The Lewis Families of Washington County, Iowa

WILLIAM H. LEWIS, one of the pioneers of Washington County, is a native of Lincoln County, Ky., and is a son of Samuel and Cassander (Leasure) Lewis, the former born in Maryland, Sept. 17, 1776, and the latter March 11, 1772, in the same State. They removed to Botetourt County, Va., and subsequently to Lincoln Couuty, K3' where they remained until 1822, when they emigrated to Decatur County, Ind., where Mr. Lewis made a claim in a heavily timbered country, literally hewing a home out of the wilderness. In 1845 he came to Washington County, Iowa, where both died, the husband Dec. 21, I80I, and the wife March J of the same year. They had lived together as man and wife for over sixty years, and during all of that time both had been members of the Associate Presbyterian Church, and were worthy and highly esteemed members of the community.

They were the parents of six children, as follows: Nathaniel, who was born in Virginia May 21, 1793, and died in Indiana; John, born Jan. 2, 1798, died in Des Moines, Iowa; Elizabeth, born March 4, 1801, became the wife of William Douglas, and both died in Indiana; James, born Jan. 29, 1804, died at Afton, Iowa; Mary, born Jan. 7, 1813, married Thomas Donald, and is now deceased; and William B., who was next after James, and was born Sept. 4, 1806. He was sixteen years old when his parents emigrated to Indiana, where he assisted his father in making a home, attending school three months in winter in a log schoolhouse, with a luncheon floor and slab seats.

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Since coming to Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have lived on the same section where they first made their home, a continuous residence of forty-two years. In early life Mr. Lewis was a Whig, and an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, he affiliated with the Freesoilers until the formation of the Republican party, in which he took an active part. In 1850 he was elected to the State Legislature, and in 1859 to the State Senate, filling those important offices with credit to himself, and satisfaction to his constituents.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of eleven children, of whom ten are now living: Samuel M. is in California; Catherine is the wife of (iilniore Vincent, of this county; Robert P., also of this county, was a soldier in Co. A, 2.Tth Iowa, and served until the close of the war;.James IL, of this county, served one year in the 7th Iowa, when he was discharged for physical disability; Mary E. is the wife of Henry Marshall, of Clay County, Kan., Elizabeth is unmarried, and lives in Dakota; Thomas L. and John are residents of Washington County; Cassander J. and Josephine live with their parents. The deceased son was named Nathaniel.

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As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ROBERT PORTER LEWIS.

Robert Porter Lewis has now almost reached the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey. He is living retired in the enjoyment of a well earned rest, but for many years was actively associated with agricultural interests and is still the owner of valuable farming property. Moreover, he is entitled to representation in this volume from the fact that he is one of the pioneer residents of the county, having lived within its borders for sixty-five years, during which time he has seen the wild prairie converted into fine farms dotted here and there with beautiful homes, while thriving towns and villages have sprung up, offering excellent inducements for the establishment of industrial and commercial enterprises within their midst.

Mr. Lewis was born in Decatur county, Indiana, November i8, 1833, a son of William B. and Eliza Jane (Donnell) Lewis, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The father was a son of Samuel Lewis, of French descent, a native of Maryland, whence he removed to the Blue Grass state, while later he became a resident of Indiana and subsequently of Iowa. In early days he trained in the old state militia of Indiana and his son William became a captain in the light horse artillery. Samuel Lewis married Cassandra Laisure, and they reared several children, including William B., Nathaniel, John, James, Elizabeth and Mary. The father died in 'washington county at the age of eighty-five years, while the mother's death occurred when she was seventy-nine years of age. The maternal grandfather of Robert Porter Lewis removed from Kentucky to Indiana, settling in Decatur county, when it was still a frontier district. He made farming his life work and both he and his wife died in middle life. They were the parents of several sons and daughters: James; Samuel; John; Luther and Eliza. twins; Nancy; and Jane. The last named became the wife of William B. Lewis.

The father of our subject was reared to farm life and although he engaged to some extent in general merchandising he carried on general agricultural pursuits during the greater part of his life. He, too. became one of the pioneer residents of Decatur county, Indiana, and in 1845 he arrived in Washington county, Iowa, where he purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land in Brighton township. He also entered land from the government, and to each of his children gave eighty acres. He died on his farm in this county at the age of eighty-three years, and his wife, who survived him. was eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. They were members of the United Presbyterian church and were people of prominence in the community. In early life Mr. Lewis represented his district in the state legislature when the capital was at Iowa City and was a member of the state senate and also of the house after the seat of government was removed to Des Moines. As a member of the general assembly he took an active and helpful part in shaping the early legislation of the state and in holding the policy of the commonwealth. Unto him and his wife were born eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom reached years of maturity, while five are still living: Robert P.; Mary Ellen, the wife of Henry Marshall, of Kansas; Elizabeth and Josephine, who are living at Iowa City, Iowa; and Thomas L., also a resident of Iowa City.

Robert P. Lewis arrived in Washington county when he was but eleven years of age and here he has since made his home. He was reared on the farm amid the surroundings of pioneer life, sharing with the family in all of the hardships and privations incident to frontier existence. He attended the district schools and remained under the parental roof until he attained his majority, when his father gave him eighty acres of land. He immediately began its cultivation but continued to make his home with his parents until twenty-five years of age. He then married and established his home upon his own farm. Later he left his wife and one child to go to the defense of his country, enlisting as a member of Company A, Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the end of the war. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Arkansas Post, Ringgold, Missionary Ridge, Resaca and all of the military movements around Atlanta, after which he marched with Sherman to the sea and took part in the Grand Review in Washington. He went through all of the experiences that come on the long, hard marches and in the hotly contested campaigns, but was fortunate in never being wounded nor captured.

After the war Mr. Lewis returned to his farm in Brighton township, Washington county, and took up the active work in the fields, bringing his land under a high state of cultivation. He lived upon that place until 1890, when he rented it and removed to the county seat. In the meantime he had added two more eighty acre tracts and is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres, from which he derives a substantial income. He has lived retired, however, during the last nineteen years and well merits the rest which he is now enjoying.

It was on the 6th of October, 1858, that Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Olivia K. Tracy, a daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Moore) Tracy, natives of Virginia and Ohio, respectively. They arrived in Washington county, Iowa, in the spring of 1845, settling in Brighton township, where Mr. Tracy entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, for his death occurred in 1847. He was also a twin. His wife passed away a week after his death. They were the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, of whom four are now living: Bazil Tracy, a merchant of Brighton; Dr. Levi E. Tracy, living in Chillicothe, Missouri; Mrs. Lewis; and Sheriden Tracy, of Richland, Iowa, who was a soldier of the Civil war. In tracing back the ancestry of Mrs. Lewis it is found that the family are descendants of Sir William Tracy, who came from England to America in September, 1620, and settled in Virginia, where he owned a large estate and was the possessor of vast wealth. Back of him the ancestry is traced until the record covers a thousand years. Joshua Tracy, the grandfather of Mrs. Lewis, was a native of Virginia and married Nancy Vaughn, by whom he had eleven sons and one daughter. He lost his life in a snowstorm in the Allegheny mountains while making a trip eastward for salt, when about forty-six years of age. His wife reared their family and lived to be quite old, making her home in Belmont county, Ohio, on land which her husband had entered from the government. She died at the extreme old age of ninety-two years. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Lewis was Robert Moore, who came from Ireland with his wife and settled in Belmont county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming. He died, however, when about eighty-seven years of age, and his wife died when about seventy-eight years of age. They were the parents of two daughters: Sarah, who became Mrs. Tracy; and Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Casey.

Mrs. Lewis was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 2, 1839, and was therefore about seven years of age at the time of the removal of the family to Iowa, in which state she gave her hand in marriage to Robert P. Lewis. They became the parents of three daughters and two sons: Mary Adella, who died at the age of three years; Mide C, who is a milliner and lives at home; Harry Tracy, who died at the age of two years; Helen Beatrice, the wife of James H. Baird, of Rockford, Illinois, and the mother of one daughter, Mary Olivia Beatrice Baird; and Earl Ashton, a successful business man, well known as a jeweler and as the owner of a large manufacturing establishment in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He married Vera Van Sickle.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Second United Presbyterian church and are well known in Washington and throughout the county, where they have an extensive circle of warm friends. Mr. Lewis belongs to I. G. White Post, No. 108, G. A. R.; his political allegiance is given to the republican party; and he is always progressive in his citizenship, but without desire for office. His life has been a busy and useful one and his business affairs have ever been characterized by unfaltering integrity and reliability. He has borne his full share in developing the county, which during the period of his residence here has been converted from a wild western district into one of the populous and prosperous counties of this great state. He has seen the building of the railroads, the introduction of the telegraph and the telephone and of many interests which contribute to the comfort and convenience of modern life and which are strong contrasts to the mode of living of the pioneers.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

DANIEL WOOD LEWIS.

The name of Daniel Wood Lewis is inseparably interwoven with the history of educational progress in Washington and it is therefore imperative that extended mention be made of him in this volume else the record would be considered incomplete by the many friends whom he has in this section of the state. Deeply interested in the profession to which he has largely devoted his life, his work in this connection has been of immeasurable value to the county, for he has held to high ideals in all of his professional service. He is now living in Pasadena, California, but in Washington county his circle of friends is almost as extensive as the circle of his acquaintances.

Professor Lewis was born near Fredericktown, Knox county, Ohio, on the 20th of October, 1835. His father, Griffith Lewis, was a native of western Pennsylvania, born March 12, 1808. The paternal grandfather was of Welsh and English descent, a man of good intellect and of sound judgment who was opposed to slavery and to war and in favor of education and temperance. His business interests were represented in farming and tanning. His son, Griffith Lewis, was but an infant at the time of the removal of the family to Knox county, Ohio, where he was reared. He became a farmer, lime burner and nurseryman and in following those pursuits made a good living for his family. He was married May 1, 1834, to Miss Anna Wood and unto them were born six children. His wife was of English and Dutch descent, her father being a successful farmer and a leader in his neighborhood. He was always on the right side of any moral question and was an able orthodox Quaker preacher. Five of his children became preachers and two others were exhorters. Both the grandmothers of Professor Lewis were women of ability and integrity, so that he has back of him a most honored ancestry. His father was a stanch opponent of the system of slavery and a stalwart advocate of the cause of temperance and in both regards the mother was a helpmate to him.

Daniel Wood Lewis attended the Friends and other private schools and also the country and village public schools in Ohio and Iowa. For several months he was a student in the high school at Tipton, Iowa, and also in Oberlin College, but did not graduate at either. He greatly broadened his knowledge by reading at home, by attending literary societies, Hstening to lectures and political speeches and also attending teachers' institutes and associations. He likewise pursued a four years' Chautauqua course, graduating in 1897, and then after a year of rest took the Chautauqua three years' course in English literature and history. He is likewise a graduate of the Eastman Business College, of Poughkeepsie, New York. He was only two years old when the family removed to Woodbury, in what is now Morrow county, Ohio, where his father conducted a hotel, and in 1840 a removal was made to North Lewisburg, Champaign county, Ohio, where they lived for thirteen years. In 1853 the father, mother and six children made their way westward to Cedar county, Iowa, and about ten years later the father sold his eight acres and removed to Story county, Iowa, settling three miles from the State Agricultural College. Professor Lewis, however, did not go there to live but on the first Monday in January, 1865, began his career in the city schools as principal of the third ward grammar school, at Muscatine, Iowa. Through his childhood days he was in ill health and in fact has never been physically strong. He was fond of play and especially delighted in swimming and skating and although he did not like bird work a considerable share of it in connection with the farm fell to his lot. However, he found pleasure in plowing and in driving a team hitched to wagon, sled or carriage. His passion, however was for reading and his mother often said that when he was interested in a book he would not notice even a thunder storm. He would ride the old family horse, Betty, or a colt, to attend a temperance or an anti-slavery lecture, or if he could not ride would walk. He also found pleasure in visiting the home of his relatives, especially the homes of his young cousins, and he was never addicted to gambling, drinking or smoking, a single cigar finishing any attempt to acquire the last named habit. Truth, too, was upon his lips and thus he grew to manhood, strong in those traits of character which in every community awaken confidence and regard.

As stated, Professor Lewis did not remove with the family to Story county, Iowa, but accepted instead the principalship of the third ward grammar school at Muscatine, and in the fall of 1868 became superintendent and principal of the high school in Washington, Iowa. His high school assistant in the first year was Mary Jane Hamilton, who had been recommended to him as "the best woman teacher in Iowa." During the succeeding two years Mr. Lewis had no assistant and Miss Hamilton taught the highest class of the grammar grade. In the ensuing vacation Mr. Lewis and Miss Hamilton were married and soon afterward went to Nebraska to teach the Winnebago Indians. Being again elected to their former positions, they returned and took up the work again, Mrs. Hamilton teaching eight years after their return, or fifteen years in all, while Professor Lewis remained as superintendent, et cetera, for twenty-one years longer, or twenty-four years in all, at the end of which time the family removed to Pasadena.

At the time of the Civil war Professor Lewis enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry but was excused. He remained, however, a loyal advocate of the Union cause throughout the period of hostilities between the north and south. Devoting thirty-seven years of his life to teaching school he would never consent to become a candidate for office during that time. In 1901, however, following his removal to California, he was elected a member of the board of education at Pasadena. He drew a short term and in 1903 was elected for a full term of four years. This service was to him a labor of love and one which he greatly enjoyed, but the demands of his private business interests were such as to prevent him giving to the school work the time and attention required and he voluntarily retired from the board. In 1893 he declined a reelection as supervising principal of the city schools of Washington, Iowa, and also resigned the following positions: secretary of the school board on which he had served for eighteen years; treasurer of the Iowa state teachers association, after twenty-four years service; trustee of the city public library, having served from its founding; and president of the Washington County Bible Society, which made him a life director of the American Bible Society. After the departure of Professor Lewis and his family for the Pacific coast graduates of the Washington school, teachers and friends, met in a very interesting reunion, and in 1900, when the family returned to Washington for a visit, another reunion was held in his honor, on which occasion three hundred and fifty graduates were present.

In both Muscatine and in Washington Professor Lewis was a Good Templar and was also a member of the Iowa Legion of Honor in Washington, but is not identified with any secret societies at the present time. In politics he has been an abolitionist and free boiler, a free democrat and a republican. When he was young he read and listened and later talked and wrote upon political questions. After he became a voter he made many political speeches and while teaching would frequently speak at school houses and public halls on Friday or Saturday evenings, advocating protective tariff and other prominent issues of the party. In 1896 he took an active part in opposition to the free coinage of silver, not waiting for the action of the national convention upon that question. He is a prohibitionist in principle, but does not vote with the prohibition party, beHeving that every citizen should have an opportunity to vote his principles on the temperance question without having his other political principles involved therein. He was reared a strict Friend, or Quaker. His parents inherited and believed the principles and doctrines of the Society of Friends and taught them diligently to their children. For many years Professor Lewis affiliated with the Methodist church, but is now a member of the First Friends church, in Pasadena, in which he is serving as an elder and Sunday school teacher. He is a man of broad views, unbiased by a narrow sectarianism, and rejoices at the increasing friendly feeling among members of the Christian churches.

The home life of Professor Lewis has been largely of an ideal character. His marriage to Miss Mary Jane Hamilton was celebrated at her family home, two and a half miles from Washington, Iowa, July 26, 1871'. Her parents were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians from Virginia. The family, including two sons and two daughters, removed from Menard county, Illinois, to Louisa county, Iowa, in the fall of 1853 and to Washington the following spring. The father'and mother died only a few weeks apart in 1881. John C. Hamilton, the eldest son, now lives in Pasadena, California, his son, Arthur L. Hamilton, being superintendent of the city schools there, while his daughter, Kate Hamilton, is a teacher. The husband of another sister, Myrtle Owen, is a professor in the Pasadena high school. Mrs. Mary H. Lewis and her sister, Sarah M. Hamilton, were graduates of the normal department of the Iowa State University. Sarah and her brother, William R. Hamilton, still live in Washington, Iowa. John C. Hamilton's second daughter, Sarah E., is a bookkeeper in a wholesale house in Los Angeles. The second son, Fred Hamilton, died a few years ago in Arkansas. The third son, William Burrel! Hamilton, is in Pasadena. Besides teaching in Washington and Winnebago, Iowa, Mrs. Lewis taught several terms in country schools and a year in Iowa City. She also taught a young ladies' class in Sunday school and for several years was an instructor in the Washington County Teachers Institute, her teaching at all times being very satisfactory. In Pasadena, after being a member for one year of the Washington Heights Club, she was elected vice president and served for about half a year as president. She was then elected president and reelected the next year. Her last paper and address in 1907 were on the subject of peace and she handled the question so instructively and entertainingly that she was requested in 1908 to prepare another paper on the progress of peace. This was praised by every person who heard it. After her retirement from the presidency of the club Mrs. Lewis was made a member of the new" program committee — an arduous service well performed. On the evening of December 5, 1908, she was apparently as well as usual but about seven o'clock on Sunday morning was attacked with angina pectoris. While medical help was immediately summoned, at eight o'clock she had breathed her last. Her remains were interred in Mountain View cemetery. The only child of that marriage. Miss Pauline Lewis, is acting as her father's, housekeeper. She was born in Washington, Iowa, August 13, 1880, e7rifr!ied school in due time, passed through consecutive grades and was in the eighth grade work at the time of

HISTORY OF ASllI.\(;TOX COLWT 609 the removal to Pasadena. Here she rested for a time and in 1894 reentered school, being graduated from the high school in 1900. She has studied piano in both Washington and Pasadena and has been a member of the Symphony Club and the Ensemble Class. She has taken part in dramatic and musical entertainments with good success and is now a teacher of the piano in a young ladies classical school, but most of her thirty pupils in the winter of 1908-09 were private ones. She joined the Washington Heights Club before her mother became a member and is still an honorary member thereof. She is also an active member of the Shakespeare Club of five hundred members and is on the program committee. She belongs to the Presbyterian church and to the Young Woman's Christian Association, acting as pianist of the latter.

Professor Lewis while in California attended many teachers associations, taught in many teachers institutes and for several years in succession was conductor in the Washington County Normal Institute. Following his removal to Pasadena he took care of his fruit farm for several years. In January. 1897, he was elected a director of the North Pasadena Land & Water Company and in April of the same year was chosen its secretary to fill a vacancy, beginning his work on the ist of May. He voluntarily retired from the directorship at the end of ten years, but is still acting as secretary, although he is now nearly seventy-four years of age. He has disposed of his ranch and its equipments and makes his home in Pasadena. His has been an active life and one of great usefulness, winning him the honor, confidence and respect of all who know him.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

-f= tion to his business, by toiling early and late, has added greatly to his possessions, and is entitled to the comforts that should follow a life of toil. He is not only well known, but is universally respected b3' all who know him. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has been honored by his fcUow-citizens with various local offices, which he has tilled satisfactorily to one and all.

JY'KSSE lewis, deceased, was for many years, a resident of Marion Township, residing on section 8. He was born in Ohio Nov. 23, ' 183'2, and was the son of William and Doretha (Hedrick) Lewis, who were natives of Virginia. When but a small boy, the family moved to Indiana and located in Delaware County, where Jesse grew to manhood while laboring upon the farm and attending the district schools as opportunity was afforded him. He w.as married in 1854 to Martha Smith, a daughter of Matthew R. and Hester Ann (Carter) Smith, who were natives of Ohio.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis came to Washington County in 1865, and settled on section 8, Marion Township, where he bought 240 acres of laud, which had been partially improved. Here he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1877, at the age of forty-five years. To them were born eleven children: Amanda Olive married Perry Beenblossom, and died July 28, 1885; Matthew W. is a carpenter and joiner, now residing in Gove County, Kan.; Thomas Jefferson is a farmer, residing in this county; M. P. and George Elmer also reside in this county; Allen died in 1858, at the age of eighteen months; Samuel, Clark, James, Emma Catherine and Estella Alice reside at home.

In his youth Mr. Lewis learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed in connection with farming. At the time of his marriage lie had less than $100 worth of property to begin with, but by hard work and econoray in financial matters, assisted by his wife, he succeeded well in life, having at the time of his death 340 acres of land, all of which was well improved. He was a man greatly respected for his many virtues, and in all his dealings with his fellow-men endeavored to do as he would be done by. He was a member of the Christian Church, uniting at the age of sevcinteen, and was for many 3'e;us a Trustee. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternit_y. Mrs. Lewis is also a member of the Ciiristian Church. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Lewis, with the aid of her sons, has carried on the home farm; in this work she has been prosperous, and has added to the estate 119 acres of land in Marion Township, and also has purchased 160 acres in Gove County, Kan..She is a wom.an of excellent judgment, a good lousiness manager, and enjoy's the respect and confidence of all. Left a widow, and with a large family depending upon her, she has certainly made good use of her opportunities. Her mother died in 1854, at the age of forty years, and her father in 1 884, at the age of seventy-five ye.ars.

Feeling a deep and abiding interest in the cause of Christ, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis secured the erection of a church edifice near their residence, in which services are regularly held. That friends and coming generations may have the opportunity of at least looking upon the portrait of one who did so much for his fellow-man, it is given upon an opposite page. May the young emulate his virtues, and like him, try to do good as the opportunity is afforded them.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.