Dr. A.W. Lewis will talk about the John Lewis Family Cemetery, which is located close to Plain View, at the next meeting of the King and Queen Historical Society.
The public is invited to the group’s quarterly meeting, which will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Shackelfords Chapel United Methodist Church, 3727 Buena Vista Road, Cologne.
John Lewis immigrated to the Virginia Colony in the mid-1600s, acquired property on the Poropotank Creek in King and Queen County (part of New Kent County at the time), and founded a family line connected to many other well-known colonial Virginia families. Meriwether Lewis, the famous explorer, was a descendent. In the 1940s, the heavily overgrown cemetery and the burial marker of John Lewis were discovered through the efforts of Dr. Malcolm Harris, an enthusiastic local historian.
The spot was noted, but not until years later was any effort made to clear the stones of the undergrowth. It is the oldest identified cemetery in the county.
In the 21st century...