Francis Lewis

Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713 – December 31, 1802) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York.
Born in Llandaff, Wales, he was the child of Morgan Lewis and Anne Pettingale. He was educated in Scotland and attended Westminster School in England. He entered a mercantile house in London, then moved to Whitestone, New York in 1734. He was taken prisoner while serving as a British mercantile agent in 1756 and sent to France for imprisonment. On his return to America, he became active in politics.
He was a member of the Committee of Sixty, a member of the New York Provincial Congress, and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1778, he signed the United States Articles of Confederation. From 1779 to 1780, Lewis served as the Chairman of the Continental Board of Admiralty.
His home, located in Whitestone, in Queens, New York, was destroyed in the American Revolutionary War by British soldiers, who also arrested his wife and denied her a change of clothing or adequate food for weeks while in captivity. Her hardships in captivity ruined her health and led to her death in 1779.
His son Morgan Lewis served in the army during the Revolutionary War and later held many offices in New York State, including Governor.
Lewis died on December 31, 1802, although his memorial in Trinity Church Cemetery gives his year of death as 1803.

Legacy

In Queens, New York, Francis Lewis High School and P.S. 79 "The Francis Lewis School" are named after Lewis. The Francis Lewis Boulevard, which locals tend to refer to as "Franny Lew," stretches almost the entire north/south length of the borough. Francis Lewis Park is located under the Queens approach of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. A Masonic Lodge, Francis Lewis #273, is located in Whitestone.