The earliest information we have on the Lewis family concerns the Mortimer branch. Roger de Mortimer, the first Earl of March, was executed in London in 1330, charged with instigating the murder of King Edward II. He left a little grandson, who was named after him, Roger Mortimer, who more than retrieved the fallen fortunes of his family. He was brought up in the home of his parents in the neighborhood of Ludlow. He distinguished himself in battle in France under King Edward III. We do not have information about the lineage between 1380 and 1703.

The next reference is to Roger Mortimer of Leumilo who died at the age of 32, March 26, 1703. His wife was Lady Rachael Mortimer, who died Nov. 27, 1744, at the age of 76, so she must have been born in 1668. She lived through seven reigns, namely: Charles II, 1660 - 1685; James II, 1685 - 1688; William III, 1685 - 1688;€Mary II, 1702; Anne 1702 - 1714; George I, 1714 - 1725 and George II, 1725 - 1760.

The daughter of Roger Mortimer and Lady Rachael was always referred to as Miss Mortimer, who married Colonel Edwards of Leumilo. Their son was Captain Mortimer Edwards who was the father of William Mortimer Edwards. Roger was the older brother of Lord Kensington.

William Mortimer Edwards married Mary Tyson. Their daughter Louisa married Robert Lewis on August 20, 1825 in the Eglycunin Church in Carmarthen, Wales. They were the first in the family to live at Great Pale where my mother was born. Their son was William Mortimer Lewis who married Ann Lewis.

Ann Lewis' father was Evan Prothero Lewis and her mother Elizabeth Lewis. Evan was a Pembrokeshire gentleman farmer. They were the first occupants of an estate called Vron which means breast or crest of a hill. The church there is at Llandewi, Velfray. Glenna and Larry Grandi, daughter of my cousin Gladys, were able to find his grave in 1986. Mara, Chuck and I visited Vron in 1990. The estate had been recently sold to an American

This information came from an article entitled "History of Narberth Castle," written by the weekly news of Wenatchee, Washington. Addendum #1

This information came from letters written to Robert Lewis from his brother Tom through Florence Lewis, retired Librarian and daughter of Robert. Robert and Tom were brothers of Catherine Mary Lewis, my grandmother. They formerly owned ranches south of Evanston, Wyoming.

Addendum #2

Vron crest had been removed. Evan died in Wales at the age of 65.

Elizabeth's family was not large. She had one sister and two brothers. One brother was a solicitor at Carmarthan and the other a successful farmer who had five sons who were educated at Cambridge and Oxford.

William Mortimer Lewis, husband of Ann Lewis, was born Sept. 19, 1826 at Windyhill Way, E. Wales. He died April 14th, 1888. He married Ann Lewis Dec. 2, 1848 at Landewi, Velfrey, Wales. The ancestry is more difficult to follow as they were both named Lewis but were not related.

William Mortimer Lewis was known as the "Grandfather of Great Pale". He farmed 500 acres of land near the town of Whitland, ten miles west of Narberth. In researching I found one place where Pale means deer. Later it is referred to as mountain.

Ann Lewis was born June 1, 1826 at Vron. She died Nov. 8, 1915 at the age of 87 in Cardiff, Wales. G.B. Carmarthen, Wales.

Before she was 20, Ann made a journey to London by herself, quite a formidable undertaking in those days. The purpose of the trip was to purchase her wedding trouseau. She drove her father's trap from Narberth to Tenby and there took the boat to Bristol which was then as far west as the Great Western Railway reached. In London she had a brother in business as a draper and a sister keeping house. She attended a Drury Lane Theatre performance the same night as the young Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. The Dowager Queen Adelaide and the Duchess of Kent were there as well as Queen Victoria's mother. There was nearly a regiment of soldiers acting as guards to the Royal family.

Ann was a most interesting conversationalist and had a remarkable memory. In an interview when she was 82, with her faculties almost unimpaired, she told of many events in her early life as the daughter of a Pembrokeshire gentleman farmer. She could recollect the nation going into mourning in 1837 after the death of William IV. She had 14 brothers and sisters and her parents sent to London for black silk to make dresses for the daughters.

A question was put to Mrs. Lewis as to whether farming was prosperous in South Wales 70 or 80 years ago and she made the apt reply that it was for those who liked to work hard. Her grandfather died worth l0,000 pounds and an uncle had his five boys educated at Oxford and Cambridge.

This is a little poem written by Ann during the seige of Paris by the Germans. She remarked about the circumstances at the time. "It was a lovely evening. Everything appeared so sublime and peaceful. We had a splendid harvest and were carrying in the last mows of corn. There was only one thing that seemed to disturb my peace of mind. The sky to the south was dark crimson and looking very angry. I wondered could it be the reflection of the battlefield. This little poem I composed during the seige."

"The mows of corn adorn our fields
And peace still reigns at home
But smile can we, when the air is filled
With the echoing of the bomb?

I think I hear the last sad moans
Of the slain as they lay in heaps
Who hurry a prayer for the loved - ones home
For death will not let them weep

Then pray for the widow and orphan's lot
Whose lives have such horror of late,
And louder pray for the thousands more
There will be room at the narrow gate."

Ann Lewis in a letter to her son, Robert, wrote of her families background. She said that her grandfather was one of the Dole Williams family and her grandmother a Miss Breslock (possibly Brislock) of Blaenport, Cardiganshire - - both very old families. Her father was the rightful heir to the Dole Williams Estate. He was brought up to be a doctor. His parents died young and left little property. He did not take to the profession, knowing that he would come into the Dole Williams estate. However, at that time, his uncle was a bachelor. Unfortunately a widow got hold of him. She had a daughter, whom she brought with her when she married the old gentleman. The uncle's solicitor, who had all the papers, got his son to marry the daughter and then took the name Prothero, thus marrying into the Dole Williams family. So her father was left with much less than he had anticipated.

The children of Ann and William Mortimer Lewis were:

Our lineage comes from Catherine Mary Lewis, my grandmother, who was born September 10, 1852 at Great Pale, Kiffig, South Wales. She died at the home of her daughter Florence in Evanston, Wyoming in 1924. She and John Lort Lewis were married on October 25, 1879 at the Kiffig Parish Church near Whitland.

They made their home at Great Pale where they were farmers. Grandfather Lort was a great horseman and raised horses for the "Gentry" which was the name given those who hunted (fox and hounds).

They had seven children all of whom were born at Great Pale:

The girls were taught music, sewing and other creative arts while the boys were great horsemen. Catherine was a talented singer and when she was young she was invited to come to America to perform, but her mother felt she was too young to travel that far. However, she sang at many concerts in and around Wales.

The home at Great Pale is a large building with stone walls about four feet thick. The floors are of stone. At the back of the home are many stone building where the men who worked on the farm and their families lived. There is also a stone wall which is part of an old Roman wall. A tunnel runs from the house to the river. It may have been used by the Romans and later in a battle when Great Pale was under seige in the war with France. Everything is very old and dates back to the Roman invasion. Three generations of the Lewis family lived at Great Pale.

In 1891 Grandmother Kate's brother Tom, who had gone to America and taken up ranching in Wyoming with his brother Robert, came back to Wales to visit the family. At that time he convinced Lort and Kate to let their oldest son Fred, who was then nine, go with them back to America. Uncle Tom gave glowing accounts of the opportunities in America. He had purchased a large parcel of land 25 miles south of Evanston at 8000 feet elevation that they called the Crown Ranch in honor of the King of England.

In 1896 Lort, encouraged by Tom and Robert, left for Wyoming taking with him his second son William. Lort worked for Robert Lewis whose home was about five miles south of the Tom Lewis home. He soon took up a homestead of 160 acres, on Bear River, cleared the land and started to built a home on the property.

Kate and her children, Mortimer, Addie, Florence, Margretta and Rose came to this country a few years later. Florrie was ten at that time. They sailed on the steamship "The City of Rome". Grandmother had a beautiful voice and had given concerts at many occasions in Wales. She was asked to sing to the First Class section for their entertainment. They arrived at Knight, Wyoming, on June 7th, 1898 in the middle of a snow storm. They lived at the Crown Ranch for about two years. They then moved to the homestead about six miles further south which became the family home for many years.

The move to Wyoming brought drastic changes to the lives of the family. There had always been a cook and maid as well as a nursery maid, wives of the farm hands, to do the work in the house at Great Pale. The boys were all horsemen from a very young age and loved to hunt and fish. Grandma Kate and her girls had spent time studying music, playing the piano, taking singing lessons and doing embroidery work. Now in Wyoming they all had to carry water, chop wood, as well as wash all the clothing in a small tub with a wash board. It became Kate's chore to milk the cow night and morning. My Aunt Rose Helgeson told us she never heard her mother complain.

In their later years Catherine and John Lort moved to Cashmere, Washington. Their daughter Margretta and her husband Henry M. Smith lived near by at Dryden where they raised Delicious Apples and Bing Cherries. During apple harvest time Kate and Lort came to Evanston to visit. This took the responsibility of their care from Margretta and Henry and also was an opportunity for them to visit at our home and also with their son Fred. Fred lived in Evanston with his wife Mary and children Bob, Alfred, George, Gladys, June and Kathryn. Gladys was in my class at school.

During the last few years of their lives they spent part of the time between Florrie and Reuel's home and Mary and Fred's home. Catherine died November 1, 1924 at the age of 73. She is buried at Evanston, Wyoming.