Robert Benjamin Lewis (1802 - February 1858) was a writer of mixed African-American and Native American descent known for writing Light and Truth. He also was an entrepreneur, successfully marketing hair oil and other commodities, and also held three United States patents.
Personal life
Aside from his writings, little is known about Lewis's life. He was born in 1802The 1850 Federal Census for the city of Bath, Lincoln County, Maine at p. 162 lists his age as 52, leading to a date of birth of 1798; however, the heading in the lithograph currently at the American Antiquarian Society states that his birthdate was 1802. in the portion of Pittston, Maine, that later became the city of Gardiner. He was probably the eldest son of Matthias Lewis and Lucy (Stockbridge) Lewis, who announced their intention to marry in Pittston on July 28, 1800.Henry Sewall Webster, editor. Vital Records of Pittston, Maine to the Year 1892 (Gardiner, Me, 1912), 228, 276
It is assumed that Matthias Lewis was either a Mohegan from southern Rhode Island or a Pequot from the area around New London and Montville, Connecticut.A number of people named Lewis who were of part African and Native American ancestry were resident of the Montville area, with a number named Matthias. Barbara W. Brown and James M. Rose: Black Roots in Southeastern Connecticut, 1650-1900 (Detroit, 1979), 230-232 On October 26, 1806, a 27-year-old sailor named Mathias Lewis from Kennebec County, Maine (Maine was a part of Massachusetts until it was admitted to the Union in 1820), appeared at the United States Customs House in New London, Connecticut, and received a Seamen's Protection Certificate or protection papers; the certificate (no. 3468) describes him as being five feet, six inches tall with a "colored" complexion.Mystic Seaport Seamen's Protection Certificate Register Database at http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/ProtectionDetail.cfm?id=41112 Accessed May 21, 2013
Lucy Stockbridge was a daughter of one Isaac Hazard Stockbridge, an African kidnapped when he was a child (in about 1740) and purchased by Dr. Silvester Gardiner of Boston, a wealthy physician, pharmaceutical manufacturer and land developer of Maine. Stockbridge, known as "Bad Hazard," did not take kindly to being enslaved. Described as "a bad fellow", Hazard had attempted to burn down Dr. Gardiner's house, and was successful in choking to death one of Gardiner's horses. After an unsuccessful attempt at poisoning Gardiner's family, Hazard was exiled to Gardiner's holdings near Pittston.John Wesley Hanson: History of Gardiner, Pittston, and West Gardiner, With a Sketch of the Kennebec Indians (Gardiner, Me., 1852), 98-99 Lucy, born in 1769, was a daughter of Hazard by his wife Cooper Loring, whom he married in 1765.
Although Lewis' daughter stated that her paternal grandfather was a Frenchman and her grandmother Native American,Mary Augusta Lewis Johnson to Daniel A. P. Murray, n.d., in Daniel Murray Papers, Micro 577, Reel 16, Wisconsin Historical Society Library, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin a history of the city of Gardiner avers that "All the colored people named Lewis in this vicinity are descended from Hazard."Robert H. Gardiner, in J.W. Hanson: History of Gardiner, Pittston, and West Gardiner, With a Sketch of the Kennebec Indians, 99
It is known that members of the Lewis family left Gardiner in 1809, and it is known that Robert Benjamin Lewis lived at times in the cities of Augusta,1830 Federal Census for city of Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine, 84 and Hallowell, Maine.1840 Federal Census for city of Hallowell, Kennebec County, Maine, 26 ("R.B. Lewis") After some years in school, Lewis appears to have gone to sea, as many did during that time. His daughter stated that Lewis served in the War of 1812, probably as a cabin boy on a privateer. However, according to newspaper accounts,(Bath, Me.) Daily Times, October 7, 1873, as cited in Pitts he expressed a desire to become a missionary to Africa and preach the Gospel to the indigenous people there. He may have been helped by the Maine Missionary Society of Hallowell. This group of Congregationalist ministers and laypeople had been organized to facilitate the spread of the Gospel by supporting missions and ministers throughout Maine. Although information has not yet surfaced to show that Lewis was one of those missionaries, after his death "it was said... that the Congregational Church in Hallowell had, in consequence of the intelligence he had manifested in youth, obtained for him an education with a view to his becoming a missionary to Africa." Nothing yet has been found to show that Lewis was ever licensed as a preacher or ordained as a minister; however, he brought away from his studies a thorough knowledge of the Bible as well as classical history.Pitts
Lewis was married twice: first to Mrs. Wealthia Ann Jones in New York City in late 1828,"In this city, by the Rev. John Stanford, Mr. Robert Lewis of Hallowell, Me., to Mrs. Wealthia A. Jones, of this city." (New York) Freedom's Journal, December 3, 1828 and secondly, to eighteen-year-old Mary Freeman Huston, the fourth of nine children of an escaped slave from Virginia who became a prosperous farmer in Brunswick, Maine,Brunswick (Me.) Telegraph, June 11, 1855, cited in Pitts at the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston, on March 17, 1835."Marriages by the Reverend Daniel Sharp, D.D., Pastor of the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston 1812-1852," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 88:335 (1934) Lewis is known to have had three sons and seven daughters from his second marriage.Mabel Goodwin Hall, editor. Vital Records of Hallowell, Maine to the Year 1892 (Gardiner, Maine, 1924), 1:173
Some scholars have also suggested that Lewis is the father of Edmonia Lewis, a well-known African/Native American sculptor, but their relationship has never been confirmed.
Entrepreneur and inventor
Known as a "jack-of-all-trades," Lewis made his living by engaging in a variety of odd jobs. At various times in his life, he was a sailor, ship's cook and steward, whitewasher,1850 Federal Census for City of Bath, Lincoln County, Maine, 162 and day laborer.
Robert Benjamin Lewis held three United States patents, making him one of the few nineteenth century African American inventors who were able to patent their inventions or improvements to existing manufacturing processes. In his application for a United States Patent dated April 11, 1836, Lewis stated that "I, Robert Benjamin Lewis of Hallowell, in the county of Kennebec, and state of Maine, have invented a new and useful machine for the picking of oakum and hair." "Oakum" is defined as "loosely twisted hemp or jute fiber impregnated with tar or a tar derivative." During the days of the sailing ship, hemp ropes were used as rigging on board. Although coated with pine tar and varnish, the coating would eventually wear out and the rigging would have to be replaced. Since little was wasted, the old rope would be recycled by unraveling the strands until the rope itself was reduced to single threads and then loosely rewound, resulting in "oakum", which was used to caulk the seams of wooden ships in order to make them watertight. "Picking oakum"—the actual business in unraveling the strands of rope so that they could be prepared for caulking—was a tedious, sticky job generally delegated to those workers lowest in the pecking order. The machine would do the work of the picker—essentially teeth on a cylinder turned by a crank would separate the strands of the old rope to produce oakum. The patent was awarded on June 25, 1836.United States Patent Office Records—1836, 505-506. Microfilm on file, Government Records Department, Free Library of Philadelphia The "hair picker" became a mainstay of Maine shipyards, the original design being reworked and refined over the years.A working model of the hair picker can be found at the McBride Museum of Yukon History in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LkD6PSo3120/TDZoWTnMCrI/AAAAAAAAB0w/fviGPQ9YZ4c/s1600/Alaskan+Adventure+2010+023.JPG
Decorative feathers—ostrich, peacock, egret, and the like—were used to adorn the wardrobe of the fashionably dressed, and when the garments were sent out to be laundered and cleaned, the feathers would go also. On June 27, 1840, Robert Lewis assigned U.S. Patent no. 1655 to New York City businessman John H. Stevens; this patent was for a "Feather Renovator", or a "Machine for Cleaning and Drying Feathers", described as the "arrangement and combination of feathers by steam and steam heat" and could be used for "dressing over old feathers or preparing new feathers for any domestic purposes."United States Patent Office Records--1840, x. Microfilm on file, Government Records Department, Free Library of Philadelphia
As noted above, Lewis worked for a time as a whitewasher and on February 23, 1841, was issued U.S. Patent no. 1992 for his improvement on large brushes used for whitewashing and "Such other Purposes to which the Same may be applicable." "The object of my improvements is to effectually remedy these defects and to provide, as it were, a framework in which new bristles may be inserted at a trifling expense after the old ones become unfit to use."United States Patent Office Records--1841, x. Microfilm on file, Government Records Department, Free Library of Philadelphia
Lewis also successfully developed and marketed a concoction he called "Lewis' Arabian Hair Oil." An advertisement that ran in Maine newspapers during the 1840s stated "THE knowledge of this highly esteemed Oil for the Hair was obtained from a distinguished ARABIAN by the subscriber. It is used almost universally in that country, to make the hair grow long, to give it a healthy and lively appearance, and preserve its beauty to an advanced age. It is decidedly the best oil that was ever used in this or any other country for preventing the Hair from coming off, giving life to the roots, and making it grow long and soft. It also darkens it and gives a beautiful gloss.... This Oil I have not been able to obtain till now, except in very small quantities, and have used it for myself and family occasionally for two or three years. My own hair and that of my children are LIVING WITNESSES of its efficacy and which cannot be doubted. Look and see."(Hallowell, Me.)Maine Cultivator and Hallowell Gazette, October 23, 1841, 3
To show the hair treatment's claimed potency and virtue, Lewis would show off "his long black curls that reached down over his coat collar." His "long black Indiany locks" were "thoroughly greased" with his oil, and as he held the enthralled crowd spellbound with his descriptions of the potency of his product, Lewis would demonstrate its power by referring to the "glossy appearance" of his hair. He made a comfortable living from the sales of his hair oil for many years.Bath Daily Times, August 22, 1873, as cited in Reginald H. Pitts, "Robert Benjamin Lewis," in H.H. Price and Gerald R. Talbot, editors: Maine's Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of Its People (Portland, Me., 2006), 236
Light and Truth