Joshua Lewis was a judge of the Superior Court of the Territory of Orleans and, after Louisiana became a state, the 1st Judicial District Court of that state.

Early life

Lewis was born on June 5, 1772 in Augusta County, Virginia

Augusta County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 65,615 people, 24,818 households, and 18,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 26,738 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...

, grandson of the first settler of that county, John Lewis, and a nephew of Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...

. In 1797, Lewis married America Lawson, a daughter of Revolutionary War

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 General Robert Lawson

Robert Lawson (Virginia)

Robert Lawson was an officer from Virginia in the American Revolutionary War.In early 1776 Lawson was commissioned a major in the 4th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. He eventually became the colonel in command of the regiment...

. They had ten children: Sidonia, who married Peter Knight Wagner, a celebrated journalist, personal friend and political advisor of Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

; John L. Lewis (mayor of New Orleans), sheriff of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and Mayor of New Orleans; John Hampden and Algernon Sidney (identical twins)(John Hampden became prominent doctor; Algernon Sidney became lawyer and was father of Ernest Sidney Lewis, famous gynecologist); Theodore, a Major in the Mexican war of 1847, and a Confederate veteran; Eliza, Louisa, Alfred Jefferson (lawyer and judge), George Washington (planter in Algiers), Benjamin Franklin.

He served under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, and participated, as the captain of an organized military company in the night attack on the British on December 23, 1814, during the Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the...

.

Career

Lewis graduated from Washington College

Washington College

Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...

, having studied law, and settled his family in Jessamine County, Kentucky

Jessamine County, Kentucky

Jessamine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is within the Inner Blue Grass region, which was the center of farming and blooded stock raising, including thoroughbred horses. It was formed in 1799. The population was 48,586 in the 2010 Census...

 near Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

 in 1798. He was appointed the prosecutor for Jessamine County that year and was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives

Kentucky House of Representatives

The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...

 in 1799, 1803 and 1804.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 completed the Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...

. While it is frequently reported that Jefferson sent Lewis to New Orleans, together with Edward Livingston

Edward Livingston

Edward Livingston was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the Napoleonic Code. He represented both New York, and later Louisiana in Congress and he served as the U.S...

, and James Brown

James Brown (Senator)

James Brown was a lawyer, U.S. Senator from Louisiana and Minister to France. He was the brother of John Brown, the cousin of John Breckinridge, James Breckinridge and Francis Preston, the brother-in-law of Henry Clay, the uncle of James Brown Clay, Henry Clay, Jr., John Morrison Clay, the great...

 as commissioners to receive the purchased territory from the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Lewis was not sent by Jefferson until 1805, and then to be a commissioner to deal with land titles. In 1806, Lewis was appointed as one of three judges of the Superior court of the Territory of Orleans. When Louisiana was admitted into the Union in 1812, Lewis and the other judges of the territorial Superior Court continued in their posts, under the 'schedule' of the State constitution, until the Supreme Court was selected. He was then made judge of the 1st judicial district. In 1815, he ran for Governor against Jacques Villeré

Jacques Villeré

Jacques Phillippe Villeré was the second Governor of Louisiana after it became a state. He was the first Creole and the first native of Louisiana to attain that office.-Early life:...

. The political division in the state then was between French and Spanish creoles

Creole peoples

The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...

 and newly-arrived Anglo-Americans. Villeré, the Creole candidate narrowly defeated Lewis.

Lewis remained a state judge until his death in New Orleans in 1833. He was buried beside his wife near Madisonville, Louisiana

Madisonville, Louisiana

Madisonville is a town in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 677 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 on the west bank of the Tchefuncta River.

Memorials

Upon his death, the members of the bar desired to erect a monument to his memory, but his children declined the honor, because their father had requested that he should rest in the same spot with his wife. The lake front of his country seat in St. Tammany Parish was then sold in town lots, and named Lewisburg, in his honor.