William J. Lewis

As printed in 1899

Lewis, William J., merchant and manufacturer, was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, October 27, 1825, and died in St. Louis, July 14, 1879. His father was Thomas Lewis, a farmer, and his mother, Jedida Whitehead, both native Virginians. There were six children, the subject of this sketch being the youngest. His father died a few months before he was born, and the care of the family devolved upon the mother, who, in the task, was nobly assisted by her eldest son, Benjamin. The family removed to the West in 1831, and settled in Howard County, Missouri. Glasgow, in that county, was at that time a thriving town, with several tobacco factories, and as the material ancestors of the Lewis children had been prominent and prosperous in the tobacco business, in Virginia, it was natural that the young Lewises should show a taste and inclination for it in their new home. A relative of their, W. D. Swinney, conducted the largest business in tobacco in the State at that time, and the elder brother, Benjamin, had found employment in the Swinney factory, and learned the business, and then started a factory of his own, in which William J., a boy of nine years of age, was fond of working in the summer months, when not attending school. This factory, under the good management of the elder Lewis, soon became the largest in the State, and William J. Lewis, after receiving a fair education, found a position in it, and by his brightness and diligence made himself a valuable assistant to his elder brother. In the year 1847 he removed to St. Louis, and with the experience he had acquired in his brother's tobacco factory, started one of his own, in partnership with his brother, James W., the name of the firm being Lewis & Bro. The enterprise was so prosperous that in a few years their factory was accounted one of the largest in the State. In 1854 John D. Perry, a brother-in-law, who had removed to St. Louis, became a member of the firm, which was known for many years afterward as Lewis. Perry & Co. di MaS sier a time, this partnership was ee Xr. Lewis embarked in the commission ad ness in 1870. having houses 1n St. Louis, New Oricans and New York. He was now in a prime of life and the fullness of his vigor, an every enterprise he put his hand to seemed to partake of his own energy. He possessed E capacity for organizing and managing rarely equaled, and it was accounted half an assurance of success to begin with if William J. Lewis could be induced to take hold of an enterprise. The Memphis Packet Company was at this time in a tottering condition, but under his management it was extricated from its difficulties and restored to its old popularity, and became one of the most successful companies of the kind ever known in the West. In 1870 Mr. Lewis was elected president of the Merchants’ Exchange, the first non-partisan candidate to fill that position, and his administration of the high and honorable place was in every respect worthy of it and him. He took an active and leading part in the organization of the Commercial Bank in 1866, was one of its incorporators and its second president, serving in that capacity for ten years without salary. He was associated with insurance interests, and devoted no small attention and effort to the development of the coal and iron business of St. Louis. In the first years following the Ciyil War Mr. Lewis was active and zealous in the great effort of the business men to reclaim for St. Louis the trade that had been lost during that war, and to restore the deranged industries of Missouri; and every scheme that promised to contribute to these worthy ends could claim his attention, and usually secure his co-operation. His high spirit of unselfishness invited and secured the confidence of his associates in business, and he was recognized as a man whose ability to achieve success by upright and honorable means was a guarantee that no enterprise committed to his management would ever be tarnished with even the suspicion of unfairha Pia his traits was a quick sympathy young men struggling against obstacles to make their way in the world, and there are not a few who, at this day, remember his helping hand with lively gratitude. He was a successful man, but his success never lifted him above his early friends, nor altered his unpretentious manners. He always remained approachable, simple and sincere, and he never lost his youthful tation and pretense. Mr. in 1852, to Miss Rebecca Turner tig of Talton Turner, of Howard Ce. dau, souri. She was a wise counselor 42°" ty. band in his business enterprises ane her he and he was accustomed not only t century advice, but to give her credit, in a k, wat he ure, for the success whi arge

1 ‘ ch he achieved survives him, with their six children: \ Julia L. Knapp, Talton Turner Lewi

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Intolerance fo Lewis Was 9 tte

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As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (v. 3) (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.