Hewett, Josephus

Born: 1805-08-27 New York

Died: 1868-08-11 Natchez, Mississippi

Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois

Alternate name: Hewitt

Raised in a Baptist church in Versailles, Kentucky, he joined the Christian church movement led by Alexander Campbell. He migrated to Springfield, Illinois, in 1830, as a Christian preacher. He read law with Stephen T. Logan and gained admission to the bar in 1834. In 1835, he entered a law partnership with Cyrus Walker of Macomb, Illinois, but Hewett remained in Springfield. He moved to Natchez, Mississippi, around 1840. In 1850, he was an attorney in Natchez with $8,500 in real property. By 1860, he owned $6,000 in real property and $7,000 in personal property, including six enslaved people.

J. H. Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists (Cincinnati, OH: J. H. Spencer, 1886), 2:34; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 92; U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Natchez, Adams County, MS, 22; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Natchez, Adams County, MS, 19; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Natchez, Adams County, MS, 93; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedule, Natchez, Adams County, MS, 27.