Read Part 3

Tradition 4: The three brothers

"At a very early date, Chadrac (sic), Meshac and Abednego Llewellyn came to North Carolina from Wales. The last named died without heirs, as I am informed. Shadrac (sic) went to West Virginia or Pennsylvania and the only representative of his family I have found is the person of his great grandson Ex. Gov. [Lorenzo Dow] Llewellyn [Lewelling] of Kansas. Meshac's sons were Jesse (my great grandfather) and Alfred. Of Alfred's family the only representatives I can find are Thomas Llewellyn and family of Hillsboro, Texas. My great grandfather, Jesse, died in North Carolina. My grandmother, Jemina [Llewellyn Bivens], was married in that state, and came to Tennessee in 1809 or thereabout. The three brothers, above named, were direct descendants of Griffith Llewellyn, a prince of Wales, who succeeded his uncle David III...."(Statement made in 1912 by George Wythe Ewing, son of James Scott and Eliza Jane Bivens Ewing (b. ca.1829), and grandson of Natha­niel and Jemima Llewellyn Bivens.[1]

In Pursuit of Tradition: 4

A comparison of Tradition 4 with Tradition 3 reveals agreement that one of a set of "three brothers" was the forebearer of the Jesse Llewel­lyn line, but there is disagreement between these two sketches about "Thomas," great grandson of an "original brother." Tradition 3 states that Isaac was Thomas's father; Tradition 4 states that Alfred was Thomas's father. Three possibilities come to mind: there was more than one Thomas; the name "Isaac" was used interchan­ gably with "Alfred;" or one (or both) of the sketches is incorrect.
And for that matter, each of our suppositions could be correct or incorrect.

Tradition 4 deserves several
comments: We can substantiate part of Mr. Ewing's statement. We know there was a Shadrach Lewelin who probably was in Pennsylvania by 1750, and has been proved by Quaker records and county tax lists as having been in Loudoun County, Virginia, from about 1759 until 1782. In fact, this Shadrach was the editor's great, great, great, great grandfather.

There is tradition that there was a Meshach, supposedly con­ temporary with Shadrach, in North Carolina. We have seen no proof that this Meshach existed.

We know there was an Abed­nego; he arrived in Tennessee in July of 1783[2]; he was killed by Indians somewhere north of Nashville in 1787 or 1789[3]; and, according to deeds[4], he left no heirs.

However, this Abednego seems to be a son of Shadrach, not a brother. Abednego left no will and between 1811 and 1813, almost 25 years after his death, three sons of Shadrach (Isaac, Meshach and Shadrach [Jr.]), signed quitclaims to property in Nashville owned by Abednego Llewellyn at the time of his death. The quitclaim deed signed by Shadrach, Jr., states that Abednego left no heirs. Had Abednego been a brother of Shadrach and of a "Meshach," and if Jesse, Isaac, Alfred, and Thomas were descendants of "Meshach" (or of the elder Shadrach), then they, too, should have been involved in Abednego's estate.

We can further pursue Tradition 4 by tracing "Ex. Gov. Llewellyn of Kansas" back to his great grandfa­ther, William Lewelling of Ran­dolph County, North Carolina­ the same William who left the will in Randolph County in 1798 and probated in 1799 (see Llewellyn Traces, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 50.)

This William had, among his seven sons, two younger sons named Meshach and Shadrach. If the statement made in Tradition 4 is correct, William Lewelling must, too, have been a son of Shadrach Lewelin, who lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, ca.1757.

Read Part 5

Source: Llewellyn Traces, Vol. 1, No. 4, December 1989.

  1. American Ewing and Ewin Families, referred to in Llewellyn, Lewallen, Lualin, etc., etc., Billie Harris, Sacramento, California, 1981, p.195 ↩︎

  2. Red River Settlers, Edythe R. Whitley, GPC, 1980, p. 137 ↩︎

  3. Annals of Tennessee, John Ramsey, Nashville, p.484-85; and Draper Manuscripts, Lyman C. Draper, W, 305, 243 ↩︎

  4. Davidson County, Tennessee, Deed Book I, p.80 ↩︎