Lewis, Martin L.

LEWIS, EWING, GIBSON, WADE, FIELD, MARTIN, DEAL, EURES, LIVINGSTON, WHITAKER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 9/14/2009 at 15:28:32

Lewis, Martin L.

There are few people of Jasper County who have not heard of Martin L. Lewis, the subject of this sketch, and to know him is to realize the pleasure of knowing an honest, upright gentleman. He was born September 1, 1842, in Indiana, being the son of George and Eleanor (Ewing) Lewis, both natives of Ohio. The father died in Tazewell County, Illinois, June 1, 1853, at the age of forty-four years, and the mother at Stanford, McLain County, Illinois.

The father was a farmer and a man, whose word was his bond, being a strict church member of the Baptist denomination. A few years after his marriage he moved from his birthplace in Indiana and engaged in farming, building a log cabin in the then wilderness. It was here that the subject of this sketch was born. Next the father removed to Tazewell County, Illinois, near the town of Washington, where he purchased sixty acres of land, which he farmed until his death. After the death of the father the mother remained on the land nineteen years, when she removed with her family to McLain County, Illinois, where she remained until she died. Mr. Lewis's mother was a Baptist and a woman of rare courage and Christian virtue, striving in every way to inculcate the principles of honesty and industry in the minds of her growing children.

Mr. Lewis is one of seven children, five of whom survive, whose names are as follows: Mariah Gibson, aged seventy-six, widow of Elisha Gibson, who, with her children, resides upon a farm in Nebraska; Robert Lewis, aged seventy-four, retired farmer, resides in Los Angeles, California, having been a Northern soldier during the great civil conflict; Mary Wade, wife of John Wade, died at the age of thirty years; Martin L., subject of this sketch; Sarah Angenette Field, wife of Henry Field, died eighteen years prior to this writing; Eleanor Small, wife of Millard Small, aged fifty-eight, resides in Deer Creek, Illinois; George Alvin, a retired farmer, residing in Moscow, Idaho, aged fifty-six.

It was in March 1894, that the subject of this sketch came to Jasper County, settling upon a rented farm, where he remained ten years, farming and stock raising. After that he went back to Illinois, remaining one year, after which he returned to Newton and engaged in the manufacture and bottling of soft or temperance drinks, which business he still conducts, selling his, products all over the United States. His son, Merton L., manager of the plant, invented the now famous Cherry Blossom, a soft drink of unusual excellence, which is being sold everywhere.

Mr. Lewis was married to Adelia Field, a native of Illinois, who died ten years later, while Mr. Lewis was living in Illinois. To this union were born three children: George B., agent for the Adams Express Company in Oskaloosa, Iowa; Daisy Martin, wife of Harry Martin, a farmer, residing near Monroe, in Jasper County; Herbert, whose wife was Laura Swaub, is a jeweler in Sutton, Nebraska.

Subsequently Mr. Lewis was married to Emma Deal, daughter of John and Melvina (Eures) Deal, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Lewis died in Newton, March 26, 1909. To them were born three children, namely: Deal H., who married Catherine Livingston, resides in Jasper County; Merton L., unmarried, resides in Newton, being a partner with his father; Bessie Whitaker, wife of John Whitaker, a mail carrier, resides in Newton.

Mr. Lewis has at all times been a public-spirited citizen, having served five years as school director and five years as supervisor of toads in Fairview Township. He is a charter member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Pine Tree Camp No. 394, of Sutton, Nebraska, at which place Mr. Lewis lived for six years prior to coming to Jasper County, being engaged in the livery business. In politics he is a Republican. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 657