The Benjamin Bright Lewis Family of Marion County 

        Benjamin Bright Lewis was born in the Waterhole community (present-day Shiloh) of Marion County on June 24, 1842.  His parents were Lemuel and Mary “Polly” Williams Lewis who were early settlers of the area after migrating from Rebecca County, North Carolina in 1831. He was the namesake of his paternal grandfather who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.  Benjamin was the eighth child in a family of twelve.  He was the fourth child to be born into the family after they had reached Mississippi.  Family records show that Benjamin too served in the military like his namesake.  During September of 1861, Benjamin, who was serving in 7th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at the Battle of Chicamauga during the Civil War.  Family history states that “he was always called ‘Stuttering Ben Lewis’”. After his mother died in 1864 his father, Judge Lewis, decided to remarry.  His bride was Ms. Mary Winborn from Topisaw in Pike County.  Before the marriage took place Judge Lewis must have divided his property in Waterhole among his children who were still living in the area because Benjamin received the old family home that his father Lemuel had originally bought from his brother Quinna in 1831.  There is some speculation as to exactly where the home was located.  Some neighbors recall several houses on the property.  One house was on the hill next to the family cemetery, one was located under the hill to the left of the property, and one was referred to as the “Old Ben Lewis House”.  It was said to be located on an old road off to the right of what is now Columbia-Knoxo road in a curve past what is known as the “Old Tom Lewis House”, which bears the name of one of Benjamin’s sons.  The only landmark that can still be found today of this road is an old barn that used to sit beside it.  One neighbor used to walk down the road and remembers seeing the old house as a little girl about 65 years ago.  However, she has no recollection of what happened to that particular home.  

  Benjamin married Margaret Sumrall Lewis, who was the daughter of William and Mary Burns Sumrall who were living at this time in the home of Hugh Fortenberry, of the Lee home, one mile south of Foxworth on the west side of the Pearl River.  They raised a large family in the old family home beginning with James Atkinson who became a Methodist minister and served in California.  Their second child, Harry Bishop moved to Texas and lived there the rest of his life. Their third child, Lemuel, namesake of Benjamin’s father, died early.  Their fourth son, Theodore Berkley became a doctor and set up a practice in Greenville, Mississippi.  Their fifth child, their first daughter born in 1866, was named Celia probably after Benjamin’s grandmother and sister.  Benjamin and Margaret’s second daughter, Beulah, was born on November 15, 1869, Their last child and fifth son, Thomas Swift, was born on October 17, 1875.  He was the only one to remain in the Waterhole community.  He married Lucy Pittman, who was two years younger than him and who was the daughter of Henry Pittman.  

  As with most families, Benjamin and Margaret’s children soon began starting families of their own.  The following information is not complete. Thomas who married Lucy Pittman started a family, at the ages of 24 and 22 respectively, with the birth of their daughter Celia Omer, probably named after Thomas’s great-grandmother or sister, who was born October 2, 1899.  Tragically, Lucy died about a year later on August 7, 1900 and then on August 23, 1900, Celia too passed away a couple of months short of her first birthday. Apparently, Thomas, who also served at one time as county supervisor, remarried sometime later to Ada Lampton.  They had several children.  One son, Thomas, Jr. was born in 1911 when Thomas, Sr. was 36 years old.  Sadly, he too did not live a long life, dying at the young age of 28 in 1939 in an automobile accident.  From the information that could be gathered, Benjamin and Margaret’s daughter Celia seemed to have the largest family after marrying Henry Carrol Foxworth, a local, prosperous merchant in Columbia, who was also from a pioneering family of the county.  H.C.’s parents were Franklin William and Missouri Atkinson Foxworth.  Both Franklin and Missouri’s parents had come from North Carolina to settle in Marion County.  Celia’s grandfather Lemuel had settled Samuel G. Foxworth’s estate in Probate Court.  Samuel was Franklin’s father and Franklin and Benjamin had probably served together during the Civil War.  Carroll was the first of their children with Aileen coming next.  Lewis was born January 27, 1894.  Gladys was born on her father’s birthday in 1897, she later married Esco Charles Bullock who was twelve years older than her.  Frank Wisdom was Celia and H. C. ’s fifth child.  He never married and moved to Pascagoula, Mississippi.  Their sixth child was Evon.  On March 18, 1904 the baby of the family, Juanita, was born, she later married William Luther Crull, Jr.  Celia was widowed at an early age and lived with several of her children in her old age, their homes stretching from Seattle, Washington to the coast of South Mississippi.  Benjamin and Margaret’s youngest daughter, Beulah married Charles “C.C.” Barnes and they had two daughters, Maggie, who was born in the family home that Lemuel had passed to Benjamin and he had done so for Beulah, and Eunice.  Both girls married and moved to “other parts” according to family history. Unfortunately, Beulah died as a young woman at the age of 32. According to Beulah’s obituary in the Methodist records, she and her husband also had two sons but no information has been found.   

  Family history states that besides raising a large family, Benjamin and Margaret were also very active members in the Waterhole Methodist Church.  Benjamin served as a steward of the church for more than twenty consecutive years.  Family stories state that during these years he never missed a Quarterly Conference for the church which was usually held at a distant place, even though roads were rough and streams were sometimes difficult to cross due to being swollen from heavy rains.  One experience he related to the family happened when he was on this way to Franklinton, Louisiana for a Quarterly Conference.  To get to this particular conference, Benjamin had to cross the Bogue Chitto River.  It was so flooded that he only way he could cross was with a “good long swim”. 

  Like his father Judge Lemuel Lewis, Benjamin also served his

county in different capacities.  He served as a member on the Board of Supervisors for many years.  Family history states “he was a very progressive and influential citizen”.  

      After leading such active lives, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis retired to Columbia in 1900.  Just six years later, Benjamin passed away at the fairly young age of 64.   Margaret continued to live in Columbia until she too passed away in 1926 at the age of 80.  Both Benjamin and Margaret returned to the family home at Waterhole, now present-day Shiloh, one last time to be buried in the old family cemetery where Benjamin’s parents and their other family members were laid to rest years before.   
 

*This family history was gathered by Krystal Morgan Graves of Columbia, MS from a variety of sources.  In the fall of 1999 she and her husband Trevor purchased property in the Shiloh community which is located in the western part of Marion County.  The Lewis family cemetery is located on their property.  This is information known as of July 2003.