06/02/2026
Francis Lewis – NY signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Lewis was born on March 21, 1713, in Llandaff, Wales, the son of a clergyman. He began a career as a merchant and moved to New York around 1737. Working for the British mercantile as a clothing contractor at Fort Oswego in 1756, he was taken prisoner and shipped in a box to France. In 1763, he returned and was granted 5,000 acres to compensate for the 7 lost years of his life. He was determined to get those years back.
Back in the America’s, Lewis took up activism and got involved in politics. He was a member of the “Committee of Sixty,” earned a seat in the New York Provincial Congress, and was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1779. In 1776 he signed the United States Declaration of Independence.
It came at a cost. His home was burned to the ground during the American Revolution by British soldiers and his wife spent 2 years in captivity under poor conditions. She got sick and died. And, his only daughter married a British Naval Officer, move to England, and refused to correspond with him. Lewis worked hard to grow his family's wealth, and spent almost all his life savings purchasing supplies for the Continental Army.
"…and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Francis Lewis was 63 when he signed below that final sentence of the Declaration and 89 at his death in 1802. He put his pen to that paper and honored his pledge for us. 250 years later, the least we could do is remember him for it.
