San Diego County CA Archives Obituaries.....Lewis, Charles W. February 2, 1871
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San Diego Union; February 9, 1871
COLONEL CHARLES W. LEWIS
Col. C. W. Lewis died in this city, at midnight, on Thursday last. February 2d. 
The death of no citizen could have caused more sorrow in this community. He was 
of frank and genial disposition socially; generous to a fault; tender of heart 
as a woman, toward the poor or afflicted. His noble qualities had thus endeared 
him in an especial manner to his fellow citizens, and the fact that the larger 
portion of the adult population of the city followed his remains to the grave, 
shows the universal respect in which he was held. Col. Lewis was born in 
Culpepper, Virginia, in 1825. While he was still very young, his family moved 
to South Bend, Indiana; here he learned his trade as a printer, and was for 
many years employed as journeyman and foreman in the office of the South Bend 
Register, of which paper Vice President Colfax was then editor and proprietor. 
At the beginning of the war with Mexico, he enlisted as a private; for 
soldierly conduct, and successive acts of bravery, he was promoted through the 
non-commissioned grades to the position of first sergeant of his company, and 
at the battle of Cherubusco his conspicuous valor won for him a Lieutenant’s 
commission. He came to this State in 1849, making his home in Yolo county; as 
active member of the Whig party, in the early days, he was a candidate for the 
Legislature, and also the county was largely Democratic, he failed of election 
by only two or three votes on each occasion. On its organization in California, 
he gave his adhesion to the Republican party, to which he was firmly attached 
to the day of his death. At the commencement of the late civil war, he was 
Captain of the Woodland Guards, California Militia; his patriotic feelings led 
him to seek active service, and he was appointed Colonel of the Seventh 
Infantry, California Volunteers, by Governor Low. His regiment was ordered to 
Arizona, where it did good service until it was disbanded at the close of the 
war. Col. Lewis held a most important post-Fort Mason-near the boundary of the 
state of the Sonora, during the French occupation of Mexico under Maximilian, 
and his chivalrous conduct in this critical juncture is a part of the history 
of the country. The French troops having forced Governor Pesqueira, of Sonora, 
to leave the State, he sought refuge in Arizona; Col. Lewis took the Governor 
and his wife into his own residence, and protected them there; when Pesqueira 
subsequently raised a sufficient force, he was supplied by the Colonel with 
ammunition, and was thus able to drive Maximilian’s forces from his State. This 
action on the part of Col. Lewis, being in violation of our neutrality 
obligations, came near costing him his commission, but American sentiment was 
so strong in favor of the Liberal Government in Mexico that he retained his 
command, in spite of the efforts made to displace him. He was ever after a 
cherished personal friend of Governor Pesqueira, who never forgot his noble and 
self-sacrificing conduct, and correspondence was maintained between them until 
the Colonel’s death. At the expiration of his military service, Col. Lewis took 
an active part in the politics of Arizona, and was esteemed one of the first 
citizens of the Territory; he served a term in the Legislative Assembly, and 
was one of the strongest partisans of the removal of the capital from Prescott 
to Tucson. The Colonel came to San Diego about two years ago, resolved to make 
this city his permanent home; he at once became noted as a public spirited 
citizen, and was foremost in every movement for the advancement of the 
interests of both city and county. In May last he was elected a member of the 
Board of City Trustees by the largest majority received by any candidate on 
ticket, and on the organization of the new Board was chosen President. As a 
public servant, Col. Lewis was faithful and conscientious in the discharge of 
everyduty; as a citizen, he was upright, and zealous for the public good; as a 
friend, he was true as steel.


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