Archibald S. Lewis (?-1839)

    Nothing is known of Lewis' life prior to his enlistment in the Texian Army on March 31, 1836. Assigned to Captain Benjamin F. Bryant's Company as a 2nd lieutenant for a period of thirty days, Lewis and his company fought at the Battle of San Jacinto only twenty-one days later. On May 26, 1836, he received his donation certificate for 640 acres of land for having participated in the battle. He re-enlisted in the army July 27, 1836 and served until January 6, 1838, for which he was granted another 1280 acres. It is assumed that Lewis made his home in Houston, as he died there on December 3, 1839.

Note: This is a cenotaph. Founders Memorial Park, originally founded in 1836 as Houston's first city cemetery, was rapidly filled due to a yellow fever epidemic and closed to further burials around 1840. The cemetery became neglected over a period of time, often vandalized and was heavily damaged by the 1900 hurricane. In 1936, despite a massive clean up effort, a century of neglect had taken its toll. The vast majority of grave markers were either destroyed or missing and poor record keeping prevented locating individual graves. Several cenotaphs were placed in random areas throughout the park in honor of the more high-profile citizens buried there, but a great number of graves go unmarked to this day. 

Founders Memorial Park
Houston

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