Fielding Lewis

Fielding Lewis (July 7, 1725 – December 7, 1781) was a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War and the brother-in-law of George Washington.

Lewis was born at Warner Hall in Gloucester County, Virginia, the son of John Lewis (1694-1754) and Frances Fielding (c1702-1731). He was the third of seven children. One of his father's brothers, Robert Lewis (1704-1765), was the grandfather of famed explorer Meriwether Lewis.

Lewis married Catharine Washington on October 18, 1746. She was his second cousin, daughter of John Washington and Catharine Whiting and first cousin to George Washington. The marriage produced three children. Catharine died on February 19, 1750.

His second marriage was to another second cousin, Betty Washington, the sister of George Washington, on May 7, 1750. The marriage produced 11 children, including Lawrence Lewis, who married Eleanor Parke Custis, George Washington's adopted daughter and step-granddaughter. Betty outlived Fielding, passing in 1797.

Commissary General of Munitions during the American Revolutionary War, Lewis held the rank of Colonel. He and his second wife resided near Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1769, Fielding and Betty started construction of a large Georgian mansion, which was completed in 1775 at their estate, later named Kenmore House. It is now open to the public for viewing. Lewis died in Fredericksburg in 1781.

The Kenmore estate purchased the property said to be "George Washington's Boyhood Home", Ferry Farm, to keep it from being developed. Both Fielding and his wife Elizabeth "Betty" are commemorated with street names in the nearby Ferry Farm subdivision (Fielding Circle and Betty Lewis Drive).

His great-granddaughter was Catherine Willis Gray who married into the Bonaparte family of France. A sixth-generation descendant, Fielding Lewis Wright, was Governor of Mississippi.

External links

• http://www.hffi.org/fieldinglewisstore.html Restoration of Fielding Lewis' Store in Fredericksbug, VA
• Historic Kenmore, the Kenmore estate website.