6. Stonewall Jackson and Jim Lewis
Stonewall Jackson had a complicated view of slavery. In the final decade before the Civil War, he owned at least five slaves, though he rented them out. Some historians claim he rented the slaves himself, allowed them to work in Lexington as waiters and cooks. He allowed the slaves to keep the wages they earned, minus the rent he paid for them, to let them save the money to purchase their freedom. When the war began Jackson had one slave accompany him as his servant, a man named Jim Lewis. Evidence indicates Jackson either purchased or rented Jim Lewis from a Lexington businessman named W.C. Lewis. Archives in Lexington prove Jackson made annual payments of $10 for “hire of Jim”.
Little is known of Jim Lewis, beyond notes written by members of Jackson’s staff during the early years of the war. What is known is that after Jackson was mortally wounded during the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863, it fell to Jim to gather the general’s belongings and move them to Guinea Station, where he at first appeared to be recovering. After pneumonia set in, which killed Jackson on May 10, 1863, Jim traveled with the body to the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond, and remained with it as an escort during the funeral procession there. He then escorted the body to Lexington for interment. Jim Lewis later served with one of Jackson’s former aides, Sandie Pendleton. Pendleton died in 1864, after which little is known of the man known as Jim Lewis.