LEWIS, Martha Y. (1836-1919)

LEWIS

Posted By: Ann Jaber (email)
Date: 2/22/2006 at 02:44:44

DEATH OF A TAMA COUNTY PIONEER

A Resident of This County from 1855 until 1907, Dies Aged 83 Years

The death of Martha Y. Lewis was chronicled in the Herald last week. She breathed her last at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse M. Lewis, at Ontario, Cal., March 24, aged 83 years and four days. She was conscious to the last. The funeral was held from Draper’s chapel at Ontario and was conducted by Rev. A. S. Newcomb, the pastor of the Ontario Baptist church, assisted by Rev. E. T. Sanford, a Baptist minister who had been stationed at Ontario for years, and by Rev. W. Allison, the pastor of the Westminister Presbyterian church. The floral pieces were many and beautiful and members of the G.A.R., the W.R.C. and the W.C.T.U. attended the body. Members of the G.A.R. post acted as pall bearers. Interment was in the Bellevue Cemetery at Ontario.

Mrs. Lewis and her daughters, Amanda, and Mrs. Alnetta A. Hiatt Lewis, each received their fifty-year badges from the Tama County Old Settlers’ Association in the fall of 1907, and a few weeks later they left Tama county to locate in California where they have since made their home. Mrs. Lewis was a member of the Tama Baptist Church from 1873 until 1907, a period of thirty-four years. She was likewise a member of the W.C.T.U. in Tama for about the same length of time. She was a charter member of the Toledo W.R.C. All of her immediate relatives were present at the funeral including her descendants to the fourth generation. Her brother W. H. Gray, of San Diego, the only surviving member of her father’s family, was with her during her last illness.

Mrs. Lewis was born March 20, 1836 in Franklin County, Ohio and when yet a child moved with her parents to Warren county, Indiana. In 1853 at the age of 17 she was married to John W. Hiatt. In the fall of 1855 they immigrated to Iowa, locating at Helena, in this county. Three children were born to them: Amanda E. Hiatt, Alnetta A. Lewis, both of Ontario, Cal., and Mrs. Josephine Flint, of Carson, Iowa, who passed away in 1904. John W. Hiatt enlisted in the Union army in the fall of 1862 and was mortally wounded at the battle of Champion Hills, Miss., and died June 7, 1863. In 1865 Mrs. Hiatt was married to C. J. Price. Two children were born to them: William H. Price, of Stockton, Cal., and Curtis C. Price, of Coquille, Oregon. In 1881 she married Samuel Lewis who passed away in 1898 while living at Summit Nursery, Toledo, then the home of the Lewis family.

Mrs. Lewis was one of the last surviving members of the noble band of pioneer women who laid the foundation in Tama County for the present day civilization it enjoys. She was hospitable, warm hearted, interested in the welfare of her family and friends and found the time, even in those days when she had the cares of a growing family on her heart and mind, to engage heartily in every movement that promised community betterment and a happier life on earth and in the hereafter.

A large number of old time friends in Tama county learn of her death with sorrow and sympathize with the bereaved family, the member of which for so many years have felt the uplifting influence of her tender ministrations and her loving counsels.

(Original was in Fannie Gray’s scrapbook)