Box 1

Bayly discusses the handling of the case of Molly Butler and his lack of time for correspondence due to his work on the Foreign Affairs Committee and his poor health.

This is a letter of condolence upon the death of George Washington Lewis.

Sends a note saying that Willis and family have been delayed due to an accident to their carriage and sends personal regards from Mary Berkeley.

Brockenbrough welcomes "the young Mr. McDaniel" recommended by Lewis into his class at the Lexington Law School for instruction and has sent him one of his Law School circulars.

Burke sends a brief note about the life of Fielding Lewis and refers to the “Samoan disaster” account in “The Washington Post.”

He writes that he is forwarding the amount owed for the pension of Molly Butler up to her death on June 13, 1852, through Representative Bayly to George Washington Lewis, who is the administrator of Butler’s estate.

Cameron requests a letter of recommendation from Lewis for the recently created position of Chair of Greek and Hebrew at the University of Virginia, August 4, 1856. In his second letter, June 23, 1857, Princeton, New Jersey, he shares his plans to sail for Europe in a week, where he will spend about a year to travel and study.

John Campbell writes in great detail about the settlement of the estate of the father of Samuel Lewis, the claims of Lewis for enslaved persons willed to him by his father and a reference to others captured by the British (during the War of 1812?) and the need to secure the future of "Bushfield Plantation" which will have to be sold.

Supplies the names of two merchant tailors, Charles H. Lane and William Tucker, that he had omitted in his previous letter (not present), for their legal claim against Mastin Davis?, that he is sending to Lewis.

Davis agrees to take up the lawsuit of Carter v. Taylor, should the pending negotiations fail.

Dickinson represents two sisters, Mrs. Gray and Mrs. Bankhead, in the sale of three fourths of a tract of land in Caroline County. He writes to Daingerfield Lewis as the executor of George Lewis, who was owner of one of the fourths of the tract of land. He asks if Lewis will commit to a division of the tract or agree to a sale of the land as a unit and asks him to send written instructions in his role as the executor of George Lewis.

Asks for advice from Lewis on how to best present his proposal for the James River and Kanawha Canal before the Legislature in his first letter and thanks him for his advice in his second letter.

Edward Everett, May 26, 1860, thanks Lewis for sending him one of George Washington's autograph letters which he terms "a precious relic." With Everett's letter is a hand-written draft copy of G.W. Lewis' original letter, May 24, 1860, sent to Edward Everett when he mailed the Washington letter as an enclosure. In that letter, he expresses a great deal of appreciation for Everett's character and political career.

Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, president of William and Mary, writes concerning the college fees and progress of Robert Byrd Lewis, the son of George Washington Lewis, as a student at William and Mary.

Forbes is running for office as a Whig candidate against Mr. Holladay and attempts to explain to Lewis and other voters why he is speaking at the Spotsylvania Court House instead of the Westmoreland Court House. In his second letter, Forbes expresses his opposition to the Northern men who are trying to enforce their anti-slavery views in the Territories and using direct taxation upon enslaved persons to attempt to bring about the destruction of the practice of enslavement.

Declines to publish an article by Lewis in its present form which criticizes a sculpture by Horatio Greenough. Greenough was just recently deceased.