Life Sketches

Benjamin Lewis

Among the faithful ones who yielded his life to the bitter enemies of the L.D.S. people in the early days of the Church was Benjamin Lewis, a valiant member of the Church in those perilous times.

Benjamin Lewis was born in Pendleton District, South Carolina, April 23, 1803. In 1809 the family moved to Simpson County Kentucky. The same year Lenorard Ryons, his wife Frances Adams Ryons with their baby daughter Joannah moved from Clark County, Kentucky to Simpson County, Kentucky. Joannah was born April 6, 1808, and about 1826 she became the wife of Benjamin Lewis.

Benjamin Lewis was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by James Emmett in March 1835. His wife Joannah also became a member of the Church and stood faithfully by through all the early day trials and hardships. Benjamin was ordained an Elder in the Church in the Spring of 1835 by James Emmett and Peter Dustin, and was made President of the branch in Simpson County when that branch was organized.

In the spring of 1836, Benjamin and his family moved to Macaupin County, Illinois, and in the summer of 1837 they went to make a home in Caldwell County, Missouri.

When the mob began shooting at Hauns Mill, many of the women took their children away into the woods. Among them was Joannah Lewis with her six little children, They remained in the woods through the night, and when Joannah returned to her home at dawn, she found Benjamin, her husband, at the side of their home severely wounded. He had received a bullet wound in the while in the blacksmith shop. Despite the terrible condition he was in, he had managed to reach his home a distance of one hundred rods. He was gently assisted into the home and the family did all they could for him. The bullet, which had lodge in his body, was emitted from his mouth, and he died after bearing a strong testimony of the Gospel. He also asked his wife to remain with the body of the Church. He died October 31, 1838.

Benjamin was not buried in the well with the other men killed at that time. The following evening his brother Tarlton and his wife went to dig a grave where Benjamin's body might be buried. Tarlton had been badly wounded and unable to do much digging, so the work fell to the hands of Melinda, Tarlton's wife. Wrapping Benjamin's lifeless body in an old coat, they tenderly buried the beloved husband, father and brother.

With courage beyond understanding, Joannah picked up the threads of her life, determined to remain with the body of the Church, that she might raise her children under the influence of the blessed Gospel for which their father had given his life. Word had been sent to Joannah's people in Kentucky. Her sister, who married Benjamin's brother, was sent to take the bereaved family back to their old home were she could live in wealth and comfort. In order to escape the pressure that would be brought to bear by her people, she moved from place to place that they might not overtake her. A few months after the death of her husband her youngest child died.

There doesn't seem to be an account of her life for sometime, but we know, however, that she later settled with her family in Nauvoo. She found peace in serving others, helping the sick and those otherwise in need of help. During the last year of her life she had a paralytic stroke and was tenderly cared for by her young daughter Martha Ann. She died February 6, 1846 just as the Saints were being driven from Nauvoo.

Thus ended the life of a noble wife and mother who endured hardships for her faith and preferred the blessings of the Gospel to worldly wealth and comfort. Reunited in death before the journey of the Saints was ended we are sure that with Benjamin and Joannah Lewis "All is Well."

The children of Benjamin and Joannah Lewis were

Mary Frances Lewis

Born Aug 6, 1808