Son of Neriah Fredrick and Mary (Moss) Lewis
Married Joanna Ryon, 27 January 1826, Simpson County, Kentucky, daughter of Leonard and Frances (Adams) Ryon. She was born in Barren, Clark, Kentucky, 6 April 1808; died in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois 16 January 1846; buried in Nauvoo.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p. 670
Lewis, Benjamin, one of the martyrs of the Church killed at Haun's Mill, Caldwell county, Missouri, was born April 23, 1803, at Pendleton, South Carolina, the son of Neriah and Mary Lewis. In 1809 he moved to Simpson county, Kentucky, where he later became a convert to "Mormonism," being baptized by James Emmett in March, 1835. Soon afterwards he was ordained an Elder by James Emmett and John Dustin and appointed to preside over the branch of the Church organized in Simpson county at that time.
In the spring of 1836 he moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, and in the summer of 1837 he moved to Caldwell county, Missouri, and resided at Haun's Mill, when the mob attacked the place Oct. 30, 1838. He received a bullet wound in the breast, while in the blacksmith shop, but managed to reach his home, a distance of about one hundred rods, where he expired in about one hour, after having vomited up the ball.
His remains were not thrown in the well, where a number of his fellow martyrs were buried, as he was not killed outright, but his brother, Tarlton Lewis, dug a grave near the well, where he buried him. Bro. Lewis left a wife and six children.
History - First buried on the David Lewis farm but later moved to a nearby graveyard. [The county court suggested that his body be moved to a cemetery. –Sacred Places Missouri, Volume IV, p.355.]
[“He shot this man Lewis . . . two years afterwards his remains were taken out of the field and buried, for he was not put in the well with the rest of them. I was not there when the body was taken up, but I was there after it was taken up and in a box in the house; and I examined it myself, and the size of the ball that the man told me he shot him with, and the hole was right through both blades of the shoulder. I saw that with my own eyes . . . .”] –Testimony of Charles R. Ross in the Temple Lot Suit, p. 267.
Married Joanna Ryon, 27 January 1826, Simpson County, Kentucky, daughter of Leonard and Frances (Adams) Ryon. She was born in Barren, Clark, Kentucky, 6 April 1808; died in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois 16 January 1846; buried in Nauvoo.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p. 670
Lewis, Benjamin, one of the martyrs of the Church killed at Haun's Mill, Caldwell county, Missouri, was born April 23, 1803, at Pendleton, South Carolina, the son of Neriah and Mary Lewis. In 1809 he moved to Simpson county, Kentucky, where he later became a convert to "Mormonism," being baptized by James Emmett in March, 1835. Soon afterwards he was ordained an Elder by James Emmett and John Dustin and appointed to preside over the branch of the Church organized in Simpson county at that time.
In the spring of 1836 he moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, and in the summer of 1837 he moved to Caldwell county, Missouri, and resided at Haun's Mill, when the mob attacked the place Oct. 30, 1838. He received a bullet wound in the breast, while in the blacksmith shop, but managed to reach his home, a distance of about one hundred rods, where he expired in about one hour, after having vomited up the ball.
His remains were not thrown in the well, where a number of his fellow martyrs were buried, as he was not killed outright, but his brother, Tarlton Lewis, dug a grave near the well, where he buried him. Bro. Lewis left a wife and six children.
History - First buried on the David Lewis farm but later moved to a nearby graveyard. [The county court suggested that his body be moved to a cemetery. –Sacred Places Missouri, Volume IV, p.355.]
[“He shot this man Lewis . . . two years afterwards his remains were taken out of the field and buried, for he was not put in the well with the rest of them. I was not there when the body was taken up, but I was there after it was taken up and in a box in the house; and I examined it myself, and the size of the ball that the man told me he shot him with, and the hole was right through both blades of the shoulder. I saw that with my own eyes . . . .”] –Testimony of Charles R. Ross in the Temple Lot Suit, p. 267.
Son of Neriah Fredrick and Mary (Moss) Lewis
Married Joanna Ryon, 27 January 1826, Simpson County, Kentucky, daughter of Leonard and Frances (Adams) Ryon. She was born in Barren, Clark, Kentucky, 6 April 1808; died in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois 16 January 1846; buried in Nauvoo.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p. 670
Lewis, Benjamin, one of the martyrs of the Church killed at Haun's Mill, Caldwell county, Missouri, was born April 23, 1803, at Pendleton, South Carolina, the son of Neriah and Mary Lewis. In 1809 he moved to Simpson county, Kentucky, where he later became a convert to "Mormonism," being baptized by James Emmett in March, 1835. Soon afterwards he was ordained an Elder by James Emmett and John Dustin and appointed to preside over the branch of the Church organized in Simpson county at that time.
In the spring of 1836 he moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, and in the summer of 1837 he moved to Caldwell county, Missouri, and resided at Haun's Mill, when the mob attacked the place Oct. 30, 1838. He received a bullet wound in the breast, while in the blacksmith shop, but managed to reach his home, a distance of about one hundred rods, where he expired in about one hour, after having vomited up the ball.
His remains were not thrown in the well, where a number of his fellow martyrs were buried, as he was not killed outright, but his brother, Tarlton Lewis, dug a grave near the well, where he buried him. Bro. Lewis left a wife and six children.
History - First buried on the David Lewis farm but later moved to a nearby graveyard. [The county court suggested that his body be moved to a cemetery. –Sacred Places Missouri, Volume IV, p.355.]
[“He shot this man Lewis . . . two years afterwards his remains were taken out of the field and buried, for he was not put in the well with the rest of them. I was not there when the body was taken up, but I was there after it was taken up and in a box in the house; and I examined it myself, and the size of the ball that the man told me he shot him with, and the hole was right through both blades of the shoulder. I saw that with my own eyes . . . .”] –Testimony of Charles R. Ross in the Temple Lot Suit, p. 267.
Married Joanna Ryon, 27 January 1826, Simpson County, Kentucky, daughter of Leonard and Frances (Adams) Ryon. She was born in Barren, Clark, Kentucky, 6 April 1808; died in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois 16 January 1846; buried in Nauvoo.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p. 670
Lewis, Benjamin, one of the martyrs of the Church killed at Haun's Mill, Caldwell county, Missouri, was born April 23, 1803, at Pendleton, South Carolina, the son of Neriah and Mary Lewis. In 1809 he moved to Simpson county, Kentucky, where he later became a convert to "Mormonism," being baptized by James Emmett in March, 1835. Soon afterwards he was ordained an Elder by James Emmett and John Dustin and appointed to preside over the branch of the Church organized in Simpson county at that time.
In the spring of 1836 he moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, and in the summer of 1837 he moved to Caldwell county, Missouri, and resided at Haun's Mill, when the mob attacked the place Oct. 30, 1838. He received a bullet wound in the breast, while in the blacksmith shop, but managed to reach his home, a distance of about one hundred rods, where he expired in about one hour, after having vomited up the ball.
His remains were not thrown in the well, where a number of his fellow martyrs were buried, as he was not killed outright, but his brother, Tarlton Lewis, dug a grave near the well, where he buried him. Bro. Lewis left a wife and six children.
History - First buried on the David Lewis farm but later moved to a nearby graveyard. [The county court suggested that his body be moved to a cemetery. –Sacred Places Missouri, Volume IV, p.355.]
[“He shot this man Lewis . . . two years afterwards his remains were taken out of the field and buried, for he was not put in the well with the rest of them. I was not there when the body was taken up, but I was there after it was taken up and in a box in the house; and I examined it myself, and the size of the ball that the man told me he shot him with, and the hole was right through both blades of the shoulder. I saw that with my own eyes . . . .”] –Testimony of Charles R. Ross in the Temple Lot Suit, p. 267.
Gravesite Details
Located: on the north bank of Shoal Creek, in what is now Fairview Township. Benjamin is one of 17 Mormons killed in the Haun's Mill massacre.
Family Members
Siblings
