, Alabama. They were married by Rev. Ephraim D. Moore, a minister of the Disciples of Christ. Ephraim D. Moore was related by marriage to Ann Sharp. He migrated to Red River County, Texas in 1835, probably with Mansel W. Matthews. 

Wiley Lewis had settled in Crittenden County, Arkansas by 1829, so he had already gone west. According to the Territorial Papers of the United States, vol. 19, Wiley Lewis served as a magistrate of the Canadian township of Crittenden County, Arkansas in 1829 and again in 1831 and 1835. 

Composition of the Wiley Lewis household on the 1830 Crittenden Census:

Wiley Lewis 001031-20001

One male 10-15 = unknown (not a child of Charlott's)

Three males 20 - 30 = three unknowns

One male 30 - 40 = Wiley Lewis

Two females under 5 = Matilda Lewis? and one unknown

One female 20 - 30 = Charlotte Bricker (probably in her mid to late 20s)?

In 1837, Wiley Lewis was commissioned as a Colonel for Crittenden's regiment in the U.S. Army. He served in the 2nd Division under Major General Stephen V.R. Ryan. As the Colonel, Wiley was required to organize his regiment into battalions and companies. Everything indicates that he fulfilled his responsibilities. 

Starting in 1838, Wiley began purchasing tracks of land, mostly through the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas. He had also formed an alliance with William D. Ferguson. At some point, they may have formed a partnership of sorts. In 1838, William D. Ferguson was embroiled in a feud with Bill Strong of St. Francis County, who accused Ferguson of acquiring land from William Cherry in some nefarious manner. Ferguson wrote a long defense of his actions and character that was published in the Arkansas Times and Advocate of Little Rock on Monday, 3 September 1838. However, Ferguson did not stop there. He recruited a small army of allies to provide depositions swearing that they knew Ferguson to be honest in his dealings with Cherry. Wiley Lewis was one of those allies. He joined with Joseph S. Neely, Robert C. Dean, and P.P. Whalin to issue a simple statement that they knew Strong's claims to be "false and slanderous." 

In 1839, Wiley Lewis was sued by James H. Rogers, but the case was nonsuited. 

By 1840, Wiley Lewis was paying taxes on at least six tracks of land in Crittenden County: 

This is the point at which John D. Lewis made the decision to disinherit Wiley by leaving him only $5. My guess is that John D. Lewis thought his son was living beyond his means in an unsustainable manner. Since they were not living near each other, it would be interesting to know what tipped him off. Perhaps Wiley was asking his father for money to cover his expenses or to use in expanding his holdings even more.

Composition of the Wiley Lewis household on the 1840 Jasper Township, Crittenden County, Arkansas Census:

Wiley Lewis 0101102-11001

One male 5 - 9 = unknown

One male 15 - 19 = unknown

One male 20 - 29 = unknown

Two males 40 - 49 = Wiley Lewis and one unknown

One female 1 - 4 = Lucinda Lewis

One female 5 - 9 = Matilda Lewis?

One female 20 - 29 = unknown, probably not Charlotte

By 1844, Wiley Lewis was deep in debt and had left Arkansas. Note that he was accompanied in his downfall by William D. Ferguson:

By 1848, Wiley Lewis was in Hopkins County, Texas where his daughter Matilda Lewis married Baily Ashmore on 20 July 1848. They were all together on the 1850 census for Hopkins County, Texas, where they were near neighbors to Wiley's sisters Margaret (Lewis) DeSpain and Matilda (Lewis) Mason: 

Wiley Lewis has not been found on the 1860 census. By 1860, his daughter Matilda was living with her husband in Hunt County, Texas. Wiley was not living with them. However, a Wiley Lewis purchased land in Hunt County in the 1850s, so he may have moved with the Ashmores. 

Nothing additional has been learned about Lucinda Lewis nor about what appears to be several older Lewis children. There is still a lot of research to be done on Wiley Lewis.