Lewis, Francis (1713-1803) The Petition of Francis Lewis and George Harrison of the City of New York Merchants
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01450.299 Author/Creator: Lewis, Francis (1713-1803) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Document signed Date: 24 January 1758 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 33.5 x 21 cm. Order a Copy
Co-signed by George Harrison. Asks Delancey, Lieutenant Governor of New York, for permission to outfit a privateer. The ship they want to outfit is the Columbine, a 90-ton ship with eight guns to be manned by 40 men commanded by a Bernard Badger.
Delancey was Lt. Gov. of New York from 1747 to his death in 1760.
From the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress:
LEWIS, Francis, a Delegate from New York; born in Llandaff, Wales, March 21, 1713; attended Westminster School, London; entered the countinghouse of a London merchant; immigrated to the United States in 1735 and established mercantile houses in New York and Philadelphia; secured a contract to clothe the British Army in America in 1753; participated in the French and Indian War as an aide to General Mercer; was captured in Oswego, N.Y., and taken as a prisoner to France; on his return the colonial government gave him 5,000 acres of land in recognition of his services; delegate in the Stamp Act Congress that met in New York City in 1765; retired from business in 1765 and located in Whitestone, Long Island, N.Y.; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1779; was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; delegate to the provincial convention in 1775; member of the Committee of One Hundred in 1775; served in the Provincial Congress in 1776 and 1777; commissioner of the board of admiralty in 1779; died in New York City on December 30, 1803.
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