Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 725
HENRY D. LEWIS

It is probable that no farmer in Harrison county has met with a greater measure of success than Henry D. LEWIS, of Morgan township. Starting out for himself when he was nineteen years of age as a day laborer, he first bought a small tract of land in Morgan township, and to this has added from time to time until he now owns five hundred and sixty acres of the best farming land in Harrison county, as well as three hundred and sixty acres in Oklahoma. His career is a wonderful example of perseverance, industry and good management and should be an incentive to greater effort on the part of the coming generations of Harrison county. As a farmer and stock raiser he stands foremost in his county, while as a progressive citizen in all that the word implies he is truly one of the representative men of his county.

Henry D. LEWIS, the son and only child of Henry DeLoss (better known as DeLoss) and Frances (KIDDER) LEWIS, was born May 15, 1862, in Otsego county, New York. His parents were natives of New York and London, England, respectively. His mother came to the United States when about fourteen years of age with her father, John KIDDER. Henry DeLoss LEWIS, Sr., was a farmer in his native state of New York and he and his wife lived all their days in that state.

Henry D. LEWIS left New York state when he was nineteen years of age, both of his parents having previously died, and came to Iowa. He worked by the month on the farms in this state, and also did carpenter work and other odd jobs. In fact, he was willing to work at anything which would return him a fair compensation for his labor. When only twenty-two years of age he married and at once bought a small tract of twenty acres in Morgan township, and here he and his young wife started in to make a home, and well have they succeeded. The successive years have found them more prosperous and today they can look back over a period of over thirty years during which they have lived and worked together. The success which has attended Mr. LEWIS's efforts has been purchased at the cost of hard work and is well merited. On his fine farm of five hundred and sixty acres in Morgan township he raised registered Red Polled cattle and King Albert corn. He is the only farmer in the county to make a specialty of this particular variety of corn, and in 1912 he sold over two thousand bushels for seed, sending it to all parts of the United States. Mr. LEWIS has one of the finest country homes in the county and everything about his place indicates that he is a man of thrift and taste.

On October 13, 1884, Mr. LEWIS was married to Clara L. PUGSLEY, who was born in Ohio, the daughter of Oscar and Lydia A. (NOYES) PUGSLEY, and to this union have been born four children, Oscar D., Marion Lee, Frances Lydia and Cecily Irene. Oscar married Bessie JOHNSON and has three children, Clarice Elvina, Marion Fred and Malvin Oscar. The other three children are still living with their parents.

Mr. LEWIS has been a strong supporter of the Republican party for many years, and for twenty years has been clerk of Morgan township. His long tenure indicates the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, holding membership in the latter lodge at Council Bluffs. Mr. LEWIS was one of the organizers of the encampment at Mondamin, and was the first chief patriarch of the lodge. As a leader in public-spirited movements Mr. LEWIS is always at the forefront and never fails to lend his hearty support to such measures as he believes will advance the general welfare of the locality where he resides. As he rides around the county now in his fine automobile he can easily recall days when he tramped over the same roads looking for work, and it must be a source of much satisfaction to him to feel that his efforts have been attended with such flattering success.

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