Robert LEMEN

                   was Frederick co. Virginia


Was with the army under Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia when Lord Cornwallis surrendered the British army there.

Robert Lemen, second son and second child of Nicholas Lemen and Christian Lemen, his wife, was born at the homestead of his parents in Frederick County, now Jefferson County, West Virginia, on November 6, 1750. In early life he enjoyed the advantages of a good religious training, and acquired a common school education, and in later years he became a man of extensive reading and large general information. He was a member of the Baptist Church in Virginia, becoming a deacon, in which relation he faithfully and acceptably served his church for a long term of years, and his hospitable mansion was ever open to ministers and other friends. Physically, he was of large build, well proportioned, of great strength and endurance; while in the attributes of manhood, morals and mind, he was brave, generous and intelligent, just and patriotic, and he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of everybody who knew him.  Mr. Lemen was a good manager and a good planter, owning that part of his father's farm in Frederick County, set apart to him by will, and on which he and his wife settled when they were married, and where they reared their family. His wife was Miss Esther Banes, formerly of Pennsylvania. They were married in Virginia on May 19, 1779, and their children were James, Sarah, Thomas, Elizabeth, Eli, Christian, Robert, Nicholas, Adrian, John, Mary, Nancy, Hester and William, born in the order named. For further records of the children see the family records elsewhere. In his rules of family government Robert Lemen, like his father, Nicholas, and his brother, Rev. James Lemen, Sr., of Illinois, was very strict; but as his requirements were always reasonable and just, his children rendered a willing and cheerful obedience, and altogether they constituted a well regulated, contented and happy family. He was warmly devoted to his family's interests, providing abundantly for their wants, and giving them a good religious training and such educational advantages as his means and environments permitted. He always kept family worship, and both by precept and example, instilled into the hearts and minds of his children true standards and ideas of sound morality and a profound respect for everything that was honest, virtuous and upright.  He possessed a remarkably even temper, but when the right was involved he was resolute and uncompromising. He was generous, charitable and patriotic, and could forgive an injury or an affront under proper circumstances; but he was a stranger to fear, and with his large stature and great strength he was well equipped to defend and maintain his rights. Upon occasion, in Eastern Virginia, where he was called on business in 1775, he was denouncing the King of England for his heartless oppressions in America, when a British officer, armed, assaulted him for his brave words; but with a blow from his right arm with the force of a sledge hammer he landed on the officer's mouth, knocking him down, and he instantly relieved him of his sword, much to the delight and satisfaction of the crowd, who were largely with Robert in their feelings. He finally served as a soldier under Washington, and was in the American army at Yorktown when Lord Cornwallis and his British army surrendered. He and his brothers were intimate associates of the Lees in Virginia, and warm friends and admirers of Thomas Jefferson, who in later years was often at Robert's house and enjoyed many a meal at his hospitable table; and the young men often consulted Jefferson and sought his advice. Like the Lees and Thomas Jefferson, Robert and the several branches of the Lemens in Virginia were intensely loyal to the colonial side of the contention against George III. and his parliaments several years before the war began; and their determined opposition and influence against the minions of monarchy and misrule were important factors which at an early stage hastened the action of Virginia to unite with her sister colonies in declaring for independence.  The marked influence of Robert and his wife upon the religious preferences of their children resulted gen
erally in their conversion to the Baptist faith. With but few exceptions they united with the Baptist Church, one of their daughters, Hester, having her membership in that church for half a century, one of their sons, Nicholas, born March 31, 1792, was a soldier in the war of 1812, where he contracted a fatal illness which resulted in his death on February 27, 1815. The descendants of Robert and wife now number many hundreds, with about the usual per cent living, and they represent every honorable and upright profession, calling or trade in which people seek an honest living. Their descendants in part are now not only living in West Virginia, but also here and there throughout the Union, and many of them have occupied important positions of honor and trust in their several communities and States. After a well spent, upright and useful life, full of years and beloved by all his neighbors, Robert Lemen died at his home in Jefferson County, Virginia, on January 25, 1827. His wife, Esther Banes Lemen, a daughter of John Banes and Elizabeth Phaxton Banes, his wife, was born in Virginia on October 20, 1761, and died at the old home in Jefferson County, Virginia, on March 2, 1841. She was a devoted wife, an affectionate mother, and an excellent Christian lady, who was deservedly esteemed by all for her many virtues and noble endowments. The marriages and family records of Robert's sisters, Nancy and Mary, will be found elsewhere.