Thomas Lewis Jr. (January 26, 17601847) was an American politician from

Rockingham County, Virginia Rockingham County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 83,757. Its county seat is the Independent city (United States), independent city ...

. He represented

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 1803 and 1804, after several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates representing

Kanawha County Kanawha County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital and most po ...

Early and family life

Thomas Jr. was the son of Jane Strother, whose family held various political offices in Virginia, and her lawyer husband

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, whose father

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

had emigrated from Ireland. Born on his father's plantation of ''Lynwood'' in what was then vast

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and ...

in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

, but which became Rockingham County during the American Revolutionary War. Kanawha County voters elected him to terms in Virginia's House of Delegates.Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly p. 200, 212, 216, 220 Although he served nearly a year in Congress, his election had been contested by Andrew Moore. After some consideration in a committee, the House voted on March 5, 1804 to declare his election invalid and awarded his seat to Moore.

Electoral history

1803 - Lewis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 47.03% of the vote, defeating fellow Federalist John Woodward and Democrat-Republican Andrew Moore; Moore successfully contested the result though, and was seated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Thomas People from Rockingham County, Virginia Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 1760 births 1847 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives removed by contest 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly People from Kanawha County, West Virginia