Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Lewis, Michael 1838 - 
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Author: B. F. Bowen (1904)

MICHAEL LEWIS.

   Those who have faced danger and death upon the field of battle and have borne
suffering and made sacrifices for their country are especially deserving of
mention in its annals and the younger generation should never forget that to
them is due a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid, as the prosperity,
liberty and happiness which we now enjoy is the direct outcome of their labors
and loyalty. Among the honored veterans of the Civil war now living in
Bartholomew county is Michael Lewis, and he is also one of the native sons of
the county, his birth having occurred in Flat Rock township September 10, 1838.
For a number of years he was identified with agricultural interests, but now
makes his home in the city of Columbus. His parents were Michael and Melinda
(Gentle) Lewis. The father was born in North Carolina in 1800 and was first
married in that state. Soon afterward, however, he came to Indiana and purchased
from the government, at a dollar and a quarter per acre, a tract of one hundred
and sixty acres of land lying near Hope. This he improved, developing it into a
fine farm. The county was then a frontier district and Columbus was called
Tipton Hill. In addition to farming Michael Lewis, Sr., engaged in real estate
dealing, buying and selling much land. He was the owner of five hundred acres of
valuable farming land, all of which was situated in one tract, save eighty acres
lying in Haw Creek township. In his business affairs he was very successful and
became one of the prosperous residents of the county, in which he lived until
his death, which occurred in i860. In early life he voted with the Whig party
and on the organization of the Republican party joined its ranks. He was four
times married and by his first wife had three children: Josiah, who enlisted for
service in the Civil war and died in camp; Catherine, the deceased wife of Henry
Conoy, and Mary, the wife of George Norton, a farmer, with whom she removed to
Wisconsin, where both died. By his second marriage the father had one son,
Armsted, who married Elizabeth Carter, and is a farmer, living at Hope. For his
third wife Mr. Lewis chose Melinda Gentle, a native of Virginia, and they had a
large family: Jeremiah and Absalom, the former a prominent civil engineer of
Pennsylvania, now very prosperous, while the latter is carrying on farming at
Norton, Kansas; Michael, of this review; Elizabeth, the widow of Owen Billard,
who was a blacksmith of Hope, where she is still living; Nancy, the wife of
Ephraim Berry, a cooper, now living retired; Henry, a farmer, now deceased, and
Nathan, who is living in Jamestown, Indiana, near Indianapolis, where he owns
property and carries on farming. The mother of these children died when the
subject of this review was a lad of only eight years, and the father afterward
wedded Emily McLoy. Their children were: Annie, who is living in Indianapolis;
Howard; Simeon, a wealthy farmer; Timothy, also a farmer, and Robert.

   Michael Lewis, whose name introduces this review, spent his boyhood days in
his father's home, worked on the farm and attended school, and when he had
attained his majority he went to a home of his own, securing as a companion and
helpmate for life's journey Miss Susan M. Keeling, whom he wedded on the 9th of
September, 1858. The lady is a daughter of the Rev. John and Rebecca (Ferrell)
Keeling. The father, a native of Kentucky, is a minister of the Baptist church
and has also carried on farming, devoting his time to the two callings. The
children of his family are as follows: William, a physician practicing in
Nebraska; Nancy, who has passed away; Mary Ellen, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of
James Halton; Susan (Mrs. Lewis); Mahalia, married Martin Wilson; John, dead,
and Abraham.

   At the time of his marriage Mr. Lewis began farming and continued to follow
that pursuit until August, 1862, when, feeling that his first duty was to his
country, he donned the blue uniform of the nation and went south in defense of
the Union cause. He was a member of Company I, Sixty-seventh Indiana Regiment.
He took part in the engagements at Monfordville, Kentucky, and Port Gibson,
Arkansas, and was shot through the wrist, near Vicksburg, which permanently
disabled him, so that he has been unable to use his hand since. On account of
his injury he was honorably discharged in October, 1863, and returned to his
home. He owned forty acres of land in Haw Creek township, which he traded for
property in Hope, and he lived there eight or ten years. He removed to Columbus
about thirty years ago. For several years he engaged in teaming here, but is now
practically living retired from business cares.

   Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have been born six children: Sylvester, who died in
childhood; Mary Alice, the wife of Willis Dobson, a miller residing in Danville,
Indiana; Oliver M., a decorator and trimmer living in Quincy, Illinois; Mattie,
who is employed in a store in Columbus, and who is the owner of a good property
in this city; Jesse, who is agent for a picture frame house of Wisconsin and
lives in that state, and Harry C., now deceased. There is a boy, Lewis Bozell,
now ten years old, living with Mr. and Mrs. Lewis at the present time, whom they
have reared from infancy.

    In his political views Mr. Lewis is a stanch Republican and keeps well
informed on the questions and issues of the day, yet has never been an active,
politician in the sense of office seeking. He belongs to the Grand Army of the
Republic, and thus maintains pleasant associations with his comrades who wore
the blue. To his country he is today as true and loyal as when he fought on
southern battlefields, and he gives his earnest co-operation to every movement
and measure which he believes will prove of benefit to county, state or nation.
He is a genial gentleman, of social nature, and he has a wide circle of friends
in the county of his nativity, where his entire life has been passed.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER


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