John Lewis was one of the original settlers of Westerly, RI. According to tradtion, the first settlers were John Babcock and his love, Mary Lawton, who eloped from Newport. They landed on the east side of the Pawcatuck river and built themselves a wigwam. Their first child, James Babcock, was the first male white child born in the Narragansett territory. The place of their retreat having been ascertained by the people of Newport, they deputized five men, viz (namely), William Vaughan, Robert Stanton, John Fairchild, Hugh Mosher and James Longbottom, to purchase a title of land from the Indians. They purchased of on Sosoa his title to the land and the deed was dated June 29, 1660. It was not long before settlers began to arrive, and among them were John Lewis and his family. It is supposed that he came from Newport, but nothing definite can be ascertained as the records of Newport were capturd by the British during the Revolutionary War and carried to New York. When they were returned they were in such condition (having been in the water) that they were incomplete.

Buried: Lewis Family Burial Ground located just below the village of Westerly, near Watch Hill Road. Seven generations of Lewis's are buried there with no markings on their stones. The property is no longer owned by the Lewis family.

He had a girl in England, whom he loved very much. Her parents did not care for John because of his reputation for being a "wild blade". He was forced to leave her behind as he journeyed to the new land. She begged him to return to England and bring her to America, but he refused. Against her parents' wishes, she set sail to be with John. The day her ship arrived at Plymouth, Mass., John was there to greet her. He waded into the waters and swept her into his arms before she could get to shore. They married soon afterwards.

PIONEER LEWIS FAMILIES, by Michael L. Cook, C. G. Vol. 1, Cook Publications, 1978, page 35.
John Lewis was in Westerly in 1661 as he signed articles of agrement March 22nd of that year. John Lewis died before 1690 and was buried just below the village of Westerly, near the road leading to Watch Hill, on the east side of the highway. The place where he was buried is a large, unfenced spot, in the southeast corner of a field in front of the house owned at onetime by Thomas E. Saunders. The land once belonged to the Lewis family, and afterwards to Arnold Kenyon. It is said that seven generations of Lewises are buried here, but there is no lettering on the stones. There is another Lewis burying ground in Westerly situated on the crest of a gravel hill, south of the house once owned by Pardon Lewis.

BABCOCK & ALLIED FAMILIES, pp. 62, 63.
John Lewis is first mentioned in the Rhode Island records assigning the articles of argreement about the settlement of Westerly on March 22, 1661. He was one of the founders of the town, and is supposed to have been at Newport, RI previous to this date, but the records of Newport were damaged during the Revolution, and this supposition therefore cannot be verified. On October 28, 1668, he was freeman at Westerly, and on May 18,1669, his name appears on a list of the inhabitants of the town. He took the oath of allegiance on May 16, 1671, in response to a warrant issued to the inhabitants of Westerly to appear "tomorrow at Tobias Saunders home to see how they stand as to their fidelity to His Majesty and his colony." Before 1690 he died, and was buried just below the village of Westerly. Nothing is known of his wife.157