Francis Lewis
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Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713–December 30, 1803), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York.
Born in Wales, he was educated in Scotland and attended Westminster in England. He entered a mercantile house in London, then moved to New York in 1734. He was taken prisoner and shipped to France while serving as a British mercantile agent in 1756. On his return to America, he became active in politics, and was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775. His property on Long Island, New York was destroyed in the Revolutionary War.
His son Morgan Lewis served in the army during the Revolutionary War and later held many offices in New York State.
In Queens, New York, a high school is named for Lewis, as is Francis Lewis Boulevard in the neigborhood of Flushing, which locals tend to refer to as "Frannie Lew"
External link
- biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000282)