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Robert Benjamin Lewis (1802 - February 1858) was an African and Native American author, best known for writing ''Light and Truth.'' He also was an entrepreneur, successfully marketing hair oil and other commodities, and also held three United States patents. ==Personal life== Aside from his writings, little is known about Lewis's life. He was born in 1802〔The 1850 Federal Census for the city of Bath, Lincoln County, Maine,at p. 162 lists his age as 52, leading to a date of birth of 1798; however, the heading in the lithograph currently at the American Antiquarian Society states that his birthdate was 1802.〕 in the portion of Pittston, Maine that later became the city of Gardiner, probably the eldest son of Matthias Lewis and Lucy (Stockbridge) Lewis, who announced their intention to marry in Pittston on July 28, 1800.〔Henry Sewall Webster, editor. ''Vital Records of Pittston, Maine to the Year 1892'' (Gardiner, Me, 1912), 228, 276〕 It is assumed that Matthias Lewis was either a Mohegan from southern Rhode Island or a Pequot from the area around New London, Connecticut and Montville, Connecticut.〔A number of people named Lewis who were of part African and Native American ancestry were resident of the Montville area, with a number named Matthias. Barbara W. Brown and James M. Rose: ''Black Roots in Southeastern Connecticut, 1650-1900'' (Detroit, 1979), 230-232〕 On October 26, 1806, a twenty-seven-year-old sailor named Mathias Lewis from Kennebec County, Maine (Maine was a part of Massachusetts until it was admitted to the Union in 1820), appeared at the United States Customs House in New London, Connecticut and received a Seamen's Protection Certificate or Protection papers; the certificate (no. 3468) describes him as being five feet, six inches tall with a "colored" complexion.〔Mystic Seaport Seamen's Protection Certificate Register Database at http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/ProtectionDetail.cfm?id=41112 Accessed May 21, 2013〕 Lucy Stockbridge was a daughter of one Isaac Hazard Stockbridge, an African kidnapped when he was a child (about 1740) and purchased by Dr. Silvester Gardiner of Boston, Massachusetts, a wealthy physician, pharmaceutical manufacturer and land developer of Maine.〔Simon Greenleaf, reporter: The Inhabitants of Gardiner v. The Inhabitants of Hallowell, ''Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine'' (Portland, 1876)1:93-102〕 Stockbridge, known as "Bad Hazard," did not take kindly to being enslaved. Described as "a bad fellow," Hazard had attempted to burn down Dr. Gardiner's house, and was successful in choking to death one of Gardiner's horses. After an unsuccessful attempt at poisoning Gardiner's family, Hazard was exiled to Gardiner's holdings near Pittston.〔John Wesley Hanson: ''History of Gardiner, Pittston, and West Gardiner, With a Sketch of the Kennebec Indians'' (Gardiner, Me., 1852), 98-99〕 Lucy, born in 1769, was a daughter of Hazard by his wife Cooper Loring, whom he married in 1765.〔Simon Greenleaf reporter: The Inhabitants of Gardiner v. The Inhabitants of Hallowell, ''Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine'' (Portland, 1876)1:93-102〕 Although Lewis' daughter stated that her paternal grandfather was a Frenchman and her grandmother Native American,〔Mary Augusta Lewis Johnson to Daniel A. P. Murray, n.d., in Daniel Murray Papers, Micro 577, Reel 16, Wisconsin Historical Society Library, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin〕 a history of the city of Gardiner avers that "All the colored people named Lewis in this vicinity are descended from Hazard." 〔Robert H. Gardiner, in J.W. Hanson: ''History of Gardiner, Pittston, and West Gardiner, With a Sketch of the Kennebec Indians'', 99〕 It is known that members of the Lewis family left Gardiner in 1809,〔 and it is known that Robert Benjamin Lewis lived at times in the cities of Portland, Maine, Augusta, Maine,〔1830 Federal Census for city of Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine, 84〕 and Hallowell, Maine.〔1840 Federal Census for city of Hallowell, Kennebec County, Maine, 26 ("R.B. Lewis")〕 After some years in school, Lewis appears to have gone to sea, as many did during that time. His daughter stated that Lewis served in the War of 1812, probably as a cabin boy on a privateer.〔 However, according to newspaper accounts,〔(Bath, Me.) ''Daily Times'', October 7, 1873, as cited in Pitts〕 he wanted to become a missionary to Africa and preach the Gospel to the indigenous people. He may have been helped by the Maine Missionary Society of Hallowell. This group of Congregationalist ministers and laypeople had been organized to facilitate the spread of the Gospel by supporting missions and ministers throughout Maine, and although information has not yet surfaced to show that Lewis was one of those missionaries, after his death “it was said…that the Congregational Church in Hallowell had, in consequence of the intelligence he had manifested in youth, obtained for him an education with a view to his becoming a missionary to Africa.” 〔 Nothing yet has been found to show that Lewis was ever licensed as a preacher or ordained as a minister; however, he brought away from his studies a thorough knowledge of the Bible as well as classical history.〔Pitts〕 Lewis was married twice: first to Mrs. Wealthia Ann Jones in New York City in late 1828,〔"In this city, by the Rev. John Stanford, Mr. Robert Lewis of Hallowell, Me., to Mrs. Wealthia A. Jones, of this city." (New York) ''Freedom's Journal'', December 3, 1828〕 and secondly, to eighteen-year-old Mary Freeman Huston, the fourth of nine children of an escaped slave from Virginia who became a prosperous farmer in Brunswick, Maine,〔Brunswick (Me.) ''Telegraph,'' June 11, 1855, cited in Pitts〕 at the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 17, 1835.〔"Marriages by the Reverend Daniel Sharp, D.D., Pastor of the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston 1812-1852," ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' 88:335 (1934)〕 Lewis is known to have had three sons and seven daughters from his second marriage.〔Mabel Goodwin Hall, editor. ''Vital Records of Hallowell, Maine to the Year 1892'' (Gardiner, Maine, 1924), 1:173〕 Some scholars have also suggested that Lewis is the father of Edmonia Lewis, a well-known African/Native American sculptor, but their relationship has never been confirmed.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robert Benjamin Lewis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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