Willis Lewis

The story of Willis Lewis, b. approx 1800
The volunteer archivists at the Greenbrier County Historical Society in Lewisburg, West Virginia found a record of a free man of color named Willis Lewis who, at the age of about 59, in 1857 applied to become a slave. They discovered that under Virginia law (Greenbrier County was still part of Virginia at that time), free black people had to register every five years and show that they were employed. If they could not, there was an application process under which they could choose their master. Mr. Lewis applied, choosing a Thomas Pare, who was described as a "master saddler" in Lewisburg. It appears that until then, Willis Lewis had been a free man. Of course, he would have been freed again a few years later, but would have had no way of knowing that. In 1870, Willis Lewis is listed as a mulatto who worked as a day laborer, and the census indicates he was married to a woman named Rosa (although that census doesn't designate marital status, she is listed as Rosa Lewis and is about his age). In 1880, Willis Lewis is again listed, with no occupation -- he would have been about 80 years old -- and his wife is listed as Louisa Lewis. There's no listing in the 1860 census or slave schedule, that we could find, for him being a slave of Thomas Pare. Pare was born in 1814 and died in 1882.