Lewis, W. S., M.D.

LEWIS

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner
Date: 7/23/2006 at 12:49:27

LEWIS, W. S. M.D.

The nation's greatest pride is in her men. High minded, true hearted, God-fearing men, men who have come from obscurity and risen to the highest places, men whose lives bestow a sweet fragrance of helpfulness upon their fellows, --in such men lies the strength and glory of the Republic. High upon the roll of truly great men stands the name of Dr. Wilson Seely Lewis, A.M., D.D. Born forty-seven years ago, of Holland and Welsh stock, on a New York farm, the source of support of a large family, he learned early in life the secret of true living-hard and honest work. Through his own efforts he received an academic education, and at the age of seventeen entered St. Lawrence University. His college education was completed and his degree received at Cornell, after coming west in 1881.

The success of Dr. Lewis in all his educational work has been phenomenal, but it is chiefly in his work as president of Morningside College that he has won his great reputation. After serving as principal of schools at Center Point and Belle Plaine, he became principal of Epworth Seminary, and the influence of his nine years spent there will always be a blessing to that institution. In 1897 Dr. Lewis became president of Morningside College, then a weak struggling school, deeply in debt and having no assured future. Seven years later finds that school in a healthy, flourishing condition, with two college buildings, a large faculty of some of the most scholarly educators in the country, accommodating nearly six hundred loyal students every year, drawing support from the richest and most progressive section of the Mississippi Valley, and ranking high among the colleges of the west. To Dr. Lewis untiring zeal and strong personality, perhaps more than to any other influence, this great change is to be attributed.

Dr. Lewis has traveled abroad extensively and has taken courses of study at Oxford, England. He has added to his thorough education by diligent private study, and has a keen understanding of the world's great issues. He is a man whose sympathies are broad and whose experience with the world is great.

He is a fatherly friend to every Morningside student-a man busy with large affairs, but never too busy to aid the distressed. A large man physically, mentally and morally; a man of integrity, of character and unyielding stability of purpose, a man whose distinction lies in his far-reaching service to humanity-this is Dr. Wilson Seely Lewis.

Source: Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Lyon County, Iowa. Published under the Auspices of the Pioneer Association of Lyon County. Geo. Monlun, Pres.; Hon. E. C. Roach Sec’y; and Col. F. M. Thompson, Historian. Geo. A. Ogle & CO., Published, Engravers and Book Manufacturers. Chicago, 1904-1905

Transcribed by Roseanna Zehner, Darlene Jacoby and Diane Johnson