Isham Lewis

Isham, with his brother Lilburn, perpetrated the murder of Slave George. He was said by Sorley to have died in 1815.

Murder of Slave George https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lilburn_Lewis#Murder_of_Slave...

On December 15, 1811, Lilburn and Isham had been drinking. The brothers brutally murdered Lilburne's 17-year-old slave named "George", who had dropped and broken a pitcher of their mother's, with an axe in front of their other slaves. Lilburne warned his slaves that this is the treatment that they would receive for disobeying him or telling anyone about their murdering George. One of the enslaved man was forced to dismember George and put his remains in the fire. That night, the first New Madrid earthquake struck the region. The brothers tried to hide the remains of George, but his body was revealed two months later, when a chimney collapsed in one of the major aftershocks. The brothers were arrested and charged with the murder. The murder was not discovered for three months when a dog unearthed a part of George's remains and which was seen by a neighbor. Lilburne and Isham were indicted by a grand jury, the trial was delayed for three months and they returned to Rocky Hill to await the court dates.

After the murder of George, Lilburne killed himself during a double-suicide attempt with his brother. Isham was considered an accomplice to the suicide and was put in jail. After 23 days, he escaped and was said to have gone to Natchez where he was married. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans and died in 1815.

In 1953, Robert Penn Warren published a lengthy poem entitled Brother to Dragon: A Tale in Verse and Voices that retells the story of the Lewis family and the murder of George.

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According to Merrill's account, Isham, who survived a suicide pact with his brother Randolph left Livingston County KY and was never heard of again.

Randolph and Isham Lewis (Charles and Lucy Jefferson Lewis) moved their families to Livingston Co. KY. At one time Caldwell Co. KY was part of Livingston. This link give a short account of their lives and other references.

https://americanjourneyblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/murder-and-the... This link provides a brief account of their lives in Livingston Co. KY.

Boynton Merrill's thrilling book "Jefferson's Nephews" is a spell bounding account of Randolph and Isham's failed and tragic lives.

https://www.amazon.com/Jeffersons-Nephews-Boynton-Merrill-Jr/dp/080...

I've read Robert Penn Warren's "Brothers to Dragons' and Merrill's tome. Both are extraordinary literary works and anyone interested in Kentucky history will find them well worth reading.

Ginnie Hopper Oldham, distant relative of the Lewis brothers through their mother, Lucy Jefferson.