St. Mary's beacon., 1861-02-14

sort Of my declining years. devote you
all to my country. Keep back the foot
OF the invader from the soii Of Augusta.
or see ny face NO more. Vixen this in
c,ient was related to Warrington, shortly
alter Its occurrence, he enthusiastically ex-
claimed, Leave me but banner To- Di.a,
upon the mountains of Augusta, and will
rally around me the men VII, will l;fr onr
bleeding country from the dust and set her
free"
The Lewis family, to one Of whose rep-
rsssn;aiivss allusion is here made has
played almost as memorable a part in the
history of Western Virginia as Captain
John Smith in Eastern Virginia. The
founder Of the family in Virginia was
john LEXIS. native an; citizen &: Ire
land. whose rank was that Of AN Esouirc.
and who was descended from Hugueuot
family who took refsgc in Ireland fr,.:.
the prosecutions that followed the assass,-
nation ef Henry " Of Frsace. lie
married Margaret Lynn, daughter of the
laird OF Loeb Lynn. who was descendant,
OF the chieftalns of = unce powerful! clan
Ia the Scottish Highlands. Tie euipra-
'i"n "s JOHN Lcwis 10 Virginia VAS the
result IT an uncroyok-d aggrtssinn a.d
"tsanit upon ti.e residence vi Lewis by q
neighbnring notlenIan whicl. Lewis re-
sisted with the aid Of Il f,w faithful 10.
slostlc1. scarcely one-(our,h the nuAber of
has sssailauts, who were, however. ss.oi
dispersed. the nol,leman and llis principal
agent falling by the haI,.s of Lewis Hav-
ing drawn up detailed statement Of the
affair. which he directed to the proper su-
th"rities. (and which were SO entirely sat
i,faeiory that, after due investigation, a
pardon MAS extended 10 him aud royal
patents. by which til. King granted to
him large portion Of Western t,rgiuia) !.
Mr.. LEWIS. with his family aud about
thirty Of his tensntry e:nigrated t. Eir-
glnla, and made settlrmsnt i'll augusta
county, near thu site Of the present town
Of Stanton. From this time forth. to the
close of the Revolution, the warlike dre,is.
OF the family are familiar as household
words in tn" history of Virginia. OF the
four s"Ds. Thomas. Andrew. William aud
Charles, all were engaged IN the lnccssant
Indian wartarea of the tunes. and two ot
them, Andrew (whnse statue is uow in
course Of preparation at Rome for the
Virginia Washington Mshum-nt}, ar,,i
Charles, were conspicuous for their splcp-
did herois,n During ths wars ali alt.cS
was made by the lI'.izns on one occasion
On Fort Lewis when all the u,cn Of tn.
settlement were away Oh active duty ex-
cept JOHN Lewis, the father, who was
then very old aud inirm. The old hero.
however, in no wise asuL,cd by the az
! sault, opened port-hole where lie station
ed himself firing at tue sasagrs, while his
wife reloaded the guns. In this manner
| lie sustained a siege Of six hours. when
the lnen OF the settlement returned to h.s
relief and fousd around the fort the dead
bodies OF more thai twenty OF The savages,
gha-tiy monuments Of the cool courage
| and unerring craftsmanship Of the solitary
defender # the fort. An anec,iute. r.ls-
ted BY an old settler of Western Virginia,
| exhibits in very striking light the deep
impression which the exploits Of the Levi
Sen h&i produced upon tic lndias mini
The white Or wild clover is Of indigenous
growth and abundant OH the banks OF the
rivers. DC. The red Mas Introduced bv
John Lewis. aud it was currently repprt-d
=. by the prophets and believed hy the In
dams generally that the blood Of the RED
men slain by the Lcwiscs aud their foll,,w.
ers had dyed the trefoii to its sang uin.
! hue"
Gen. Andrew Lewis. whose statue IL,
the splendid Washington group at Riel,
mond promises to be the ch,f d'1urre o
Rogers genius, and has elected great nd
miraiiou ut Rome was tn" second son q
John Lewis In Braddock's war he wa.
ia u company in which were all his broth
ers. the eldest. Samuel Lewis, being tb,
captain. This company was greatly dis
tinguished ut Brsddock's defeat Wild
some other Of the Virginia troops. it Va
in the advance. and was the first at.acke.
By the enemy. In the attack upon For
! Duqu,sne. Andrew Lewis, then MAJOR
acquired the highest reputation for pru
deace and courage His grand achieve
u,eut was. the great battle of poiu. Plea
SAINT. which. being then COMMANDMENTS
Chief of the Virginia troops, be fough
On the 10th Of May. IVA. In thi
campaign the Indians were drzve'
west Of the Ohio. The battle Of Foin
r Pleasant" (~ays Colonel Stuart. in hi
historical men,oi's.) was. in fact. tn
beginning If the Revolutionary war, an'
u good prcsage Of failure success; for it
welI-known that the Ihdiahs were inHuen
cel by the British TO commence the va
to tsrrify aud confound the people. befor
!. they commenced hostilities themselves th
;. following year at Lexington. The India,
army was commanded By the c:stingaish
ed Chief rc! copsummate warrior Corn
stalk, and comprised the flower Of the Shaw
nee. Delaware, Miuso. Wyandotte an
Cayuga tribes Among the officers unds
General Lewis command we're Geaera
Isaac Shelby. afterwards frst Governo
i. of Kentucky aud Secretary Of War Gov
ernor VIM. Campbell and Colonel Joh
Campbell. heroes of Kings Mountain MA