Adapted from The Biography Of William Hewett (1749-1826) and His Descendants, by Evelyn Hewett, East Canton, OH, 1992

William Hewett was born in December 1749 in Warrington, Lancashire, England, the youngest son of John Hewett and Hannah Orrett. He was orphaned as an infant and raised by a paternal uncle. About 1769 he enlisted as a private in the British Army and in 1775 he was sent to America with Cornwallis under Sir William Howe to help subdue the colonial rebels. He and a companion deserted shortly after their arrival and made their way to New Hampshire. William threw in his lot with the colonists and in 1777 enlisted in the Army of the American Revolutionary War on the Continental establishment in the New Hampshire line, under Captain Farrell in Colonel Joseph Cilley's Regiment. Eventually he went to the front and was in many battles such as the Battle of Stillwater (October, 1777) and Monmouth, as well as witnessing the surrender of Burgoyne. A family history recounts that on that occasion he recognized some of his old officers and comrades, and he used to say, “I say for't, I felt bad for them…” His name appears on wage lists at Valley Forge in 1778. He was sergeant in the body guard of George Washington, from whom he received an honorable discharge and the Badge of Merit.

William married Sarah King, daughter of Benjamin King of New Hampshire (1722-1777), who served in Capt. Ezra Towne's company at Bunker Hill and is thought to have died in the war.

William and Sarah Hewett moved to Maine in September 1786, becoming among the first settlers of what is now Hope in Knox County. William worked as a weaver, a trade for which he'd apprenticed as a teenager in England. William and Sarah had seven children, the third one, Samuel, being the first white male child born in Hope. All seven births were recorded in the Hewett family Bible. A copy of part of the page is in the National Archives.

William applied for a military pension in 1818 and received $8 per month. He died April 11, 1826. On July 4, 1836, Congress passed another Act providing pensions to the widows and survivors of Revolutionary War veterans. Sarah Hewett applied for a pension on March 15, 1837, but died a few months later. The benefits were finally awarded on 10 July 1839. Both William and Sarah Hewett are buried in the Hope Grove Cemetery.