John Lewis was born 1754 in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Soon after his first marriage in 1772, John moved to Marion County, South Carolina and lived there until his wife's death (Delilah Powell) in 1778. They had two sons and several daughters (of which nothing is known about the daughters).

John apparently left his children with kinfolk (probably his brother, Benjamin Lewis), returned to New Hanover County, NC, married Nancy Orr in 1780, and they had one son. John enlisted in the Militia in the Revolutionary War and served in the Wilmington District until 1783. Nancy died in 1800. John moved to Robeson County soon thereafter.

In 1820, John married a third time to Zilphia Powell (sister of his first wife, Delilah), and they had six children. John and Zilphia remained in Robeson County, NC until their deaths. John accumulated a large estate and was a wealthy man when he died in 1842.