MARTIN BATY LEWIS
A Republic of Texas Ancestor of
David Rolfe Wells

2009 President of the Ephraim M. Daggett Chapter #36
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texs

Martin Baty Lewis born in Clark County, Indiana, on January 13, 1806, son of Sally (Lemasters) and Samuel S. Lewis. He married Nancy Moore, born March 1, 1817, in Ohio, the daughter of Thomas and Susan Moore. They married in Vermilion County, Indiana, on October 25, 1825. They had eleven children: John Kenny, Samuel Harper, Thomas McFarland, Sarah Ann, William McFarland, Charlotte Harper, Stephen Austin, Malinda H. (married John Pinkney Best Jr.), Benjamin Franklin, Martin Baty, and Elizabeth Lemaster. They immigrated to Texas in January 1830, settling on Ayish Bayou (now San Augustine County), then moved to Indian Creek near Bevil (now Jasper County) in 1832.

In August 1832, Martin Baty Lewis was a sergeant major under Col. James Bullock's command at the Battle of Nacogdoches; in 1835, he was captain of East Texas Volunteers in the Siege of Bexar.  In July 1836, he was captain of a company under Gen. Thomas Rusk and marched to join the Army of the Republic of Texas at the Coleto, when a Mexican incursion by Gen. Jose Urrea was feared. He resigned this command in August 1836.   He also fought in the Mexican War from October 1847 to September 1848. He was 1st Sgt. in John Veatch's Co in Hansbrough Bell's 1st Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers.

Lewis was County Surveyor of Jasper County from 1836-1845, and was Chief Justice of Jasper County in 1844. In 1845, he patented title to 2,958 acres of land in Jasper County. He left Texas for the California "gold rush" in 1849. By 1850, he was in Mari-posa, California, and in 1863 he settled at Millertown, Fresno County, California, where he died and left a Will, before 1885.   Copies of his handwritten journals are in the Dallas Public Library.

David Rolfe Wells (great-great-great-grandson), #6464