JOHN W. LEWIS

JOHN W. LEWIS, Ohio County, was born November 17, 1817, in Jefferson County, Ky.; removed with his parents to Meade County, where he was raised. His father, Lieut. Henry Lewis, one of a family of twelve sons and two daughters, a native of Culpeper County, Va., was a soldier in the war of 1812; removed to Kentucky about 1816, and died in Meade County in 1845. He was the son of Capt. William Lewis, a Revolutionary soldier, who died in Culpeper County, Va., in 1845, at the age of eighty-four years. He was of Welsh extraction. Henry married Nancy, daughter of John and Elizabeth Nail, of Washington County, Ky.; she died in 1846; their union resulted in the birth of John W., Catherine A. (Nail), Linda G. (Ditto), Sarah M. (Foreman), Emily (Lewis), Nancy A. (Compton), and James S.  John W. Lewis has been twice married; first, March 2, 1847, to Omacinda J., daughter of William and Elizabeth (McFarland) Field, of Ohio County, born in 1835; died August 4, 1864, and to them were born Joshua F., Thomas L., Nancy E. (Coffey), and Henry W. July 17, 1866, Mr. Lewis married Beatrice, daughter of Willis and Louisa (McFarland) Field, of Daviess County; she was born in 1848 and to their union was born one son — John G. In 1837 Mr. Lewis commenced clerking in Hartford, and in 1839 entered into partnership with his employer in the mercantile business, in which he continued until 1848, and in 1861 he became a cashier of the Hartford Branch of the People's Bank of Kentucky, which was superseded by the National Banking System in 1865. He then again embarked in the mercantile business, which he continued for a period of ten years, and in 1876 located in Rosine, where he and his sons are now engaged in the milling business. He lost thirteen slaves by the late war, and in 1873 suffered heavily by the general depreciation of property. He has been for forty years a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was many times master of the lodge. In politics he is identified with the Democratic party.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Note:  Mr. John William Lewis died 3 Feb 1897 in Ohio County and is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Hartford.