Charles Lilburn Lewis

Charles Lilburn Lewis (1747 – 1831 or 1837), sometimes referred to as Charles Lilburn Lewis of Monteagle, was one of the founders of Milton, Virginia, as well as one of the signers of Albemarle County, Virginia's Declaration of Independence in 1779. Married to Lucy Jefferson, the sister of President Thomas Jefferson, he was among the elite class of plantation owners until the turn of the 19th century when he and his children lost their fortunes. Two of his daughters were married and stayed in Virginia, while the remainder of his family left for Kentucky. They had a difficult life there, with his wife, son Randolph, daughter-in-law Mary, and Lilburne's wife having died by early 1812. Lewis was left to care for unmarried daughters, grandchildren, and the family's slaves. Sons Isham and Lilburne brutally murdered an enslaved boy named George in December 1811. After it was determined that the men were involved, Lilburne killed himself and Isham escaped jail and died following his service in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Early life Charles Lilburn Lewis was the oldest of eight children born to Colonel Charles Lewis of Buck Island and Mary Randolph. His maternal aunt, Jane Randolph Jefferson, was the mother of United States President Thomas Jefferson. The Lewis family were among the wealthy plantation and slave–owning class. His Jefferson cousins, except Thomas, were educated with him at Buck Island, around eight miles from Charlottesville, Virginia. They were close throughout their lives and three generations of Jefferson and Lewis family members intermarried. There is no indication that Charles had an advanced education, but beginning at the age of 16, he learned about the affairs of running a plantation and other business affairs from his father. The Lewises periodically borrowed books from Thomas Jefferson's library. Marriage and children On September 12, 1769, Lewis married his first cousin, Lucy Jefferson, President Jefferson's sister. After their wedding, they lived in a two-story log cabin on a portion of the Buck Island plantation that was south of the Rivanna River.