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Moses Alexander and Margaret Elizabeth Rainwater Lewellen

Margaret Elizabeth Rainwater was the eldest daughter of Matthew Rainwater and Mahala Snapp. Born 29 May 1835 in Tennessee, she moved with her family to Johnson Co., Illinois in the 1840s and to Arkansas in the 1850s. There she married Moses Alexander Lewellen, son of John Lewellen, on 23 October 1856 in Washington County.

The couple brought forth nine children: Jennie, b. 1858; William, b. 1859; Thomas, b. 1861; Mahala, b. 1866; Mary Adeline, b. 1868; Nancy Bell, b. 1870; Margaret, b. 1872; Fannie, b. 1875; and Charles, b. 1878. The gap between Thomas and Mahala probably reflects Moses's service in the Arkansas 34th Infantry, Company A, 2nd Regiment during the Civil War.

There is much conjecture that the mother of Moses Alexander Lewellen was a Rainwater and sister to Matthew Rainwater. Her name is not known, though, and she apparently died prior to the 1850 census.

Margaret Rainwater Lewellen died in 1898; Moses followed ten years later. They are buried in a small community graveyard, Arthur Cemetery, that is part of the farm they once owned in Bell Co., TX. Their tombstones can be viewed online.

This watercolor was made from a faded photograph by artist Scout Hook of Austin, TX.

Photo and biographical information supplied by Robert Gerstenberg