Ionia-Statewide County MI Archives Obituaries.....BATES, LEWIS J. August 12, 1915 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Marilyn Johnson McDowell texas26@gmail.com May 26, 2009, 12:41 am Grand Rapids Press; Aug. 13, 1915 AGED NEWSPAPERMAN TAKEN BY DEATH. Lewis J. Bates for Years Was Prominent in Michigan Circles. Lewis J. Bates, former prominent newspaperman and writer, died at the Clark Memorial Home on Thursday. Mr. Bates was eighty-three years old and for more than fifty years was a prominent figure in newspaper circles, having been associated with many larger dailies in the state. He was a native of Catskill, New York and in early life moved his family to Portland, Mich. Soon afterward he came to Grand Rapids and took up the work of apprentice printer in the shop of the late Aaron B. Turner. Two years later he went to New York and took up newspaper work. During the Lincoln - Douglas debate he represented the Chicago Tribune. His poem "Vale Vale the Cup is Broken, the Wine is Spilled," written at the time of the assassination of Lincoln attracted nation wide attention and a copy of it hangs in the Lincoln Museum in Washington. He was for a time the managing editor of the Detroit Times and later the Lansing Republican. He retired from active work several years ago and moved to his home in Petoskey. He is survived by one daughter, Miss Mary Bates of Grand Rapids. Additional Comments: Aaron B. Turner was the publisher of the Grand Rapids Eagle. Frank Godfrey was the publisher of the Lansing Republican. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/b/bates5090gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 1.9 Kb