reykr on Family Tree Circles

I believe they originated in Wales, and went to the Isle of Wight. Later, Lewises from Wight settled in "Isle of Wight County, Virginia." Later, some lived near Charlottesville, Virginia, where one became a co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Those Lewises of course knew President Thomas Jefferson.

Evelyn Lewis, born in Oklahoma, married my first-cousin Lt. Colonel Ambrose Herold, and they live in Dallas, Texas.

Henry Kirchner, born in Oklahoma, told me he was a great-nephew of Archie Lewis, a champion salesman of Ford Cars. Archie was murdered in 1937 by Dallas gangsters, who mistook him for his twin brother, a labor organizer at the Ford plant, in Dallas.

I know a lady, "M.C.," who tells me that Archie Lewis was her great-uncle, too. She tells me that Archie's family are descendants of the "Isle of Wight" Lewises.

Someone identified as "r. friedolin" posted the following message at Ancestry.com

The origin of the surname (Leichnam) has nothing to do with the German meaning "corpse, remains". It goes back to the Sorbish word LICHOM, also LICHAN, meaning "free man" or "clearing in the woods". The Sorbs were a Slavonic ethnic group that settled in Saxony and neighbouring parts of Prussia. There actually was a village named Leichnam in the Lausitz region, whose name was changed to Spreewiese in 1910 - for obvious reasons! I'm trying to track the origin of my ancestor by the name of Margarete (Margaretha) Leichnam of Trausnitz in Bavaria (ca. 1850). Anything you can contribute would be most welcome. http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.eeurope.romania.general/421.492.519.525.1/mb.ashx

Note by Reikr: The term "Heilige Leichnam" sometimes refers to the "Body of Christ" (Corpus Christi), as represented by the Communion wafer. There is, for example, a "Heilige Leichnam Church," in northeastern Germany.