Mark Lewis, a Welsh Society of Western New England (WSWNE) member, was the special guest speaker at the Nov. 2, 2026 WSWNE Welsh Genealogy Workshop Zoom session.
Mark describes how he traced his roots in Wales. He began by looking through what his father, Samuel W. Lewis, had researched during his retirement in the 1990s.
This led to his learning about what might be among the earliest immigrants from Wales to America in the 17th century. It began with the religious persecution of my ancestor Henry Lewis, a Quaker, who refused to partake in anything that the Church of England espoused as being acceptable Christian doctrine and practice. He left Wales never to return.
What happened to Henry in America constitutes most of what Mark knows to date.