LEWIS, Francis M.

LEWIS

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/10/2021 at 23:27:03

Francis M. Lewis
born June 8, 1847, New York

F. M. Lewis, a successful farmer of Maple Township, Ida County, was born in Steuben County. New York, June 8, 1847, a son of Samuel and Fannie (Compton) Lewis. The father was a well-known early pioneer of Scott County, Iowa, and a son of a Revolutionary soldier. The mother died when our subject was nine years of age, leaving a family of nine children. One son, Runyen, was
a soldier in the late war, and died at Jackson, Mississippi.
F. M. Lewis, the subject of this sketch, came to Scott County, Iowa, when a boy, where he was reared and educated, making his home with Henry Winney, and in 1864 went with him to Tama County, this State. In 1871 he rented land in Ida County, and in 1874 moved to a homestead in Osceola County. In 1876 he bought and settled on his present farm of 132 acres, located three and a half miles west of Battle Creek. Mr. Lewis has a good residence, one and a half
stories high, l6 x 24 feet, with an L, 12 x 12 feet; a barn, 24 x 24 feet; a grove and orchard of small fruits. His farm is divided into four fields, and Morehead Creek flows through the land. He was married in November, 1875, to
Phoebe Tillotson, a native of New York, and a daughter of Sanford Tillotson, deceased. Mrs. Lewis came to this county with her brother in February, 1874. Our subject and wife have three children: Fannie J., Carrie Bell and Sanford S. Politically Mr. Lewis affiliates with the People's Party, but never
aspires to office. Both he and his wife and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a Steward and Trustee, and also holds an office in the Farmers' Alliance. Mr. Lewis is one of the representative men of Maple Township.
Source: Biographical History of Crawford, Ida, and Sac Counties, Iowa, 1893, p.338