Your Invitation to the James Stapleton Lewis Virtual Family Reunion

February 22, 2014 marks the 200^th birthday of our ancestor James Stapleton Lewis. A special JSL family reunion is planned for this summer on July 25-26, 2014, continuing the reunions that have been held for a number of years in Albion, Idaho where James and his wife Mary spent the last years of their lives.

In addition, we would like to invite you to participate in a James Stapleton Lewis Virtual Family Reunion now to honor the legacy we have from James, Anna, and Mary Lewis. JSL has more than 3500 identified descendants scattered throughout the United States and probably in other countries as well. It would be quite difficult and expensive to get all of us together, but through technology we can get to know each other better and participate in activities to honor the heritage we have received from these pioneer ancestors.

You are invited to choose from the list of activities below that tie into events in the lives of James, Anna, or Mary, then share online with other James Stapleton Lewis descendants. If none of these suggested projects interests you, feel free to come up with something else.

There are two ways to share your thoughts from the experience with the rest of the JSL “family.” You may send it to the private Facebook group “James Stapleton Lewis 200th Birthday Celebration: Family Reunion” https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/613835778675973/ This is a closed group. You can access it and ask to be invited to join. In that way the comments that you share will be able to be seen only by other JSL family members. If you are comfortable with sharing your experience with a more public audience in a way that will come up on an Internet search, share on The James Stapleton Lewis Families Project blog at jamesstapletonlewis.blogspot.com by making comments under this blog post.

• One of the reasons we know so much about JSL is because he kept a journal which recorded information about his life and that of his ancestors. Other relatives have preserved those records for us, including his great grandnephew Arthur K Love, a descendant of James’ brother Joel, who edited Lewis Newsletters in the 1930s. You might write a brief account of your life or that of your parents and grandparents that can be shared with your children or grandchildren.
• Share information about JSL and his family with your own family in a family get-together or family home evening. Janis Durfee’s website genealogybyjan.com is one source of information. You might also take a look at Jamesstapletonlewis@blogspot.com .
•  James stated, “Civilization has followed the path of the brave pioneers and leaves the world to write their history which to say the least, alas, a hundredth part is never done. They of which I now write have gone to the great beyond with a consciousness that they have served their country in its most critical and trying hour. . . . – who can write the fearful facts of those early pioneers or give the credit that is due to them – impossible. My father, Joel Lewis, was there – my mother was there.” With your family, determine a way you can be pioneers in our day so that you can carry on with the legacy we have been given.
• Speaking of his father Joel Lewis, James wrote, “My father, Joel Lewis, Sr., was born February 1, 1776. Served in the war of 1812 under General Anthony Wayne. Employed in building Forts through the Northern parts of Indiana and Ohio – Fort Greenville, Fort St. Marys, Fort Defiance and Recovery, and Fort Wayne through which was all a dense forest of unbroken wilderness. This line of Forts was to keep back or protect the white settlements from the merciless Indians who were hired and furnished with firearms and other war material to harass the unprotected settlements of American pioneers. . . .” James’ father Joel and uncles Daniel Lewis, Cyrus Sackett, and Abraham Van Eaton served during the War of 1812. Do some research on the War of 1812 or these forts and try to understand the service they gave to our country, then share your findings with your family or with us.
•  The Lewis family moved from North Carolina to Ohio, traveling through the Cumberland Gap and along the Wilderness Trail forged by Daniel Boone. James’ brother Joel was born in 1806 in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, a main stop along the Wilderness Trail. Find out more about the Wilderness Trail or other pioneer trails and share your research with your family and with us.
•  James and Anna Jones Lewis and later James and Mary Swenson Lewis persevered through many difficult experiences. Share with the rest of us how learning about their lives has inspired or motivated you in some way as you travel your own life path.
• Mount Pisgah, Iowa was a stop along the Mormon Pioneer Trail. James and Mary lived there with their sons for several years following the expulsion from Nauvoo, Illinois. Find out more about this little known period of LDS history and educate the rest of us.
• Mary (Anna Maria Swensson) Lewis came as a young immigrant from Sweden about 1864 on the ship Monarch of the Sea, desiring to join other LDS church members. She was part of the large migration from the British Isles and Scandinavia in the 1850s and 1860s. Research this migration and the circumstances these courageous immigrants experienced. Let the rest of us know what you discovered.
• Write down a spiritual experience or your testimony and share it with your family or friends just as JSL frequently did.
• In 1894 James wrote to his son Wilford saying, “I have made up my mind to start to the Temple, Wed., Oct. 24 if nothing providential prevents.  Mary will go with me. . .We dare not wait longer.  To wait for money and to get ready is saying we will not go at all.  We, therefore, tear loose and make a start.  I know of no other object the Lord has in sparing my life, thus far. . . .” James and Mary, with help from their children and their spouses performed temple ordinances in the Logan, Utah temple over a 15-year period for more than 300 relatives. You might want to visit a nearby temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, perhaps with your family. Enjoy the spirit that is felt on the grounds or worship in the temple.

As descendants of James Stapleton Lewis, we look forward to hearing your experiences as you learn more about the Lewis families or try to follow some of the examples they gave to us. We hope you will be able to join in this Virtual James Stapleton Lewis Family Reunion.