John Lewis LeClere
It is with pleasure that we present the history of the ancestor John Lewis, the first in the series that we dedicate to the Leclerc ancestors, that emmigrated directly south of the border.
John Lewis saw the light of day near Paris, Île de France, in 1808. Oral history reports that he was a glass blower in the area of Alsace-Lorraine. He seems to have married Barbara Rinecker of Germany.
He left France on April 12, 1831 with his family. The ship on which they sailed landed in Baltimore in May, 1831. He was living in Pennsylvania in 1832, settling near Brownsville. He was employed as a farmer until 1847. He also learn the trade of cloth weaving, as many of the immigrants did in that era. In 1845, his wife passed away, leaving him with three small children. He was soon remarried to Mary Shunk, the daughter of Simon Shunk. He then learned the boilermaker trade for John Snowden's foundry where he worked for 23 years. He retired in 1870, going to live with his son, William H. He was a 40 year member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pennsylvania.
His second wife, Mary, died on December 23, 1875. His five surviving children assured John of a number of descendants still to be discovered. They were: John M., William H., Louis C., Georges A. and James B. LeClere.
This is an article by John M. Gresham, published on the Internet at www.usgenweb.org, about William H. LeClere, son of the ancestor John Lewis, who allowed us to offer you this condensed, by no means complete, yet passionate look at his life. Thus, the son William H., a popular and prosperous merchant, was born at Brownsville, County of Fayette in Pennsylvania. He went to Primary school in Brownsville until the age of fourteen, then entered the glass business, where he learned the trade of glass smoother. He married Eliza McClain on July 15, 1875 and the couple had four children. In July of 1883, he decided to be self-employed, and entered the grocery business, then changed to the furniture business in 1886. He was a Democrat and served on the municipal council of Brownsville from 1885 to 1889.
We thank Stephen Schlager (#348), who is related to this ancestor through his wife. He has accepted to be responsible for this line and can be reached at Stephen Schlager.
Writer Gilles P. Leclaire