There is perhaps no greater mystery in the Foster line than the identity of Zachariah Lewis. We know he and Rachel Bracken were married on 18 July 1796 in Orange Co. North Carolina. The 1800 census shows Zachariah Lewis as between 16 and 26 years of age, making his birthyear somewhere between 1774 and 1784. Rachel was born in 1776 so it is reasonable to assign to Zachariah the year 1775. Two children are also recorded in the 1800 census, one male under ten and one female under ten. These have to be George Washington Lewis and Lydia Lewis, born 22 September 1799 on the New River, Orange County. A second son and third child, Brackin Lewis, was born in 1801. Some time between 1801 and 1803, Zachariah Lewis died for Rachel married Peter Mankin Sept. 23, 1803.

Nothing has ever been recorded as to the cause of Zachariah's death. Perhaps understandable as Peter Mankin lived to be 111 years old and quite a memorable man in his own right. It has been said that Zachariah Lewis was a kinsman of a George Lewis who married into the Washington-Custis family of our Founding President.

Much work needs to be done here. The land records of the period need to be searched, as well as the 1790 census and tax records for the period. I do not believe Zachariah's antecedents can not be found.